Minister for Housing and Welfare, Margaret Burgess MSP, recently visited a number of projects across Perth and Kinross, including an energy efficiency project SSE is helping deliver in the city’s North Muirton area.
Mrs Burgess was given a tour of the external wall insulation works being carried out on 389 timber-framed homes in North Muirton. The multi-million pound project, to fit external cladding on the homes, will help reduce the energy bills of households and cut their carbon footprint.
External wall insulation systems can save up to 45% of the heat loss from a home and can result in an average reduction in fuel bills of up to £460 a year.
The project is being funded through Perth and Kinross Council under the Scottish Government’s Home Energy Efficiency Programmes Area Based Schemes (HEEPS-ABS) and SSE’s Energy Company Obligation (ECO).
Over £3m of ECO funding has been provided by SSE to support the insulation measures to privately owned and privately rented houses as well as the Council’s own housing stock. The project is on track to benefit over 1,100 homes across Perth and Kinross over the next year.
Mrs Burgess, who met some of the residents during her visit to Perth, said: “I visited three households who had benefited from the scheme and they all said their homes felt warmer and were sure they would see a reduction in their winter fuel bills. So it’s clear that projects like this are already making a real difference to people’s lives.
“It is excellent that SSE is so committed to improving the energy efficiency of Scottish housing by helping to deliver this project with a £3 million investment.”
Dave Pollinger from SSE also attended the visit. He added: “The Perth project is one of our biggest ECO projects in the UK and we’re extremely proud to be part of it and play an important role in improving the energy efficiency of homes.
“We’re delighted to be making great progress in Perth, having already completed over 600 across the region. We were also pleased to hear some really positive feedback from residents, with many enjoying the new look of their properties and its improved energy efficiency.”
To find out more about energy efficiency improvements visit: http://www.sse.co.uk/BeingGreen/Insulation/