NIA raises awareness of insulation measures

Green GB Week is designed to highlight the opportunities clean growth offers the UK and raise understanding of how business and the public can contribute to tackling climate change.

During Green GB week the NIA will be raising awareness of the multiple benefits of insulation including Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI) which can pay for itself in less than 3 years, to External Wall Insulation (EWI) which can transform the appearance and curb appeal of a home whilst reducing bills and making them warmer, to Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) which enables homes that do not have cavity walls and cannot be treated with EWI to benefit. There are also lower cost, simple measures such as topping up loft insulation and draught proofing to prevent cold entering around doors, windows and floors. 

The National Insulation Association (NIA) represents manufacturers, system suppliers, installers, contractors and fixing and component suppliers of insulation measures and product types in the UK.  With millions of householders lacking adequate home insulation, the industry can play a vital role in contributing to the Governments ambitions to reduce carbon emissions and eradicate fuel poverty. 

We have a national network of NIA Members who meet our membership criteria and a strict code of professional practice which includes a complaint and disciplinary procedure.  For more information visit www.nia-uk.org.

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NIA and its members to build the value back into home insulation

For the past 20 years, there have been large subsidies and grants available from energy companies and Government towards the cost of home insulation for both fuel poor households and 'able to pay' households.

Whilst this has been very helpful for those households in the greatest need who are suffering from fuel poverty, it has also resulted in insulation being devalued with householders focusing on price and grants only and not appreciating the true benefits insulation provides.  This autumn will see a major change as under the new £640m per year Energy Company Obligation 3 scheme subsidies and grants will be restricted to vulnerable and fuel poor households only and not available to those 'able to pay'.

This provides a significant opportunity for the industry to build the value back into insulation by promoting the benefits of the different measures:

External Wall Insulation, for example, can transform the appearance and add value and curb appeal to a building as well as reducing fuel bills whilst Cavity Wall Insulation can be undertaken in just a few hours and pay for itself in under 3 years even without a subsidy or grant.

In order to get these messages across to the general public, the NIA and its members are teaming up with the Energy Saving Trust, the independent national energy efficiency experts and other advice agencies to promote the true benefits of insulation.

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NIA sees rapid growth in membership.

The National Insulation Association (NIA) which represents the manufacturers, system suppliers and installers of cavity wall, external wall, internal wall, loft, roof and floor insulation has seen a rapid growth of some 20% in membership this year.

Commenting on the success, Chief Executive Neil Marshall said: "Earlier this year we conducted a survey to find out exactly what services and support insulation companies wanted from us and we have tailored our offering accordingly and attracted a significant number of new members.

"Companies told us they value the advice and guidance we provide, our support in representing their views to Government and other key stakeholders, our annual conference, local networking events and free leads and referrals which were over 40,000 last year."

Neil added "The NIA team understand that trade association membership must demonstrate added value and a return on investment and with the increase in members this would certainly suggest we are delivering this."

Companies interested in joining the NIA should contact Bev Hodson Office Manager on Bev.hodson@nia-uk.org or call 01525 383313

Negative Reporting on Cavity Wall Insulation by the BBC

Last week both BBC Radio 4 You & Yours and BBC Wales Today featured negative programmes on Cavity Wall Insulation based on an incomplete draft report from BRE.

The insulation industry welcomes scrutiny and the publication of robust research which helps to identify areas for improvement. That’s why we have been working to support BRE as it develops its research, and will continue to do so.

However, BRE has been clear that the report referenced by the BBC is an early draft of a scoping report which carries no status and the reporting of this draft study now risks alarming and seriously misleading consumers.

The reality is that there is a very low rate of problems with cavity wall insulation in the UK. Just 0.21% of all 6 million installations guaranteed by CIGA, the UK’s largest cavity wall insulation guarantee agency, result in a claim. When something does go wrong, that guarantee acts as a back-stop to protect consumers and ensure they have access to redress. In Wales, that rate is slightly higher at 0.59% of all installations but still significantly below the rate suggested in the draft study seen by the BBC.

The NIA responded to both programmes expressing our concern at the use of content from the BRE draft report which we consider to be both irresponsible and misleading and setting out details of the very low rate of problems with CWI. 

Insulation is an exceptionally reliable product which keeps energy bills down and homes warm

Will Government Act on Advice from the Committee on Climate Change?

On Tuesday 15^th July the Committee on Climate Change published its latest annual report on progress towards the carbon budgets and actions needed to meet these.  The report highlights that strong progress has been made in some areas such as fuel efficiency of new cars and investment in wind generation but that at the current rate of progress future carbon budgets will not be met – the current policies may only reduce emissions by 21-23% between 2013 and 2025 compared to the required 31% reduction.

Why is this? 

The CCC says that one of the main reasons for this is that progress with insulating residential homes has plummeted since the new policies – Green Deal and ECO were introduced in 2013.  According to the CCC whilst good progress had been made with home insulation up to 2012, as a result of the major fall off in installations since 2013 all of the main insulation measures are now well behind the cumulative indicators set by the CCC to achieve the carbon budgets, Cavity Wall Insulation (650k installations below the indicator), Solid Wall Insulation (330k installations below the indicator) and Loft Insulation (45% below the indicator).  

What needs to happen?

One of the key recommendations in the report and advice from the CCC to Government is that given the potential to go further with insulation and the benefits this would bring in terms of cost effective emissions reduction and energy affordability the Government should increase the ambition of the Energy Company Obligation to 2017.

Will Government act on this advice?

We will find out very soon when the decisions on the ECO Consultation are published.