Building Regulations have brought about significant changes in the performance of new housing, but 80% of the houses that will be standing in 2050 are already built.
The challenge is to bring these aging structures up to modern levels of energy efficiency.
This year sees the introduction of the Government’s two key policies to drive improvement in existing buildings: Green Deal and the Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
In its Impact Assessment Report of 2012, the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) suggested that, of potential energy savings within the domestic housing sector, just 15% could be supplied with loft insulation or easy to treat cavity wall insulation. The remaining potential is split between solid wall insulation (67%) and hard to treat cavity wall insulation (18%).
Or, to look at it another way, there are around 7 million homes in the UK with the potential to fit solid wall insulation. DECC estimates that, with ECO funding in place, there will be around 100,000 projects involving solid wall insulation per year by 2015.
Lorraine Scott, Business Development Manager of Sto, said: "At first sight internal insulation looks less costly as there are fewer technical challenges involved. However, once consequential costs are taken into account, the figures look less appealing.
"This leaves external wall insulation (EWI) as the best solution. Applying External Wall Insulation will change the appearance of the property: the depth of the insulation will increase the window reveals and alterations may be required to the roofline and to doors and other detailing to accommodate this."
Sto has been manufacturing rendered external wall insulation for decades. It has built its reputation on product excellence and the level of technical support provided to specifiers and applicators.
The full article from Lorraine Scott looking at how the market is reacting to government initiatives van be seen on our blog.