PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Energy: Double Glazing (12 April 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the role of high efficiency glazing in residential and commercial buildings in contributing to the net zero by 2050 target.

Asked by:
Bob Blackman (Conservative)

As part of reaching Net Zero by 2050, the Clean Growth Strategy set out that all homes should reach EPC C by 2035 where cost effective, affordable, and practical. Double glazing is a popular energy efficiency measure and the English Housing Survey suggests that more than 85% of properties in England are fully double glazed, with less than 4% having no double glazing. As such, there is limited potential for further energy savings because so much of the stock already has efficient windows. Nevertheless, there are other benefits to more efficient glazing such as reduced internal noise, and improving the remaining single glazed windows would contribute to lower emissions.

Five per cent[i] of annual Non-domestic buildings energy use can be abated by fabric improvements of which we estimate around a third are glazing.

[i] Source: Building Energy Efficiency Survey, tables 4.5 and 3.1, at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-energy-efficiency-survey-bees

Answered by:
Anne-Marie Trevelyan (Conservative)
21 April 2021