a.aa MMC M11 52pp Web

Heating, Ventilation & Indoor Air Quality
Now is the time to transform
the housing technology mindset
Before Christmas, Mitsubishi Electric gathered together a panel of industry experts to discuss why the entrenched views and traditions
of the house building market needs to go through its own revolution to bring about real, sustainable change. The conference,
‘Transforming the housing technology mindset’, saw talks from TV presenter and architect, George Clarke, Nick Whitehouse, founder of
Buildoffsite and Mitsubishi Electric’s own experts. Joe Bradbury of MMC Magazine investigates:
At the event, the panel discussed how the
traditional building technologies and
processes have fundamentally remained
the same for centuries and while so many other
industries have gone through radical change, the
domestic construction market has been stymied
by inaction, government apathy and indecision. It
was discussed how a need for new solutions and
new thinking is required to radically change the
current status quo.
Ecodan ambassador George Clarke said “When
you look at almost all other aspects of our life, the
pace of change and revolution has been
exceptional. A government report released in 1997
recommended sweeping changes to the way
homes are built and heated. When you consider
this report was released a year before Google was
founded, you only need to look at the
technological revolution that followed for this to
see how far behind the housing industry really is.
Unfortunately, the housing technology market has
made very little progress since 1997. We need
systematic change at a global, national, local and
personal level to get houses to a standard they
should be. It’s time for the housing revolution.”
“We need systematic change
at a global, national, local and
personal level to get houses to a
standard they should be. It’s time
for the housing revolution”.
George Clarke.
poverty out and help
reduce carbon
emissions. Among the
renewable solutions
discussed were the
further education and
widespread adoption
of heat pumps within
the housing market.
“Demand for heat in
the UK accounts for a
third of all our carbon
emissions and half of
all greenhouse gases.
This represents a
huge opportunity and
is an area that needs
to change if we are to
ever cut our own
carbon emissions,
and it’s an area that
can change quite
quickly if we apply the
technology” said Martin Fahey, Head of
Sustainability, Mitsubishi Electric. “Heating is one
way in which we can take a step towards making
a difference. We need a mix of low carbon heating
solutions and better thermal efficiency of
buildings. Embracing innovative and renewable
heat sources, like air source heat pumps, we can
become prosumers – both producers and
consumers of energy.”
Speaking on behalf of Build Offsite, the
campaigning organisation promoting greater
uptake of offsite techniques, Professor Nick
Whitehouse highlighted how modular building
can lower costs by 33%, increase delivery
speeds by 50% and halve carbon emissions.
The packed-out event brought together
architects, specifiers, housing associations and
heating engineers and showcased the need for
increased building standards and more use of
renewable technologies. A video of the talk from
George Clarke can be found on Mitsubishi
Electric’s YouTube channel.
In summary, George Clarke called for the
industry to stop thinking short-term: “We know
the pressure is on the construction companies
to build more energy efficient homes but they
are not doing enough and not quickly enough,”
he said, explaining that in essence, we are
broadly building homes in similar ways to the
Romans.
Explaining how modern methods of construction
and renewable technologies such as air source
heat pumps mean we can deliver both healthy
and energy efficient homes, George also
highlighted how more power from the sun hits
the Earth in a single hour than humanity uses in
an entire year, and that this is renewed every
single day.
“It has taken us a long time to change our
mindset with regards to cars, fossil fuels and
emissions and we are getting there,” he
explained. “When it comes to our homes, we
have hardly started and we need to now!”
les.mitsubishielectric.co.uk
Innovations discussed by the panellists included
the need for more modular built homes that can
be manufactured indoors to increase build quality,
lower costs by 33%, increase delivery speeds by
50% and halve carbon emissions. For home
heating, renewable energy sources were widely
praised as the best solution to lift those in fuel
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