BRUFMA responds to Energy Prices and Bills Report 2017

BRUFMA has responded to the Energy Prices and Bills Report 2017, CCC’s fourth independent assessment of the impact of UK carbon budgets on household and business energy bills.

The report found that low carbon-policies made up around 9% of an annual ‘dual fuel’ household energy bill of around £1,160 and that improvements in energy efficiency have saved the typical UK household around £290 per year since 2008.

In addition, the report discovered that some energy-intensive manufacturing sectors face higher costs from climate policies but those deemed most ‘at risk’ are largely compensated for those costs and there is a range of opportunities for UK business arising from the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Good insulation is crucial for homes and buildings in the UK to become more energy efficient and sustainable and off-set some of the increasing energy costs the country faces.

The report proves that better energy efficiency can ‘significantly dampen’ the effect of increased energy prices and highlights the importance of an effective policy package to achieve savings by implementing strong product standards and strengthened energy efficiency policies to encourage insulation uptake.

BRUFMA’s Chief Executive, Simon Storer said BRUFMA supports much of what the report is saying. BRUFMA especially supports the finding that significant savings can be obtained through better energy efficiency, helping to reduce household bills and tackling fuel poverty, as well as the importance of strengthening energy policy and encouraging households to increase thermal performance by installing better insulation.

BURFMA aims to deliver cost-effective energy efficiency policy and continue to work with the government to deliver effective policy approaches to increase uptake and support householders to benefit from available savings, Simon explained, following the report’s suggestion that the typical household can save £290 per year.

BRUFMA is also supportive of policies which can drive uptake of energy efficiency improvements in commercial buildings, agreeing with the report’s findings that there is similar potential for energy savings from insulation for commercial buildings as householders.

Buildingtalk recently published an article looking at how calls have been made to recognise energy efficiency as a “national infrastructure priority” after it was revealed that around 25 million homes will not meet the insulations standards required in order to meet the UK’s sustainability targets. You can read the full article here.