Mon 19 May 2008
Government prompted to introduce Solar thermal
Roof window manufacturer VELUX is calling on the government to use solar thermal technology in all new-build homes.The company is campaigning for the introduction of the blanket policy in order to further improve the energy efficiency of new housing stock, while bringing the industry closer to the government’s ambitious eco targets.
VELUX claim that Solar thermal is one of the few tried and tested eco technologies currently on the market, able to provide up to 70% of a home’s hot water requirements, making it one of the simplest and most cost effective ways to significantly increase energy efficiency across new housing stock.
Kevin Brennan (pictured), head of sustainability for VELUX Company Ltd, said: “Housebuilders are under increasing pressure to improve the energy efficiency of their homes, with ambitious government targets to make all homes zero carbon by 2016. However, the UK is currently lagging behind Europe when it comes to building energy efficient homes. A blanket policy, such as the one in Spain, which demands that all new homes, which can benefit from solar thermal, have this technology installed, is a necessary step for the UK. If our government is really serious about reducing the current carbon emissions released from our homes then it needs to introduce similar legislation now.
“Admittedly, given the current low volumes and cottage industry, the costs to manufacture and install technologies such as solar hot water systems are still unnecessarily high. However, if the use of this technology became mandatory, the unit and installation costs would fall significantly – allowing housebuilders to significantly improve the energy efficiency of their new homes, at minimal cost.”
Posted by Marc Da-Silva
in Velux on Mon 19 May 2008
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