The industry-backed EEIG report highlights a number of recommendations, the principal ones being the UK getting on track to achieving its net-zero target by 2050, the creation of more affordable and healthy housing, and clean, green, resilient skills.
With UK housing among the coldest and least efficient in Europe, an ambitious home upgrades programme is long overdue and can potentially put the country on track towards net-zero as well as supporting jobs and spurring market and financial innovation.
The report also states that investment in home renovation will help to ‘level-up’ infrastructure and opportunity across the UK – supporting over 150,000 jobs to 2030, reducing household energy expenditure by £7.5 billion per year – doing more in regions most affected by unemployment, under-investment and fuel poverty.
Commenting on the report, Simon Storer, Chief Executive of Insulation Manufacturers Association (IMA) said: “The IMA is pleased to support EEIG’s work and stimulus proposals but if we are to have the green recovery that everyone is talking about, then the government must turn this vision into action and ensure that the fabric of our housing stock meets the energy performance needed to achieve the 2050 zero carbon target.
“The government must find a way that is both persuasive and attractive for the refurbishment of the existing housing stock to happen and with a financial model that ensures this commitment becomes a reality. Too many ideas have failed in the past because the investment models could not be made to work. We are running out of time for this not to work this time around.”
Despite the challenges we face as the country slowly emerges from the Covid-19 lockdown, many insulation manufacturers, from individual companies to trade bodies, are fully committed to adopting sustainable design and installation methods to help deliver better-performing buildings and help the UK achieve the ambitions of our net-zero climate change targets.
