Insulating the community

Reducing the amount of energy lost through the walls and roofs of homes is a key tool in helping householders save money and the Government achieve its carbon reduction ambitions.

Eco-Easterside is a project funded by the Department for Energy and Climate Change that aims to help residents in Easterside, Middlesbrough significantly reduce their heating costs and cut their CO² emissions by installing cavity wall and loft insulation in homes throughout the area. The Easterside community is a fuel poor area where increasing energy prices means many residents are finding higher energy bills a particular problem. Loft and cavity wall insulation offers a quick and simple solution to this problem. It not only helps lower fuel bills by keeping homes warmer in winter but also helps to cut domestic CO² emissions.

tadea was given responsibility for managing the insulation scheme in Easterside.

tadea have a huge amount of experience in insulation scheme management and were able to bring that to the heart of this project.

Householders wishing to apply for cavity or loft insulation were referred to the Energy Saving Trust advice line, managed by tadea, where they were able to discuss their particular circumstances with our trained advisors and given advice about the grants and other help that may be available to them. A key support activity was a marketing campaign provided by tadea targeting householders who were in fuel poverty and without adequate home insulation, to make sure they were aware of the insulation offer available.

In parallel, we sourced local insulation contractors and provided project management ensuring that all those households that qualified for help had the insulation installed in a manner that met time, cost and quality requirements.

Initially tadea were contracted to improve insulation in 200 homes, but because of our experience and expertise in this area we were able to improve 282 homes without further investment from our partners in Middlesbrough Council and Middlesbrough Environment City.

This not only helps keeps Easterside homes warmer in winter but reduces their fuel bills by as much as £250 a year (on an average three-bedroom property) and helps the Eco-Easterside’s Low Carbon Communities Challenge achieve its carbon reduction ambitions.

Miss Caroline Wardell is among the residents who have benefitted. She commented that the referral process was “a quick and simple service” and that she was “able to get the work done really quickly”. Most importantly she has already noticed “how much warmer” her home is.