July 20, 2010 -- The GeoInformation™ Group, publishers of UKMap® and Cities Revealed®, is helping Braintree District Council to accurately target property heat loss as part of its loft insulation scheme.

Using Cities Revealed’s colour-coded thermal map Braintree DC is able to identify properties throughout the towns of Braintree, Witham and Halstead from the highest to lowest roof heat loss using a five level colour legend.

The data is being used in conjunction with their LLPG address points to effectively target those properties showing the highest heat loss with grant information and to promote better energy conservation.

Past energy reports, commissioned by the Council, have raised issues of concern about the number of properties lacking insulation. This gave Braintree DC the impetus and clear justification to purchase a thermal survey in order to pinpoint and directly target all those falling short of the recommended level.

The most recent House Condition and Energy Efficiency Report, undertaken earlier this year, has further substantiated the need for a thermal survey indicating a potential 16,440 properties having less than 50mm of loft insulation.

“Based on the estimated figures in the 2010 Housing Condition and Energy Efficiency Survey Report if every resident topped up their insulation to the current 270mm Building Regulation standards, or put loft insulation in where there was not any before, residents could collectively save between £73,000 and £2,500,000 per annum in heating bills”, remarks Braintree DC’s Climate Change Manager. “In terms of carbon this equates to reducing carbon emissions by between 3,500 tonnes and 13,000 tonnes a year across the district”.

The GeoInformation Group completed the 50 cm resolution aerial survey in February of this year. The heat loss was recorded using the latest thermal imaging camera technology to create an image that quantifies thermal variation. The resulting data is being used by Braintree DC in their GIS and also in their MapViewer application giving all staff the ability to view and analyse the data.

Braintree DC’s Corporate Systems Manager, comments, “The Cities Revealed’s thermal solution has provided us with good value and excellent service from the start of the project. They kept us fully informed of progress and delivered a high quality dataset that has been easy to implement and put into use”.