BRE has been appointed to carry out a major new research project to understand heat losses in the seven million solid wall homes in Great Britain.

The project, funded by the Department of Energy & Climate Change, will consider how these walls are performing before and after insulation.

The energy use behaviour of occupants and the accuracy of techniques for measuring heat losses will also be examined.

After the research, the project will allow more accurate predictions of the energy consumption of solid wall houses and identify the potential for energy savings from solid wall insulation. The study includes a series of laboratory tests and surveys on real homes. These will aim to identify the reasons for differences between the energy savings predicted, and those actually achieved, from solid wall insulation. The project is expected to run for around two and a quarter years.