Push for new insulation programme that could benefit builders’ merchants

A coalition of 20 organisations including the National Insulation Association and the Green Building Council have urged the government to undertake an ambitious retrofitting programme of over 1 million homes in the UK by 2020. Improving the insulation of the UK’s current housing stock will reduce energy costs for millions of homeowners, reduce energy consumption and decrease carbon emissions – not to mention providing more work for installation companies and builders’ merchants.

The NIA’s coalition wants the government to make a retrofitting scheme a national infrastructure priority. NIA chief executive Neil Marshall spoke of the great need for improved insulation across the UK:

‘We still have over 7 million homes that have inadequate loft insulation, over 5 million homes that require cavity wall insulation and almost 8 million homes that need solid wall insulation.’

Installing solid wall insulation could save homeowners over £450 a year on their energy bills, while cavity wall insulation and loft insulation can each save up to £250 a year on bills.

A major retrofitting programme seems that it would benefit consumers and businesses alike. At a time when households are facing rapidly increasing energy bills and a fall in real wages, additional government funding to help tackle these costs would be welcomed. After the disastrous take-up of the Green Deal, there need to be even greater efforts to improve insulation in Britain’s aging homes.

Such a scheme would also be beneficial to builders’ merchants, who would see an increased demand for insulation products – and the tools needed to install them. Builders’ merchants can make the most of demand spikes for these products as and when they appear by using builders’ merchants’ software, which includes stock control and discount functions. Contact Integrity Trader to arrange a demo today.