044_LABM_DEC21_Layout 1 25/11/2021 12:02 Page 44
ROAD TO ZERO CARBON ROUND-UP
Decarbonising home heating white paper Vaillant has released its ‘Decarbonising Home Heating in the UK’ White Paper, which offers a balanced overview of the mix of heating technologies and the support available to installers and specifiers. The paper is set out into three different chapters — Heat Pumps, Hydrogen and Hybrid Heating Systems. Chapter one focuses on heat pumps, outlining the properties most suitable for this tried and tested technology, looking at the opportunities presented, addressing the challenges in growing the heat pump market, the need for upskilling and the routes available. Chapter two looks at hydrogen and highlights the current timeline for hydrogen trials in the UK. It covers the essential details of what a hydrogen-ready mandate could entail, what Vaillant believes needs to be done, the developments underway and how specifiers can prepare for the future fuel, today. Whilst chapter three covers hybrid systems, where heat pump and boiler technologies are used in tandem.
Install, grow, relocate: the green roof project on the move Two projects, one green roof. That’s the aim of a groundbreaking initiative to revamp a YMCA with a living roof removed from a development a short walk away. The Saxon Court building in central Milton Keynes has undergone a temporary transformation into a ‘live lab’, showcasing green, blue and biosolar roof applications together with vegetable growing, all installed while planning permission is gained to redevelop the site. Green infrastructure and living roof specialist Bridgman & Bridgman is spearheading the venture — entitled The Green Roof Project — with support from Milton Keynes Council, aiming to demonstrate the benefits of retro greening urban landscapes for biodiversity, carbon capture and food production. An integral part of the plan is to train young people from YMCA MK to install the living roof and gain expertise and certification in the installation and maintenance of green roofs. Green roof manufacturer Wallbarn has supplied its award-winning modular M-Tray green roof system for the project.
■ More information on Wallbarn’s green roof system here www.rdr.link/laa017
■ The White Paper is available to download here www.rdr.link/laa016 Heat pump installation is helping Greenwich Council tackle climate emergency
Cement-free concrete block achieves Environmental Product Declaration
Works to install a highly innovative water source heating system, which will warm 95 homes at Ernest Dence Estate, Greenwich, have begun as part of the council’s ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions, 20 years ahead of the national target in 2030. Water source heat pumps are a low carbon and cost-effective alternative to traditional gas boilers. They work by extracting heat from water hidden beneath the ground and converting it into useful energy to warm homes. Renewing the heating and hot water system using water source heat pump will provide a more efficient heating system producing less carbon emissions, improving local air quality and delivering 5,309 tonnes of CO2e savings over 25 years — the equivalent of growing around 87,000 trees! The installation of heat pumps at the Ernest Dence Estate are part of a wider scheme which has included building repairs and redecoration, window repairs, loft insulation, and new low energy LED lighting.
The carbon-saving potential of the world’s first cement-free alternative to OPC blocks, Greenbloc, has been ratified following the award of an Environmental Product Declaration. The EPD is classed as a type III environmental declaration with ISO 14025 and provides transparent and credible information about the environmental impact of a product throughout its lifecycle — from material extraction, through to manufacturing, usage and end of life. Greenbloc was developed as an ultra-low carbon alternative to traditional cement-based concrete blocks and is designed to help reduce the construction industry’s dependency upon cement — the world’s third highest source of man-made CO2 — as a key ingredient in concrete manufacturing. Manufactured to BS EN 771 – 3: (2011) from class 1 aggregates and Cemfree — a totally cement-free alternative to conventional concrete — Greenbloc also complies with Part E of the Building Regulations for Walls and Floors. It is suitable for all applications, including foundations, load-bearing walls, internal leaves of cavity walls and partition walls.
■ For more information on Greenbloc visit www.rdr.link/laa019
■ More details on the project here www.rdr.link/laa018
4 4
I
L A B M
N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R
2 0 2 1
