Market for eco heating keeps warming up

Liz Loxton

FOR Mark Henderson, earning a living from an eco-business all began with a green roof. In a previous career as a marketing consultant, he found himself investigating the viability of roof-top planting for a construction client. “I got such a huge buzz out of researching it and bringing it to market, because it made such sense and had a lot of merit from an environmental point of view,” he explains.
Visits to his wife’s home country of Sweden, where triple-glazing and ground-source heat pumps are common, further aroused his interest. He began researching environmentally friendly heating systems in earnest and, after long conversations with two former clients who were to become his business partners, Ecoliving was born in 2004.
Today the company, which has a £3m turnover, distributes energy-efficient ground- and air-source heat pumps and other green heating systems for residential and commercial premises. In its early days, Ecoliving won distribution agreements with two of the largest heat pump manufacturers in Sweden. It has evolved by developing a network of installers: companies already involved in newer technologies, such as underfloor heating. Henderson and his co-directors have also forged links with housing associations and developers.
The company still looks to Sweden for technological leads: 80% of new housing in Sweden has energy efficient heating systems. Henderson reckons Sweden is 30 years ahead of the UK in terms of product development and willingness to embrace the technology.

Getting people in the UK to adopt such systems has proved something of an education process, Henderson says. Take-up was slow initially and principally came from “Grand Designs types” - people building their own homes. Interest is now spreading.
“We work primarily with installers but we also talk to housing associations, developers, consultants and architects, and pass on any work to our installers,” he explains. Ecoliving provides training in installation techniques and also continuing professional development from its base in Glasgow.
Political, economic and social factors are all working in the company’s favour, says Henderson. Changes to building regulations since 2006 have stipulated improved energy performance in homes, and there is a UK-wide target of all new homes being zero-carbon from 2016. “There is now a political will to turn to sustainable sources of energy; economically, fuel is costing more than ever; and socially, it helps us to fight against fuel poverty,” he says.
“Heat pumps are designed to deliver a much higher level of control as well as a cost saving. That makes them more attractive to the elderly and other people who spend a lot of time in the home.”
Henderson says Scotland has led the way in take-up of the technology, with the help of more generous grants than the rest of the UK. “The market is very young and there is high potential but we are constantly looking at new solutions, such as ground pumps, exhaust air and outside air source systems.” The domestic heating market has a big part to play in reducing the carbon footprint because it is by far the biggest energy user in the home. In a house that uses 30,000kW hours annually, 5,000kW will go on appliances and lighting, 5,000kW on hot water and 20,000kW on heating, Henderson says. For Ecoliving that means rapid growth: it is aiming for £10m turnover by 2012, despite the property market slowdown.
Heat pumps can represent a big capital outlay for homeowners, costing £10,000-£12,000 to buy and install a ground source pump and £7,000-£8,000 for an air source. But this technology does have the potential to cut energy bills by two-thirds, Henderson claims.
He needs to use his powers of persuasion - on the industry as well as homeowners. “Some people would rather work with what they know, and there is scepticism about cost savings. We spend a lot of time on education. We’re not just about flogging washers.”