Low-carbon heating and cooling for every UK home is one step closer as Kensa breaks ground with the next generation of heating. By 2050 millions of UK homes will need to decarbonise their heating and, with the launch of its new small and powerful Shoebox NX Ground Source Heat Pump,
Coventry University has been awarded a grant of almost £13million to help hit its target of being net zero by 2030. The grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and delivered by Salix Finance Limited, will help towards
Winvic Construction Ltd, a leading main contractor that specialises in the design and delivery of multi-sector construction and civil engineering projects has been awarded a place on another public sector framework. The company has been selected as a contractor for Lot 5 of the Warwickshire County Council (WCC) Framework Contract
Bradford College is laying the foundation for national Colleges Week 2024 (26 February – 1 March) with work getting underway on several large capital investment projects. Over the last two years, Bradford College has successfully secured nearly £29 million in funding. The considerable investment will enhance, refurbish, and build new aspirational facilities in the heart of Bradford.
Fastned, the European fast charging company and the UK’s best rated en-route charging network, is offering to work with British and Irish independent petrol station owners to cover the costs of decommissioning and remediating their forecourts. In exchange, Fastned will lease the land from the owners and build an ultra-rapid
Future supply of homes coming forward across all tenures threatened as cuts to housing and planning budgets passed Tuesday’s passing of the Scottish Budget 2024 – 2025 at Holyrood will perpetuate housing inequality across the country and limit the number of new homes coming forward across all tenures, says sector
Polypipe Building Services has achieved the BES6001 international sustainability standard for its commercial drainage systems. The standard is designed to enable manufactured products to be assessed and certified as being responsibly sourced and comes off the back of the launch of the company’s Terrain PVC pipe which is manufactured with
The complexities of the government’s leasehold reform proposals affecting millions of homeowners came under the spotlight at a seminar organised by Coventry and Warwickshire’s law firm Brindley Twist Tafft & James and property experts ehB Residential Surveys. Forty invited guests – including estate agents, surveyors, private finance advisors and conveyancing
Low-carbon heating and cooling for every UK home is one step closer as Kensa breaks ground with the next generation of heating. By 2050 millions of UK homes will need to decarbonise their heating and, with the launch of its new small and powerful Shoebox NX Ground Source Heat Pump, Kensa is unlocking a proven, Net-Zero-ready solution. Kensa’s solution – Networked Ground Source Heat Pumps – replicates the familiarity and accessibility of gas networks and enables the mass rollout of heat pumps in the UK, bringing low-cost renewable heating and cooling to almost any type of home, whether that’s a new build, a 19th-century Victorian terrace, a tenement or a high-rise urban flat. One-third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from heat, and 6.5 million homes are estimated to be in fuel poverty. Kensa’s solution will boost heat pump installations, shielding millions from unpredictable energy costs by replacing imported gas with domestically produced renewable electricity. Tamsin Lishman, Kensa Heat Pumps CEO, said: “This is a game-changing heat pump designed for the UK. Until now, achieving mass heat pump rollout has been a complex challenge, but with the launch of our Shoebox NX, we’ve engineered a small, high-performance heat pump that’s ready to replace gas as the main home heating choice. “When combined with our Networked Ground Source Heat Pumps solution, it unlocks cosy homes in the winter and cooler homes in the summer for almost anyone, and at low costs to the consumer. “For 25 years Kensa has been pioneering Ground Source Heat Pump technology, and with the Shoebox NX we’re ready to deliver heat pumps for everyone, cut household carbon emissions and make green home heating a reality.” John Bromley, Managing Director – Clean Energy Strategy & Investments at Legal and General Capital, said: “Housing requires some of the most substantial and immediate overhauls of any industry to improve standards, reduce running costs for consumers, and to reach net zero. The Kensa Group’s highly efficient, networked ground-source heating and cooling will play a key part in this transition. “As an experienced energy transition investor, we are proud to be supporting Kensa’s growth and we are delighted to see the launch of their latest ground-breaking Shoebox NX heat pump, a culmination of years of expertise and development. “We share Kensa’s ambition to deliver reliable, efficient heating solutions for consumers, developers, housing providers, and more – taking us a step closer to decarbonising UK properties at scale.” Shoebox NX heat pump performance facts and figures: Networked ground source heat pump findings: Kensa’s Shoebox NX is the latest development in ground source heat pump technology and delivers the efficiency of a large heat pump, in one that’s small enough to fit in a cupboard. Designed with mass heat pump rollout and ease of installation in mind, factory production of the NX can be readily scaled up to deliver 30,000 per year, with further expansion planned, and can be easily fitted by most heating and plumbing engineers without extensive training. Networked ground source heat pumps are a proven, scalable solution, which have next to no above-ground presence and are already providing clean heating for new build homes and complex-to-decarbonise private and social retrofit properties. Kensa’s model is designed to be as familiar and as accessible as the gas network and, once the infrastructure is deployed, allows households to connect at a time that suits them. With the Future Homes Standard, which is set to effectively ban gas boilers in new build homes from 2025, and the Government’s target to deliver 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, UK heat pump installations are set to rapidly increase. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Coventry University has been awarded a grant of almost £13million to help hit its target of being net zero by 2030. The grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and delivered by Salix Finance Limited, will help towards the cost of installing around 1,300 new solar panels and connecting nine Coventry University buildings to the city’s district energy network. It is hoped the proposals could reduce the Group’s carbon emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes per year – more than a fifth of its annual carbon emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels. These works are a major part of the carbon reduction actions outlined in a strategy jointly developed over the past year with consultants Turner & Townsend. The district energy network is a 6.6km underground heat system that transports waste heat from the city’s municipal incinerator to supply energy to major public buildings and in doing so has only one sixth of the carbon emissions of natural gas. The buildings that will connect to the network are: The approximately 1,300 new solar panels will be installed at the Alma building, Cycle Works, TheHub, Sir Frank Whittle building and Elm Bank, with the latter also having new energy efficient windows installed. All the works are expected to be completed by March 2026 and will help the university to avoid grid electricity costs of more than £100,000 per year and generate zero carbon electricity for internal consumption. Professor John Latham CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University, said: “For many years Coventry University has been taking positive strides towards our target of net zero and this grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will help us with the next steps along that road. “Sustainable development and social responsibility are central to what we stand for and we are working to speed up society’s journey to net zero and clean growth through our excellent research and education. While we are rightly proud of the work and research we do to help tackle those issues nationally and internationally, being able to make a difference on our own campus is just as important.” Ian Rodger, Salix Director of Programmes, said: “We have a challenging journey to meet our net zero targets, and at Salix we’re privileged to work with organisations like Coventry University on this important mission. “This funding from government under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is pivotal in enabling organisations across the country to decarbonise their estates. Every day at Salix we are working to make our buildings, our environments and our communities healthier places to work and live in. “Our team at Salix looks forward to working closely with Coventry University to help them meet their net zero target.” John Bailey, associate director for sustainability at Turner & Townsend, said: “We are absolutely delighted for Coventry University receiving this funding. It has been a pleasure supporting them in their ambitious plans to net zero.” The university’s continued efforts to achieve net zero were recently recognised by the 2nd edition of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, placing the Group inside the top 250 universities in the world, and also saw it ranked as a Gold Tier University in the Uswitch Green University Report 2023. The recently published People & Planet University League Table, which assesses the environmental and ethical performance of UK universities, saw Coventry University retain its first class award. The university is also helping society shift to net zero through its impactful research into green battery technology, hydrogen fuel and future transport. Its commitment to tackling climate change is showcased through a number of projects, including the Clean Futures programme, which is supporting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop new technology for green transportation in the UK, the relaunch of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), which is playing a critical step in the transition to electric transport manufacturing through innovative teaching and research, and upskilling JLR workers for the world of electric vehicles. Find out more about Coventry University’s sustainable development. About Coventry University Coventry University is a global, modern university with a mission of creating better futures. We were founded by entrepreneurs and industrialists in 1843 as the Coventry School of Design and we continue to work with businesses to ensure we provide job-ready graduates with the skills and creative thinking to improve their communities. With a proud tradition of innovative teaching and learning, Coventry University is now one of the largest in the UK and has world-class campus facilities, the UK’s first standalone 5G network and a digital community of learning. Our students are part of a global network that has 50,000 learners studying Coventry University degrees in more than 40 different countries and partnerships with 150 higher education providers worldwide. Over two centuries, we have flourished in our home city and Coventry University Group now also delivers access to our range of high-quality services and partnerships through bases in London, Scarborough, Belgium, Poland, Egypt, Dubai, Singapore and Africa. From September 2023, we will be teaching students at a new campus in China in a joint institution with Communication University of China. We have greatly increased our research capacity and capability with a focus on impactful research, delivered for and with partners to address real-world challenges and support the sustainable growth of business and communities. The depth and breadth of our rapidly growing research portfolio was validated by the latest UK research assessment, which saw us jump 22 places in the research power rankings. We were awarded a Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, proving we deliver excellence in what students care most about – teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies. In 2022, we were honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of International Trade, the UK’s most prestigious business award. In recent years, we have won many awards and vastly improved our rankings in the league tables that matter to students
Winvic Construction Ltd, a leading main contractor that specialises in the design and delivery of multi-sector construction and civil engineering projects has been awarded a place on another public sector framework. The company has been selected as a contractor for Lot 5 of the Warwickshire County Council (WCC) Framework Contract for the Provision of Engineering and Construction Works. Work under Lot 5 of the Framework will typically involve the construction – or the design and construction – of major highway, structural and other civil engineering works, including agricultural buildings and waste management site works. As well as operational competences, Health and Safety (H&S) and design credentials will be a key focus. Winvic’s exemplary safety record for its highways works delivery, it’s robust H&S cultural change programme – Doing It Right – as well as its tried and tested digital design and Net Zero construction capabilities are all substantial merits which helped the company to secure the Framework place. Winvic’s team will initially spend time detailing compliance and operation processes and preparing for future projects. Winvic’s Social Value team will also be strategising and planning to deliver activities against the Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) set out by WCC. Rob Cook, Director of Civils and Infrastructure at Winvic, said: “As always, the Winvic team worked exceptionally hard to demonstrate our credentials in the tender for Lot 5 of Warwickshire County Council’s Highways Framework and we’re delighted to be working with another county council. We have collaborated with the local authority previously when delivering projects within their boundaries and we’ll now build on that already strong relationship.” “We’re delighted that WCC share our vision of putting the safety of the public and our workforce first, while balancing the speed of operations with budgets, and we aim to maintain our highways works zero per cent accident rate. Plus, with our long-standing commitments to social value, sustainability and innovation, we’re well placed to drive forward-thinking programmes, environmentally focused and Net Zero schemes that really make a difference to local people. The whole team is looking forward to delivering their first project under the highways Framework in Warwickshire.” For more information on Winvic, the company’s latest project news and job vacancies please visit www.winvic.co.uk. Join Winvic on social media – visit X (formerly Twitter) @WinvicLtd – and LinkedIn. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Bradford College is laying the foundation for national Colleges Week 2024 (26 February – 1 March) with work getting underway on several large capital investment projects. Over the last two years, Bradford College has successfully secured nearly £29 million in funding. The considerable investment will enhance, refurbish, and build new aspirational facilities in the heart of Bradford. Three extensive Bradford College construction projects will soon take shape. Plans include: The projects form part of Bradford College’s ambitious estates strategy. The capital masterplan centres around building facilities that open up pioneering student careers which support regional economic growth. T Level Facilities A £3.5m Department for Education (T Level Capital Fund – Wave 5) investment will create a commercial barbering salon, nail bar, collaborative lecture spaces, TV studio, enhanced media editing and recording studios, outdoor dining facilities, and remodel of The Grove training restaurant. T Level qualifications are an alternative to A Levels and focus on the hands-on skills that employers need. Opening in September, these latest T Level facilities follow on from £1.3m Wave 4 funding which built impressive T Level health and early years facilities in 2023. The first phase of work incorporated five new digital teaching suites, a large collaboration science lab, a mock clinical ward, and the conversion of classrooms into inspiring indoor and outdoor nursery training rooms. Garden Mills The Garden Mills refurbishment is the result of £5.8 m funding received from The Office for Students (OfS) Higher Education Capital Fund (with a £1.1m College contribution). Bradford College was one of only five institutions nationally to receive the maximum allocation. Contractor Tilbury Douglas has finished the strip out of the 1900s five-storey building for fit-out and completion by this Summer. Garden Mills will enhance the College’s existing health science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) facilities. Higher-level HNC/HND and degree students will use this state-of-the-art building from the new academic year. It will house two new flexible laboratories, a prep room, six higher education digital IT labs, an ophthalmic dispensing suite, a clinical suite, a real-life work environment with consulting and testing booths, a collaboration area, and academic teaching spaces. Future Technologies Centre (FTC) Construction of the purpose-built FTC building will begin in the Spring following the demolition of Junction Mills and surveys by contractor, Morgan Sindall. The project was made possible thanks to £15m funding from the Department for Education’s Further Education Capital Transformation Fund (FECTF), secured in October 2022, boosted by a £2m College contribution. The FTC will be the new home of modern automotive and digital engineering curricula, such as electric/hybrid vehicles, robotics, advanced manufacturing, and digital/3D design. The Centre will be vital in supporting the growth of technology and low-carbon skills capability within West Yorkshire. The College’s Automotive and Digital Engineering Department will relocate from Bowling Back Lane to the brand-new premises once completed during the 2025/2026 academic year. Christopher Malish, Bradford College Vice Principal Finance & Corporate Services, said: “We’re thrilled to see work scaling up across our project sites after years of logistics and planning. We have an exciting year ahead as we develop sector leading facilities. This is a huge boost for the College but is also a transformative investment in Bradford city centre, that also supports the wider city centre development.“ These multi-million-pound investments will create cutting-edge learning environments for the local community, allowing the College to deliver on its mission of transforming lives. This will ensure we are at the forefront of teaching and learning, and these new capital projects will provide outstanding spaces and innovative technologies that delivers our vision of creating a better future for all through education and training.“ “These new facilities will allow the delivery of curricula designed to address the big societal challenges, enrich our local workforce, showcase a range of inspiring careers, and encourage more businesses to relocate to our environmental and socially responsible region.” Sheffield-based architects Bond Bryan opened an academy at the College’s Trinity Green Campus last year to prepare for the capital projects. The on-site team are guest lecturing, delivering workshops, offering site visits, and mentoring construction and engineering students. The academy serves as a purpose-built T Level classroom and a base from which to oversee estate projects on site. This week is the seventh annual Colleges Week celebration (26 February – 1 March), which incorporates the year-round #LoveOurColleges campaign by the Association of Colleges. Both highlight phenomenal achievements in the further education sector, with the focus in 2024 ‘influencing, engaging, and celebrating successes.’ Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Fastned, the European fast charging company and the UK’s best rated en-route charging network, is offering to work with British and Irish independent petrol station owners to cover the costs of decommissioning and remediating their forecourts. In exchange, Fastned will lease the land from the owners and build an ultra-rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging hub. This will help scale up the UK and Ireland’s ultra-rapid charging network and get more EV drivers on the road. Petrol station owners who want to use their land for any other commercial purpose usually need to safely decommission the large underground fuel tanks located on their site, and remove the contaminated soil from decades of leakage. This can make the transition to EV charging an expensive, and so risky, endeavour. Fastned is expanding its charging network in the UK and is looking for sites for charging hubs that are in busy locations that make it easy for EV drivers to charge. Independent petrol station owners with sites that meet Fastned’s location criteria can access Fastned’s “A Clean Start” offer to help with the costs of cleaning up their sites. With a long-term commercial lease in place, Fastned will then use its in-house design and construction teams to develop the site into an ultra-rapid charging hub, with multiple 400kW chargers, which it will then operate as part of its growing network. Former petrol station owners may get a cut of the annual turnover from the hub in addition to guaranteed rental income, depending on the commercial agreement. Additionally, with the number of EVs on UK roads predicted to grow to two million vehicles over the next two years, and EV sales up 45% in Ireland in 2023 compared to 2022, more public charging hubs will be needed to meet demand. This is likely to cause a rush to secure power connections across the UK and Ireland. Fastned’s offer allows independent petrol station owners to take action now and get ahead of their competitors to meet this growing demand, establishing their locations as the go-to sites for local and regional charging needs. Tom Hurst, UK Country Manager, Fastned said: “With this offer we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We’re serious about ramping up the roll-out of the UK and Ireland’s charging network, and we’re excited to work with petrol station owners that want to be at the forefront of the EV transition. Collaboration is key to making EVs the new norm, so we’re calling out to all independent petrol station owners that want to get ahead of the curve and make a Clean Start – if you’re interested, get in touch.” For twelve years Fastned has been providing EV drivers with a reliable and easy-to-use ultra-rapid charging service. A market leader in the Netherlands, Fastned has over 300 charging hubs across seven different European countries. This includes 21 charging hubs in the UK with a total of 112 charging points each offering up to 300 miles of range in 20 minutes. Each Fastned charging hub has either yellow illuminated wings or nature-inspired wooden solar canopies that make them visible to drivers. This reassures existing EV drivers that they can plug in, power up and drive off within minutes, and shows drivers that have not yet made the switch what is available to them. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Future supply of homes coming forward across all tenures threatened as cuts to housing and planning budgets passed Tuesday’s passing of the Scottish Budget 2024 – 2025 at Holyrood will perpetuate housing inequality across the country and limit the number of new homes coming forward across all tenures, says sector body Homes for Scotland (HFS). With a cut of 27.7% to the Housing and Building Standards Budget and further cuts of 26% and 43% to the Affordable Housing Supply Programme and Planning Budget respectively confirmed, HFS Director of Policy Fionna Kell said: “Whilst we welcome the Deputy First Minister’s commitment that housing will be treated with priority should further funds become available as a result of announcements by the Chancellor next week, the Budget passed today will only serve to deepen the housing inequality being felt across the country and risks losing the significant socio-economic benefits that come through increased home building across all tenures. “The cuts come at a time when multiple Local Authorities have declared housing emergencies and recent independent research has shown that there are 693,000 Scottish households facing at least one form of housing need. “Instead of cutting housing budgets, now is the time to maximise the wide-ranging socio-economic benefits offered by ensuring Scotland has the homes it needs to meet the needs of its people.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Polypipe Building Services has achieved the BES6001 international sustainability standard for its commercial drainage systems. The standard is designed to enable manufactured products to be assessed and certified as being responsibly sourced and comes off the back of the launch of the company’s Terrain PVC pipe which is manufactured with up to 65 per cent recycled materials. Assessment and certification are carried out by an independent third party and cover three different areas including supply chain management, which are evaluated via a written application and a site visit. Kevin Rose, Site Health, Safety and Environmental manager at Polypipe Building Services, said: “We are delighted to achieve this accreditation for our commercial drainage systems. Helping the construction industry to build better is a key part of our strategy as a Genuit Group Company and to ensure up to 65 per cent of recycled materials in our products. “The achievement of BES6001 follows the release of our Environmental Product Declarations and being awarded the BSI Kitemark for our BIM Level 2 Revit files. Each of these are important in providing our customers with complete product transparency and carbon data they need to meet the government pledge to net zero.” Responsible sourcing certification provides proof that the manufacturer knows the origin of the materials they’re using to give construction professionals confidence that the products chosen support a more sustainable approach. Once certified, products are listed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which provides impartial research to the UK government and internationally. The accreditation supports the commitment by their parent company, the Genuit Group, towards emission reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative. The scheme was validated in April and is the first to be made by a building products manufacturer within the UK as part of their ambition to be the low carbon supplier of choice to the industry. For more information about all of the standards and certifications achieved at Polypipe Building Services commercial drainage systems go to www.polypipe.com/commercial-building-services/terrain-drainage-systems-standards-and-certification Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
The complexities of the government’s leasehold reform proposals affecting millions of homeowners came under the spotlight at a seminar organised by Coventry and Warwickshire’s law firm Brindley Twist Tafft & James and property experts ehB Residential Surveys. Forty invited guests – including estate agents, surveyors, private finance advisors and conveyancing lawyers were among those who attended the event at the Warwick Arms Hotel. The event follows Michael Gove’s plans to shake up England and Wales’s ‘feudal’ leasehold system were announced in the King’s speech in November. Gove said the proposed Leasehold Reform Act would overhaul the system and prevent developers from selling new houses under leasehold, ensuring a fairer deal for leaseholders. It would also make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease agreement or buy their freehold, giving them more control of the land on which their property is built. Alex Khan, Partner and Property Solicitor at BTTJ said the problems within the current system are compounded by issues such as multiple ground rents – the charge for renting the land from the freeholder – diminishing lease terms, excessive insurance commissions and overcharging of service charges. Under the current legislation the standard lease extension term is currently 90 years. The proposed new legislation will increase this to 990 years – saving leaseholders the headache of a long, complicated and expensive process of extending leases which can cost thousands of pounds. The reforms also aim to ensure service charges and ground rents are transparent and reasonable. The Conservatives have also promised greater transparency of the system, the banning of excessive insurance commissions and an end to the requirement for a new leaseholder to have owned their property for two years before being able to extend the lease or buy the freehold, resulting in a rising premium. They have pledged to remove the ‘marriage value’ cap meaning leaseholders with less than 80 years left on the lease will no longer have to share the hypothetical profit of the property with the freeholder, meaning they could potentially benefit by thousands of pounds. Alex Khan said the government is also proposing to allow leaseholders of mixed use properties with up to 50 per cent of non-residential floor space to buy the freehold and manage the building, a move which Mr Khan said would allow residential tenants who live above a business, but have no experience in commercial property, to manage their entire building. “Often referred to as ‘fleecehold’, leasehold is a diminishing asset. It was first brought about by barons who would finance their crusades abroad by leasing their land to tenants for a peppercorn rent on the basis they knew the land would always be theirs. The system itself actually does work but in the last 20 years it has been abused, so what used to be an £8 ground rent is now £300, £500, going all the way up to £10,000 for the lifespan of a lease, and it prevents people from selling a property so the system has spiralled into an abyss.” Jonathan Selby explored a number of options which may be implemented by the government, including abolishing the marriage value or introducing a ground rent cap either at 0.1 per cent of the property value, or at £250. Other option included re-setting the ground rent to the initial ground rent set out in the lease or freeze it at the current value. He said: “Mr Gove says he will have all of this in place before the general election scheduled for later this year, but realistically I think we could still be talking about this in four or five years’ time. The legislation that may go through may be so watered down that it barely affects anyone at all.” Conversely labour says it would scrap the leasehold system altogether within if it wins the general election. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
