The National Insulation Association has announced that it will host the Solid Wall Insulation Summit to take forward recommendations from the chief construction adviser’s report.
In November 2015, chief construction adviser Peter Hansford published a report to the Green Construction Board and Government containing details of the huge potential for solid wall insulation and the multiple benefits that insulating the seven million plus solid wall properties could provide.
The Solid Wall Insulation: Unlocking Demand and Driving Up Standards report set out a number of key recommendations including:
– Policy measures including regulation and incentives
– Research
– Quality Standards
– Consumer awareness and engagement
Whilst the Green Construction Board and Government were invited to respond to the recommendations, Peter Hansford said in the report that he believed that industry can take early action without necessarily waiting for Government’s response.
Responding on behalf of industry at the launch of the report on November 12, 2015, Neil Marshall, CEO of the National Insulation Association, welcomed the report but called for more ambitious timescales for implementation.
Mr Marshall explained: “There were plenty of examples of best practice that can be quickly and easily adopted into a unified approach and that the National Insulation Association (NIA) as the major trade body for solid wall insulation in the UK was committed to taking a leadership role in the implementation of the recommendations in the report.”
As such, the NIA is today announcing its intention to convene a Solid Wall Insulation Summit to which it will be inviting representatives from key external stakeholders including Government, housing organisations, fuel poverty organisations, energy advice organisations etc.
The aim of the summit will be to review the recommendations contained in the report and identify which of these can be implemented without delay and how to facilitate this.
Announcing the NIA Solid Wall Insulation Summit, Mr Marshall commented: “There are over 7 million homes that have solid walls that are not insulated and among these half of all fuel poor households require solid wall insulation.
“The report published by the chief construction adviser last November with input from industry identified key actions that could be undertaken to unlock the potential for solid wall insulation, many of which can be implemented quickly. The report encouraged the industry to take early action and that is exactly what we are doing through hosting this Summit. I’m pleased to announce that Peter Hansford has already confirmed that he will be attending the summit.”
The full report from the chief construction adviser can be viewed here.
