Knauf Insulation has issued a response to the Department of Energy & Climate Change's (DECC) recent announcement regarding extra money being offered to homeowners for green home makeovers.
Steven Heath, director - public affairs and strategy for Knauf Insulation Northern Europe, said that that the move was a 'much needed boost' to the Green Deal but pointed out that loft insulation had been left out of the list of approved measures in the scheme.
He said: 'Whether as a top up or complete install, loft insulation is one of the few simple and effective measures that meets the golden rule of Green Deal. To not include this in the measures means we are likely to continue to see boilers installed without cost effective loft insulation offered to the householder.
'Indeed, if we look at the information published to date, it seems solid wall insulation (SWI) can now receive a £6,000 subsidy without a requirement or cash back incentive to install loft insulation if it is recommended. So once again, we see a Government scheme incentivising an expensive measure at the individual property level but ignoring a cost effective one.'
Mr Heath continued: 'Additionally, by requiring a second measure to be installed alongside low-cost cavity wall insulation (CWI), but leaving the even lower cost loft insulation (top up) off the list, will leave take up of CWI aligned with the more expensive measures listed, like a new boiler.
'The main question is where incentive packages are offered, will they encourage installers to offer, and homeowners to agree to, a sensible fabric-first multi-measure approach to renovation? The latest scheme on offer unfortunately falls short by creating perverse incentives that mean cash back offers to homeowners may not reflect what is best for them and their property in the long term.'
