On 10th February, the BBC carried an article focusing on comments made by Chris Stark, head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, who called for faster progress on domestic insulation.
Key messages from his interview included:
- The UK must do more to insulate the country’s draughty homes.
- Britain has some of the oldest and least energy efficient housing in Europe.
- Two-thirds of homes need better insulation, according to government data.
- An estimated 19 million homes have Energy Performance Certificate ratings of D or worse.
One of his most striking statements was this:
“As things stand, just a few tens of thousands of homes will install insulation this year. We really need to scale that up to something more like half a million a year, and to do that quickly over the next four or five years.”
Also featured in the report is Jan Rosenow of the Regulatory Assistance Project, who notes that around 23% of UK greenhouse gas emissions are the result of using energy to heat buildings. If many of those buildings are under-performing in terms of energy efficiency, then funding and rolling out insulation projects more quickly could play a significant role in bringing emissions down and helping the country towards its carbon reduction targets.
The full article can be read on the BBC website.
