Government needs to retrofit an estimated 7 million UK homes under the Green Deal and ECO schemes to hit its carbon reduction commitment according to RIBA. This means a minimum of 11,000 properties will need refurbishing each week if this target is to be achieved. To help meet this challenge, leading international construction materials company Saint-Gobain has teamed up with the Energy Saving Trust for field trials to prove the effectiveness of its solid wall insulation systems.
The aim of the trials is to demonstrate the level of expected energy savings to be gained from installing solid wall insulation systems. This will enable the Government to ensure that its assumptions for the Green Deal and Eco are realistic prior to the scheme’s launch in 2012. Focusing on the renovation of properties built up to 1929 and including terrace, semi-detached and detached homes, as well as flats, the trials will test up to 50 properties and Saint-Gobain is involved with four.
Lindsey Walker, strategic marketing leader for Saint-Gobain UK & Ireland, comments: “We’re really pleased to be involved. It is important that we are able to support theoretical performance data with actual in situ performance information and these trials are part of a programme of initiatives to help provide this. We are confident that the quality of our systems and solutions will enable performance levels to be met. These trials will help Saint-Gobain businesses and the industry to gain a better understanding of how we achieve the retrofit targets and begin tackling larger numbers of the homes in desperate need of refurbishment.”
The four homes being installed with Saint-Gobain products will trial Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) solutions, an External Wall Insulation (EWI) system as well as a Hybrid System. To provide a baseline for the trials, the properties have been monitored over the past year prior to the installation of these systems. Following installation, the refurbished properties are being monitored throughout the winter months to show the benefits of the different solutions.
Lindsey continues: “At least 80 per cent of the country’s 26 million domestic properties are expected to still be standing in 2050. This includes around seven million un-insulated solid wall properties and up to six million properties with unfilled cavity walls, many of which are classed as ‘hard to treat’. The need to upgrade the efficiency of these properties is greater than ever if the UK is to meet its carbon reduction targets and the Green Deal will play an important part in meeting this challenge.
“We strongly believe that ‘fabric first’ measures such as insulation offer the fastest and most effective route to low or zero carbon. The solutions being used in the trial will be available under the scheme, so being able to demonstrate the improvements they can deliver in terms of energy efficiency will play an important role in encouraging home owners to take up the Green Deal or ECO funding when it launches later this year.”
The systems being tested include Saint-Gobain Weber’s weber.therm XP and XM external wall insulation systems. British Gypsum’s GypLyner Universal lined with Thermaline Super and Saint-Gobain Isover’s Optima Internal Wall Insulation solutions are also being trialled. The hybrid solid wall solution consists of British Gypsum’s Universal lined with Thermaline Super fitted internally to the front facade, with weber.therm XP installed on the side and rear of the property.
For more information on Saint-Gobain and its UK companies please visit www.saint-gobain.co.uk.
