\u2022 This research note looks at nanotechnology insulation, a new method of improving energy efficiency in our homes.
\n\u2022 Energy efficiency is of particular relevance in the UK, as our housing stock is one of the least efficient in Western Europe [1].
\n\u2022 As well as combating climate change, and simply reducing energy bills, we see that improving energy efficiency can help fight fuel poverty, improve health, improve energy security and provide jobs and GDP growth.
\n\u2022 Houses lose heat through all their surfaces, but walls and roofs are the chief culprits, together responsible for up to ~60% of heat loss [2]. We look at how insulation has traditionally been employed to reduce these losses.
\n\u2022 Traditional methods have disadvantages. Cavity wall insulation can transmit damp across the cavity [9]. Solid wall insulation is expensive and may alter the look of the inside\/outside of a property [3].
\n\u2022 The use of flammable cladding as part of external wall insulation may have contributed to the devastating consequences of the June 2017 Grenfell tower fire [13].
\n\u2022 We see that nanotechnology insulation can remove or mitigate these deficiencies, insulating internally\/externally in a fireproof fashion with only a few mm of thickness, either instead of traditional methods, or where traditional methods have failed, or cannot be used.
\n\u2022 We estimate nano-insulation has a potential market size comfortably over 10 million homes in the UK, a small fraction of which we estimate would make it a billion-pound industry.<\/p>\n
Why is improving energy efficiency important?<\/strong><\/h3>\nReducing bills, fighting fuel poverty<\/strong><\/p>\nThe most obvious reason is that it brings down energy bills; with a more energy efficient home, less energy is needed to heat it. The UK Energy Bill Revolution – a fuel poverty alliance – estimates that, with the introduction of substantial government measures to address energy efficiency, comes a \u00a38.61 billion per annum saving in total energy bills across the UK housing stock [1]. For some, cheaper bills are simply a nice-to-have, but for millions of people in the UK living in fuel poverty, this is a critical issue.<\/p>\n
Fuel poverty is calculated by gauging if a household\u2019s income would fall below the official poverty line after spending the actual amount needed to heat the home. The average fuel poverty gap of these households \u2013 that is, the amount needed to escape fuel poverty \u2013 is \u00a3371 a year [4]. The Government estimates that 2.32 million households (10% of households) were in fuel poverty in 2014 [5]. As well as being simply miserable, a cold home can lead to health problems with potentially very serious consequences. It is estimated that over 40,000 people died from the cold in the Winter of 14\/15, a 15 year high [5]. For every \u00a31 spent on reducing fuel poverty, a return of 42 pence is expected in National Health Service (NHS) savings [1].<\/p>\n
Combating climate change<\/strong> [1]<\/p>\nBuildings are responsible for almost 37% of all UK carbon emissions. By improving energy efficiency, this could be cut considerably. The UK Energy Bill Revolution suggested measures (mentioned above) could lead to an estimated annual reduction of 23.6 MtCO2 (metric tonnes of CO2) by 2030.<\/p>\n
Providing jobs, GDP growth<\/strong> [1]<\/p>\nThese same measures could also bring about:
\n\u2022 0.6% relative GDP improvement by 2030, increasing annual GDP by\u00a3 13.9 billion a year.
\n\u2022 increased employment of up to 108,000 net jobs per annum over the period 2020-2030, mostly in the service and construction sectors.<\/p>\n
Improving energy security<\/strong><\/p>\nThis is perhaps the least obvious reason energy efficiency is important. The IEA defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price [6]. If less electricity is consumed, for example, availability of electricity should be easier to achieve as there should be no need to build additional generation capacity to cope with demand (other than to replace existing generation capacity) and prices are more likely to remain affordable; by simple economics, if generation capacity is limited versus demand, prices tend to rise. Consuming less energy also makes the economy more resilient to changes in energy prices.<\/p>\n
How does a house lose heat?<\/strong><\/h3>\nHouses lose heat mainly through the walls and roof, as these are the largest areas in contact with the outside world. Therefore, the biggest energy efficiency improvements can be made by insulating these. Figure 1, below, shows how a house gains and loses heat.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/350ppm.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/fig-1.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n Traditional ways of reducing heat loss<\/strong><\/h3>\nLofts are typically insulated using rolls of wool insulation, or polystyrene boards. For walls, things are slightly complicated by the fact that houses have different types of wall depending on when they were built. Older properties (<1920) tend to have solid walls. Newer properties tend to have cavity walls, made up of two walls with an air gap between them. Existing cavity walls can be insulated relatively cheaply by injecting or blowing insulation into the cavity (Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI)). New cavity walls have insulating panels installed between them. Solid walls are insulated either externally, or internally (External Wall Insulation (EWI), Internal Wall Insulation (IWI)). Externally, insulating material of thickness 50-100 mm is fixed to the walls, and a protective render, or decorative cladding, goes over the top. Internally, rolls or boards of insulating material are fit over the walls. Figure 2, below, summarizes the remaining potential for the main methods of insulation in the UK at the end of 2016, including 5.4 million homes with cavity walls but without CWI (31% of properties with cavity walls) and 7.8 million homes with solid walls but without insulation (92% of properties with solid walls). Of the 31% homes with cavity walls but without CWI, 1.3 million homes are classified as hard to treat with CWI.<\/p>\n
Other measures such as double glazing, insulating floors and draught-proofing are also beneficial, though some measures are marginal in terms of cost\/benefit, having long payback periods, see [8] for more detail.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/350ppm.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/fig-2.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\nProblems with traditional methods<\/strong><\/h3>\nCavity walls<\/strong><\/p>\nAccording to Which?, most cavity wall insulations do not cause any problems. However, under certain circumstances, the insulation can transmit rain across the cavity, causing damp problems internally. Which? state that risk factors for this happening include the house being exposed to severe levels of wind-driven rain (see Figure 3, below), being located in an unsheltered position and\/or having poorly built or maintained walls [9]. A survey on 250,000 homes found that about half of the homes with CWI it investigated had damp, slumping or missing insulation. Should this figure hold true across the total housing stock, it will mean that of the six million properties with cavity walls guaranteed by CIGA (Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency), [3] million could have problems [10].<\/p>\n
The most obvious reason is that it brings down energy bills; with a more energy efficient home, less energy is needed to heat it. The UK Energy Bill Revolution – a fuel poverty alliance – estimates that, with the introduction of substantial government measures to address energy efficiency, comes a \u00a38.61 billion per annum saving in total energy bills across the UK housing stock [1]. For some, cheaper bills are simply a nice-to-have, but for millions of people in the UK living in fuel poverty, this is a critical issue.<\/p>\n
Fuel poverty is calculated by gauging if a household\u2019s income would fall below the official poverty line after spending the actual amount needed to heat the home. The average fuel poverty gap of these households \u2013 that is, the amount needed to escape fuel poverty \u2013 is \u00a3371 a year [4]. The Government estimates that 2.32 million households (10% of households) were in fuel poverty in 2014 [5]. As well as being simply miserable, a cold home can lead to health problems with potentially very serious consequences. It is estimated that over 40,000 people died from the cold in the Winter of 14\/15, a 15 year high [5]. For every \u00a31 spent on reducing fuel poverty, a return of 42 pence is expected in National Health Service (NHS) savings [1].<\/p>\n
Combating climate change<\/strong> [1]<\/p>\n Buildings are responsible for almost 37% of all UK carbon emissions. By improving energy efficiency, this could be cut considerably. The UK Energy Bill Revolution suggested measures (mentioned above) could lead to an estimated annual reduction of 23.6 MtCO2 (metric tonnes of CO2) by 2030.<\/p>\n Providing jobs, GDP growth<\/strong> [1]<\/p>\n These same measures could also bring about: Improving energy security<\/strong><\/p>\n This is perhaps the least obvious reason energy efficiency is important. The IEA defines energy security as the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price [6]. If less electricity is consumed, for example, availability of electricity should be easier to achieve as there should be no need to build additional generation capacity to cope with demand (other than to replace existing generation capacity) and prices are more likely to remain affordable; by simple economics, if generation capacity is limited versus demand, prices tend to rise. Consuming less energy also makes the economy more resilient to changes in energy prices.<\/p>\n Houses lose heat mainly through the walls and roof, as these are the largest areas in contact with the outside world. Therefore, the biggest energy efficiency improvements can be made by insulating these. Figure 1, below, shows how a house gains and loses heat.<\/p>\n Lofts are typically insulated using rolls of wool insulation, or polystyrene boards. For walls, things are slightly complicated by the fact that houses have different types of wall depending on when they were built. Older properties (<1920) tend to have solid walls. Newer properties tend to have cavity walls, made up of two walls with an air gap between them. Existing cavity walls can be insulated relatively cheaply by injecting or blowing insulation into the cavity (Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI)). New cavity walls have insulating panels installed between them. Solid walls are insulated either externally, or internally (External Wall Insulation (EWI), Internal Wall Insulation (IWI)). Externally, insulating material of thickness 50-100 mm is fixed to the walls, and a protective render, or decorative cladding, goes over the top. Internally, rolls or boards of insulating material are fit over the walls. Figure 2, below, summarizes the remaining potential for the main methods of insulation in the UK at the end of 2016, including 5.4 million homes with cavity walls but without CWI (31% of properties with cavity walls) and 7.8 million homes with solid walls but without insulation (92% of properties with solid walls). Of the 31% homes with cavity walls but without CWI, 1.3 million homes are classified as hard to treat with CWI.<\/p>\n Other measures such as double glazing, insulating floors and draught-proofing are also beneficial, though some measures are marginal in terms of cost\/benefit, having long payback periods, see [8] for more detail.<\/p>\n Cavity walls<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Which?, most cavity wall insulations do not cause any problems. However, under certain circumstances, the insulation can transmit rain across the cavity, causing damp problems internally. Which? state that risk factors for this happening include the house being exposed to severe levels of wind-driven rain (see Figure 3, below), being located in an unsheltered position and\/or having poorly built or maintained walls [9]. A survey on 250,000 homes found that about half of the homes with CWI it investigated had damp, slumping or missing insulation. Should this figure hold true across the total housing stock, it will mean that of the six million properties with cavity walls guaranteed by CIGA (Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency), [3] million could have problems [10].<\/p>\n
\n\u2022 0.6% relative GDP improvement by 2030, increasing annual GDP by\u00a3 13.9 billion a year.
\n\u2022 increased employment of up to 108,000 net jobs per annum over the period 2020-2030, mostly in the service and construction sectors.<\/p>\nHow does a house lose heat?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n Traditional ways of reducing heat loss<\/strong><\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nProblems with traditional methods<\/strong><\/h3>\n