Green finger on construction’s pulse

A willingness to investigate new technologies and techniques is keeping J Tomlinson at the forefront of building green and affordable homes

It’s one thing to preach the zero carbon agenda, quite another to do it, but contractor J Tomlinson is doing rather more than that – it is building on it.

The company is endeavouring to build green – incorporating the latest technologies and making use of the latest techniques – to push itself to the forefront of such developments. That, of course, demands that the company keeps itself abreast of the latest research and thinking on the matter of environmentally sustainable construction.

Energy conservation, reducing the energy consumption of homes, is a major part of green building and one that J Tomlinson is fully engaged with including its work on the Quantum Consortium Framework. The first development in Somercotes, Derbyshire, is undertaken on behalf of Amber Valley Housing. The £490,000 scheme involves the timber-frame construction of seven dwellings.

In Shirebrook, a similar sized scheme comprising eight dwellings, the aim is again to reach Code Level 4 and J Tomlinson is installing air source heat pumps as well as photovoltaic panels to generate electricity. Meanwhile, in Linton, South Derbyshire, the company is building a further 10 properties – again to Code 4.

Using renewable energy technology demonstrates the company’s commitment to the green agenda, but there is more the company is doing. It is capturing heat to reduce fuel consumption and actually assist a home in generating electricity whilst making full use of government grants.

“We see the actual energy conservation as being a big thing on these housing estates and it is the way the world is going,” said Pat Cassidy, managing director. “We have other projects outside the norm of social housing, which have other advanced technologies such as biomass boilers and geothermal. We have looked at them for housing as well – certainly the geothermal.

“One big development within our company recently is the establishment of a division to carry out the installation of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof where you can generate your own electricity and take advantage of the Government’s feed-in tariffs. We think that this will allow us to stay at the forefront of sustainable green developments.”

Jeremy Warman, environmental & sustainability manager added: “We have recently achieved the MCS micro-generation accreditation allowing our customers to make full use of the Government incentivisations for green micro-generation.” This will allow J Tomlinson to help individuals and companies, which share their commitment to reducing their impact on the environment for both present and future generations.

J Tomlinson is as adept in other sectors as it is in housing, and sometimes these prove to be complementary to one another, as in its work in the healthcare sector. The two dove-tail in terms of community regeneration, not simply in providing houses but also healthcare facilities for local people. Sometimes, one might say they overlap; as in the case of a residential nursing home it is working on in Nottingham on behalf of Savace. Again, J Tomlinson is applying its ‘green fingered’ techniques to the benefit of clients and ultimately their customers.

The £6.5 million Extra Care scheme the company delivered last year for the Retail Trust at the Leyland’s Estate in Derby highlights our competency within the healthcare sector. The regeneration project included the construction of new facilities, as well as the refurbishment of existing properties for elderly people located in a conservation area with listed properties.

J Tomlinson has recently installed three biomass boilers including one at Herringthorpe School, one at Welbeck Estates and one at a project in South Derbyshire for the district council and the Forestry Commission.

The technology, of course, is rather more expensive than conventional alternatives given that they have yet to attain the kind of critical market mass that will bring costs down, but they are expected to generate savings over the longer term, and there are also grants available to help with installation costs. This is another avenue of expertise that J Tomlinson has developed – the knowledge to advise and assist clients to secure grants for the technology.

When it comes to the green agenda it is not, of course, enough to focus on newbuild alone. Retrofit is set to become a growth market – and a challenging one – in some form in the future because of the significant reduction this can make from the national carbon emission tally. Again, it is something that J Tomlinson is exploring with such clients as Trent & Dove Housing, retrofitting air source heat pumps and thermal solar panels.

“The buildings weren’t designed for these new technologies, so it is much easier to incorporate them into a new building where you can plan for it in advance and allow the building to integrate with the technology,” Cassidy said, “but if you think about it, the proportion of new stock to existing stock is vastly different so it won’t be possible to meet [carbon reduction] targets unless we look at existing stock.

“We are looking at level 5 and talking to some clients about level 6. It is a combination. We would probably go with air source heat pumps, with photo-voltaics (PV) so the electricity generated from the PV would power the air source heat pumps. It will come and we are well on with the research.”

Clearly, J Tomlinson has a green finger kept firmly on the pulse of sustainable theory and practice.