Pro Installer April 2015 - Issue 25 | Página 5

5 PRO INSTALLER APRIL 2015 PRO NEWS @proinstaller1 £70M GREEN DEAL FUND “NOT ENOUGH” The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) announced the third release of the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund (GDHIF) will be worth up to £70m, but the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) maintains that the fund does not have enough incentives for consumers wanting to install energy efficient glazing. From midday, Monday 16 March, the scheme was opened to new applications for the new release of funding; with up to £5,600 available to households in England and Wales to help with the cost of installing certain energy saving measures such as solid wall insulation, double glazing, boilers, cavity wall and floor insulation. Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “We’re helping families keep warmer for less; driving bills down by encouraging more competition between energy suppliers and making over one million homes more energy efficient. Households up and down the country are reaping the benefits of a warmer home thanks to the Green Deal Home Improvement Fund. And now, with more money available, thousands more can benefit.” Nigel Rees, GGF Group Chief Executive commented: “Of course it is positive to see funding for homeowners wanting to make their properties more energy efficient but we still feel the incentives are not nearly enough for homeowners wanting to install glazing.” DECC’s latest Green Deal statistics published in Febru- ary show that out of 15,000 measures installed under Green Deal Home Improvement Fund only 47 windows have been installed and Nigel Rees adds: “The scheme and funding appears to favour some types of energy efficiency work and not others such as glazing. The latest round of funding is a slight improvement but is not nearly enough to make a difference to homeowners and the replacement window industry.” More than 25,000 households have already received a voucher for The Green Deal Home Improvement Fund since it launched in June 2014. For the third release of funding, money has been increased for the two measures offer. Domestic energy customers will be able to receive: • up to £3750 for installing solid wall insulation; • and/or up to £1250 for installing two measures from the approved list. • up to £100 refunded for their Green Deal Assessment; • up to £500 more if applying within 12 months of buying a new home. The £70 million for the third release will be available for applications for solid wall insulation and/or the two measures offer until all the funding is allocated. The up to £70 million available for release 3 is part of the additional £100 million for household energy efficiency announced in October 2014. This funding is in addition to the £450 million already allocated to household energy efficiency from 2014 – 17. For further information go to www.ggf.org.uk Installer optimism surrounding growing sash window market 88% of installers expect more sash window jobs in 2015, and 65% feel sash window jobs are more profitable than casements, according to the latest study into the market by Roseview Windows. Working alongside industry data specialists Insight Data, Roseview recently questioned over 10,000 installers, asking their opinions on sash windows and gauging their confidence in the market. Aside from concluding that the majority of installers expect the market to continue to grow, the survey also revealed that 69% buy-in sash windows with run-through sash horns and 50% with mechanical joints. The move to these specialised conservation features GLASS CLEANER CAT NO. EB1701 FROM ONLY £2 .34 goes hand in hand with the growth in the heritage market, where authentic aesthetics are especially important. 65% of installers said they had installed PVCu sash windows in a conservation area, with many agreeing that PVCu sash windows can replace timber, offering modern benefits whilst retaining traditional aesthetics. ACETIC CURE SILICONE SEALANT CAT NO. EU33SC (CLEAR) CAT NO. EU33SW (WHITE) CAT NO. EU33SBL (BLACK) Mike Bygrave, marketing manager of Roseview Windows, comments: “As a specialist sash window fabricator, Roseview have a vested interested in the future of the market so we decided to team up with Insight Data and gauge industry opinion. “The latest Palmer Market Report announced that the market had grown by 15%, but we wanted to go into U-CHANNEL FROM ONLY £1 CAT NO. SDCD38BA .48 AN AMAZING £13.00 MINIMUM ORDER 12 MINIMUM ORDER 12 ORDER QUANTITY 12 LENGTHS. 1 LENGTH ONLY £14.60 RAZOR BLADES CAT NO. 51S EVERGRIP MIRROR ADHESIVE CAT NO. EG310 more depth and hear the views of installers selling sash windows at the sharp end. It was fascinating to read the responses and overall the answers were very positive. It was particularly pleasing to see that 10