On the 9th of December 2010, Chris Huhne, Energy Secretary, published the “Green Deal” as part of the Energy Bill. The Green Deal aims to give householders and businesses an incentive to improve the energy efficiency of their properties through low interest loans repaid from the saving on their energy bill. The Energy Saving Trust, (EST) has identified 10 million “hard to treat homes” where traditional energy efficiency measures such as loft insulation, cavity wall insulation and condensing gas boilers cannot be installed. A major role of the Green Deal will be to improve the energy efficiency of these properties. Out of this figure, approximately 7 million solid walled properties will need to be insulated in order to meet the legally binding 2050 target of 80% CO2 emissions reduction set out by the 2008 Climate act. That is 175,000 properties a year for the next 40 years!
In many cases the solid brick walls of these “hard to treat” properties need to be insulated internally for a number of reasons;
1. They are located in conservation areas, (there are estimated to be 1.2 million hard to treat properties in conservation areas where external wall insulation is not possible due to requirements to retain the buildings external appearance)
2. They have ornate facades that wish to be retained, or
3. External wall insulations is too expensive, (the funding level of The Green Deal will not stretch far enough to cover external insulation in many cases)
Recent research by a number of people suggests that traditional internal insulation methods may present a serious risk in relation to moisture and rain ingress, interstitial condensation and mould growth. Before internal wall insulation is rolled out to thousands of homes the industry need to be sure that these measures will not have a detrimental effect on the building fabric and occupant's health.
