The “Tea Cosy” Problem: How to Solve Mould & Damp in Older Insulated Properties When we aim to reduce energy and carbon in our older homes, we often pop a ‘tea cosy’ over it with EWI and/or IWI to trap the heat inside. This results in a warm home, but moisture builds up, and mould and stale air become an even worse issue. The problem is that it’s too cold to open windows, which defeats the purpose of the insulation, but daily life still creates steam and moisture that has nowhere to escape bringing mould and damp in older properties                     Understanding the Science of Mould & Condensation The warm air circulates, and its molecules, swollen with water, bounce off colder surfaces like a window or an external wall. The air molecule immediately shrinks and spills its contents, which leeches into the plasterwork. This creates the perfect environment for mould spores, which are dragged in on our clothes and shoes or via pets, to germinate and spread. In desperation, walls are bleached, which merely masks the issue, and windows are opened, allowing more spores and moisture in along with pollutants.                   Solution 1: Low-Temp Surface Heating Instead of heating the air, there is a solution that heats surfaces first. When used at the correct frequency on the ceiling and over a large surface area, this “light” heats the surfaces without immediately warming the air. The air molecules remain restricted and simply bounce off the warmer walls. The “light” also penetrates deep into the walls to dry out any damp within them. As the walls retain the heat energy, they continue to warm the room even when the “light” is switched off. For stubborn areas, the light can even be emitted from within the wall itself, keeping the surface above the “dew point” and drying out any moisture.           Solution 2:  Preventing condensation in old buildings with Mechanical Ventilation Systems Daily activities still create moisture that builds up. A traditional centralized MVHR (Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery) system would extract this and send it out of the roof, retaining the heat and then bringing in fresh, filtered and warmed air back in. Unfortunately, these systems are expensive, take up a lot of space, and require extensive ducting to be run throughout the home to collect the ‘bad’ air. This is not so bad in a new build, even though many house builders still refuse to fit them, but very hard to retrofit into older properties.                       Instead of sending the stale air upwards, a more compact solution sends it outwards. These “through-wall” units consist of carefully positioned 200mm to 300mm long ducts that are placed through external walls. Each duct has a high-density ceramic core and two reversible fans that work silently and continuously. These units use just 2 watts of power and recover around 98% of the heat. Each unit also has a sensor that monitors moist air and foul air and can let a central hub know if the room needs to be purged. A dual-fan, through-wall unit uses just 2 watts of power and recovers around 98% of the heat. The Complete Solution to Damp & Mould in older properties Moisture control through ventilation and low-temperature surface heating is our bread and butter, thanks to German engineering and over 60 years of experience in the European sector. To find out more about our energy-efficient surface heating and ventilation solutions, please get in touch.    

Energy Carbon’s low energy infrared heating was the system of choice to ensure optimal comfort in this incredible refurbishment Warksburn Old Church is a spectacular three bedroom luxury holiday rental property at Wark-on-Tyne, Northumberland, where breathtaking interior design is finished with exceptional attention to detail. It is located close to Hadrians Wall, Hexham, and Kielder in a beautiful and tranquil part of rural North East England. A £1M renovation during 2023/24 created a truly unique and stylish home, where up to six guests can enjoy a wonderful holiday. Sensitively updating a heritage building with cutting edge low carbon technology, the rebuilt Warksburn Old Church is one of the most efficient buildings in the UK, generating more energy than it consumes every year. It is the first church conversion in the world to create a home which meets the ultra-demanding Passivhaus standard for energy efficiency. Warksburn Old Church invites you to experience Net Zero Luxury for yourself. Low energy lighting is used in every room, and invisible ‘far infrared’ heating is physically built in to floors, walls, and ceilings within the property. This innovative technology provides exceptional comfort and warmth when cold winter’s days require it and means no more radiators are necessary.                   However, for most of the year, guests will notice that this Passivhaus building requires no heating at all, other than the heat naturally emitted by its occupants, and their activities such as cooking.  This is both because it is super-insulated and also because it incorporates a Mechanical Ventilation & Heat Recovery (MVHR) system         Plastering in was as simple as pressing the FLEECE into  a wet bed of Multifinish plaster before polishing off ready to decorate as seen in this installation video. Smart energy providing guest comfort and facilities Generating electricity from a substantial solar array, carefully recessed into the 150 year old Westmorland slates on the south roof, and storing the energy produced in large batteries, Warksburn Old Church incorporates a number of smart energy technologies.  These supply renewable or sustainable power for numerous features and facilities provided for the comfort, convenience, and enjoyment of guests. This stunning property, which is now available as an Airbnb, was featured on Discovery TV, The Sunday Times and Grand Designs Magazine.  

The new, smart way of improving resident comfort whilst saving energy in a care home? High energy bills, stale air, smells and unhappy people – time to put things right and reduce energy in a care home!   Imagine the scenario if you will.  A care home operates a centralised heating system such as a gas boiler or heat pump.  Rooms are heated with a series of radiators/emitters which take up valuable wall space and can cause obstruction.  These radiators dry the air out and circulate dust across the building, spreading smells, virus and other nasties. Then the boiler/heat pump breaks down, wreaking havoc across the home and activating the deployment of electric panel heaters.  Now we have obstruction, dust, dry air AND high energy bills! Dry air and smells cause residents and care staff to open windows across the care home, further spreading the nasties from room-to-room, creating cross drafts and throwing around 30% of the valuable warmth out of the window.     This foul air seeps into the building fabric.  It slows everyone down and becomes quite a nasty place to live in, work in or to visit as a relative.  Visits from outside become challenging as relatives can’t bear the thought of sitting around in these conditions – the smell and heat hitting them as they enter through the front door. Prospective clients visiting the home pick up on the heat, the drafts, the smell and the general lethargy of everyone struggling to carry out daily routines and think twice about placing their loved ones into the home.     De-risking the building, improving resident care and saving energy – the future is now Okay, so this is a pretty desperate picture and, of course, not all homes are like this.  However, these situations are reflected to some degree in most care homes – new or old.  In fact, the author has an elderly mother in a 2 year old home with a heat pump and this very much reflects this position.  Sitting with his Mother is challenging at the best of times (dementia) but the smell and dry air has scared off all other family members. Now picture this.                       A low energy, 36v, heating system embedded into the ceiling and emitting healthy far infrared light waves throughout the residents room – warming the floors, walls and surfaces as gently as the sunshine on a beautiful Spring day.  There’s no heat convection and so no dust.  Great for those with breathing difficulties.  There’s no large, ugly emitter (radiator) on the wall and so a nice piece of personal furniture takes its place. Fitted into the wall of this room is a de-centralised ventilation system that provides constant fresh air whilst recovering 99% of the heat and using less than 1watt of electricity.  It senses when CO2, moisture or air impurity levels are high and automatically purges the room – see our explainer video here.     Both systems operate independently from all other rooms and so can be programmed to the residents personal requirements.  There is no cross contamination of virus and dust and each room can be operated and monitored for the ideal climate whilst helping reduce energy in a care home. As the heating system is fast reacting, common areas may be zone controlled and drop back to a lower temperature when not in use, further saving energy. What about installation and maintenance? Both systems can be installed within a day to an average sized room and can form part of a decor upgrade.  No more Engineer call outs in this home – the heating has no moving parts and requires no servicing for the life of the system – that’s in excess of 50 years.  The ventilation system can be serviced by the cleaning crew as simply as changing a filter on a vacuum cleaner.   So – less money spent on heating, less virus spread, happier staff and residents, more visits from relatives and more bookings from prospective customers.   That’s a win all round.   For further information and to see the systems in operation – pop over to stand F74 at the Care Show, London Excel  24th and 25th April  or to see the Author talk about this in more detail then click HERE        

Eco heating was the heating of choice for this incredible new build project.   This beautiful church and community centre replaced the old St.Faiths Church in Kent.  The planning process for the building was long and arduous and fell by the wayside on many occasions until the Church approached Richard Hawkes of Hawkes Architecture – and so the journey began.   Far infrared heating allows beautiful, uninterrupted design Hawkes are great believers not only in the design advantages that hidden infrared can bring to a project, allowing more space for great impact, but also in it’s energy saving and thermal comfort properties.  Energy Carbon were selected from a choice of several manufacturers and installers as the best fit for this project.   Design of the heating commenced with energy calculations to determine the predicted heat loss for the building.  This is where infrared really wins out over other heating systems as there is no requirement to heat the air or ‘space’ but, instead, we heat the surfaces and occupants directly by providing an even coverage of around 30% to 60% in the ceiling.  This effectively reduces the load on the building thus bringing down CAPEX and OPEX.  The added benefit of surface heating is that the building is ‘charged’ with heat, a bit like a battery storing energy, which, in turn, releases to warm the air when the heating is turned off. Bringing the Team up to speed with this new technology After meetings and discussions with the main contractors Harry Barnes costings were produced which led onto producing detailed layout plans showing the layout of the mats.  Due to the large ceiling height of the main hall we opted to place FLEECE mats under the engineered flooring here and also in the main reception.  The rest of the project benefits from our FLEECE system fitted into the ceiling.       The system has a heat load of just 14kw’s, not bad for a building of over 400m2!  This was achieved by using our low energy, 60wm2 FLEECE product along with a series of just 5, 36v transformers feeding the 12 zones.  Zoning along with efficient smart controls allow for detailed scheduling as well as preemptive heating as required, in readiness for group activities such as Toddler sessions or church meetings. The installation commences Electrics were carried out by the very capable team at Bexhill Electrical who, despite never having heard of the product before, carried out the install incredibly well and to a very high standard.                         Plastering in was as simple as pressing the FLEECE into  a wet bed of Multifinish plaster before polishing off ready to decorate.   Watch the heat come to life, live, on camera Finally, the project was fired up to test reaction time and heat output using a FLIR camera   we used the FLIR One  which simply attaches to a smartphone.         For the full architectural design process click here

We live in a world full of things that a hundred years ago the average person would’ve seen as bordering on magical. However, despite our huge versatility as a species, getting used to something new still takes time. In the decades ahead, we’re going to be introduced to a whole range of different products and technologies – many of them designed to help tackle the enormous, existential threat posed by climate change. The ‘r’ word At Energy Carbon, we specialise in infrared heating (specifically far-infrared, but we’ll get on to that in just a minute). Fast, effective and extremely easy to roll out across the country at scale, infrared heating can make a huge contribution to cutting the UK’s carbon footprint by replacing environmentally damaging gas boilers. But we know from experience that homeowners sometimes have questions and concerns about infrared. Infrared is a type of radiation – a word which, understandably, makes some people uneasy. So let’s go back to basics and explore exactly what it means. Radiation is simply energy that moves from one place to another. In other words, it ‘radiates’ from a source to somewhere else. There are two types of radiation – ionising radiation and non-ionising radiation. Ionising radiation has the potential to disrupt the atoms in the human body, and can therefore be harmful to people’s health. It’s this radiation – like the kind emitted by nuclear material – that’s given the r-word its unpleasant reputation. Infrared is everywhere But infrared is a kind of non-ionising radiation – and is in fact something every human being, and almost every living creature, is exposed to and benefits from every day. The light from the sun is 49% infrared radiation, for example. Now, at this point, you might be thinking – sunlight is very nice and all, but isn’t it also dangerous in some contexts? As we all know, if people go out in the sun for too long and too often without taking the right precautions, they can suffer health issues as a consequence. This is true, but that’s because the sun also produces UV – a type of radiation which is very useful in some respects (it’s one of our main sources of Vitamin D), but can still be harmful in large amounts.   Far infrared However, that’s not to say that all infrared is safe. There are actually three types of infrared radiation – near infrared, mid infrared and far-infrared. Near infrared has the lowest bandwidth of the three – and the lower the bandwidth, the more it excites our atoms. That means it has the potential to burn, and exposure to near infrared has been found to burn the retinas of the eyes. Far-infrared, by contrast, is completely safe. It’s known as the ‘light of life’ – we said earlier that 49% of the light from the sun is infrared. To be precise, it’s far-infrared (it’s also far-infrared that’s used in incubators to warm new-born babies). And it’s far-infrared that’s by far the most beneficial for heating homes and its occupants. Far-infrared radiation warms all the surfaces and objects in a room, rather than the air – and those surfaces and objects then go on to radiate heat themselves. The embodied heat gathered in these areas slowly releases back into the room, allowing for very fast reaction times, which mean the heating itself doesn’t have to be on and consuming electricity for as long before homeowners start to feel the benefit – cutting both energy bills and carbon footprints. But not all far-infrared heating is created equal. In the past, many manufacturers have produced far-infrared heating panels that are commonly placed on the walls or ceilings inside the home. However, these panels become extremely hot to the touch when they’re in operation – which makes the dangerous if children, elderly people or anyone else accidentally fall against them.  This heat becomes very uncomfortable when placed overhead and they also only heat specific areas in a room such as over a dining table – get up from your chair and you’ll feel cold again.   At Energy Carbon, we are infrared heating suppliers and provide a much better and safer solution – far-infrared heating fleece, made from recycled materials,  that can be plastered into walls or ceilings, or, in the case of our newest product Drytec, inserted behind the plasterboard without the need for wet trades.  The 36v product covers 60% of a ceiling area, radiates out to 100% of the floor area and operates at a surface temperature of around 35° World-changing potential Like any new technology – or in this case, a new use for a technology that’s been around for years – far infrared heating may take a bit of getting used to. But once we’re over that hurdle, it’s going to play a massive part in making Britain a much greener, more sustainable place to be.  

In the two-family house (built in 1962), the upper floor flat was renovated. The house, originally equipped with night storage heaters, was to continue to be heated with electricity at the owner‘s request, so the E-NERGY CARBON FLEECE system was used as ceiling heating. This meant that the flat could continue to be occupied during the entire construction phase. To optimise energy costs, a PV system on the roof will support the overall installation in the future. Ceiling plaster: Multi Finish Surface heating: E-NERGY CARBON FLEECE (110 wm2) Surface: 150 m² Area: Upper floor

In a few short years, sustainability has risen to become one of construction’s biggest buzzwords. But how genuine can that commitment really be when we still install thousands of gas boilers every year? Nick Gander and Rod Davies of Energy Carbon ask the question. We’ve all felt the shift in the public mood. Just a few years back, in the mainstream, climate change was still treated like a fringe issue. Now, there’s more talk about the environment than ever – and sometimes, remarkably, it even translates into action. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what changed. Some say it was Greta Thunberg. Some say it was David Attenborough. Perhaps it was the increasingly apocalyptic warnings being issued by usually cool, unemotional scientists. But for whatever reason, the environment is finally a live political issue. Politicians and big businesses are falling over themselves to prove their commitment to sustainability. And finally, we’re seeing some very slow progress start to be made. The great gas boiler scandal However – before we get too excited, there are still some vital areas where we’ve made no progress whatsoever. Let’s take gas boilers as an example. As a country, the UK relies on them more than almost any nation in the world – only the Netherlands, home to the largest natural gas field in Europe, uses it more in heating. And as we all know, gas boilers are terrible for the environment. So much so that, in 2019, the UK government announced that they’d be banned by 2025 (last November, they issued a statement bringing that forward to 2023, but any mention of that date quickly disappeared without a trace). Whatever cut-off point ministers eventually settle on, it’s very clear gas boilers’ days are numbered. So here’s the baffling thing – we’re still installing tens of thousands of them in new-builds around the country every year. A grown-up conversation It’s that more than just about anything that makes us fear our industry’s much-trumpeted commitment to ‘sustainability’ is actually just spin. Yes, it’s only in the last two or three years that the environment has really come to the fore as one of the dominant political issues in Britain – something that politicians and ordinary people, not just campaigners and professors, are worried about. But we’ve got no excuse. The evidence for man-made climate change has been around for decades. Scientists were warning about it in the ‘70s. By the 2000s, it was widely known that humanity’s vast use of fossil fuels was releasing greenhouse gases that were causing the climate to heat up – which, before long, could bring about catastrophic consequences. So here’s what should’ve happened. Industries like ours should’ve had a sober, grown-up conversation, drawing on the reams of scientific evidence that’s existed for the best part of five decades, and made a pledge to collectively act. To shift away from fossil fuels, and invest decisively in greener technologies and ways of working. And we should’ve stopped fitting gas boilers years ago. It’s easier said than done, of course, and would create a lot of hurdles we’d need to overcome. Turning away from gas to electric would dramatically increase the strain on the National Grid – and if that energy shortfall was made up by fossil fuel-burning power stations, it could end up causing more environmental damage than scrapping gas would achieve. And one of the reasons gas heating is widespread is because it’s cheap. Any large-scale shift away from it would have to be accompanied by subsidies to support those on low incomes. But doing the right thing isn’t always easy, and these are all issues we could work around (in the case of power generation, we need to be urgently switching to renewables anyway). If we’d grasped the nettle years ago, as we should’ve done, we’d have long since ironed out any problems and be well on the way to a greener future. But we didn’t. We all knew sustainability was important – but we put what was convenient for us ahead of what was right. Putting people before profit We shouldn’t have to wait for the government to ban something bad before we stop doing it. We’re adults – we can use our own brains and own judgement to decide what’s best for society, and act accordingly. But the fact we’re not doing that makes a mockery of our sector’s claims to green credentials. It’s hard to think of anything less sustainable than installing fossil fuel boilers because it’s cheap and convenient, only for them to be ripped out, replaced then thrown on the scrap heap just a few years down the road. As an industry, it’s time we took responsibility for our environmental impact, put the welfare of the nation and everyone on the planet before our own short-term gain, and embraced innovative, sustainable alternatives instead. If you’re interested in learning more, please call 0203 507 1659 or visit www.energycarbon.co.uk. 

Dear Boris, We know you’ve got a lot on your plate at the moment – but we need to talk about the environment. Earlier this year, you made the momentous commitment to cut the UK’s carbon emissions by 78% between now and 2035 – a pledge you’ve since enshrined in law. It’s not just the most ambitious carbon reduction target any developed nation has set so far – it’s a clear indication that you and the government more generally recognise the seriousness of the environmental crisis we face. But here’s the thing – pledges on their own are meaningless. Don’t get us wrong – this isn’t meant as an attack. As we’ve said already, you’ve gone further than any major world leader in committing to hugely ambitious cuts in carbon emissions. But now we need to see action. The scale of the challenge we face is frankly terrifying. In terms of its potential negative impact, climate change dwarfs the coronavirus crisis. Essentially, what we’re dealing with here is the future of our species. And without radical action literally in the space of years, it’s very possible it may not have one. So here are three things we think have the potential to supercharge the national effort to reach net zero by 2050 – and that the government should commit to immediately. Number 1: stop all support for the fossil fuel industry When a petition calling on the government to stop subsidising fossil fuels reached 10,000 signatures last year, the point at which ministers have to provide a written response, your colleagues unfortunately gave a typical politician’s reply. “The UK does not give subsidies to fossil fuels”, they said. A 2019 report by the European Commission begged to differ, finding that we provide over £10bn in support to the fossil fuel sector every year, more than any other country on the continent. What’s more, Greenpeace allege that the government’s UK Export Finance arm has funded £6bn of fossil fuel projects around the world since 2010. In November last year, we were pleased to see you commit to ending all government investment in coal, oil and gas overseas. But the crucial question is – when? And if and when that policy does come into force, can you guarantee it will be loophole-free? Number 2: embrace the potential of renewables The UK needs to be generating all its electricity renewably in the space of years, not decades. Possibly the quickest and most effective way of doing that is to embrace the country’s huge potential for offshore wind generation. A report by consultants BVG Associates claims that the UK can be generating 25 gigawatts more wind energy by 2030, which would be enough to power three-quarters of the country’s 29 million households. The same study found that Britain is by far the most suitable country for large-scale wind power generation in the world – and what’s more, there’s never been a better time to invest in it. The price of offshore wind power fell by 32% between 2012 and 2016, and a 2020 report by your own Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy found the cost of renewables more generally is up to 50% cheaper than previously thought. There’s also huge potential for solar in Britain – the Welsh government is already striving to make every home its own power plant with the use of PV, and one study suggests that installing solar panels on 61% of the country’s south-facing commercial buildings would meet the power needs of every business in the country. Number 3: Put a proper funding infrastructure for retrofit projects, green businesses and sustainable technologies in place There’s no way around it – the Green Homes Grant was a bit of a flop. We understand it was probably put together at speed, and have no doubt it was extremely well intentioned. But it was overly complicated for both homeowners and the trade, and, at £2bn, a drop in the ocean given the scale of the challenge we face. In its place, we need a comprehensive programme of government grants to help homeowners across the country retrofit their homes. We need grants to support green start-ups, and the development of new green technologies in every field. We need to quickly authorise the use of proven emerging technologies like Phase Change hot water boilers and infrared heating – both of which are easy to implement, ready to go, and have been comprehensively tried and tested in Europe, but are currently excluded from SAP. And we need to make sure that the banks are lending to the entrepreneurs at the cutting-edge of the sustainability revolution. History shows us that it’s often not the rich, powerful, long-established businesses that drive innovation, but smaller, more agile ones that are willing to take risks. If the financial sector doesn’t support these businesses, we’ll all be much worse off as a result. The time for action is now These are just three steps we think are critically important if we’re going to successfully slash the UK’s carbon emissions in the decades ahead. We’re sure there are many others. In fact, we’d encourage anyone else reading this to write in and tell us the things you want to see the government doing to accelerate the drive to net zero – you can email us at hello@flooringworld.uk Because it’s only by drawing on the skills and expertise of talented people from every sector, that we’ve got any chance of preventing a crisis with dire consequences for everyone on Earth. Yours sincerely, Nick and Rod If you’re interested in learning more, please call 0203 507 1659 or visit www.energycarbon.co.uk.

Trailblazing sustainable housebuilder Galion Limited have become the latest firm to embrace the potential of Energy Carbon’s state-of-the-art Far-Infrared heating technology. Glastonbury-based Galion specialise in beautifully crafted, traditional new home developments designed to deliver bespoke, spacious and eco-friendly living spaces that encourage community cohesion. In their bid to make their homes as sustainable as possible, the company reached out to Energy Carbon, intrigued by what infrared heating had to offer. “When Galion approached us, we were immediately impressed with their outlook,” comments Energy Carbon director Nick Gander. “For some companies, ‘going green’ is just a box-ticking exercise. But Galion clearly don’t do sustainability by halves. Cost wasn’t an issue – they just wanted the best eco-friendly heating system they could find.” Galion’s properties will incorporate solar panels on the roofs, locally sourced natural stone, electric vehicle charging points and more. With Energy Carbon’s cutting-edge heating tech, they hope to push the envelope of sustainable construction even further. In contrast with conventional heating technology, that works by warming the air, Energy Carbon’s innovative products work by harnessing the power of infrared. Heating the surfaces in a room rather than the empty space, they allow homeowners to switch it on and be feeling the benefits much more quickly than traditional heating – which means lower electricity bills as a result. An ongoing test house experiment run by Energy Carbon in Germany has found that this technology can reduce overall electricity use by as much as 26%. Capable of heating rooms up to 28.7 degrees Celsius while retaining safe, low surface temperatures of no more than 41 degrees, the products can be quickly and easily plastered into ceilings or inserted behind plasterboard, meaning they’re not only green, but builder-friendly too. Energy Carbon co-director Rod Davies comments: “In many cases, it’s not the big major developers who make the first move when it comes to innovative new technologies. “We often find it’s the smaller, more agile companies that are willing to embrace new ideas – an approach that Galion perfectly encapsulates. They’ve already gone further on sustainability than many of the UK’s housebuilders, and we’re delighted to be working with them.” Give us a call on 0203 507 1659 or email hello@flooringworld.uk  

We’re delighted to be able to unveil two new innovations this month. The first is our 60-watt infrared heating fleece, that’s been specifically designed for homes being built to Passivhaus standard. Passivhaus – literally ‘Passive House’ in German – is widely accepted as the world’s most stringent and respected standard of home energy efficiency. Passivhaus buildings provide an exceptional level of occupant comfort, while using very little energy for heating and cooling – and we expect to see the numbers of them increase significantly in coming years, as the UK strives to meet its new target of 78% less carbon emissions by 2035. Our 60-watt fleece will allow us to offer fantastic infrared heating in even the most demanding of settings. Meanwhile, we’ve launched a new whole-house transformer for use with our heating products. When you use lots of smaller transformers on a project, it can quickly get messy and complicated – and you’re often left with lots of outlets you don’t need. With our new transformer, you can cover up to ten zones with a single unit, which keeps things much neater, and makes the installer’s life much easier. If you’d like to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact Energy Carbon today! Call 0203 507 1659 or email hello@flooringworld.uk. 

We’re celebrating not only being named a finalist in the Green Homes Awards, but winning both a BUILD Award, and a much-sought after Plus X Award. We were one of the final few in the GHA’s Best Heating Innovation category,  recognised by BUILD magazine as Best Low Carbon Heating Supplier, and received one of the Plus X Award’s highly prestigious Seals of Approval. Each year, Plus X assembles an independent panel to assess the latest offerings from thousands of different businesses around the world, rewarding those that display the most extraordinary design and outstanding functionality. We’re absolutely delighted that this year we caught their eye. It’s very fitting that Plus X is a German award scheme. Our far-infrared heating is itself made in Germany, from designs produced by experts at the University of Stuttgart. That means it’s not just got an exceptional pedigree, but that it’s been tested to some of the most stringent standards in the world. It’s been independently tested and certified by TUV Rheinland, and meets all the requirements of the OKO Design Directive. If you’re interested in learning more, please call 0203 507 1659 or email hello@flooringworld.uk

For anyone interested in seeing the government take the bull by the horns and tackle the single greatest issue of our time, it’s been a confusing and frustrating few months. As we’re all very aware, back in 2019 the UK became the first of the world’s developed countries to commit itself to achieving net-zero carbon by 2050. But two years later – only partially excused by the disruption brought on by coronavirus – progress has been extremely slow. In March, the Environmental Audit Committee of the House of Commons rebuked the government for its failure to act – and, in particular, for ignoring the critical importance of decarbonising Britain’s housing stock, which accounts for a huge share of the country’s carbon emissions. Far from taking the criticism on board, however, just a few weeks later the government was announcing the cancellation of its £2bn Green Homes Grant. In of itself, that wasn’t especially devastating – the scheme was complex, confusing and poorly received by firms throughout the construction sector. Benefitting from it as a product supplier or installer was costly and time-consuming, and the application process for homeowners was far from straightforward. But given the enormous scale of the climate crisis, the UK needs to be taking drastic action to decarbonise its built environment – and at the moment, ministers have announced nothing substantial to replace it. In a year when the UK is supposedly demonstrating its commitment to sustainability by hosting the world’s biggest climate conference, COP26, that’s inexcusable – and, given what the government would go on to announce next, quite baffling. 78% less emissions by 2035 The UK was a sustainability trailblazer when it committed to net-zero by 2050. But in April, the government declared it wanted to go further – now, Britain will have to cut carbon emissions by 78% by 2035. We think that’s totally the right decision. Without introducing some sort of stepping stone to 2050, the risk was that companies would drag their feet, leave taking the difficult decisions until about 2045, then find themselves faced with the impossible task of trying to totally decarbonise in the space of a few years. But if the government doesn’t quickly come forward with a package of radical measures to make net-zero a reality in the built environment, that 2035 commitment is laughable – not worth the paper it’s written on. Time to put our money where our mouth is What’s most frustrating is that it should be so simple. What are the two biggest crises we currently face as a nation? Climate change, and the pandemic – both its public health impact, and the huge damage it’s done to the economy. Here’s a way the government could help tackle both. Train the thousands of people who’ve lost their jobs in retail, hospitality, tourism and other sectors to retrofit buildings – the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group thinks investment in net-zero could create 150,000 jobs. Then, give grants for energy-efficiency improvements to every household in the country. Remove all the complex eligibility criteria, and make it simple – just give it to everyone. Would that be expensive? Of course it would. But you can’t put a price on the future – and Britain has long lagged behind other countries in its willingness to spend for the good of the planet. When you look back on it now, the Green Homes Grant was nowhere near big enough to meet the scale of the challenges we face. Without a drastic change in the space of a few years, large parts of the planet could become uninhabitable in our lifetimes. COVID saw the UK economy shrink by 9.9% last year, the single greatest contraction in the country’s recorded history. And as a nation, our response was to allocate £2bn. For a government, that’s pocket change. They’re set to spend £12bn renovating the House of Commons. In Germany, by contrast, they’ve committed $46bn to investments in sustainability in just the last year. These are the sorts of figures we need to see if we’re going to have any impact on the climate crisis, let alone cut carbon emissions by almost 80% in the next 15 years. The need for simpler heating If we were to roll out the sort of scheme we’ve outlined above – a mass programme of government-supported retrofitting – there’s still one big issue we’d have to overcome. Much of the sustainable heating technology that’s out there, including the air and ground-source heat pumps favoured by the government, are extremely complicated, and require specialist engineers to install and maintain. To bring about the sort of mass rollout that’s urgently required, we need heating tech that’s much simpler, and can be installed much more quickly and easily – and at Energy Carbon, that’s what we’re dedicated to providing. The bottom line is this. If we want future generations to have a planet they can live on, we need to take bold action now – and if we don’t, all the government’s ‘targets’ and ‘commitments’ will have been just more hot air. If you’d like to learn more, don’t hesitate to contact Energy Carbon today! Call 0203 507 1659 or email hello@flooringworld.uk.