Insulation Material Guide, Facts and advice

“Glasswool insulation saves over 1500 times the energy used in its manufacture over the lifetime of a building.”

“If everyone in the UK installed cavity wall insulation, we would cut CO₂ emissions by 9 million tonnes. That’s enough to fill nearly 51 million doubledecker buses” [source]

“Insulating both cavity walls and lofts can save a household up to £200 every year in heating costs.” [1]

It’s now generally accepted that emitting carbon dioxide (CO₂) into the atmosphere is the main cause of climate change. CO₂ absorbs the sun rays and the energy it radiates heats up the Earth. This is commonly known as the “Greenhouse Effect”

Unfortunately, we cannot stop climate change in the short term, but we can immediately contribute to the solution. The concentration of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere means that further climate change is inevitable. These will take years to be absorbed by our forests and oceans, but there are other things we can do as a nation that will have a positive effect on slowing down climate change.

There is no one solution, but instead a variety of measures:

1. Improve ‘Energy Efficiency’ - Insulation, condensing boilers, cars with smaller engines
2. Switch to ‘Renewable Energy‘ sources - Wind, tide, solar, geothermal
3. Increase the efficiency of ‘Fossil Fuel’ power stations
4. Switch to ‘Nuclear’ power stations

Should you care

The impact of climate change is growing and the future effects are potentially devastating.

We have all seen the recent extremes in weather conditions, and this is only the start. With the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, we will inevitably experience more significant changes, including:

Drought and Flooding
This will affect people’s health and lifestyle and cause the irreversible loss of many species of plants and animals.

Higher Temperatures
Out of the 10 hottest summers in the past 100 years, half have occurred in the last 10 years. There are plenty of visible signs. For instance, for the first time since records began, the Northwest Passage through the arctic is now navigable due to shrinking ice floes.

Rising Sea Levels
This is caused by the polar ice caps and mountain glaciers melting. It will jeopardise the existence of some island states and displace millions of people in low lying areas. In the UK rising seas will threaten coastal communities.

Climate change will bring huge costs to our economy, environment and society. To see how it will affect the UK, why not visit www.ukcip.org.uk/scenarios