CPA blasts energy firms on insulation failure

The chief executive of the Construction Products Association is to write to Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, accusing the government of failing to ensure the widespread installation of extra insulation.

Michael Ankers says the industry has invested in extra manpower to help meet energy suppliers’ target to cut emissions by more than 150 million tonnes by 2011.

But Andrew Warren, director of the Association for the Conservation of Energy, says energy companies have only been insulating 575,000 cavity walls a year, rather than the 950,000 the government had expected.

Instead, many energy companies are meeting emissions targets by other means, such as by sending out low-energy light bulbs.

Ankers said it was “enormously frustrating” that less insulation work would be carried out in 2009 than was the case last year.

He will demand a meeting between government officials and the industry to discuss how to clarify expected workloads.

The government carried out a consultation last week into energy targets, the results of which are expected in May. Under present targets a quarter of homes will have a full makeover by 2020 and energy audits will be extended to all homes.