An Energy Efficiency Design award was granted to WDT in autumn 2009 because of an innovative approach to energy consumption linked to financial saving and carbon reduction in local housing. This national award was achieved in the face of much competition. The Project Manager Meghan MacEwen was required not only to identify sufficiently innovative elements for the project, to draft the funding proposal but also had to convince a panel of nine, comprising construction, scientific and fuel poverty experts at a live interview in Edinburgh of the value of the project as a test model for wider application.

The project was designed to take a “whole house approach” to resolving fuel poverty in houses where national grant funding was not available. Ground source heat pumps would provide the heat source replacing oil fired boilers, open fires and outdated storage heating while insulation and draft proofing would be brought up to acceptable standards.

However, external wall insulation required a novel solution. Many Westray houses have solid stone walls for which cavity insulation is not possible, internal dimensions of living spaces are sufficiently restricted to prohibit internal lining and insulation and the addition of standard external insulation and cladding would drastically alter the traditional characteristics of the Westray housing stock.

The proposal considered the use of an external paint with insulation properties, currently used in hot parts of the USA to keep houses cool – if houses can be kept cool by the paint, the reverse of retaining heat in Westray houses should be possible. Preliminary trials using heated ceramic tiles and thermal camera images provided strong support for the concept.

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As a result of the project a research Department at Strathclyde University has undertaken to fully scientifically evaluate the insulation gains from the use of the paint.