29 November 2012
Home insulation scheme a green success story
The Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation scheme is a success story that shows how government can work with
community groups and local businesses to create green jobs, improve the lives of New Zealanders, and reduce our impact
on the environment, Green Party Co-leader Metiria Turei said today.
The Warm Up New Zealand: Heat Smart home insulation scheme was initiated as a result of the Greens’ Memorandum of
Understanding with the National Government. It has now reached its target of 188,500 homes insulated with sufficient
remaining budget to bring the total to around 230,000.
“Heat Smart has been a massive success and is a perfect example of what the Greens mean when we talk about smart, green
economics,” said Mrs Turei.
“For a relatively small government investment, 188,500 Kiwi homes have been insulated meaning families enjoy better
health and lower power bills; over 2,000 skilled Kiwi jobs have been created; and the heating needs of those homes has
been slashed, reducing their impact on the environment.
“Heat Smart has been a brilliant example of government playing its part alongside local community groups and local
businesses to achieve something that benefits New Zealanders economically, socially, and environmentally.
“The scheme has been so cost-effective that another 41,000 homes will benefit from home insulation within the existing
$300 million budget.
“The Greens are proud that we got this scheme off the ground. But the work is not done yet. I have met with the Housing
Minister to make our case for extending and improving the home insulation scheme once the current funding is exhausted.
“There are still hundreds of thousands of poorly insulated homes in this country, many of them rented by our poorest
families. We can achieve great things for those families and for New Zealand as a whole if we make their homes warmer,
healthier, and less expensive places to live,” said Mrs Turei.
ends