According to the Local Government Association (LGA), insulation is the key to ensuring energy efficiency and reducing fuel bills. The organization is now urging the government to force the country?s energy companies to insulate more homes. The goal will be both to compel these companies to meet their carbon emissions reduction targets and to make future HVAC jobs in these households much easier.

In the words of Councillor Paul Bettison, Chairman of LGA?s Environment Board: ?The failure of energy companies to really help households cut heir fuel bills is an outrage. Energy suppliers should be filling our lofts and walls with insulation, not filling our cupboards with light bulbs.??? By this, Bettison is referring to those energy companies that attempt to achieve their carbon emissions reduction targets through measures such as delivering energy saving light bulbs to customers.

?Home insulation is much more effective way to cut people?s fuel bills and carbon emissions than sending out a light bulb, which only lasts around seven years. Home insulation brings savings for decades,??? Bettison argued. Those with HVAC jobs would certainly agree with LGA?s estimation that insulation could help 1.4 million householders save ?220 per year each, far higher than the ?3 saving delivered by energy saving light bulbs.

More importantly, according to LGA, insulating more homes would help create 4,000 jobs in HVAC and save consumers over ?300 million each year. The more the energy companies could contribute to building a sustainable living environment, the better they would be able to help thousands of people in this country move out of fuel poverty. ?The vulnerable and elderly could afford to keep their homes warm, instead of living in houses that are cold, damp and damaging to their health,??? Bettison concluded.

Finally, those with HVAC jobs are urged to remind their clients that energy efficiency should be seen as integral to the management of properties, be they residential or commercial. In other words, a crucial aspect of jobs in HVAC should be for clients and building services providers to work together to improve the conditions of properties and reduce their carbon footprints.