SIGNIFICENT PROGRESS HAS been made in providing external wall insulation to Moray homes as part of the Home Energy Efficiency Programme for Scotland (HEEPS).
That is according to a report to Moray Councillors who will be told that wall insulation was completed on 109 homes – including 50 Council houses as the first phase of a programme that will insulate around 200 homes in the Milton Drive and Brodie Avenue are of Buckie.
Moray Council has also secured funding through the Scottish Government’s HEEPS Cashback Scheme for Social Housing providers that will be used for as second phase of 35 Council houses, with officers putting plans in place to ensure these are completed before 31 March.
In a report being put to the Communities Committee tomorrow, officials have noted that because of “technical issues” with the internal wall insulation element of the programme only one home has been completed.
That was done as part of a feasibility study to test “the suitability of this measure to older, stone-build houses”. The study identified issues with internal insulation around decorative features such as plaster cornicing and moulded skirtings, the report saying: “It was decided not to proceed further with the internal insulation programme and to explore alternative technical options for insulating pre-1919 properties”.
It added that the funding allocated to that element of the programme was transferred to the external wall insulation programme.
Keith-based energy advice group REAP are now working on a project to monitor the impact of the HEEPS programme in Moray on fuel poverty of households which have received energy efficiency measures in their homes.
The report comments: “The project will aim to monitor changes in the households’ energy costs and heating comfort since the measures were installed, as well as offering general support to deal with fuel poverty.
“A project to monitor the energy use of households participating in the HEEPS programme was originally to have been carried out by SSE (Scottish and Southern Energy) using SCARF (Save Cash and Reduce Fuel) on an agency basis but this work could not be taken forward due to confidentiality and data protection issues around the use of SSE’s customer database.”
That project is expected to be completed by May with the results being reported to a future meeting of the Communities Committee.