DECC ECO consultation: a step in the right direction for SWI

Barrie Stanley, energy efficiency manager at Wetherby Building Systems, explains how the DECC ECO consultation has reduced uncertainty about the solid wall insulation (SWI) supply chain.

Last week’s publication of the ECO consultation for the 12 month transition period 2017–2018 should go some way to quashing the uncertainty that has been surrounding the solid wall insulation (SWI) supply chain. But there is still much more to be done.

DECC has listened to the industry’s call to focus on helping those in fuel poverty and it is good to see that it has retained a solid wall insulation minimum, however at a level of an estimated additional 17,500 properties this will have little impact on the remaining 7 million solid wall properties without insulation.

46% of homes occupied by the fuel poor have solid walls and insulating them is widely acknowledged as the most efficient way to improve the energy performance of these properties. This needs to be considered when setting out the new Fuel Poverty Obligation (FPO) programme, which will run until 2022, and solid wall insulation needs to be integral to the measures installed under the new scheme.

Wetherby will be working closely with the National Insulation Association (NIA) to respond to the ECO transition consultation to ensure the best possible delivery of SWI to those living in fuel poverty