215 Birmingham Road — ECO4 Whole-House Retrofit

EmberSol delivered a full ECO4 whole-house retrofit at 215 Birmingham Road, Walsall — a solid-wall semi-detached house in the West Midlands. The property was in EPC band G at referral, with no central heating system, severely degraded loft insulation, and uninsulated solid brick walls presenting significant heat loss across all elevations.

The primary fabric measure was Internal Wall Insulation (IWI) using the SWIP system with Knauf mineral wool batts. As a pre-1919 solid brick construction, the property has no cavity and cannot receive Cavity Wall Insulation — making IWI the only compliant wall insulation route under ECO4. The SWIP system was installed across all external-facing walls, with the Intello intelligent vapour control layer providing adaptive moisture management critical for solid wall construction.

The IWI installation sequence is documented across multiple elevations: Knauf mineral wool batts fitted between timber studs on the East Elevation, plasterboard fixed over the insulation and VCL, and the completed North East Elevation with skim coat finish. All compliance photos were taken at each stage for PICA documentation.

Loft insulation was upgraded to 300mm Knauf mineral wool, replacing the heavily degraded original insulation. First Time Central Heating (FTCH) was installed — a full radiator system with TRVs and Secure Controls thermostat, replacing the existing electric heating. A Decentralised Mechanical Extract Ventilation (DMEV) system was installed to maintain healthy indoor air quality following the improvement in airtightness. The combined works took the property from EPC G to EPC D, with full PAS 2035 compliance and TrustMark lodgement.