The
Carbon Free Group will challenge visitors to The Build Show at UK Construction
Week to think differently and do more to accelerate the decarbonisation of the
built environment, and, specifically, housing.
The
Carbon Free Group does not expect visitors to work alone. Instead, it is
encouraging them to get involved in collaborative projects, product and process
development and policy review to fast track and de-risk change.
To
see how a Carbon Free Group collaboration works, visitors should visit stand
B750 at The Build Show. Here, visitors will see one of the most exciting
innovations of this year's event: the Tufeco Modular Home.
The
home has been constructed from Tufeco's composite panels, which are being
launched at the show. These are 3D printed, manufactured offsite and made from
recycled glass. Two key benefits of the panels are that they significantly
reduce on-site construction times and labour needs; a typical house structure
is erected and made airtight in around three days, ready to accept second fix
installations. They also require just three semi-skilled installers to
complete.
However,
Tufeco's modular panels are just one decarbonising element featured on the
stand. To bring this product to market, Tufeco has joined forces with global
architects Grimshaw, SAM Architects and The Carbon Free Group. Together, they
provide a much wider range of decarbonising expertise and experience to
identify and deploy a more extensive set of decarbonising solutions.
The
resulting collaboration, which is being used as a blueprint for a housing
scheme in Cromer on the Norfolk coast, has resulted in a low carbon development
which:
- is set
in beautiful man-made woodland clusters that focus on native planting and
enhanced biodiversity
- incorporates
renewable energy generation, storage, monitoring and trading opportunities
- incorporates
air purifying paints, recycled floor coverings, green roofs and walls.
All
of these aspects are evidenced on the stand at Construction Week, with Carbon
Free Group bringing together a range of organisations to develop a housing
proposition. This collaboration creates a synergy which generates results that
far exceed those that could have been achieved if the parties had just worked
individually.
By
exhibiting at Construction Week, The Carbon Free Group hopes to attract more
innovators to join the movement. Co-founder, Anthony Morgan, also hopes that
many housebuilders will use the platform to develop collaborations and test
innovations, developing unique collaborations to address specific situations,
bringing them to market faster and at less cost and risk than has been
experienced before.
Explaining
the proposition, Anthony Morgan said: "Many UK businesses are falling
behind in the race to develop the building systems of the future. The ideas are
out there, but all too often our existing culture snuffs out innovation either
before it begins or before it can be effectively deployed. Why? Because they
are seen as being too expensive; too high risk; too difficult to adopt and the
returns are too slow.
"Quick
to implement, simple solutions get the go-ahead, while more complex, often
higher value programmes are side-lined. The Carbon Free Group has been set up
to reverse this situation.
"Our
collaborative approach reduces risk by making investment tax deductible and
innovation collaborative. This reduces cost and increases member access to new
and exciting ideas and expertise.
"We're
keen to talk to Build Show visitors about potential projects, product
opportunities, policy developments. We have a number of interesting initiatives
coming online, and the more organisations involved, the more impact we'll
achieve. This is real-world, applied innovation."
