They are insulating homes to address fuel poverty, promote healthier living environments, and achieve net zero.

INCA: Government Must Prioritize Fabric Improvements in Energy Efficiency Schemes

The trade body representing the external wall insulation industry, INCA, has released a new report urging the government to prioritize fabric improvements in energy efficiency schemes. According to the report, abandoning or deprioritizing these improvements in response to poor quality installations would be a mistake.

The report comes at a time when there is increasing pressure to prioritize low carbon heating over interventions such as insulation. However, INCA argues that proper insulation not only reduces carbon emissions associated with heating, but also improves the health of residents and reduces their energy bills. By addressing fuel poverty and unhealthy homes, alongside carbon emissions, the government can create significant social and economic benefits worth billions over the next few decades.

INCA is calling on the government to focus on high-quality installations and provide the industry with long-term certainty to invest in the skills and materials needed to upgrade Britain’s unhealthy and poor quality housing stock. John Sparrow, Executive Director of INCA, emphasizes the importance of a holistic approach when designing schemes that support retrofit, particularly for low-income households. He says, “Authorities such as the Committee on Fuel Poverty and Climate Change Committee, as well as the government departments which oversee energy and housing, agree that insulation has the greatest cost saving impact on fuel bills of all energy efficiency measures.”

The government has several opportunities to make this happen, including the forthcoming Warm Homes Plan, revised Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards, and the next iteration of the ECO scheme. INCA believes that by prioritizing fabric improvements and working with reputable manufacturers and installers, the government can ensure that the poor quality of some recent work done under ECO4 does not happen again. INCA members, who are not among the companies that have been sanctioned, are committed to driving up standards across the industry.

The full INCA report, titled “Why Fabric First Is Right,” can be found on their website. For further details, please contact info@inca-ltd.org.uk or by phone at 0330 124 6585.

INCA is the recognized trade association for the External Wall Insulation (EWI) industry, representing major system designers, a nationwide network of specialist installers, key component suppliers, and service providers to the EWI industry. In June 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Demonstration of Energy Efficiency Potential (DEEP) study concluded that “SWI is therefore the most impactful measure and saves more energy than all other measures combined.”