Free workshops share opportunities to make buildings more eco-friendly

The free workshops will be hosted by the Centre for Research into Environmental Science and Technology (CREST) based at University Centre Shrewsbury (UCS), with Shropshire company EVORA EDGE.

Contractors, property owners, developers and people working in construction are invited to the workshops on Sustainability in the Built Environment, running between March 8 and 31 at The Pump House Knowledge Hub in Shrewsbury.

The Hub is a new venue dedicated to helping organisations and businesses gain and share knowledge, obtain and offer skills, training and ways to collaborate on solutions to the challenges of ensuring buildings are both sustainable and healthy. It was the brainchild of EVORA EDGE, a national building services engineering consultancy based in Shrewsbury, which worked with UCS on the project.

The workshops cover a wide range of topics - looking at opportunities and how risks can be avoided - including:

• Understanding heat networks as a potential solution for affordable warmth in the Shropshire area.
• Sustainable retrofitting (fitting new systems designed for high energy efficiency and low energy consumption to buildings previously built without them) in both domestic and commercial properties.
• How to improve your scoring when bidding for contracts for sustainable retrofits.
• Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and operational energy ratings across building portfolios.

Professor Julieanna Powell-Turner, Academic Research Director and Head of CREST said: “These free workshops are for property owners or anyone working in or with the building industry, and are part of wider work to accelerate progress on sustainable and net zero carbon buildings in Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.

“Made possible through funding from Invest in Shropshire, they will be the first of many knowledge sharing events for local organisations and people to be held at the Knowledge Hub.”

EVORA EDGE and Shropshire Council, through an economic recovery grant, funded the refurbishment of the ground floor of the Pump House on Coton Hill to include a small conference centre, three meeting rooms and a lobby/exhibition area as well as high tech meeting and presenting facilities.

Part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, CREST is based at UCS which is part of the University of Chester. It is a partnership between the University, Reaseheath College and the University of Birmingham, set up to develop and increase the productivity of businesses in the area, specifically those that want to focus on their environmental credentials.

For more information on the workshops and to register, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/sustainability-in-the-built-environment-150839.