Green innovation trends: the built environment

Eco-Innovation Specialist, Elizabeth Elliot, looks at the opportunities for Greater Manchester businesses to drive energy efficiency through cutting-edge technologies.

What are the latest trends in green innovation? 

Given that the built environment accounts for 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK (UKGBC) it should be no surprise there is a strong trend for green innovation in this sector.  
The headlines are grabbed by large-scale renewable energy projects, for example GB Energy, envisioned by the new government, which is just one large infrastructure project in the pipeline (with onshore wind potentially to follow, given that planning restrictions preventing its development have recently been removed).

The role of green innovation in reducing carbon and costs

However, there is a great deal of green innovation happening closer to home, with big potential to improve carbon emissions and costs, along with living and working conditions. 

There are a growing number of energy efficiency devices and technologies being brought to the market. This reflects the need to have some quick wins to decarbonise the UK. We have innovators right here in Greater Manchester generating ideas, prototypes, and commercial products to meet the energy efficiency demand in both commercial and residential buildings. 

These innovations address more than just carbon emissions – there are significant economic and social benefits provided alongside them. Of course, using less energy brings cost savings over the lifetime of the technology, particularly in such volatile markets as we have experienced in recent years. The social impact of lower cost heating brings relief to those in fuel poverty and the potential to improve the standard of living: common illnesses caused by cold homes in the winter currently costs the NHS about £1.4 billion every year (UKGBC) and living in a cold home increases a vulnerable person’s chance of serious illness or death (NICE). 

These technologies can also help to stabilise businesses – both for energy cost reduction and meeting increasing compliance demands. Many do not require significant investment in new heating systems or machinery – they are retrofit solutions which can adapt current buildings to meet the net zero future. Twenty-nine million homes will need retrofitting before 2050 (UKGBC) and these innovations will be part of the combined effort. 

Exploiting these energy efficiency innovations is key to meeting our net zero targets (2050 for the UK and 2038 for Greater Manchester). Innovation and technology will pave the way not just to the adoption of low-carbon technologies such as heat pumps ad solar PV, but real-terms carbon reduction through reduced energy use.

Collaboration and funding opportunities for green innovation businesses

Like most innovations, the new energy efficiency technologies require partnership and collaboration to maximise the benefits to users – this is particularly true in the case of digital enablers. Harnessing the power of digital will be key to making the most of these new technologies. Examples include:

• Using digital twins to map buildings and energy use, based on readings from physical sensors or sub-meters
• Using AI to transform the large amount of data generated by these sensors or submeters into useful insights. These insights can inform the most cost and energy efficient way to implement changes and retrofit solutions.

 
Bringing new technologies to market is not without challenges. This can be:

• Regulatory: for example, needing SAP (Standard Assessment Procedure) ratings to ensure inclusion on the EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) for a building.
• Financial: R&D from prototypes to testing can require significant investment to bring to market.
• Technical: ensure technology works, is user friendly, and delivers the energy improvements promised.

GM Business Growth Hub’s Innovation team can help businesses to overcome innovation and commercialisation barriers. There are funding streams both within GM Business Growth Hub and wider government-backed organisations such as Innovate UK designed to de-risk this R&D stage for innovators.

 And in the North West, and wider UK, we have a world class eco-system of innovation partners, from universities to research organisations such as STFC, which are full of expertise and facilities waiting to be tapped into;  we can make introductions to the right people and provide access to, innovation funding to help facilitate collaboration. 

Greater Manchester’s innovators pioneering energy efficient technologies

There are plenty of green innovators based in Greater Manchester, with a reach well beyond the region.

Most of us will have felt cold spots or entirely cold radiators in our homes or businesses. This causes inefficiencies because the heating systems have to work harder and use more energy to keep the same level of warmth in the building. Hotspot Heating have a novel solution which removes this problem, along with other maintenance issues, and can be easily fitted to both residential and commercial wet heating systems to improve efficiency by 15-20%. 

What if you don’t want (or have room for) radiators at all? For use with both gas/wet heating systems and renewables such as heat pumps (commonly fitted with under floor heating), Discrete Heat have brought the innovative ThermaSkirt to the housing market. Home heating designed as skirting boards which are both inconspicuous and energy efficient. 

And then there’s DAL Energy, which serves businesses with high energy bills that are using extra metering, by collecting data and using this to provide insights to enable customers to both comply with regulations and make significant energy savings. 

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