Healthier & Cheaper Living

With energy bills rising, climate change concerns and cost of living biting into people’s pockets across the UK, a potential path forward can be seen in a partnership between Octopus Energy and ilke Homes.

Housing is responsible for more than a quarter of the UK’s carbon emissions. In 2021 only 1.6% of newbuilds in the UK were built to the top standard of energy-efficiency, equivalent to just 3,457 homes. Under new rules, newbuild homes constructed from 2022 are required to reduce emissions by 31% in preparation for the 2025 Future Homes Standard that will see a reduction in gas boilers and fossil fuel heating systems and more low-carbon heating solutions such as air source heat pumps and solar panels.

To drive this forward, Octopus Energy and ilke Homes have entered a strategic partnership to roll out the UK’s first homes to guarantee residents zero energy bills. The two British technology firms are launching the partnership on a site in Essex where ilke Homes is delivering the UK’s largest zero-carbon housing development.

As part of the launch, two factorybuilt homes are being installed in Stanford-le-Hope, Essex. These will come equipped with an air source heat pump, solar panels and battery storage technology. The low-carbon technologies will combine to provide free, clean energy round the clock, with Octopus Energy providing a bespoke tariff. The homes have been launched as part of ilke ZERO, the UK’s first mainstream zero-carbon housing offering, and comes as ilke Homes grows its pipeline to 3,500 homes, in a sign that modular housing is quickly becoming a mainstream solution to housing delivery.

Octopus Energy Group is a global energy tech pioneer, launched in 2016 to use technology to unlock a ‘customer focused and affordable green energy revolution’. Octopus’s tech arm, Kraken Technologies, offers a proprietary, in-house platform based on advanced data and machine learning capabilities. “This breakthrough partnership debunks a long-standing myth – that cleaner energy will mean higher bills for consumers,” says Greg Jackson, founder of Octopus Energy Group. “Instead, people living in these homes won’t be paying for energy at all. This is yet another demonstration that clean energy is cheap energy, and the best answer to the fossil fuel crisis is accelerating the transition to renewables.”

The two-bedroom semi-detached family homes – being delivered in partnership with Gresham House and SO Resi – form part of a wider 153-home scheme, branded Hope Green. 101 of these homes will be zero-carbon in operation, the most delivered on a single site in the UK, meaning they will generate their own source of energy, helping to drastically reduce emissions produced by utilities such as electricity and heating.

Energy bills have risen for the UK population because of an increase in the energy price cap, which is the maximum price that suppliers in England, Wales and Scotland can

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charge households. This meant an average increase of £693 for around 18 million households on standard tariffs and £708 for 4.5 million prepayment customers.

But the cost-of-living crisis is set to deepen even further come October after Ofgem’s Chief Executive, Jonathan Brearley, told MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee that he expected the energy price cap to be “in the region of £2,800” when it is reviewed later this year. In response the Treasury has announced a package of shortterm measures to support households with increased bills this winter.

The first two ZERO bills homes, which will be made available for shared ownership. By harnessing artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital design, the ilke Homes is capable of creating homes that are incredibly well insulated, meaning less heat escapes and consequently reducing bills. Highperforming building fabric is deemed essential for the performance of lowcarbon technologies.

To reach the ZERO bills specification, ilke Homes on behalf of Gresham House will install low-carbon technologies to provide cheap, clean energy. Solar panels on the roof will generate electricity for the home and its heat pump, which provides all heating and hot water. The homes will be equipped with battery technology to store any excess green electricity the solar panels generate. By using a battery, the home will be able to store this energy for later use. Alistair Wardell, Investment Director at Gresham House, said: “Our deal with ilke Homes provides an innovative and much-needed solution to the historic undersupply of shared ownership housing in the South East of England. Gresham House is committed to helping alleviate the shortage of affordable housing in the UK and to delivering sustainable and innovative solutions to this problem. This project will deliver real-world benefits to residents in Hope Green and is another step on the journey towards widespread development of net zero residential homes across the UK.”

Launched in July 2021, ilke ZERO aims to deliver thousands of operational zero-carbon homes per year for major investors, housing associations, and councils across the UK. The homes have already been trialled in London, Newcastle, Gateshead, Newark, and Sunderland, and are now ready to be rolled out everywhere. “Our strategic partnership with Octopus Energy Group is the next milestone on our ilke ZERO journey,” says Giles Carter, CEO at ilke Homes. “The premise of this partnership is to both empower consumers, who are faced with one of the worst cost-of-living crises in decades and demonstrate that netzero and construction can work hand in hand.

“Thanks to years of intensive research and development, we have successfully created a ready-to-go, highly energy-efficient solution to housing delivery – one which will help investors future-proof investments against government policy, help

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meet strict ESG criteria, and allow for revenue streams to be accessed as quick as possible due to a significant reduction in construction programmes.”

“The housing sector clearly has a big part to play in driving down carbon emissions and moving towards more sustainable methods of construction and environmentally friendly homes,” adds Kush Rawal, Director of Residential Investment at SO Resi. “However, we have always stressed that it is important to strike a balance and work with partners such as ilke Homes and Gresham House to ensure a move to green living remains affordable for the consumer, otherwise we risk creating a two-tier society where being sustainable is only for those who can afford it.

“Innovations such as those within Hope Green put sustainability at their very core and go above and beyond what is expected – particularly within the affordable homes sector. Our priority is always to ensure housing remains accessible to those who need it most, and it is an exciting milestone that the pioneering bill free house will be available through shared ownership rather than to the highest bidder.”

For more information visit:

www.ilkehomes.co.uk www.octopusenergy.group

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01-04. Zero carbon living boosted by offsite manufacture and digital technology is the shape of future placemaking

POWERED BY MMC

Founded in Dublin in 1989, ESS Modular is an industry leader in modern methods of construction (MMC) in the UK and Ireland. In this Q&A, Paul Tierney - CEO and Ronan Smyth - Managing Director of ESS Modular share their thoughts on MMC and the future of the construction industry.

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The business has seen significant growth in the last 18 months in response to market demand from both public and private sector for MMC, group turnover has grown from €60 to €95million and staff numbers have increased from 150 to 280 in Ireland and the UK. In March 2022, the company announced a significant development, when global construction specialist ISG acquired a majority stake in the business, providing ESS with a solid platform from which to deliver an ambitious growth plan.

Q: Do you think MMC has been fully embraced by the industry?

MMC has grown hugely in the last 10 years as clients begin to recognise its major advantages. We have seen a big shift across the sector to adopt, embrace and actively pursue MMC. In the UK, the Government have indicated a preference for MMC through the establishment of a number of dedicated MMC frameworks for education and healthcare projects, with the DfE alone investing £3billion in their UK framework.

Q: Can MMC and traditional construction co-exist?

Yes. In 2020, the annual turnover in construction from the EU-27 countries amounted to almost €1.7trillion, and will continue to rise, mostly driven by government spending on planned infrastructure projects. As a whole, the industry genuinely can’t build fast enough. Our projects are focused around driving high levels of premanufactured value, but we still use a network of traditional subcontractors in our controlled factory environment, as opposed to transient labour moving between sites. We strongly believe that we need to stop looking at MMC as a separate industry, we should see it as a natural evolution of the construction industry.

Q: Do you think that the recent investment from ISG will help facilitate that?

Without a doubt it will. ISG is a leading global construction specialist and their investment in ESS makes a statement to the industry around the serious need for Tier One contractors to develop their service lines to include mmc. Our third manufacturing facility in Warrington is now up and running and once that’s at capacity, we’ll be looking for a further facility in the Southern region of the UK too. Alongside this, we’re investing heavily in automation technologies in our two existing production facilities in Ireland. We’ve also recruited a record number of 150 people in the last 18 months, enhancing manufacturing, IT, marketing, design, people, and procurement teams, recruiting talented individuals, all driven by the same purpose, to fin

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Q: It all sounds very positive, but what challenges are you facing in the short/ medium/long term?

There are challenges which we experience in the same way as traditional contractors. Hyper-inflation of costs is a very real issue, as are soaring costs in labour, building materials and transport, with the highest inflation seen on imported materials – the industry cannot simply just swallow the cost, nor can we move the costs onto our supply chain partners.

The restrictions around movements of materials and labour, initiated by Brexit, were exacerbated by the pandemic, but we have been working to mitigate them, by building supply chain frameworks, and providing our trusted partners with visibility of order book, to help facilitate continuity of supply. Despite the above we remain optimistic: increased public sector spending in MMC is really shining a light on the benefits of our industry and we’re being approached by an increasing number of private sector clients who are looking at alternative method of delivery.

For more information visit:

www.essmodular.com

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01-02. ESS Modular projects are focused around driving high levels of pre-manufactured value