Energy Innovators look to impress
- Thursday, June 1, 2023
- Posted By The Growth Company
In March 2023 it was announced that over 5,400 additional social homes across Greater Manchester are to receive energy efficiency improvements, after the city-region was granted £37m from Wave Two of the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
The event brought together innovators in energy saving and generation and providers of social housing. Eighteen representatives of social housing providers came to the event to hear about products that could save their residents money on energy bills and provide warmer, greener homes. Attendees heard from a select list of energy efficiency, retrofit and renewable energy innovations suitable to be part of Greater Manchester's upcoming SHDF 2.1 deployment.
The Energy Innovation Agency is supporting a cohort of commercialised products and services across this space, Dan Dickinson, Development Lead at the EIA, hosted the event and introduced the EIA:
“Social Housing Associations are facing unique challenges in decarbonising housing stocks with existing tenants, and today we were able to introduce six exciting innovations that can save energy, provide warm homes and are simple to retrofit or implement. One of the Agency’s core functions is to understand the energy challenges being faced by organisations, and bring innovations forwards which meet those needs. The Agency is supporting innovators to reach and understand their target markets, as this contributes to our overall goal of accelerating the decarbonisation of Greater Manchester.”
The event started with a tour of the excellent facilities at the Green Skills Academy, finding out more about the practical teaching facilities where students learn to install heat pumps, solar panels and other skills needed to be able to work in green technology installation.
They then returned upstairs to hear from the innovators that produced some of those green technologies.
Solutions learnt about on the day included:
- Smart ventilation bricks
- Heat pump-compatible smart water cylinder
- Thermal insulation paint
- Innovative solar thermal & PV solution
- Heat pump optimisation platform
- Low profile radiator alternative to radiators for gas and heat pump systems
The presentations began with Dwayne De Silva from Airex. He introduced the latest version of the ventilation brick. Airex solves the problem of cold drafts and residents blocking old vents by this smart air brick that opens and closes depending on conditions. Temperature and humidity sensors decide which option is best. AirEx Smart Ventilation Control
We then heard from Luke Cronshaw from Enviroheat, who have a new, more efficient hot water cylinder. Unlike traditional cylinders, SmartCyl, works well with heat pumps, and other green energy solutions and makes better use of available water. Luke had a very entertaining presentation, that featured Batman and a chorus of angels! The new cylinder uses 40% less energy and can be installed as would a traditional cylinder. Enviroheat
The next innovator Zenova produces a thermal insulating paint that can be used internally or externally. Katie Loforte from Zenova explained the paint is not only insulating, but also a fire barrier. In tests it has been shown to improve ambient temperature by 4.5 degrees C and raised a building’s EPC rating form E to D, with a 25.85% reduction in heat loss. ZENOVA
A more familiar green technology came next, solar panels - though Naked Energy produces a quite different form of panel. Maged Soliman introduced us to Vertu, which consists of solar PV panels contained in glass tubes in a vacuum, with inbuilt reflectors. They can be installed on walls and flat roofs, and anything in between providing up to 3.5 times the carbon savings (compared with solar PV) and up to 50% greater returns. The company has, as well as wide variety of other clients and projects, completed 2 social housing projects with 9 in development. Naked Energy.
Traditional thermostats turn heating off and on, whereas heat pumps work best at low temperatures and smoother demand profiles. Paul Williams from Homely Energy described their new app & platform that works best with heat pumps called Homely; it is simple to install and can optimise use of not only heat pumps but also solar and batteries. On tests Homely can save up to 25% of a consumer’s heating bill. Homely
The last innovator to present their product was Ethan Wadsworth from Discrete Heat and their skirting board radiator solution called ThermaSkirt. These can replace traditional radiators and are easy to install, effective and durable and, by removing radiators, risks are reduced and space reclaimed. They save on maintenance too with 75% of heating related call outs are to bleed radiators. DiscreteHeat Co. Ltd.
The innovator pitches were followed by lunch and informal networking, where the innovators were able to answer more questions from the housing representatives.
The session had some great feedback from the companies that represented their products about the event and the value of meeting representatives from social housing.
Katie Loforte from Zonva said: “From the conversations I’ve had it is definitely a worthwhile event. It gave us access to people we wouldn’t normally be able to speak to and hear what they think about the products we are talking about introducing.”
Enviroheat’s Luke Cronshaw, commented: “This event is important not only for the innovators to get exposure and to educate, it’s also important for the housing sector to be exposed to ideas and for ideas to be turned into action. It is vital for our business going forward to get this feedback and to understand the problems they have.”
About EIA
The Energy Innovation Agency is a public/private partnership formed by eight partners in Greater Manchester (GM), bringing together the best of academic excellence and commercial expertise to accelerate the transition towards a carbon-neutral economy and leverage our market connections to deploy solutions at scale.
This event was hosted at GC's Green Skills Academy in Trafford, a one-stop shop for learners who want to kick-start their careers in emerging technologies and businesses looking to prepare their workforce for the transition to a carbon neutral economy.