The heat is on

According to EU figures, approximately 40 per cent of the UK's energy consumption is expended on heating, cooling and lighting buildings. In the face of pressure to cut carbon emissions, reducing this figure is now a key government target.

The

, published by the Department for Communities and Local Government in 2006, set a target of producing zero carbon homes by 2016. Meanwhile, later this year the government's Climate Change Bill will become law. This aims to set a legal framework for ensuring reductions in CO

emissions by 2020 with a final aim of achieving a 60 per cent reduction of 1990 carbon emission levels by 2050.

But it is not just the government that is interested in reducing energy loss — and its associated bills. Measuring the insulation properties of building materials and structures began in the 1940s and 1950s, but was thrust into the spotlight during the energy crisis of the 1970s. Now, soaring energy costs and the introduction of Energy Performance Certificates that allow prospective homebuyers, and soon, renters, to see a home's energy use have once again brought insulation to the fore.