36 A BACKUP PLAN: THE ROLE OF SECONDARY HEATING IN FUTURE HOMES STANDARD COMPLIANCE
“There is tremendous misinformation about pollution” Peter Mintoft, Charlton & Jenrick
Design & supply
The challenges of integrating secondary heating systems into new homes post-construction was a key concern of delegates, while the potential of automated combustion systems to regulate airfl ow for maximum clean operation was cited as one solution. If housebuilders are going to embrace wood burning stoves, there are practical issues around ensuring that chimney and fl ue installations are done correctly in order to be ready for potential installation of wood burning stoves, as discussed by the group. However, with many homebuyers (evidenced by the DESNZ consumer survey) keen to pursue the idea of wood burning stoves as secondary heating options, Calvin May of HETAS proposed the idea of marketing “stove-ready” homes as a differentiator, i.e. with class 1 chimney and fl ue pre-installed, in the vein of the MCS ‘meter ready’ approach, and several delegates approved of the idea. Milligan said that retrofi tting whole stove systems including chimneys and fl ues into new build homes was potentially a recipe for “burning money and destroying the fabric.”
Milligan said that while manufacturers “can almost provide all the information an architect or designer would need, they need to “make that contact and make sure, rather than just getting a builder who thinks that he can build a brick shaft and call it a chimney; this happens on a daily basis.” May concurred that HETAS installers “still get a whole host of problems where chimneys aren’t built to the correct specifi cations to serve a solid fuel heating appliances,” and Milligan affi rmed that “it has to be part of the design process,” and contractors “need to think about the chimney before you build a house.” HETAS’ Calvin May, while agreeing with Danielle that SAP was “not a design tool,” said it was “vitally important that developers can recognise the benefi ts of whatever products they put in,” and SAP/HEM should be the vehicle for this, they need be recognised somewhere for it to be attractive.” Danielle from Taylor Wimpey asked the group whether, under the new building safety regime and the growth of modern methods of construction meaning different external facades, materials and fi xings potentially being used, what the industry had done around fi re safety in fl ue systems to take this into account.
May commented that installers were catching up with other professions on the building safety agenda, but currently it was “about providing installers and with the knowledge that they may be penetrating through a structure that is more combustible than a 1940s cinder block built type property.” He asserted that “the information and the knowledge is already there, it’s just about applying it to the new housing stock, rather than developing a whole new research structure.” For manufacturers, there was the important insight from May that “It’s about taking their performance data and then bringing it down the chain to the installer.”
HOT TOPIC Ruoyang Yuan of the University of Sheffi eld outlined recent research showing stoves’ safety to sponsor Simon Bower of Percy Doughty, and Dennis Milligan of BFCMA
Supply chain ramifi cations An important question was asked to the group by Ruoyang Yuan, of the Supergen Bioenergy Hub at Sheffi eld University, around the price impact if demand for wood stoves ramps up quickly. She said: “Could we maintain the price for the customers, if we recommend stoves as secondary heating, would we be able to balance supply with that demand?” James Verlaque said that while price would inevitably be governed by demand, a recent study by University of Aberdeen found we would have the capacity in the UK, but “it would need a bit of a change of thought; we aren’t technically producing suffi cient numbers, but we could, although we are up against things like demand from typical construction.”
Conclusion Erica Malkin, executive director of the Stove Industry Association, praised the round table for having shown her “the opportunity that is out there in talking directly to builders, and to people such as Naomi Sadler,” who works with developers on residential schemes. She said this would enable the SIA to become “more of a mouthpiece that’s not just coming from the people with a vested interest in selling solid fuel appliances, but from people that are actually having to develop housing stock for people to live in.” Despite the clear benefi ts and role of wood burning stoves in secondary heating, and the support of the Government now under the incoming Future Homes Standard, it will take some concerted effort among the stoves sector to persuade housebuilders in the mainstream to approach these solutions as a standard offer. Delegates agreed that a unifi ed communication approach to housebuilders was self-evidently required, and also that alongside the
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