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Windows scrappage not a smashing idea, say heritage bodies
16/03/10
Edited by Tom Bardsley. Chancellor Alistair Darling should resist calls from the glazing industry to introduce a windows scrappage scheme along similar lines to the ones covering cars and boilers when he announces the Budget on March 24th, it has been claimed.
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and the Institute of Historic Building Conversation (IHBC) issued a joint statement saying that such a programme would result in the needless destruction of traditional timber frame windows without significantly improving energy efficiency.
A petition on the Downing Street website from the Glass and Glazing Federation (GGF) calls for households to be given a £1,000 grant to replace old windows.
According to the federation, this would support installers and manufacturers, while also improving energy efficiency and lowering fuel bills.
However, IHBC director Sean O'Reilly said that the GGF "ignores how the scheme could increase the carbon footprint of each householder by promoting unnecessary waste, damage to the building and the adoption of unsustainable technologies with limited repair potential and short lifecycles".
Under the existing boiler scrappage scheme, 125,000 homes in England will receive a £400 grant towards replacing a G-rated boiler with an A-rated model.
