HOW GREEN IS YOUR HOME?

If you’re living in a developer home built between the 1960s and 1980s, what can you do to slash your energy bills this year — and for many years to come? Our experts offer invaluable advice

WORDS: ALISON WALL ALL IMAGES: GETTY IMAGES

We continue our series on insulation with a look at developer homes that were built between the 1960s and 1980s. Four experts share their advice on the various steps you can take to insulate this type of home on different budgets — from £200 to £20,000+. Our experts are architect Paul Testa, who carried out extensive energy efficiency improvements in his own mid-century home; Paul Ciniglio, refurbishment lead with the National Energy Foundation; David Hilton, an expert in sustainable buildings and energy efficiency; and Tim Pullen, an expert in sustainable building methods and energy efficiency.

We’ve asked them to assume that the house has cavity walls and an electric storage heating system.

FIRST STEPS

The good news is that improving the energy efficiency of these homes is a relatively straightforward process and is low risk compared to tackling older homes that have solid brick walls, says Paul Testa. “While many of these homes would have been built with no insulation in them, the windows are often double glazed, so the building standards are not very far off what we see in new builds,” he explains.