Fabric measures: introduction

When introducing fabric measures the potential saving in running costs is dependant on a number of variables. The main ones are:

• The type of heating system used
• The thickness and type of any insulation material
• The lifestyle of the occupants (e.g. whether or not they open windows regularly, the times that they have the heating and hot water system on and the settings on thermostats etc.)

Because of the obvious large number of combinations of these factors it is not possible to say, in any given situation, what the actual saving will be resulting from the measure. In order to gain some understanding of how different measures compare the table below has been prepared. For both the cash saving and the carbon saving, two figures have been calculated. In both cases the lower figure against any measure represents the saving that would typically result if the dwelling was heated by a gas condensing boiler (SEDBUK 90%, TRVs), whereas the higher figure would relate to a dwelling heated by electric storage heaters.

* The Building Regulations (England & Wales) may require lower U-values then quoted here.

Technical Guidance
» GIL31 - Building Research Establishment Domestic Energy Model (BREDEM)