Insulating the vulnerable from Fuel Poverty – Event

Insulating the vulnerable from Fuel Poverty Event

Held on Wednesday 15^th Feb 2012 at Nottingham Trent University

Being able to turn the heating on when it is freezing cold outside is a utility for most of us, but for some it is a very expensive choice. The numbers of people suffering from fuel poverty is rapidly increasing as the austerity measures bite. With 35% of heating costs being lost through the walls of our homes, are there practical measures that can help reduce heating cost for the most vulnerable?

A select gathering of Residential Social Landlord senior managers to discuss how to deal with homes constructed with solid walls, which some have described as one of the most difficult problems for the UK housing stock and those suffering from Fuel Poverty.

This free event was developed by Future Factory, the gateway to business support from Nottingham Trent University and EnvirUP, a local firm of Chartered Energy Managers to support the development of Solutions for those suffering from Fuel Poverty. The Energy Savings Trusts regional manager, Tim Saunders will also be providing a valuable insight into the latest information on the ‘ECO’ and Green Deal.

The purpose is to consider the problem of insulating the most difficult properties and share your thoughts on potential solutions and hear about the considerations that others have made. You will also hear about an early stage development that might provide a low cost external wall insulation solution that the Future Factory has been supporting.

Post Event Evaluation:

This small gathering of experienced managers from Social Landlords, Housing Associations and Energy Managers provided to be fascinating discussion on the subject of External Wall Insulation. We all agreed that the Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation are going to a great boost to reducing the effects of Fuel Poverty and looking forward to the detail of their implementation.  EnvirUP presented details of how these funding mechanism work in different scenarios. The Green Deal is going to be very important for low cost energy efficiency measures that provide attractive savings for private homeowners.  The Energy Company Obligation will be targeting ‘Hard to Heat-Hard to Treat’ homes where energy savings measures required may not provide sufficient payback for Green Deal funding.

Some had seen traditional external wall insulation (EWI) systems being installed on some of their property portfolio and whilst impressed with the result, were disappointed by the cost and logistical nightmare that this presented.

One of the attendees had just received grant funding for EWI and informed us that the cost was £20,000.

EnvirUP presented details of their new EWI product to impressed audience. They were interested in the simplicity of the product and liked the potential low cost of the system. We asked for their feedback on the system, regarding their property needs, colours, tenant requirements and will be taking their comments in to account as we progress the products through its further development.