Energy efficiency improvements

An EPC rating can be bettered by improving the key elements assessed in the EPC assessment.

Improving heat loss

A standard home in the UK is estimated to:

• Lose 25% of its heat through the roof
• Lose 10% of its heat through the windows
• Lose 15% of its heat through the external door
• Lose 15% of its heat through the floors
• Lose 35% of its heat through the external walls

Reducing heat loss is key to improving the EPC rating and more importantly reducing the energy consumption of a home.

Insulation

Insulation of a building is vitally important to improve a building’s ability to retain heat. Measures to improve insulation are often referred to as ‘fabric measures’.

Common types of insulation are:

• Walls
  • External wall insulation | These are thick insulation slabs that are applied to the outside of the existing walls to a building to increase the insulation performance of the walls.
  • Cavity wall insulation | This is insulation that is pumped into the cavity/gap between the outer block wall and the inner block wall. It is often either a loose wool or paper type material and can also be polystyrene beads/balls.
  • Internal wall insulation | This insulation is applied to the face of the walls inside the home and works in a similar way to external wall insulation, just applied internally.
• Roof
  • Loft insulation | This is typically rolled insulation, laid between the ceiling joists that can be visible within the loft space. 
• Floors
  • Underfloor insulation | Typically requires floor coverings such as carpet or vinyl to be lifted along with floorboards and fitted to floor joists or on top of concrete. Floorboards and coverings are then put back on top.

Windows and doors

A typical UK home loses 10% of its heat through the windows and 15% of its heat through the external doors.

Modern windows and doors perform much better than older ones when keeping heat within a home through improved draught proofing and insulating qualities of the glass and frames themselves.

Our intention is to have a ‘Fabric First’ approach to our retro fit projects which means we will look to improve a buildings fabric (i.e. insulation, windows and doors) as a priority followed by heating systems and finally energy generation through solar panels.

Renewable heating and improved controls

Installing renewable energy heating systems is a key solution to improving a building’s impact on our environment.

Heat pumps are an energy efficient, low carbon way to heat your home. They’re suitable for almost all types of home and, depending on what heating system is being replaced, could save you money on your energy bills.

A heat pump is a heating system that:

• Takes in energy from a colder area, usually outside
• Raises the temperature
• Moves the heat into your home.

It uses electricity to do this, but it produces much more heat energy than it uses in electrical energy. This makes heat pumps a more energy efficient way to heat your home than traditional gas or oil boilers. 

It also produces far fewer carbon emissions than other heating systems.

The improvement of the energy performance of a home can be an expensive thing to do depending on the level of work required and the building itself.

Therefore, the Government has put into place grant funding opportunities for housing associations to apply for funding assistance.

The Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF) is designed for this purpose and we have already secured funding for a number of our homes to receive vital improvements.

Other funding options that we are exploring include:

• ECO4
• Great British Insulation Scheme

• What is retrofit? 

Retrofit means improving existing building energy performance. This can mean upgrading things like insulation, windows and doors or upgrading heating systems with energy efficient alternatives.

Retrofit also covers energy generation items such as solar panels or solar water heating systems.

• How do I find out the EPC rating for my home? 

EPC ratings are public knowledge and can be searched on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/find-energy-certificate 

• The EPC on my home has expired, what happens now? 

An expired EPC isn’t anything we need to act on from a regulation perspective.

We would look to get an expired EPC completed on property’s that are a D rating or worse because these homes require work at some point to improve the EPC rating to a minimum of C as soon as is reasonably possible.

We are currently concentrating on completing EPC assessments on homes where we do not hold any information.

Typically, an EPC rarely gets worse, so homes at C rating already will unlikely receive energy efficiency works ahead of those with worse ratings.

•  Can I have solar panels fitted on my home? 

The installation of solar panels will be appraised on a home-by-home basis and based on the EPC rating of each home.

Solar panels are often installed alongside other measures that improve the energy performance of the building fabric first as managing heat loss is the priority over energy generation because we need to reduce the energy demand first.

• What is grant funding? 

Grant funding is money that we can apply for to help pay for energy efficiency improvements to increase the EPC rating of our homes.

The grants are either from the government or from utility companies based on the funding opportunities at that time

• What does fabric first mean? 

Fabric first is an approach to improving the energy efficiency of buildings by focusing on the building construction first.

This means focusing on the:

·       Insulation of walls

·       Insulation of floors

·       Insulation of lofts/roofing

·       Windows and doors upgrades.

‘Fabric First’ is the key principle of successful retrofit projects that reduce energy demand on a home, improve thermal comfort for our customers, reduce heating bills and reducing the impact on our environment.

• What is PAS 2030/35? 

PAS (Publicly Available Specification) 2030 is a British Standards Institute (BSI) standard which sets out the requirements for installing, commissioning and handover of Energy Efficiency Measures in domestic retrofit projects.

PAS 2035 is a BSI standard which offers comprehensive guidance for energy retrofitting in existing homes, ensuring efficiency, sustainability, and improved performance.

• How do I know what works you will be doing to my home? 

If your home is identified as requiring energy improvement works, we will write to you indicating our initial intentions to complete further assessments and surveys. As energy efficiency improvements are often complex projects, they require many surveys ahead of works. After the surveys have been completed and the improvement measures established, we will write to you confirming our works intentions. We will also look to visit you to discuss the works in greater detail.

• When will I have works completed to my home to improve energy efficiency? 

If your home is rated D or worse, your home will require energy efficiency works and/or new surveys to understand what work is required to increase the energy efficiency of your home.

We are currently working on the worst rated homes i.e. E, F and G ratings for improvement first. We will write to you when we are planning to complete works to your home.

•  How much will I save per annum after the retrofit works are completed?

The amount of money potentially saved will be dependent on what the existing thermal efficiency performance of the home is and what measures are implemented to improve the overall efficiency. This will be understood on a home-by-home basis.

The energy saving trust have up to date information on potential savings per improvement measure along with some other great information on how to run your home more energy aware: https://energysavingtrust.org.uk 

• Why is my neighbour not having the same works as I am having ?

Each home will have its own level of energy performance and therefore its own plan for measures to improve overall energy efficiency.

Therefore, it is quite normal for homes to have varying measures applied. The aim is however for all our homes to be a minimum of a C rating.

Another reason for homes having varying improvement measures going forward is because some homes may already have them. Back in 2012, there were a lot of renewable technologies install throughout the country.

• Will you remove my Rayburn or open fire?

Ideally, we would prefer to remove/cover over open fireplaces as they present a significant heat loss concern for a building with significant amounts of heat lost through uninsulated chimney stacks.

Our preference is to remove all Rayburn’s or any other fossil fuel appliance in the coming years to reduce the impact on the environment and move towards more energy efficient options which export less carbon.

If you are concerned about this, please contact us and a member of the team will discuss these with you.

• Will I need to move out whilst the work is done?

Typically, customers do not need to move out of their homes for work. Works can be completed with you at home. We will work with you to ensure that disruption on your daily lives is kept to a minimum and that you are fully aware of the process for works completion. If you are concerned about this, please contact a member of the team and we will be happy to discuss these concerns with you.

• Will you need to lift up floor coverings to install new radiators?

Depending on the type of works completed, there may be a required to lift up floor coverings to access pipework or cables beneath the floorboards. This will be completed in communication with you, so that you are fully aware of what to expect and how our contractors intend to reinstate the flooring afterwards.

If you are concerned about this, please contact a member of the team and we will be happy to discuss these concerns with you.

• Will there be a point of contact on site during the work in case of any issues?

Aside from Westward and our normal contact details, our contractor will also have individuals assigned to the project to act as a point of contact. These individuals will be introduced to you prior to works and will be constant communication with Westward and you as is required for a smooth delivery of works to your home.

• How long will the work take? 

Works duration will vary depending on the level and complexity of work required. Our contractor will inform you of all information pertaining to the works commencement, duration and what to expect during the work, prior to start.

• What if I do not want the work doing?

Works to improve the thermal efficiency of your home are viewed as mandatory from our perspective. It is vitally important that we make these improvements, as it is you the customer whom will benefit the most from them. We are also expected to improve all our homes to a minimum EPC rating of C by 2030 as instructed by the current government. If you are concerned about this, please contact a member of the team and we will be happy to discuss these concerns with you.

•  Why is Westward spending all this money on improving insulation in my home when there is other issues I think are more pressing? 

Improving energy efficiency is one of many important areas of maintaining our homes to the Decent Homes Standard. If you have concerns that an area of your home requires improvement or repair, please report these to us so that they are assessed for further works consideration.

Replacements work is done at the point of need. This need is defined by:

• Age
• Condition
• Regulation compliance.

If you are concerned about this, please contact a member of the team and we will be happy to discuss these concerns with you.

• Where is all this money coming from to do this work?

Energy efficiency improvement works are typically part funded by the government depending on the circumstances and part funded by Westward Housing as a part of our 30-year property Investment plan.

Some projects depending on the works completed can be fully funded by the government or from utility companies.

The Energy Company Obligation (ECO4) is a government energy-efficiency scheme in Great Britain, designed to tackle fuel poverty and help reduce carbon emissions. ECO is an obligation placed on energy companies to deliver energy efficiency measures to domestic premises.

• Why are so many site surveys required before the work starts?

Due to the complexity of energy efficiency works and the requirements of funding from the government, there are increased requirements for more detailed surveys in your home. Ultimately, these surveys help ensure that the works being completed will be the most efficient way of improving the energy efficiency, improving the EPC rating and in turn save you money on your energy bills.

If you are concerned about this, please contact a member of the team and we will be happy to discuss these concerns with you.