A taste of Futurebuild
Comments that inspired me from 2020, and a suggestion that you go now in 2024.
‘Futurebuild’ is a huge event at ExCel, London, each year, sub-headed ‘the future of the built environment’. This year it’s 5th to 7th March - book online in advance to enter free.
I first went to Futurebuild in 2020 - theme “Responding to the emergency” - just before lockdown (notes below).
It can be an inspiring day or couple of days, with a chance to listen to, question and talk with, key people whose ideas and work could make it possible for UK homes to become more energy efficient and healthier, at scale. There are hundreds of stands from the full range of organisations concerned with the future of buildings.
The seminar and presentations programme has around 9 streams running. So you're more likely to want to be at 2 things at once, than wondering what to do: https://www.futurebuild.co.uk/cpd-accredited-knowledge-programme/
Here are some of the people and comments that inspired me in 2020, in no particular order. (These are from handwritten notes, so please don't quote them.)
Retrofit challenge: Russell Smith RetrofitWorks coop. The retrofit challenge is not a technical one; finding customers is not a problem; but finding skilled contractors is.
Every home is unique, and our surveys show it. Each house needs steps towards energy efficiency and low carbon which don’t then prevent future steps. It therefore needs coordination, collaboration, and a whole house plan. For homeowners, retrofit has to start with trust, based on authenticity, rigour, empathy, and an easily affordable survey.
Private housing will be 5 years behind social housing.
Training & inspiring builders: Lucy Pedler's FutureProof project in Bristol is inspiring and training busy builders in Low Carbon Retrofit. The approach engages builders because they want to become part of a network of knowledgeable committed builders. This includes ‘Toolbox talks’ by trained builders to others, including newly trained builders. There are ideas here for the whole of the UK.
Air quality: Peter Rickaby: Houses need fresh air for breathing, and for removing odours, VOCs and other indoor pollutants. The infiltration of wind/air into the house is of course reduced by insulation. There are vital principles: ‘No insulation without ventilation’, and ‘Build (air)tight, ventilate right’.
Social housing + private housing: Sarah Fletcher said 60% of London homes are solid wall. Her team is currently working to create a market and supply chain for low-carbon services and materials in the social housing sector, which will then be available for the much larger private housing sector.
Retrofit at scale: Energiesprong co-founder Ron van Erck argued w. We could not afford a car if its manufacture was not industrialised. So whole-house retrofit similarly needs to industrialise to bring down costs and risk. Energiesprong works with social landlords: the tenants get a guaranteed result. Will hopefully work with others in future. https://www.energiesprong.uk/about
Our UK building stock is twice as inefficient as Germany. Some of worst in Europe. Investment grants are less than in Germany or the Netherlands. Costs of financing are far greater. And the UK Government charges 20% VAT on retrofit. It makes retrofit costs here huge by comparison.
Should we be aiming for EPC ‘C’ rating, as suggested? No! Because it’s not even close to what’s needed, and invites solutions that will need to be redone before 2030.
Social landlords: Nottingham City Homes + North Devon Homes are working with Energysprong to achieve their social purpose and a return on investment. Tenants buy guaranteed warmth at the same or lower cost, and contractors have to deliver it.
Monitoring retrofit: Jon Warren Energiesprong + Will Box Carnege systems + Ventive together have put whole house measuring and monitoring at the core of retrofit – enabling accurate learning for the next projects, and recognising, understanding + addressing problems, fast.
Embodied carbon: Jae Cotterell: Masonry construction:159; Structural insulated panels (SIPs):120; TimberFrame:40, and crucially it’s emitted now, before the operational savings begin.
STEICO uses the whole tree in its range of building materials; they sequester carbon, as well as minimising embodied carbon.
Performance gap in new homes: Jon Bootland CE Passivhaus Trust argued that the performance gap between the predicted and the actual energy savings in new homes is critical. In some, 40-60% more energy is needed than predicted. This cannot be compensated by adding more renewables: the construction must reduce energy demand. So they have chosen Passivhaus.
Electricity demand: Jon Bootland, CE Passivhaus Trust, argued the UK cannot achieve low carbon just by decarbonising the grid. All-electric heating in homes would require 6 times the number of pylons etc nationally. So we have to reduce energy demand. So new build needs to choose Passivhaus standards.
New social homes: Mikhail Riches, Passivhaus Trust, on achieving Passivhaus at scale in Norwich: Passivhaus is clear in the requirements, and enables a simple design process, so it helps greatly in contracts and teamwork. It’s all about getting energy demand down. His documents are available for others to use.
Politics: ChrisJofeh. The Westminster electoral system promotes discontinuity, so the decarbonisation of homes will be led by Wales, Scotland and the city regions. His motto: “Think big. Start small. Scale fast.
Hope to see you at Futurebuild in 2024.