"Nathan is brilliant at making the complicated simple..." Amber Rudd (Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 2015-16) BetaTalk is an award winning podcast for Local Authorities, Social Housing Groups, Think Tanks, Government, Journalists, Consultants, Developers, Gas, Oil and Heat Pump engineers and the general public. It is hosted by Nathan Gambling who's family have been involved with heat pump technologies for nearly half a century. "Nathan is one of the UK's clean heat leaders, ...
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Zero Ambitions is a consultancy and weekly podcast about sustainability and the built environment. We find interesting and experienced guests who know what they're talking about, usually to discuss how we navigate the complexity of decarbonisation and sustainability in the built environment and its many related sectors. The success of the podcast has seen it grow into a consultancy, Zero Ambitions Partners. The consultancy works with blue chip clients, public sector institutions, and niche-m ...
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Send us a text In the fourth episode of the Heat Pump Ready special bulletin series, Nathan talks to three Heat Pump Ready projects to discuss the topic of ‘Improving the customer journey’. Nathan is joined by Jack Jarvis from EDF, Gareth Robertson from Thermly and Lucy Fairchild from Oxford City Council to discuss. Support the show Learn more abou…
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Smart Heat, Smart Savings: An Expert Consumer Meets Havenwise
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56:02Send us a text In this episode, Nathan invites Mick Wall, his 'expert consumer,' back to have a discussion with the lads from Havenwise, a company dedicated to helping with quality heat pump installations. Havenwise runs an API which optimizes the weather curves on the heat pump, as well as looking at time-of-use tariffs. You can choose to use vari…
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Moisture: the bane of all buildings (also breathability, sweatability, and vapour), with Valentina Marincioni (UCL) and Toby Cambray (Greengauge)
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1:24:46
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1:24:46We are joined by Valentina Marincioni (UCL, UKCMB) and returning guest Toby Cambray (Greengauge) to talk about the bane of all buildings: moisture. Recently, they they’ve produced a simple explainer video about "breathability" in buildings for the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings. Given Jeff's proclivity for referring to the 'sweatability' of bu…
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Intergas Stainless Steel Cylinders - A Heat Pump Game Changer?
1:10:28
1:10:28
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1:10:28Send us a text Join host Nathan Gambling as he journeys to Intergas HQ alongside legendary heat pump engineer Steve Webster to get the inside scoop on their high-quality stainless steel hot water cylinders, specifically designed for heat pump systems. Steve shares his firsthand experience testing these cylinders on recent installations, highlightin…
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RAG vs. Hallucinations: The Truth About AI in the Trades
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50:34Send us a text Episode Description: Host Nathan dives into the rapidly evolving world of Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact on the plumbing and heating industry. Joining him are Barrie and Amrit from Lorefuly, experts in leveraging technology for the trades. Key Discussion Points: The Hallucination Hazard: The trio discusses the cruci…
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Beyond Three Days: Rethinking Heat Pump Installation Training
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49:36Send us a text Nathan speaks with Leah Robson, owner of a small SME (Your Energy Your Way) installing heat pumps, batteries, and solar, about her recent appearance at Westminster. Leah gave evidence to the "Workforce Planning to Deliver Clean, Secure Energy" Committee, invited through Ellora Coupe of "Her Retrofit Space." The discussion centres on …
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Battery storage, lancing boilers, and decentralised energy grids: a Decent way to manage your electricity, with Tom Cox and Sally Sattary (Decent Energy)
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1:09:16By Jeff and Dan
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Are Industry Associations Still Relevant? A Deep Dive with the Heat Pump Association
1:32:10
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1:32:10Send us a text In this insightful episode, host Nathan sits down with two key figures from the Heat Pump Association (HPA) – CEO Charlotte Lea and Chair Craig Dolan – to explore the role the HPA plays in the evolving UK heating landscape. They delve into the value the association brings to the industry, particularly as the nation transitions toward…
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Translating retrofit for normal people, with retrofit influencer Judith Leary Joyce (Eco Home Retrofit)
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1:27:38This episode is a window into the consumer side of domestic retrofit that’s full of lessons for everyone involved in the retrofit sector. We speak with retrofit influencer Judith Leary Joyce about the experience of undergoing a deep retrofit and learning how to communicate about the subject with normal people. She talks us through her journey from …
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Thoughts on Heat Pump Systems from Experienced Engineer Dan Large
1:23:34
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1:23:34Send us a text Nathan chats with Dan Large a Director at Solaris Energy. Dan has been involved with the design, installation and maintenance of heat pump heating systems for a good number of years. The important topic of water quality comes up and Solaris Energy use VDI 2035 methods rather than a chemical inhibitor approach. Dan is on the installer…
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A Personal Heat Pump Journey and the Power of Mentorship
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1:06:33Send us a text Welcome back to BetaTalk, the podcast dedicated to exploring the exciting world of renewable heating! In this episode, host Nathan is joined by two fantastic guests: Barry Sharp from Renewable Heat and a familiar voice to BetaTalk listeners, and Scott Sanford who has recently embarked on his own renewable heating journey. Our convers…
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Embodied carbon and how sustainable is MMC? With Richard O'Hegarty (RKD, UCD) and Oliver Kinnane (UCD)
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1:26:46Returning champions Richard O'Hegarty and Oliver Kinnane join us to discuss a recently co-authored paper: Understanding the embodied carbon credentials of modern methods of construction (MMC). Get ready for a long meandering discussion that gets into what they learned and what they think about accounting practices for embodied carbon, as well as pl…
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Weather Compensation: The Missing Link in Efficient Heating? (feat. Ken Bone from Ultimate Renewables Supplies)
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1:14:31Send us a text Welcome back to the show! In this episode, I'm joined by a good friend and expert in the renewable energy sector, Ken Bone from Ultimate Renewables Supplies. Ken and I dive deep into a topic that's crucial for efficient heating and the future of low-carbon homes: weather compensated heating systems. One of the key points we explore i…
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Double Standards in Water Treatment: A UK vs. Europe Story
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1:00:53Send us a text In this eye-opening episode, we delve into the contrasting approaches to water treatment in European domestic heating systems for corrosion prevention. While the UK predominantly champions chemical inhibitor solutions under the EN BS 7593 standard, many European nations embrace a wider range of methods. Surprisingly, some UK chemical…
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Can we meet the skills gap the way we currently deliver training and what is the purpose of education? With Nathan Gambling (BetaTalk and BetaTeach)
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1:12:15For this episode we were joined by Nathan Gambling. For those that are new to him, he's heating engineer of some repute, a renowned educator, and a fellow podcaster. The episode revolves around the nature of education and learning, the skills gap—specifically focusing on heat pump and retrofit education—and a post that Nathan put up a few weeks ago…
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Can a Boat Race Champion Revolutionise Home Heating? Find Out!
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1:30:03Send us a text Ever wondered what connects the discipline of a three-time Oxford-Cambridge boat race rower with the intricacies of sustainable architecture and the practicalities of installing heat pumps? This week, Nathan Gambling sits down with Henry Pelly, an extraordinary individual who seamlessly blends these worlds. Our guest is a Principal S…
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There is methodology for defining what ‘net zero carbon’ means for buildings in the UK and it looks great, with Jess Hrivnak (RIBA), Jane Anderson (ConstructionLCA), and Julie Godefroy (CIBSE)
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43:13This time around we're talking about the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (UKNZCBS) with three of its architects: Jess Hrivnak (RIBA), Jane Anderson (ConstructionLCA), and Julie Jodefroy (CIBSE). The UKNZCBS is the first cross-industry standard for net zero carbon-aligned buildings, albeit in a pilot form. The standard has been developed to en…
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Heat Pump Strategies: Insights from the UK for US Homeowners
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1:02:07Send us a text Ever wondered how heat pump systems differ between the UK and the US? In this episode, Nathan chats with Shreyas Sudhakar, a leading heat pump installer and educator from California, to explore the contrasting approaches. Nathan, who has fond memories of his time in America, and his apprenticeship on a US airbase in the UK, emphasise…
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THE UK's LEGENDARY HEAT PUMP INSTALLER
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1:00:45Send us a text Damon Blackmore is a massive favourite among other competent heat pump installation engineers. He uses social media to help other heating engineers become interested in heat pump systems and has some of the highest performing heat pumps in the country. Unfortunately, the voices of good engineers are being drowned out by the comms pie…
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Problems with OFGEM - A conversation with Adam Bell
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22:52Send us a text Nathan chats to Adam Bell, Director of Policy at Stonehaven about: Ofgem and the recent findings from Citizens Advice The CfD (Contracts for Difference) consultation the report from the National Infrastructure Commission's - Electricity Distribution Networks: Creating capacity for the future Pylons MCS You can find Adam on Linkedin a…
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A 'global' standard for residential retrofit? With Paul Bagust (RICS Head of Property Standards), Steven Lees (RICS Senior Specialist - Residential Survey), and Robert Toomey (RICS Senior Public Affairs ...
1:22:50
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1:22:50Last year the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) released its residential retrofit standard. Given that they're one of the construction industry's oldest, largest, and most influential institutions this felt significant. Importantly, the RICS organisation has a global footprint, so it has the potential to influence good behaviour far a…
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Visit A Heat Pump - The Successful Nesta project
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41:19Send us a text Heat pump owners around the UK have joined the Nesta scheme whereby they allow visitors to come visit them and ask questions about their heating system. Nathan chats to Codrina Cretu and Andy Marsden about the benefits of this free scheme to people thinking of having a heat pump as well as the benefits to installation engineers who c…
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How smart, connected and flexible heat pumps can deliver lower fuel bills and higher customer satisfaction
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56:14
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56:14Send us a text Episode 3 of the Heat Pump Ready programme. Nathan chats to Ian Rose arPassiv UK, Casey Cole at Guru, and Mark Lufkin at Wondrwall Support the show Learn more about heat pump heating by following Nathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSkyBy Nathan Gambling BetaTeach
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Can we address the decarbonisation of homes by focusing on health? With Jenny Danson (Healthy Homes Hub)
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1:06:04Can we address the decarbonisation of homes by focusing on health? That's the mission that Jenny Danson has set for herself in establishing Healthy Homes Hub, and it's a question that manages to subvert Betteridge's Law of headlines, too. Healthy Homes Hub is a network, built around an online platform, that's dedicated to transforming the way peopl…
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Did the Government funded Heat Pump Trial Fail?
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59:46
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59:46Send us a text Nathan talks with Katrina from Energy Systems Catapult and Trysten Lee from Open Energy Monitor about a key question surrounding the Electrification of Heat (EoH) trial: why did the heat pumps perform so poorly? The trial, involving aprox. 740 heat pumps, showed an average Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF) of just 2.81 for air source…
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Send us a text Mechanical Ventilation Heat Recovery systems are discussed with Nathan's guests Duncan and Barry Sharp. Regular listeners will know Barry from previous episodes of BetaTalk and is one of Nathan's favourite heat pump engineers based in Scotland. Duncan is Barry's dad and has been specialising in MVHR systems since around 2010. The dis…
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Innovating and maturing: Loco Home Retrofit is an "emerging" retrofit one-stop-shop, with co-founder Chris Carus
1:08:28
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1:08:28Joining us on Zero Ambitions this week is Chris Carus co-founder of Loco Home Retrofit, a Glasgow-based 'emerging one-step shop'. Loco Home Retrofit is a retrofit operation that's most interesting for its approach to developing a viable retrofit offer, focused on building trust in communities and with its supply chain as a means to catalysing the d…
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Eliminate construction waste – Loop Your Spare instead: circular thinking and platform technology that reduces the cost of construction for everyone, with Jay Stuart
1:13:11
1:13:11
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1:13:11The first episode of January 2025 marks the long overdue, first appearance of Jay Stuart, a long-time friend and colleague of Jeff and a firm fixture of the green building scene in Ireland. Jay joined us to talk about his latest project: Loop Your Spare. It’s a SaaS platform designed to match 'spare' construction materials with projects that need t…
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Expert Heat Pump Customers - Mick Wall Interview
1:21:22
1:21:22
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1:21:22Send us a text Nathan interviews Mick Wall, a self-proclaimed 'heating nerd,' about his experiences with a heat pump expertly installed by Damon Blackmore, a renowned engineer. Mick's story, like those of Trystan and Glyn featured on episode 10 of BetaTalk's 10th season (who run heatpumpmonitor.org), exemplifies a fascinating shift: the rise of inf…
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Spruce up Your Home with a Heat Pump
1:08:07
1:08:07
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1:08:07Send us a text Nathan talks to Steph Willis and Joseph Saxby, founders of Spruce. Lot's of topics covered in this exciting conversation such as heat loss, heat pump sizing and EPCs Support the show Learn more about heat pump heating by following Nathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSkyBy Nathan Gambling BetaTeach
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How Boiler Engineers Transition to Heat Pumps
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51:39
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51:39Send us a text Nathan chats to Iain from Edinburg Heating about his journey into heat pumps. Iain has been using Barry at Renewable Heat (and a BetaTalk regular guest) as a mentor. Training course are discussed as well the barriers micro-businesses face in transitioning from boilers to heat pump heating systems. SEASON TEN IS SPONSORED BY Ultimate …
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Speeding up external wall insulation installation and preparing a retrofit start-up for scale, with Max Bloomfield (VundaHaus) and Alex Whitcroft (KIN; VundaHaus)
1:11:18
1:11:18
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1:11:18What's it like trying to scale a retrofit start-up? This episode welcomes Max Bloomfield and Alex Whitcroft, two of the folks from VundaHaus, to talk about their product, its ongoing design and development, and their preparations to scale the business as they raise funds from investors. VundaHaus designs and manufactures a rapid-fit insulation solu…
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UK's Top Performing Heat Pump Systems on Heat Pump Monitor
1:43:57
1:43:57
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1:43:57Send us a text Nathan welcomes back to the show Trystan and Glyn, the brilliant team behind heatpumpmonitor.org BetaTalk would also like to mention the legendary John Cantor, one of the UK's first ever heat pump gurus, who has helped the team develop this wonderful learning tool This show is PACKED with fantastic information so check out the chapte…
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Top Heat Pump Installers in Somerset & Sussex
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47:25
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47:25Send us a text Notorious heat pump design expert Michael, from Option Energy Solutions in Brighton Sussex, comes on the show with Tom from Somerset. Tom runs Arlow Plumbing and Heating and has a team of five involved in the installation of gas and oil boilers. Tom started installing heat pumps quite a few years ago and has recently teamed up with M…
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Experiments in low-carbon retrofit for a high-status building (with a basement), with Natalie Black (Enbee Architecture + Design) and Toby McLean (Allt Environmental Structural Engineers)
1:22:39
1:22:39
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1:22:39This week's episode is all about the lessons learned in carrying out a low-carbon retrofit. Natalie Black (Enbee Architecture + Design) and Toby McLean (Allt Environmental Structural Engineers) joined us to talk through their experiments and experiences on the renovation of a derelict house in Muswell Hill, London that was shortlisted for the Archi…
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Send us a text The microgeneration certification scheme (MCS) recently became aware of a non-certified business targeting and encouraging MCS installers to break scheme requirements. We chat to Ben who has recently become MCS registered to discuss the situation along with his transitional journey into the world of heat pumps. We also discuss a curr…
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Why we need to tell better stories about the built environment, with Liz Male (LMC)
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1:15:35
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1:15:35Our guest, Liz Male has been on our radar for a while. She is a figure who has been working in the construction sector since the 1990s, an ally to the sustainability sector, a great communicator, and an experienced thinker. When we met earlier in the year we talked about a lot of things, but the consistent theme of our conversation was 'why we need…
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Mentorship or Send Gas Engineers on Heat Pump PowerPoint Courses?
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54:30Send us a text In this podcast Nathan chats with his friends Barry from Renewable Heat and Matt from Matt Rigby Heating Ltd. The guests and Nathan discuss Matts journey from a gas engineer to a heat pump engineer. It mentions how Barry has provided mentorship which is a far better way to help gas engineers transition than the current system of just…
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Don't Waste Buildings, which means retrofitting them and building them better. With Leanne Tritton (Ing Media), Will Hurst (Architect's Journal), and Richard Nelson (Abyss Global)
1:25:56
1:25:56
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1:25:56Apologies for the delay, the lost podcast has been returned and is ready for release. 'Don't Waste Buildings' should be a straightforward proposition. It seems obvious. Especially so in the face of the climate crisis. Unfortunately, the business of the built environment is not yet on board completely. Our guests for this episode are the founders of…
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Heat Geek and Homely at the Installer Show 2024
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30:59Send us a text Nathan was kindly invited by the Heat Geek team to host a podcast at their Installer Show stand where he chatted to Adam Chapman, founder of Heat Geek and Karolis Petruskevicius the brains behind Homely The discussion involves what is currently happening in the heat pump industry as well as Homely's heat pump optimisation tool. Enjoy…
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Performance guarantees, measuring what works, and EPC reform, with Steven Heath (Knauf Insulation)
1:27:43
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1:27:43This week we're speaking with Steven Heath, technical director at Knauf Insulation (UK and Ireland) and a really interesting and experienced person in the sector. So while we had him, we ran through a bunch of our favourite hoary subjects: measuring performance, performance guarantees, and what we think about EPCs. Knauf is a firm that's done some …
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Arguably, Heat Pump Training is Not Working.
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1:00:10Send us a text Support the show Learn more about heat pump heating by following Nathan on Linkedin, Twitter and BlueSkyBy Nathan Gambling BetaTeach
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Sustainability, sufficiency, and sequestration – the language we use and what it means, with Lloyd Alter
1:08:21
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1:08:21A long-overdue episode with friend of the show, Lloyd Alter, about a blog he wrote and his book "The Story of Upfront Carbon". We get into the language of sustainability, carbon, and lots of the words that are ubiquitous in this space (sustainability and the built environment, obviously). We get into the sustainability of travel, to some extent too…
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Developers can build sustainably and at scale, if they want to. With Nicola Cronin and Stephen O'Shea (Cairn Homes Plc)
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1:11:20A wise woman once said: "sustainability is the doing, ESG is the talking about it". Today an Irish house-building giant has made a major move on Passive House — publishing a positioning paper and announcing the ongoing construction of over 1,700 homes to the standard. Joining us to talk about this are Nicola Cronin (Senior Sustainability Analyst) a…
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Heat Pumps in Edinburgh - a discussion with SNIPEF
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52:26Send us a text In this episode Nathan chats with Fiona, CEO of SNIPEF and Barry, a regular podcast guest and a Snipef member. Snipef presented talks at the Green Homes Festival during Edinburg Festival month and Nathan discusses the talks with his guest and the potential Edinburgh has in switching to heat pumps Support the show Learn more about hea…
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How can we embed sustainable design into the construction process? With Mhairi Grant (Paper Igloo)
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1:10:01Jeff invited Mhairi Grant, co founder of award-winning architectural practice Paper Igloo, to join us to talk about the challenges of ensuring that one's ideas for sustainable design actually make their way through to the construction phase. The subject was sparked by a conversation she and Jeff had about lessons learned from a flawed project (that…
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Heat Loss Tools - Heat Pump Ready Projects
1:10:56
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1:10:56Send us a text This is the second episode of the special Heat Pump Ready podcast series, in collaboration with the Carbon Trust with funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. In this episode, Nathan talks to 4 Heat Pump Ready projects to discuss ‘How Innovation can improve the heat pump survey and design process’. Key topics dis…
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Why is making UK homes more efficient so difficult? Leyla Boulton (Green Conservation; Financial Times)
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1:06:44Why is making UK homes more efficient so difficult? So asked journalist Leyla Boulton earlier this year in the pages of the Financial Times. Seeing a retrofit article in the FT piqued our interest, even more so once we realised Leyla is a senior editor with an esteemed background in political and environmental reporting. She was reporting on Kyoto …
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What do Heat Pump Installers Want? - Live Broadcast at the Installer Show
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50:17Send us a text Emma Bohan from IMS Heating came up with the idea for surveying heat pump installation companies big and small. She brought me on board with the project and I had Nesta help with the construction of the survey and its analysis. The podcast episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Installer Show 2024 with some audience …
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What can we do about waste in construction? Diversion from landfill isn't enough and there's money to be made. With Chris Clarke (SCAPE)
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1:05:50In the UK every day the construction industry produces enough waste to fill a football stadium. Rightly, former guest, Chris Clarke (SCAPE) has got a bee in his bonnet about construction waste and is making efforts to draw attention to the issue. He's not just concerned with the profligate use of resources and the impact on carbon emissions, it's t…
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