Jan van Os takes out his energy label. Literal. This is written down on paper with all the findings. “This was done off the cuff,” he says. The outside walls would be extra insulated. “They are not isolated at all.”
That is the fault in many more homes, Woonconcept concludes. In 2018 and 2019, many homes were assumed to have insulation that was never carried out. As a result, the energy label is higher than it should be. Van Halteren: “We did a large sample of 69 homes. This shows that approximately three-quarters of that sample did not receive the correct label in 2018.”
Not much will change for the residents in the short term. Woonconcept will expand the research and see whether this also applies in other places and will have all homes in the Koedijkslanden re-equipped with an energy label.
Van Os, and other residents, would like to see a start being made on insulating the homes as soon as possible. “That seems to me to make a very big difference. That can make a difference of 25 to 30 percent in your heating costs.”
Woonconcept says it wants to talk to residents in the near future about measures that can be taken to reduce energy costs.
“But it’s not even the lack of insulation, the houses also move a lot,” Van Os continues. At the residents’ meeting it became clear that drafts have no influence whatsoever on the energy label. Just like the quality of insulating material. If there is insulation, it counts towards the label, regardless of quality.
“You can comply with everything. But if you have gaps of one centimeter under your windowsill, you can insulate, but what is the point?”