Green Home Insulation Scheme in UK Not So Green

January 27th, 2012 by Zachary Shahan

The current UK government has declared its ambition to be the greenest UK government ever. However, one of its key campaigns to achieve this could actually be doing more harm than good.

The government’s green scheme was to be a brand-new loan scheme designed to help British households afford proper insulation of their homes. About 25% of UK carbon emissions are produced by the heating of residential buildings—this figure is considerably higher in the UK than other parts of the world because many of the houses are a lot older than the international average, and the age of these homes means that much of the insulation is wearing out and that which remains is not as efficient as you would find in more-modern housing. Reducing the energy wasted by poorly insulated UK homes would have a significant impact on the UKs carbon emissions.

Critics of the potentially ‘greenest ever government’ have cast serious doubt on the figures behind the green scheme. The problem is that the green scheme replaces an older, similar scheme that was instated by the previous government. At the moment, in the UK, energy companies are required to contribute money that subsidizes or sometimes even pays for the costs of insulating a home. This cheap (or sometimes free) insulation is currently finding its way into an average of 500,000 UK cavity walls a year and over a million UK lofts. The new scheme, however, means that the insulation will no longer be subsidized, but, instead, the government will lend the money to households, which they can then pay back with the savings that are made from having a new, more energy-efficient home—hmm, giving money to homeowners versus loaning them money, which is likely to get more people on board?

Opponents to the change in scheme claim that an end to the subsidized and free insulations is more likely to reduce the number of homes that are insulated, not increase it(!), meaning that the reduction in the carbon emissions created by poorly insulated homes is likely to slow down, not speed up.

The government had also hoped that the increase in the number of people looking to improve their home’s insulation would help create a number of new jobs. However, there are fears that many people involved in these installations are not properly prepared, with cases being reported of energy-saving devices being incorrectly fitted and actually leading to higher energy costs and greater carbon emissions.

Members of the home improvement industries are suggesting that consumers still waiting to see if the green scheme is right for them should not rule out cheaper forms of insulation that can still make a huge difference. A house’s windows are still one the areas where heat is most drastically lost. A reasonably inexpensive upgrade you can make to them is installing honeycomb or cellular wooden shutters or blinds that trap air inside, as they act as a great insulator. Even small improvements like this can make a big difference to your homes energy bills.

Any more info on this scheme or commentary you’d like to add?

UK home via shutterstock

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Tags: insulation, UK, uk home insulation, uk home insulation scheme

About the Author

Zachary Shahan spends most of his time here on CleanTechnica as the director/chief editor. Otherwise, he's probably enthusiastically fulfilling his duties as the director/editor of Solar Love, EV Obsession, Planetsave, or Bikocity. Zach is recognized globally as a solar energy, electric car, and wind energy expert. If you would like him to speak at a related conference or event, connect with him via social media. You can connect with Zach on any popular social networking site you like. Links to all of his main social media profiles are on ZacharyShahan.com.

Styrofoam984

Home insulation can save money, make your home more comfortable to live and help in the fight against climate. There are several types of loft insulation. When insulating your loft, you can insulate at the rafters at the joists and even on the loft boards. The bulk of your insulation should be at the joists. It is important that your insulation here is thick enough. The actual thickness depends on the material you’re going to use. Each product has a specific thermal resistance, or R value. The higher the R value, the better it will.

Loft Insulation
Anonymous

The government should move back in time, to the days when there were television programmes that showed people how to do things.
A lot of people would like to save money by improving their own insulation, but they don’t know how to do it, they do not understand how easy it is to do.
Some real life programmes put out at peak watching times would go some way to encourage people….please not more programmes like those on TV at the moment, that never show the detail, and create a totally false impression.
- http://cleantechnica.com/ Zachary Shahan
  
  Can you imagine, reality TV shows that help people!!
  
  That is a great idea. Hard to see it coming about, but who knows?…