Social housing provider Nottingham City Homes has announced that it has installed the UK’s first ever off-site-manufactured Ventive Home heating and energy pod system at one of its properties.
The system, part of an innovative whole-house retrofit project, is designed to help create warm, comfortable, cheaper-to-run, net-zero energy homes by replacing conventional heating systems with a pod that includes renewable technologies, energy storage, and smart controls. The pod stores and uses solar energy generated from the roof, and can access grid energy when it is at its cheapest so that heating and electricity are provided in the most efficient way.
An estimated 20 million UK homes need retrofitting to help achieve the UK’s climate targets. In that context, Nottingham has declared an ambition of reaching carbon neutrality by 2028.
The Ventive Home system has been installed as part of a whole house retrofit project funded by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which is testing ways to retrofit existing homes to the standards required for the UK’s net-zero future. Nottingham City Council has secured funding from BEIS to trial net-zero retrofits on 170 homes by 2022.
The project allows partners Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes, and Energiesprong UK to develop a new model called Destination Zero, which trials a two- or three-stage approach to delivering deep retrofit. The partners are also working with other landlords across the UK to pilot an Innovation Partnership procurement approach to delivering economically viable Energiesprong net-zero homes. Both approaches are intended to reduce the cost of achieving net-zero standards, a key target for the funder and the council, and crucial to help inform future retrofit plans.
The works in the Destination Zero project include high-performance improvements such as Q-Bot underfloor insulation, installed using robots controlled remotely from outside the property. The first Destination Zero pilot home has received a full package of measures including a new insulated roof, external solid-wall insulation, underfloor insulation, new doors and windows, and solar panels.
Energiesprong UK, an expert in retrofit market development, is carrying out extensive evaluation of the pilot, and will be sharing lessons and key takeaways once the first results are available.
Wayne Bexton, Corporate Director for Growth and Development at Nottingham City Council, said: “Testing different approaches to deep retrofit will help us deliver our ambition to be the UK’s first carbon neutral city by 2028 in the most cost-effective way. We’re keen to see projects which create warmer and healthier homes for residents whilst reducing carbon too.”
Steve Edlin, Assistant Director Asset Management at Nottingham City Homes, said: “The Ventive pod appeals to us because we can install it externally, which is less disruptive for tenants and doesn’t take up valuable space in the house. It can also be maintained without having to gain access. We’re keen to use the pilot to understand the way the Ventive pod uses generated electricity and interacts with the electricity grid, and whether this can help deliver our aim of self-financing deep retrofit to help achieve Nottingham’s carbon neutral ambitions.”
Tom Lipinski, Founder and Technical Director of Ventive, said: “We’re excited to be trialling our first Ventive Home system on this project. It’s an important first stage in helping develop the product for mass manufacture.”
Emily Braham from Energiesprong UK, said: “Off-site manufactured heating and energy systems are a key component in making deep retrofit quicker, increasing its appeal and making sure it can be rapidly scaled to meet the UK net-zero targets. We’re excited to be working with Ventive to trial their off-site system and understand how this technology works for landlords and tenants.”
The information on products and services presented on this page is supplied by third parties. Publication on HVP's website does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service by HVP.
If you'd like to keep up-to-date with the latest developments in the heating and plumbing industry, why not subscribe to our weekly newsletters? Just click the button below and you can ensure all the latest industry news and new product information lands in your inbox every week.
Subscribe to receive your free copy of HVP every month.
