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November 2006: UK
Government 'The Energy Efficiency of Dwellings' Report The initial report from the Review of the
Sustainability of Existing Buildings shows that millions
of homes across the country could benefit from cost
effective improvements which cut both carbon emissions
and fuel bills. Widespread implementation of such
improvements could save around 7M tonnes of carbon a
year.
KEY POINTS
- implementing measures with the
fastest pay back and replacing boilers over time
could save 7MtC a year and make householders
better off;
- cavity wall insulation has
increased from 20 per cent of our housing
stock in 1996 to 36 per cent in 2003;
- the number of homes with over
150mm of loft insulation increased by 4 million
between 2001 and 2004;
- a further 8.5m homes could benefit
from cavity wall insulation saving 2.1MtC a year;
- cavity wall insulation typically
costs £340 to fit and pays for itself within 2.6
years. (Over a 5 year period householders would
get a 200 per cent return on their
investment). In practice, these costs and
the payback period can be reduced through grants
and subsidies, with some householders, on
qualifying benefits, being eligible for free
installation;
- increasing loft insulation could
help 6.1m homes and deliver carbon savings of
1.2m a year. Pay back time for loft insulation is
2.7 years and householders get a 180 per
cent return over 5 years. Again grants
and subsidies are available;
- reaching the 60 per cent target by
2050 will require high take up of microgeneration
including emerging technologies such as heat
pumps and micro CHP (combined heat and power);
- research suggests that costs of
low and zero carbon technologies could be reduced
significantly for each doubling of installed
capacity; and
- social housing is on average more
energy efficient than private housing.
The full report is available from the
UK Department of Communities and Local Government at: http://www.communities.gov.uk/pub/373/TheEnergyEfficiencyofDwellingsInitialAnalysis_id1504373.pdf 
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