Super-insulated walls

Most of the heat escaping from our homes goes out through the walls. Any new-build you are carrying out on your home, or re-building, provides an opportunity to dramatically increase the insulation, and so

• reduce winter fuel bills
• reduce summer cooling bills - if you have air-conditioning
• increase thermal comfort in all seasons
• reduce your contribution to "global warming".

Many older buildings are built using nine inch solid brick walls, which offer very little thermal insulation. Cavity walls, as used from the 1930's onwards, perform much better, especially when the cavity is filled with insulating material. But modern materials and technologies provide the opportunity to achieve far greater insulation than most of us enjoy. These include:

• lightweight blocks made out of coal ash recycled from power stations, with high insulation values
• closed cell blown foams with many times the insulation value of traditional materials.

I always recommend using the combination of materials that will achieve the highest possible insulation, within the context of the desired finish and wall thickness. The relatively small extra cost of building to a high thermal standard will pay off many times over in the years following building, all the more so as fuel costs rise.

And remember that homes for sale or rent will soon be subject to an "energy MOT" which will inform buyers / renters of the home's thermal performance. Low-performing homes will be hard to shift, while high-performers will achive premium prices!