ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES: The Value of Insulation

A well-insulated home creates a healthier, more comfortable living environment

With ongoing concerns about the increase in cost of living, particularly in relation to energy consumption, we are being contacted by lots of people to discuss how we can help them to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Here's a few insights that guide our thinking when we advise clients:

💡 Did you know that buildings are among the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases? Figures released by the Climate Change Committee suggest that emissions related to the occupation of buildings alone contributed to 17% of the total carbon emissions in the UK in 2019.

🩺Although it’s not often spoken about, there are also several health risks caused by badly insulated homes, such as respiratory problems associated with damp or humid spaces. If you’ve ever seen signs of damp in your house, this is often a result of poor insulation.

🏠To combat these issues, we need to significantly improve insulation in our homes. ‘Energy saving retrofit’ is the process of either installing and/or replacing parts of the fabric of an existing building to increase its energy-efficiency.

🌎We have adapted our methodology to use sustainable, eco-friendly, and breathable materials in our retrofits, such as wood fibre insulation. As well as being good for the environment by requiring much less energy to produce (embodied carbon), these materials also significantly improve indoor air quality when compared to non-breathable, plastic-based insulation, such as Expanded Polystyrene insulation (EPS). Due to being denser and having a higher thermal mass, utilising these materials also helps to keep your house cooler in the summer.

💰Insulating your property will not only help reduce the environmental impact of your home but will also give huge savings year-on-year. According to research by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) published in a recent Guardian article, homes rated band F on the EPC scale could pay up to £968 more each year for their gas than homes in band C.

We have developed a market-leading system utilising the highest performing and most sustainable products on the market. Our team is ready to help improve your home, and we would love to hear from you, so get in touch to start a conversation.

Over the coming months, we'll be capturing more thoughts on improving building performance in our new blog, Alternative Perspectives.