The North East is famous for its walls – Hadrian’s is probably the best known but various town and city walls across the region are also of great historic significance.

 

Every year, millions of people visit them and marvel at the engineering skills displayed by their construction.

 

However, a similarly impressive set of walls has been built in recent months and the work has gone almost completely unnoticed.

 

With a combined length of more than a kilometre, reaching almost 8.8 metres at the highest point and with a surface area in excess of 4,800 square metres, the seven retaining walls now approaching completion at The Rise housing development, in Scotswood, are believed to be the biggest such structures built in the UK in recent years – and there are nine still to build.

 

They are creating a series of terraces on the steeply sloping Tyneside valley – allowing the construction of new homes which are part of a major regeneration programme in Newcastle’s west end.

 

The impressive engineering feat is being delivered for the New Tyne West Development Company (NTWDC) a public-private partnership comprising Newcastle City Council and Keepmoat Homes.  It is driving a £265 million project to deliver around 1,800 mixed tenure homes on the 148 acre site.  To date just over 400 have been completed.

 

Director, Lee McGray, said:  “This work has been steadily progressing for several months, almost unnoticed.  However, it deserves to be recognised as major piece of civil engineering, which is enabling the safe and cost-effective redevelopment of this steeply sloping site.”

 

Several specialist companies were engaged to determine the best solution  – 3E Consulting Engineers, Retain Solutions the retaining wall contractor, Remedy Geotechnics provided the detailed design and construction drawings for the reinforced soil walls and HMH Civils the groundworks and specialist civil engineering works.

 

McGray continued:  “After a huge amount of on site testing, technical planning and computer modelling, it was decided that, rather than cut into the hillside, terraces should be created using an Allan Block system, which met the overall stability requirements and offered lower ground bearing pressures.”

 

Allan Block systems are manufactured and supplied in the UK by Colinwell Masonry.

 

Remedy Geotechnics Technical Director, Daniel Simpson, explained:  “These are really quite big walls.   I’m not aware of anything of that size being built in the UK recently.  There was quite a lot of analysis involved, and we used a lot of test data in the detailed design of the reinforced soil retaining walls.

 

“This is a modular system, utilising specifically designed hollow blocks.  Starting from the bottom, a layer of blocks is set on a levelling pad and the drain is placed behind.  Granular fill is added and compacted up to the top of the block and the first layer of geogrid is laid.  The process is then continued until the required height is reached.”

 

The first seven walls so far created have enabled the second phase of housebuilding at The Rise to get fully underway.  The remaining nine walls will be completed as up to 1,400 more new homes are delivered.

 

Booming hydrogen market heralds water technology opportunities

 

 

  • Global market could grow to be worth up to US$12 trillion
  • Opportunities for water technology suppliers
  • Particular focus expected on green hydrogen projects

 

 

The hydrogen economy is at the start of a period of growth, with the size of the global market predicted to be as much as US$12 trillion by 2050, according to the latest research.

 

As part of global decarbonisation efforts, hydrogen is expected to emerge as an alternative fuel. Given water is the main feedstock for hydrogen production, the boom in the hydrogen market presents a range of opportunities for water and wastewater businesses, a report from BlueTech Research has found.

 

Particular growth is expected in terms of the number of green hydrogen projects, those where hydrogen is produced by water electrolysis powered by renewable energy. The size of plants is also expected to scale significantly in coming years.

 

The EU anticipates investment of up to €470 billion (US$557B) into hydrogen production and infrastructure by 2050, with annual capital expenditure of US$200 billion. In the period 2020-2030, the EU itself is expected to invest between €24-42 billion (US$29-50B) in electrolysers and €220-340B (US$260-400B) in scaling-up production and directly connecting 80-120GW of solar and wind energy capacity to the electrolysers.

 

However, the report notes that while there is a global agenda to push for green hydrogen, there are concerns about the amount of water and renewable energy needed.

 

 

Report author Kim Wu, a research analyst at BlueTech Research explains: “Water demand could be a concern for the large number of green hydrogen projects being planned, particularly for water utilities and councils, or in water-stressed areas as some hydrogen projects might expect to use tap water supplied by local utilities.

“Interestingly, water utilities have a unique role to play in the hydrogen economy. There are different pathways that water utilities can produce hydrogen at their wastewater facilities and benefit from implementing those processes.” 

 

 

Conventionally, hydrogen has been produced via steam methane reforming (SMR) using natural gas as the feedstock. To date, 90% of hydrogen from methane or light hydrocarbons is produced from SMR and the hydrogen produced is mostly used as a chemical feedstock.

 

 

 

Wu said: “With companies and governments leading and actively pushing towards net zero carbon emissions, there is an ongoing shift in which hydrogen is now being considered as the clean energy carrier in addition to a chemical feedstock.”

 

Green hydrogen projects also rely on the availability of, and investment in, renewable energy infrastructure. Suitable hydrogen storage and transport facilities will also be needed which amount to significant investment costs, the report suggests.

 

BlueTech Research chief executive and founder Paul O’Callaghan summed up the findings of the report: “After years of research and development, anticipation and slow market growth, the hydrogen economy is beginning to take off, fuelled by the pressing global agenda to decarbonise.

 

“Our research highlights different opportunities for water and wastewater business in the growing hydrogen technological and economic landscape. A particular focus will be on green in green hydrogen production, in which hydrogen is produced by renewable energy through electrolysis.”

 

The full report Water and the Hydrogen Economy is available to BlueTech Research clients.  To find out more visit www.bluetechresearch.com 

 


Today Construction Europe reported Vinci and partners will launch a huge hydrogen initiative:

French construction giant to help grow €1.5bn fund for clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions

Construction and concessions giant Vinci, along with two other Paris-headquartered companies – gas technology firm Air Liquide and energy firm TotalEnergies – has launched a huge investment fund, dedicated to the development of clean hydrogen infrastructure solutions.

With major businesses in Europe, the Americas and Asia participating, the alliance says it plans to build a fund totalling €1.5 billion, which will be invested across the value chain of renewable and low carbon hydrogen.

Companies named by Vinci as either on board or soon to be include Plug Power, Chart Industries, Baker Hughes, Lotte Chemical, Axa, Groupe ADP, Ballard, EDF, and Schaeffler.

Leadership in energy transition

Vinci reports that €800 million has already been raised. With the fund managed by Hy241, a joint-venture partnership between Ardian and FiveT Hydrogen, the group will soon move to the selection of hydrogen projects in which to invest.

The company said it expects the fund to contribute to projects with a total value of approximately €15 billion.

 

Vinci’s chairman and CEO, Xavier Huillard, said, “Vinci is taking concrete action to support the development of clean energy by mobilising all its divisions in concessions, construction and energy, with the aim of actively combating climate change and decarbonising mobility in particular.

“By launching this investment fund today, hand in hand with other major industrial leaders, we keep moving forward to make green hydrogen a strong lever in achieving our objectives.”

Benoît Potier, chairman and CEO of Air Liquide, said, “Hydrogen has become a central element of the energy transition. The time to act is now, not only as companies on a stand-alone basis, but by joining forces with states, other industrial groups and the financial community.”

Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, said, “We are convinced that a collective effort is needed to kick-start the hydrogen sector and take it to scale. We are…proud to launch and invest in the clean hydrogen infrastructure fund, which will also give us privileged insights in the sector”.

Modular housing developer ilke Homes is eyeing a pipeline of 10,000 factory-built homes over the next five years after securing £60m in new funding from Homes England and several other investors.

The developer said that regulatory pressures and ESG criteria have pushed the industry to scale up its modular construction strategies.

Modular developers like ilke have ambitious green agendas. This year, for example, ilke launched ZERO, its initiative to build thousands of zero carbon homes.

Having already delivered five such sites, ilke is aiming to deliver nothing but zero carbon homes by the end of the decade at no extra cost to investors or housing associations.

As part of the £60m fundraise, Homes England, the government’s housing accelerator, provided £30m of debt to ilke Homes, having previously invested £30m in 2019.

Homes England’s backing reflects the government’s explicit support for factory-built homes in combating the country’s housing shortages.

The remaining £30m came from a number of other investors, including The Guinness Partnership, Middleton Enterprises, Sun Capital and TDR Capital.

High (initial) cost of modular

ilke said the new investment will be “transformational”, allowing it to scale up production and accelerate capacity, quadrupling delivery from two to eight homes a day – which would also bring down manufacturing costs.

The company plans to invest heavily in automating more of its manufacturing processes to drive efficiencies, secure more sites and expand its “package deal” strategy, which offers full development service of site, infrastructure and homes.

Being able to deliver that many homes will be crucial for ilke, which reported an operating loss of £34.6m in the year to March 2020 – the latest figures available.

In its annual report, the company said it “continued to be very much in its development phase” and, as a startup business, expected to incur further liabilities over the following year.

As a result, its housebuilding delivery has yet to offset the costs of setting up and expanding its production capacity.

Given growing support from the industry and from the government, ilke – which wants to become one of the 10 largest housebuilders in the UK – has remained optimistic about its potential. Being able to deliver zero carbon homes at no extra cost will become a reality by 2030, the company recently said at the Chartered Institute of Housing annual conference.

Gearing up for the green revolution

Stephen Stone, board member at ilke Homes, said: “This announcement proves that there is a shared ambition among the public and private sectors to find innovative solutions to structural issues that have dogged the construction and housebuilding industries for decades.”

Stone joined ilke Homes earlier this year after 13 years at FTSE 250-listed housebuilder Crest Nicholson where he was CEO and, later, chairman.

He added: “This new funding will help us create hundreds more highly skilled, green jobs for an economy that is gearing up for a green industrial revolution. The fact that our own clients continue to either invest or increase their stakes in the company is testament to the dynamic approach ilke Homes has taken to housebuilding in the past three years.

“Faced with regulatory pressures and a requirement to meet ESG criteria, we are finding that investors are increasingly scaling up their MMC strategies.”

Harry Swales, chief investment officer at Homes England, said: “Manufacturers like ilke Homes are vital if developers are to build new sustainable homes at the pace and scale the country needs.

“This debt facility from the Home Building Fund shows our commitment in increasing productivity and efficiency in construction to meet government’s housing delivery ambitions.”

 

Source: PlaceTech

Mambu Powers New Challenger Bank GBB To Help UK Government

Meet House Building Target by Tyler Smith

The SaaS Cloud Banking platform Mambu has been selected to power the latest digital offering of the new British bank GBB.

Founded to get Britain building, with a particular focus on property and development finance, GBB will act as a lender to SME property developers in the most underserved regions of the UK.

Currently, only around 245,000 of the government’s annual 300,000 house building target is being met. Mambu’s cloud-native platform will make it easier for GBB to respond to market changes while delivering banking products and excellent customer experiences, driving long-term growth and profitability.

Mambu has been working with GBB for 3 years, responding to a brief to innovate and iterate as it grows.

GBB is seeking to support the recovery of Britain’s construction sector by providing property development loans of value between £1 million and £5 million to regional property developers, SMEs, and construction companies across the North East, Yorkshire, and North West.

GBB expects to receive its banking license later this year in order to be able to offer bespoke development financing; an area of commercial lending that currently remains particularly underserved by incumbent banks.

Its proprietary tech platform enables full end-to-end delivery of property development lending and includes a dynamic risk rating tool.

GBB opted to compose its own architecture with Mambu’s SaaS banking platform, as opposed to a more traditional ‘bank-in-a-box’ approach. This ensures the flexibility to swap out components as required, avoiding vendor lock-in and wholesale re-platforming.

Mambu enables GBB to develop and launch bespoke lending products using an easy-to-configure platform, which benefits from continuous upgrades.

 

Stephen Lancaster, Chief Information Officer, GBB

Stephen Lancaster, Chief Information Officer of GBB commented, “One in three property developers in the UK is denied financing. Many avoid applying for loans altogether, fearing rejection. Traditionally, SMEs have been the most underserved group as existing banks and lenders tend to prioritise higher loan values. Our mission is to turn things around, and we can only do that by leveraging today’s best-in-class cloud technology.

“We partnered with Mambu because, like us, they are customer-obsessed and understand technology’s role in providing customers with a better experience. The team understands our market really well and has supported us in our journey to becoming a bank every step of the way.”

 

This comes after similar UK challenger banks, including Tandem, also adopt Mambu’s SaaS Banking platform.

 

Elliott Limb, Chief Customer Officer, Mambu

“Unlike most challenger banks, GBB recognises the potential of Northern England. This part of the UK has been underserved for decades, and GBB’s model is vital to its development,” added Elliott Limb, Chief Customer Officer at Mambu. “We have a strong partnership with GBB and are looking forward to supporting them in bringing financial access to the property developers and SMEs in the regions.”

 

 

 

 

GBB aims to lend £3 billion over five years, building a £1 billion-plus balance sheet. It will fund almost 20,000 homes and several million square feet of office space, supporting the creation of over 100,000 jobs. For savers, competitive fixed rates will be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

 

Source: The Fintech Times

Ahead of COP26, the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) updates its Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment to include bold new requirements for addressing embodied emissions and publishes best practice for carbon offsetting for the built environment.

LONDON – 9am BST, 15 September 2021 – Today, WorldGBC announces an update to the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (the Commitment), expanding its scope to recognise enhanced leadership action in tackling embodied carbon emissions from the building and construction sector. To accompany the Commitment update and its reduction-first approach to decarbonisation, WorldGBC has also published Advancing Net Zero Whole Life Carbon: Offsetting Residual Emissions from the Building and Construction Sector, providing guidance for how the sector should compensate for its total carbon impacts.

The built environment is responsible for almost 40% of global carbon emissions, with 10% from embodied carbon from materials and construction processes.

To limit warming to no more than 1.5°C as set out in the Paris Agreement, the #BuildingToCOP26 Coalition has called for emissions from buildings globally to be halved by 2030, and to reach net zero life-cycle emissions for all buildings by no later than 2050.

As part of the efforts to accelerate these goals, WorldGBC announces an update to its Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment to promote and inspire leadership action towards addressing embodied carbon as well as emissions from building operations.

New requirements for the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment

In addition to the Commitment requiring all building assets within direct control to account for all operational carbon emissions (released from the energy used to heat, light, cool and power them) by 2030, from 1st January 2023 businesses and organisations will also be required to:

  • Account for whole lifecycle impact of all new buildings and major renovations by mandating they are built to be highly efficient, powered by renewables, with maximum reductions in embodied carbon and compensation of all residual upfront emissions.
  • Track and report business activities that influence the indirect reduction of whole life carbon emissions.

This ambitious step is expected to drive similar levels of action from the sector as reported in the recently released Advancing Net Zero Status Report 2021, which highlights how signatories are embedding the Commitment requirements into their business operations, and help the sector advance its decarbonisation goals.

How the Commitment drives decarbonisation with a reduction-first approach

WorldGBC’s Whole Life Carbon Vision for the sector includes a roadmap for the decarbonisation of the built environment, with critical 2030 interim goals and total decarbonisation by 2050. It is outcomes based and action focused, requiring signatories to develop a bespoke roadmap to decarbonise their portfolios by following best practice principles prioritising reduction of energy consumption and embodied carbon, and the use of renewable energy.

This leadership action of Commitment signatories, reinforced with the additional focus on maximum reductions of embodied carbon, means that all new developments and renovations will also prioritise the efficient use of low carbon materials and construction processes, reduce reliance on fossil fuels in construction, and support the transition to a fully decarbonised built environment.

The Commitment promotes aggressive reduction-first strategies, with residual emissions being compensated for via best practice offsets. Until reductions in fossil fuel consumption and emissions become business as usual as part of energy systems and supply chain production processes, there will be some reliance on offsets in order to achieve the balance of net zero emissions. However, through the leadership of Commitment signatories driving demand for low carbon materials and practices, this is expected to reduce over time.

The critical need for best practice carbon offsetting that drives positive systemic change in the built environment

To encourage a best practice approach to decarbonisation, and facilitate net positive impact in pursuit of net zero emissions, WorldGBC has published a guidance document for the sector — Advancing Net Zero Whole Life Carbon: Offsetting Residual Emissions from the Building and Construction Sector. 

As part of the transition towards total sector decarbonisation that also enables tangible environment and social co-benefits in support of the Sustainable Development Goals, the guidance document promotes a best practice-approach to offsetting detailed in three principles:

  1. Prioritise emissions reduction 

Minimise the need for offsets in the first place via best practice sustainable construction and operation. This means reducing energy demand, shifting away from fossil fuels, and using 100% renewable energy as soon as possible.

  1. Compensate for residual emissions 

For any residual emissions – those which cannot be abated – invest in carbon reduction or storage projects that are credible, unique, additional and permanent, as determined via independent third party verification.

  1. Advance tangible benefits 

Direct investment into offsets that store carbon and provide additional tangible environmental and/or social improvements, particularly those that have additional nature-based co-benefits or co-benefits in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

In this approach, WorldGBC encourages the building and construction sector to explore short-term opportunities to support the overall decarbonisation agenda via investment in efforts that enable others to advance their journey to net zero, such as through energy efficiency improvements or establishing access to renewable energy sources. Whilst these sector-based offset projects and non credit based actions are currently under developed, WorldGBC calls on the sector to recognise how this approach is critical to achieving sector decarbonisation goals.

 Why the built environment must tackle embodied carbon now

Globally, 10% of carbon emissions comes from the materials and construction processes required to build and renovate buildings, also known as embodied carbon. However, it is estimated that between 2020 and 2050, more than half of total carbon emissions from all new global construction will be due to embodied carbon.

As carbon emissions from the energy used to heat, cool, light and power buildings are reduced through improved energy efficiency and renewable energy, the impact of embodied carbon becomes more significant than ever. This bold approach to accelerate total sector decarbonisation, introduced by the update to the Commitment, is required from the sector to account for these impacts.

Halving emissions by 2030 to achieve a 1.5oC Paris Agreement aligned future

With COP26 and the #BuildingToCOP26 Coalition spotlighting the built environment as a critical solution through the UN’s Race to Zero campaign and the Cities, Regions and Built Environment Day, this sector initiative is crucial in the wider advocacy efforts, calling on bolder and more ambitious building regulation to bring these solutions to scale.

The UN backed Race to Zero campaign is mobilising the shift towards a net zero carbon economy to halve emissions by 2030 and achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 at the latest. Recognising the crucial role of the built environment in achieving this goal, our industry must ensure that by 2030 all new buildings, infrastructure and renovations will have at least 40% less embodied carbon with significant upfront carbon reduction, and all new buildings must be net zero operational carbon. The 2030 goal is an important milestone leading to 2050, where all new and existing buildings must be totally decarbonised. This requires an unprecedented shift in the way buildings are designed, built, renovated and re-used, in order to stay within remaining carbon budgets for a below 1.5oC Paris Agreement aligned future.

Aligned with the Race to Zero emissions breakthroughs, the Commitment enables signatories to take action further faster, towards their 2030 decarbonisation goals, whilst also stimulating the mainstreaming of critical and innovative approaches, solutions and business models necessary for the sector to reach climate goals by 2050.

Find out more at https://buildingtocop.org/

 Cristina Gamboa, CEO of the World Green Building Council:

“The update to the WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment elevates the ambition for the building and construction sector to go further and faster to decarbonise. It sets a target for compensating for emissions associated with buildings and construction, and the tangible social and environmental co-benefits of this approach creates a powerful catalyst towards achieving the Paris Agreement goals and the Sustainable Development Goals. Achieving our vision of sustainable buildings for everyone, everywhere means acting now to tackle upfront carbon, whilst planning with whole life carbon in mind.”

 Nigel Topping, COP26 High Level Climate Action Champion:

“With the buildings sector accounting for 40% of global emissions and 50% of resource consumption, the need for urgent action is critical. WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment provides a bold approach for businesses looking to be a front runner in decarbonising emissions from buildings by 2030.”

 Ed Mazria, Founder & CEO, Architecture2030:

“The science and global carbon budget for limiting warming to 1.5°C are clear. The time to act is now. With the WorldGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment including both embodied and operational carbon, the organisations, firms and subnational governments responsible for planning, designing, constructing and developing the global built environment can demonstrate their specific actions that meet the Paris Agreement’s 1.5ºC budget. By showing what is possible, our community will embolden others to do the same.”

 Alberto Carrillo Pineda, Managing Director and Co-Founder of the Science Based Targets initiative:

“Bold action is vital to limit the worst effects of climate breakdown – and that’s why the Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment from the WorldGBC is so important. This leadership sets the direction for the building and construction industry. Considering the state of the climate emergency, we are calling on all world leaders, businesses and individuals to take urgent action to decarbonise the built environment at the pace and scale required by science.”

 

The Commitment in numbers

The Commitment now has a total of 143 signatories, with 109 businesses and organisations; 28 cities; and 6 states and regions. The businesses and organisations signed up to the Commitment account for over 5.3 million (tCO2e) of portfolio emissions, and are already taking significant steps to decarbonise their portfolio operations. Find out more about our Commitment signatories here.

 

British Entrepreneurs CTO Matt Denton and CEO Antony Quinn of Maverick Aviation

(Photo credit: University of Southampton Science Park)

 

WORLD’S FIRST HANDS-FREE JETPACK PROTOTYPE REVEALED 

 

These are the first images ever released of Maverick Aviation’s prototype, which promises to transform the way challenging maintenance, inspections and rescues are carried out worldwide.

The jetpack is the brainchild of Hollywood animatronics expert Matt Denton and Royal Navy Commander Antony Quinn.

It uses a unique Vertical Take-off and Landing (VTOL) system and is designed to be operated hands-free, allowing people to make safer flights, and precision landings on structures that are difficult to access — from wind turbines to military hardware, buildings and construction projects.

The Maverick Jetpack can be reconfigured as a heavy-lift drone capable of being operated remotely and carrying ten times the payload of current similarly sized systems on the market — easily enough to lift a casualty like a stricken climber to safety.

Other use cases include search & rescue, leisure, disaster relief, security and policing. The company, based at the Fareham Innovation Centre at Solent Airport, near Southampton, estimates the potential market for security, defence and rescue uses alone is worth in excess of £700m.

Helicopters are currently used to carry out much of this work, but Maverick’s Jetpack is far smaller, uses sustainable fuel, and can slash costs. It threatens to take market share in the global lift market, which Maverick says is worth approximately £52bn a year.

The jetpack is unusually light because Maverick exploited advanced manufacturing techniques like 3D printing and materials including aluminium, titanium and carbon fibre. It will travel at between 10mph and 30mph depending on the task.

The control system is extremely intuitive and the operator can switch on an in-built autopilot so they can multi-task while in flight if necessary. Early work on the control system software was funded by a £97,000 grant from Innovate UK, secured by Maverick’s grant partner Catax. This money also helped pay for patent applications and the creation of a concept demonstrator. The team has since received much more funding, including grants and business mentorship from the University of Southampton Science Park.

The first manned test flight is scheduled for next summer and the company is about to start seeking further investment to take the jetpack to market.

Co-founder Matt Denton is also Maverick’s CTO. He’s well regarded for his work on animatronics and control systems, having worked on numerous Star Wars movies that saw him develop the BB-8 droid from 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He also worked on Jurassic World and Harry Potter movies, The Prisoner of Azkaban and The Goblet of Fire.

Antony Quinn, CEO and co-founder of Maverick Aviation, commented: 

“The jetpack uses the same sort of jet engines that you see on a passenger plane, only ours are the size of a rugby ball.

“What is unique about what we’re doing is the computer-controlled autopilot system that makes flying effortless and easy to control with precision. That’s how we have changed jetpacks from exciting to useful.

“It’s so intuitive to fly that the cost of training is going to be low, so you’re going to have all sorts of professionals suddenly able to work in the most inaccessible environments safely and quickly.

“I realised that the growing onshore and offshore wind industry really needed a solution like this. Their engineers climb up ladders inside these structures for hours each day and, in an emergency situation, it’s almost impossible to get down quickly. Drones can be useful for inspections, but in many circumstances you need to get an engineer up there.

“During tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, the number of possible use cases just kept on mounting and I realised how big the opportunity was. The potential is almost endless.

“Before, people would have used a £30m helicopter to perform some simple tasks, we can offer a more tailored solution at a fraction of the cost.”

 

Karen Taylor, Group Head of Grants at Catax, said: 

“What Antony and Matt are doing is the stuff of dreams. When we think of jetpacks, plenty of Hollywood scripts come to mind but this is the first time such a versatile piece of equipment is being created with business use cases at the forefront.

“They’ve achieved an incredible amount so far, and it’s fantastic that a British company is leading the way on such an important, game-changing piece of technology.”

Maverick Jet Pack

 

 

CarbonStore will address environmental and sustainability specialists and analysts on ‘Why Woodland Creation Should Be Part of a Carbon Reduction Strategy and the race for net-zero’ at a dedicated webinar on 21 September at 10.00 am.

 

CarbonStore provides an open and transparent platform for companies and landowners to buy and sell woodland Carbon Units while helping companies maximise the benefits associated with UK woodlands and restoring peatlands.

The webinar will address the following topics:

Is there a market for quality carbon credits?

What are the pitfalls of carbon offset programs and how to avoid them?

What are the wider benefits of buying Woodland Carbon Units?

How can CarbonStore help analysts and sustainability managers achieve net zero while maximising the many virtues of planting trees?

During the webinar Dr Michael Fagbohungbe, CarbonStore’s Carbon Manager will answer these questions and many more. Michael, holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Science and has worked in the fields of renewable energy and resource management. Michael has a combined 7 years of experience in low-carbon technology development, ESG framework implementation, and carbon management in agriculture, processing, and distribution. He will be discussing the pitfalls of some types of carbon offset programs. He will also dig deeper into the authenticity and traceability of carbon offsets and the importance of using the UK Woodland Carbon Code.

David McCulloch, Head of CarbonStore, who has a BSc (Hons) in Accounting, Finance and Economics and 18 years’ experience in the financial sector based in London and Tokyo, initially as an equity salesman and latterly as a corporate analyst will explain the practicalities of purchasing woodland carbon units authorised and issued by the Woodland Carbon Code through CarbonStore.

He will present the unique advantages of working with CarbonStore to realise an organisation’s net zero ambitions before concluding with a case study to illustrate how CarbonStore can deliver woodland creation projects which protect our environment, enhance our ecology and enrich our society.

The webinar will include a Q&A session featuring two further panelists including Stuart Pearson, Tilhill’s Business Development Manager and chartered forester and CarbonStore’s Carbon Project Manager Alex MacKinnon, BSc (Hons) in Environmental Science and former Forest Manager with a broad understanding of the Woodland Carbon Code and its fundamental principles.

Alex works on the technical side of CarbonStore working directly with managers and clients to efficiently register, validate and verify projects. He also works with incoming purchasers to identify and assess potential project carbon units that suit their preferences.

David McCulloch, gave his thoughts on the forthcoming webinar: “Within a net-zero strategy, there will be some Carbon reduction challenges that are simply too difficult to achieve quickly. In many cases, the technology has not developed sufficiently to enable those changes to be made today, so offsetting should relate to the portion of a reduction strategy that cannot be changed quickly or is outside of your control.

“This webinar will focus on why woodland creation should be a fundamental part of residual carbon offset plans because trees are the ONLY option that actually removes carbon from the environment.”

The free webinar will take place September 21st at 10am-11:am on Zoom.

Flagship AirMaster Smart Mechanical Ventilation Awarded Passivhaus Component Certification

 

SAV Systems is proud to announce that the AirMaster AM 1000 has been awarded Passivhaus Component certification in conjunction with their Danish partner, Airmaster A/S. The flagship AM 1000 is the first decentralised, duct free, mechanical ventilation unit with heat recovery (MVHR) on the market to be awarded the certification. This enables the AirMaster AM 1000 to be used in Passivhaus school buildings.

Our time working with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC) inspired SAV Systems to undertake Passivhaus certification. CEC has set ambitious targets to achieve Net Zero by 2035, leading the council to apply passive house design principles to all their new schools. The core philosophy of passive house design is to create a comfortable and energy efficient building with minimal energy wastage. Alongside the need for improved energy efficiency, Passivhaus also offers the opportunity to create more comfortable learning environments for students, combatting the Scottish climate.

Ventilation plays a crucial part in two requirements of passive house standards: air tightness and space heating demand. Openings in buildings, such as windows and porous building materials can allow heat to escape, wasting the energy generated by the building. Consequently, Passivhaus buildings have high airtightness and low heat loss. However, in increasing the airtightness of a building to conserve energy, indoor air quality can suffer. Therefore, a mechanical ventilation solution is required to manage indoor air quality without wasting energy.

Adopting AirMaster as a school’s ventilation strategy is an effective choice for designing comfortable classrooms. Due to the decentralised design of AirMasters, the units can be installed easily in a range of different classrooms, making use of duct free air distribution. A typical classroom installation requires one AirMaster AM 1000 per room with intake and exhaust connection to outside. The AM 1000 can recover up to 90% of the room’s heat using an aluminium heat exchanger, reducing the building’s heat load and heat loss.

The certification of the AM 1000 makes available an innovative ventilation strategy that can improve indoor air quality without sacrificing thermal comfort. Not only is this certification exciting for SAV Systems, but it is also exciting for decentralised mechanical MVHR as a ventilation strategy. With growing pressure on buildings to become energy efficient and comfortable, decentralised MVHR like AirMaster should play a vital role in the solution.

 

Premier Modular, one of the UK’s leading modular building specialists, has appointed Mark Rooney as Divisional Director for its Hire operations.

 

Mark joins the business with 15 years’ experience in leadership roles, 10 years of which have been spent in the construction hire space.  He now takes responsibility for Premier’s highly successful Hire Division, from business development and project delivery to managing and developing the company’s expanding fleet of modular buildings for hire.

 

According to David Harris, Managing Director of Premier Modular, “The Covid-19 pandemic has really put the modular industry in the spotlight. It has given us the opportunity to demonstrate the responsiveness of modular construction and in particular of our hire solutions. We have worked on some really high-profile projects in the past year, to incredibly challenging programmes to help the Government in its response to the pandemic.”

“To help meet the increasing demand for our temporary building solutions in every sector, we invested £12m in our hire fleet in just 12 months and have an extremely high degree of fleet utilisation. As the economy is starting to return to normal levels, we are pleased to report a very strong order pipeline.”

 

Mark Rooney, Divisional Director – Hire, added, “This is a really exciting time to join the business, which has made tremendous progress in the past year. There is enormous growth potential for Premier’s hire solutions, particularly in healthcare and education, where we are well placed to provide larger, more complex temporary buildings which may be on hire for a number of years. These projects range from decant education facilities for use during school redevelopment works to acute healthcare buildings to help NHS trusts rapidly increase capacity – from specialist ward buildings to theatre blocks.”

 

“We also have ambitious plans to increase our market share in the provision of high quality project offices for major construction and infrastructure projects, not just in the South East but across the UK.”

 

“Our aim is to provide additional space very quickly and with levels of quality, fitout, and comfort that make every building feel bespoke.”

 

Premier is currently working on a number of multi-million pound contracts to provide project offices for HS2 in the South East and a £3m hire project for Kier is nearing completion at Royal Cornwall Hospital to rapidly increase ward capacity.

 

The hiring of modular accommodation is a fast, flexible, sustainable, and cost-effective way for organisations to expand capacity or relocate services, particularly on constrained sites. The approach also gives customers greater flexibility as the facilities can be dismantled and removed for use on other sites if local needs or business requirements change.

 

Premier specialises in more complex hire building solutions which can include facilities spanning six storeys and built on gantries on constrained city centre sites.

 

David Harris previously held the position of Divisional Director for Hire until he was appointed Managing Director of Premier Modular in 2020, following the retirement of Eugenio de Sa.

 

For further information, visit www.premiermodular.co.uk, call 0800 316 0888 or email info@premiermodular.co.uk.

 

 

The environmental benefits that can be delivered by adopting modern methods of construction (MMC) in the delivery of building projects are not always properly understood by businesses, according to industry experts.

The gap in understanding exists across other non-costed benefits of MMC too, such as the social value of projects, the experts agreed at a recent series of roundtable discussions hosted by Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.Modern methods of construction (MMC) are widely seen as having the potential to transform the delivery of modern, affordable, high quality UK housing, but there remain some barriers to its widespread adoption.MMC is a general term used to describe a range of alternative off-site and on-site manufacturing techniques. There is a significant emerging market in MMC globally. As the housing and infrastructure construction sectors look to improve productivity and deliver on government infrastructure pledges while dealing with a lack of new entrants and an aging workforce, MMC is expected to become an increasingly important means of delivery.Iain Gilbey of Pinsent Masons said: “There was concern among participants that the benefits of using MMC as a safer, faster and more sustainable alternative to traditional build are generally not costed holistically. Social value and other elements such as net zero are also not included. For example, how appropriately sited manufacturing facilities can provide employment opportunities in areas located away from development sites and contribute to communities and the UK government’s levelling up agenda.”

“MMC projects often appear to be expensive by comparison to traditional build, as the design and engineering costs are not properly apportioned. There is often a duplication of costs and misaligned risk contingencies due to a lack of understanding about the process and this makes MMC appear to be more expensive,” he said.

Tom Johnson, also of Pinsent Masons, said the public sector is keen to be seen to be leading the way in using MMC in delivering housing and that there are examples of this work that the private sector could learn from to improve not only its understanding of the way in which MMC can deliver environmental benefits and other social value to their projects, but also opportunities for the private sector to work more collaboratively with the public sector to achieve this.

Showcasing the benefits of using MMC, such as social value and lower embedded carbon in products and processes could help to encourage further innovation within and investment from the private sector,” Johnson said.

Source: Pinsent Masons