Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Climate change secretary Chris Huhne believes there is huge potential for the expansion of energy efficiency within UK households.
Huhne was talking to the UK Energy Summit and emphasised the need to reduce the energy consumption of houses.
“The market is big,” he said. “There are currently up to 14 million homes in the UK which could benefit from insulation under the Green Deal.
“We are working on the package for each home, which could unlock tens of billions of spending in the coming years.”
Rules governing the CERT (carbon emmissions reduction scheme) are to be tightened to ensure that the bulk of the £2.4bn still to be invested by energy companies through the scheme is spent on effective insulation projects.
“This is the beginning of a massive and urgent increase in home energy insulation for the nation,” he said, adding that the CERT scheme would also be extended until late 2012 when the coalition’s planned Green Deal loan initiative is scheduled to be launched. The government’s Green Deal plan involves financing home insulation in the UK through energy bills.
Under the new rules, over 80% of CERT work carried out by energy companies must involve DIY or professional installation of loft, cavity and solid wall insulation. Previously, this was just 60%.
