黑洞社区

If we are serious about achieving net zero carbon by 2050, the industry that contributes 40% of all CO2 has to be set tough but achievable goals 鈥� such as the Future Homes Standard.

黑洞社区 magazine, in collaboration with Rockwool, gathered a panel of experts from across the housing industry to explore the role of modern methods of construction (MMC) in supporting the sector to meet the Future Homes Standard.

The panellists, chaired by 黑洞社区 special projects editor Jordan Marshall, explored the challenges and barriers to wider adoption of appropriate MMC measures, how they can be overcome, and the various MMC innovations that will help achieve sustainability goals.

Marshall kicked off by asking the panel about the role of MMC in supporting the industry.

The benefits of MMC

Jim Mitchell, design director at Stelling Properties, said he believes it鈥檚 鈥渢he future of construction and needs to be the way we do things moving forward鈥�. Mitchell explained MMC solutions are seen as products and that product-led thinking is vital in tying the technologies together. With continuous improvement and innovation at the core of MMC, the days of working outside in bad weather are numbered.

Darren Jones, associate director at Shedkm, agreed: 鈥淭here is an obvious benefit in terms of building in a factory environment. Your ability to get airtightness, to get continuity of insulation, to get all those details working as they should do is so much easier.鈥� More rigorous quality control was also cited as another benefit. 鈥淭he real key is continuing to drive innovation.鈥�

Output before process

Tim Carey, chief product director at Collida, highlighted one of the issues with construction鈥檚 approach to MMC and the wider industry: 鈥淲e focus on the process more often than the output.

鈥淚 recently bought an electric car because of what the car could do, not because I love the way Audi put the car together in the factory,鈥� said Carey, who doesn鈥檛 believe the Future Homes Standard is enough and thinks it is important to make sure we are 鈥渙utcome-focused first and let that drive the methodology鈥�.

Steve Clift, chief commercial officer at TopHat, joined the discussion to share his perspective. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already 65% below the Future Homes Standard in terms of embodied carbon,鈥� but it鈥檚 not just because of modular systems, he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 to do with the fact that we build in timber and that we don鈥檛 use fossil fuels.鈥�

It鈥檚 about keeping the heat inside the home and making the fabric more efficient

James Francis, Rockwool

Clift went on to say: 鈥淭here are many better reasons why you would build in a modular way. It鈥檚 more efficient, it鈥檚 faster, and it has much higher quality.鈥� But, he added: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about being able to deliver what you say you鈥檙e going to deliver.鈥�

Nigel Banks, R&D director at Ilke Homes, argued traditional construction can be done to a high standard but the difficulty comes in achieving that consistently. He said: 鈥淢MC is not about replacing traditional construction but about adding capacity.鈥� Banks added that MMC could pave the way in showing how things can be done better and 鈥渞aise the quality standards that are expected of new houses鈥�.

Driving adoption

鈥淎s we continue to crank up the requirements of the homes that we live in, ultimately that will drive the adoption of all these modern technologies because there won鈥檛 be another way to achieve it,鈥� added Carey. He doesn鈥檛 feel the government is moving quickly enough, 鈥渃reating a time-bomb for decarbonising our [housing] stock further down the line鈥�.

Banks believes that inspiring housebuilders could mean relying less on building regulations to raise the bar. 鈥淲hat we鈥檝e been looking to do is demonstrate and inspire them to voluntarily go to higher standards. We鈥檝e built some zero-bill homes, which from an economic view can sell for more than they cost to upgrade to.鈥� They also offer mortgage affordability, which is increasingly important as interest rates go up.

Banks went on to argue there should be some requirement for all housebuilders鈥� homes鈥� performance to be analysed as part of the 黑洞社区 Regulations in 2025. 鈥淒irect feedback from the homes would raise the bar and give us real value data on their performance.鈥�

Challenges with modular

Marshall circled back to the Future Homes Standard and asked the panellists: How challenging is it to meet the requirements?

鈥淚 think they are challenging and they need to be. Arguably, they maybe need to be more challenging,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淏ut there are areas where MMC has challenges in responding to this 鈥� one is in the servicing strategy.鈥� Regulations are turning to heat pumps as the default, but MMC tends to favour all-electric heating as it makes connections between modules much simpler.

Modular鈥檚 standardised approach could also create a challenge when looking at the orientation of your building. Jones believes it is about 鈥渟tandardising what we can but having a range of components within that that allow you to adapt a little more intelligently to the orientation you鈥檙e facing鈥�.

Banks disagreed with regard to the use of heat pumps in modular designs. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been putting heat pumps into designs for quite some time. I don鈥檛 see that as a particular challenge for us; actually finding a space for water cylinders in traditional build houses is going to be harder,鈥� he said.

鈥淲ith high-performance glazing, [window size and orientation] has become less of an issue than it used to be. Overheating clearly needs to be considered,鈥� he added.

Banks鈥� main issue with the Future Homes Standard is in relation to the embodied carbon that can come with the extra layer of glazing and insulation required: 鈥淚t actually increases emissions and you don鈥檛 get those emissions back over time.鈥�

鈥淭here鈥檚 a conversation around how much of a lingua franca we鈥檝e got around what our carbon emissions are,鈥� added Clift. 鈥淲e鈥檝e measured them in a deep empirical way, twice, and come up with very different numbers because the methodology is different.鈥�

Clift went on to say: 鈥淭he trade-off between embodied and operational carbon is inconclusive.鈥� The standards Clift and his team spend a lot of time on is the interface between Part O and Part L, overheating and thermal performance. 鈥淲e manage it and we get to pretty effective places down the middle, but we end up adding a lot of cost to our houses to get between those two. There鈥檚 room for a lot more innovation there.鈥�

Specifying for MMC

Has there been movement on the supplier side, asked Marshall; are manufacturers creating the windows that you need? 鈥淭hey鈥檙e available but I wouldn鈥檛 say they鈥檙e mainstream,鈥� answers Clift. 鈥淗aving a window with the right combination of U- and G-value to hit both those two standards at once requires a bit more shopping around.鈥�

James Francis, product manager at Rockwool, joined the discussion to talk about access to supplies and materials. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the responsibility of manufacturers like Rockwool to go further in reinventing ourselves and improving on existing solutions, which is exactly what we鈥檝e done this year.

鈥淲e鈥檝e undergone a programme of research and innovation that鈥檚 led to the launch of NyRock technology. It鈥檚 a stepping stone to the Future Homes Standard as it delivers the most thermally efficient stone wool currently available in the UK and Ireland.

It鈥檚 all achievable. We鈥檝e proved we can do it, but it means demanding more from ourselves and everyone we work with

Tim Carey, Collida

鈥淟ooking at Part L and the Future Homes Standard, heating homes is going to be on a lower temperature, so it鈥檚 about keeping the heat inside the home and making the fabric more efficient.鈥�

At Collida the team has gone down the Passivhaus route to get to net zero carbon, which requires meeting all the U-values of the Future Homes Standard, which compared to a Passivhaus product is 20 times leakier.

鈥淚t鈥檚 all achievable,鈥� said Carey. 鈥淲e鈥檝e proved we can do it, but it means demanding more from ourselves and everyone we work with.鈥�

Mitchell also raised the issue of the durability of buildings: 鈥淗ow will they be performing in 10 to 15 years鈥� time?鈥� Jones said he believes it is about finding a suitable format where the data can be compared meaningfully and shared so everyone across the industry can learn from it. Traditionally, that has not been construction鈥檚 strong point.

Waste not, want not

鈥淥ffsetting waste is a big opportunity for MMC,鈥� said Mitchell. But then what do we do with the waste? 鈥淎 fully controlled supply chain is something we all do really well, but also pushing our quality teams into the factories of our suppliers and making sure that they operate to the high standards that Rockwool do.鈥�

Clift added to this: 鈥淢odular is a great way of reducing waste, but also it鈥檚 useful that the majority of the waste produced is in one location. That gives you a better opportunity to do something about it.鈥�

Mitchell added: 鈥淓nergy consumption at the factory is another thing that we need to offset. I think all of us would argue that that鈥檚 more than offset by the benefits it brings.鈥�

Clift agreed: 鈥淭here are some structural costs that we have that a traditional builder wouldn鈥檛.鈥�

How do we get sufficient efficiencies out of the remainder of the process to more than offset those? 鈥淭he answer is: you can, but you need to be of a certain scale.鈥�

The real challenge in modular is that you have a very volatile demand profile. Clift said: 鈥淲ith planning volatility and customer needs changing, getting that smooth input into your factory is very hard. If you鈥檙e saying modular is great because it鈥檚 fast and then your factory is full up over the next 9-12 months, that鈥檚 not actually a benefit to them. That鈥檚 why we are investing in such a large factory.鈥�

Looking forward

All the panellists agreed that longevity is vital. 鈥淭he biggest challenge for all housebuilders is to make sure the homes we build are easy to repair and maintain so they are kept in a good state and aren鈥檛 demolished in the future,鈥� explained Banks.

Jones raised the interesting point of adaptability. 鈥淚f a home is there for 200 years, people are going to want to do different things in the future. So it鈥檚 about designing with that in mind.鈥�

He went on to say: 鈥淓mbodied carbon and whole-life carbon metrics need to be much more understood within the industry. We need to be talking about them and understanding them, and that鈥檚 the first step towards reducing them.鈥�

The biggest challenge for all housebuilders is to make sure the homes we build are easy to repair and maintain so they are kept in a good state and aren鈥檛 demolished in the future

Nigel Banks, Ilke Homes

For Francis, the key takeaway is a push for improved thermal performance, airtightness, reducing waste and lower embodied carbon. It鈥檚 important for manufacturers such as Rockwool and the industry to work together to develop the best possible solutions to benefit the homeowner and the wider industry too.

Nathan Hassall, business development manager at Rockwool, echoed this further: 鈥淚t鈥檚 about using a sustainable fabric, one that鈥檚 not going to degrade over time,鈥� and minimising the chances of another energy crisis like the one we鈥檙e facing at the moment.