New Innovation Centre Aims to Make UK an Industry Leader in Green Building Design
Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing MSP, has officially opened a new innovation hub aimed at becoming a world leader in boosting green efficiencies within construction.
One of the UK’s largest PVCu manufacturers, CMS, is behind the new centre which is located at its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire.
It will showcase a range of products from windows and doors to wall insulation and heat pumps which deliver on reducing energy consumption, providing security and offering creative green solutions for builders.
The 10,000 square feet hub will also offer a range of services from design, manufacturing, installation and aftercare, and is in itself a model of energy efficiency.
A former disused warehouse the hub has been retrofitted with external stone wool insulation blocks, highly thermal efficient windows and an air source heat pump with VRV Intelligent Heat Recovery System, which recovers heat from one area of the building and transfers it to another and now has an A-rating for energy efficiency.
The centre will allow builders, architects, buyers and contractors as well as homeowners to meet with manufacturers and have access to some of the most innovative products around.
CMS Managing Director Andy Kerr said at the opening: “The Innovation Hub is showcasing an extensive range of energy efficient products, which taken, together have helped turn a dilapidated G-rated structure, fit for demolition, into an A-rated building.
“We are far from finished and our aim is to achieve an A Plus rating, which means it will be carbon neutral.”
He added that the new centre was aimed at allowing the UK construction industry to take advantage of the some of the most advanced products and services around, saving money in the long run.
Kerr added: “We partner only with the very best product manufacturers, like Saint-Gobain, and it is only right that our customers should have easy access to the components that make up their windows, doors and facades in a truly transparent supply chain.”