INCA, the recognised trade association for the external wall insulation industry in the UK announce the publication of the new Best Practice Guide for EWI.
The 2023 annual report presents indepth statistics on the government supported energy efficiency schemes in Great Britain (GB) and updated estimates of GB insulation levels.
Deadlines for the Future Homes and Buildings Standards, the Home Energy Model (HEM) and the Home Energy Model: Future Homes Standard assessment (SAP) consultations extended.
The Scottish Government are consulting on proposals to make new laws around the energy efficiency of our homes and buildings and the way we heat those buildings.
Changes to the building control process for higher-risk buildings and wider changes to procedural building regulations applying to buildings in England.
The Government publish regular statistics relating to energy efficiency as a whole and the impact the various schemes and initiatives are having on the drive towards net zero. In this post we've included links to some of the main statistics to monitor
CSCS will cease renewing cards issued via Industry Accreditation from 30th June 2024, while all IA cards issued from 1st Jan 2020 will expire on 31st Dec 2024 and will not be renewed.
DLUHC have launched a consultation on changes to Part 6, Part L and Part F of the Building Regulations for dwellings and non-domestic buildings and seeking evidence on Part O.
The government has opened consultation into its Future Homes and Buildings Standard, which will set regulations for house-building from 2025 - have your say by 6th March 2024.
Chris Skidmore launched the Mission Zero Coalition in March 2023 to build on the momentum from the Mission Zero report. Read about the work of the group and download the latest reports to be published.
The British Standards Institute (BSI) have published Publicly Available Standards (PAS) 2035/2030:2023, and it's now available at BSI’s webstore as a FREE download.
The Welsh Government has published the results of their February 2023 consultation into Building Safety and the proposed definition of higher-risk buildings
More than 300,000 homes in England, Scotland and Wales to get insulation installed, which could save families an average of £400 a year on their energy bills.
Courses are set to be free or heavily discounted and training providers across England can now bid for a share of £8.85 million government funding to offer the courses
Britain has added a number of construction roles to its "shortage occupation list", allowing the building industry to bring in staff from abroad more easily to help employers struggling to fill positions.
The Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) publish a report setting out the findings from its call for information on consumer protection in the green heating and insulation sector.
Each month the Government publish the latest statistics relation to household energy efficiency and the impact that the various schemes and initiatives are having.
InstaGroup has been supplying and installing External Wall insulation and replacement windows for homes in Ealing, Greater London through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund (SHDF). The 44 properties were constructed in the 1930s and 1940s.
Read about SWIGA, what we stand for, the benefits of membership and why you should can always relay on SWIGA members when it comes to solid wall insulation projects.
The Department of Energy Security and Net Zero has named Ofgem as the intended Administrator of the Great British Insulation Scheme (ECO+). They are now asking for your views on how this administartion should work.
Thanks to the presenters and all who attended the SWIGA Industry Open Day in April 2023 - here's a quick reminder of the key points which were addressed.
The Energy Security and Net Zero Committee scrutinises the policy, spending and administration of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and its public bodies.
The Government recently published its official response to the ECO+ (now known as the Great British Insulation Scheme) consultaion it undertook in December 2022.
Within the publication of the "Powering Up Britain" document on 30th March 2023 lis the news that ECO and ECO+ are being rebranded as the Great British Insulation Scheme.
The Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2035/2030 documents, published and owned by British Standards Institute (BSI), are currently undergoing a revision process and have launched a public consultation.
£778 million has been offered to 107 projects for Wave 2.1 of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund. Match funding from Wave 2.1 applicants provides an additional £1.1 billion.
On 16th March the Government announced the team of industry experts invited to join the Energy Efficiency Taskforce and help boost energy efficiency. Who's in?
A reminder that our FREE Associate Membership for Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Social Landlords gives you access to a wealth of knowledge and support.
Alison Rose DBE, NatWest CEO, named Co-Chair of the Energy Efficiency Taskforce alongside Lord Callanan to spearhead efforts to reduce the UK’s energy consumption and cut household bills.
The UK Government has officially announced the creation of a new Government department - the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. But what does this mean and how will it effect our industry?
Former Energy Minister Chris Skidmore publishes his Net Zero Review, outlining the opportunities offered by net zero. His findings ; UK could do more to reap economic benefits of green growth!
Did you know that SWIGA have a section of the Knowledge Hud dedicated to Non-Traditional forms of construction?
Just one of the benefits to FREE SWIGA Associate Membership.
Did you know that one of the benefits of SWIGA membership is the opportunity to publish case studies which help get your company and the work that you do recognised by prospective clients and specifiers throughout the UK.
Businesses have been given UK product marking flexibility. CE Marking will continue to be recognised giving industry an additional 2 years to apply new product safety marking.
BEIS have launched the awaited consultation on ECO + which gives you all the chance to have your say but you'll need to be quick as the consultation closes on 23rd December 2022.
This short feature is designed to clarify exactly what a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) is and the relevent documents you need to be aware of in relation to Solid Wall Insulation
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng presents the Govenment's Growth Pan 2022 which includes an additional £1bn of ECO funding and up to £2.1bn to support local authorities, housing associations, schools and hospitals invest in energy efficiency measures.
SWIGA announce a new FREE associate membership aimed at supporting Local Authorities, Housing Associations and Social Landlords with retrofit upgrades to solid wall properties and housing stock where external wall insulation is under consideration as a measure under PAS2035.
Register for the FREE webinar on 23rd September at 10:00 to learn more.
With ECO4 legislation now officially in place SWIGA have published a comprehensive feature detailing all available grant funding streams in respect of solid wall insulation. Mant thanks to E-ON for this information
As such, BEIS have announced changes to their Ministerial team which will continue to deliver for businesses, industry and energy consumers in the weeks ahead.
A poll for the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit found that 84% of those asked about the action the Government should take to curb reliance on gas from Russia thought insulation was very or fairly important.
SWIGA held their 8th AGM on Thursday 31st March. The event was well attended with over 60 delegates representing Solid Wall insulation contractors and system developers.
There was an excellent line up of speakers headlined by Andrej Miller, Team leader - Energy Company Obligation and Warm Home Discount BEIS who provide details of the response to ECO 4 consultation.
We have received confirmation from BEIS that it is not a necessity to go below ground with the insulation to comply with PAS. We have been working on this for several months in cooperation with the NIA. Case studies were also provided by some of our members. Critically, during the process we liaised with all stake holders including Trustmark to ensure that the changes did not compromise compliance and technical monitoring.
MHCLG has conducted indicative analysis on the cladding coverage of residential buildings and the number of leasehold dwellings in those buildings. From this analysis:
It is now estimated that 492,000 leaseholders (up from 431,000) in residential buildings greater than 11m in height (more than 3 storeys) do not need to undergo an external wall survey process (EWS1) for their building in order for them to sell their property or re-mortgage.
Tradespeople are urged to sign up for TrustMark accreditation as part of the new Green Homes Grant scheme.
Builders, plumbers, and other tradespeople across England will need a government-backed seal of approval to provide their services as part of the new £2 billion Green Homes Grant
This £11million high rise retirement village development is part of Nottingham City Homes (NCH) and Nottingham City Council’s Building a Better Nottingham retrofit programme.
This rendered insulation system provided not only a face lift to this tired 1960’s high rise block but provided protection to its structure giving it at least a further 25 years of life.
Part of 210 house £2m scheme by Wrexham Council to modernise 1960s Lowton Cubitt steel frame houses, to ensure they achieved the Welsh Governments Welsh housing quality standard by 2020.
Working with the Energy Agency East Ayrshires Council combined there own funding with various grants available to them including ECO, HEEPS (ABS), CESP. To allow this combination of social housing and private properties to be refurbished.
Solid Wall Insulation successfully transformed the tired, stained exterior of this home in Bracknell to its fresh, clean look brimming with kerb appeal – while massively improving its energy efficiency
The installation of 558 council-owned properties in Chesterfield entailed installing EWI and weatherproof decorative render to a mixture of houses and low-rise blocks, all of which were originally built with solid walls and therefore exhibited poor heat retention.
This project involved the refurbishment of 107 two storey properties. The properties were system-built McRae type properties, timber framed with an external façade made up of Glass Reinforced Concrete.
The town of Gosport on the south coast of England has seen five1960’s tower blocks undergo a much needed upgrade; Garland Court, Harbour Tower, Seaward Tower, Blake Court and Hammond Court - all owned by Hyde Housing Group.
The homeowner complained of the upstairs front bedrooms being ‘’absolutely freezing in winter,” The front of the houses in this particular area are traditionally tile-hung, and that was the problem.
Flintshire County Council identified 250 local properties that had solid walls and were therefore hard to heat and expensive to keep warm. They were a mix of social housing and privately owned homes.
This project was for the Structural Refurbishment of 36 Cornish Type I consisting of 4x two-storey blocks of flats containing 16 flats (2 leasehold) and 16 semi-detached/end terrace and 4 mid-terrace houses. All homes will be occupied for the duration of the works.
Sustainable Building Services (SBS) was awarded this contract to deliver Energy Efficiency Improvement Works to 180 occupied properties on behalf of Broxtowe Council under the Efficiency East Midlands Framework.
The installation of external wall insulation (EWI) to over 1,100 private and social housing properties. The work was procured by Nottingham City Homes (NCH) via the Efficiency East Midlands (EEM) solid wall insulation framework.
The SWIGA Guarantee provides householders with an independent, uniform and dependable warranty covering professionally installed external wall insulation systems.
Solid Wall Insulation (SWI) provides a thermal layer for existing buildings that don't have a cavity wall or are classed as non-traditional or hard-to-treat properties.
See these useful links to important official doccumentation and publications relating to the Green Homes Grant and Local Authority Delivery Scheme information.
The NIA has launched a report today, calling for the Home Upgrades Grant Scheme promised in the 2019 Conservative Manifesto to be fast-tracked as part of the green recovery, providing a considered view on how the scheme might work.
In the March 2020 budget, the Government announced that it will provide £1 billion in 2020/21 to support the remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems1 on residential buildings 18 metres and over in both the private and social housing sectors.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland Governments highlight the support available for business’s and employees affected by the Coronavirus epidemic
SWIGA have followed the latest government advice regarding unnecessary travel and social distancing which has a profound consequence for the welfare of our staff, customers and associates.