Yesterday, a colleague told me that a Building Control officer had informed a builder that EPS (expanded polystyrene) cannot be legally used to insulate homes. My jaw dropped. EPS is one of the best, most cost-effective thermal insulators in existence today. It has a 60 year track-record of outstanding and safe performance as an insulator for homes and commercial properties.

How could this ignorance be possible?

EPS ─ and yes, EPS is the white stuff that packaged your wide screen TV ─ is 98% air. And, air as we in the insulation business know, is one of the great insulators. The genius of EPS is the closed, air-filled cell structure inhibits the passage of heat – creating a clean, inert, lightweight material that is a natural insulator.

And, let’s not forget the importance of insulation… it reduces carbon; a vital factor in slowing Climate Change. Plus, surely there is not one person in the whole of the UK, who would NOT like to spend less money on heating their home?

I just hope that Building Control Officer was an aberration, a lonely figure in the wilderness of his own ignorance.

Because, EPS with its low-energy manufacturing (btw EPS is A+ rated in the BRE Green Guide) and its formidable insulating characteristics has a key role to play in the UK’s drive to cut energy use and to eliminate fuel poverty.