KNAUF ENERGY SOLUTIONS

In 2019 an exciting new company was launched to completely transform the built environment by delivering real energy savings and providing real performance. Welcome to Knauf Energy Solutions. Renovation will never be the same again.

Digital innovation has changed everything. And it is about to change building renovation forever. Everyone knows energy saving renovation is a good idea.

Renovation creates jobs, makes buildings more comfortable, saves energy, cuts emissions and saves money. The challenge has always been to measure the potential savings of a renovation and then deliver those savings in a way that is accountable and maximises return on investment.

ASSESSING ENERGY SAVINGS ACCURATELY

Knauf Energy Solutions (KES) now makes this possible. And the implications are transformational. In the past, hundreds of factors could impact the effectiveness of a renovation including the quality of building materials used, the skill of the people installing those materials, ensuring everything and everyone performs as promised and how accurately savings were measured.

Barry Lynham, Managing Director, Knauf Energy Solutions, says: “We now have the means to accurately assess a renovation’s potential and maximise its return on investment. We believe our processes and digital systems will revolutionise renovation in Europe.”

ENSURING BUILDING STOCK IS NEAR-ZERO ENERGY USE

The European Union has embraced renovation as a key way to achieve Paris climate targets and the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive now mandates that Member States must make their building stock near zero energy use by 2050. Renovation is a cornerstone of this directive and countries must create strategies to step up renovation rates.

The magic number is the renovation of 3% of buildings every year up from around 1% at present. “We believe that KES can make a significant positive impact on renovation rates across Europe by delivering quantifiable metered results at scale,” says Barry. “Since 2010 Knauf Insulation has been supporting research into building physics and refining solutions to tackle performance issues. KES is the inevitable conclusion of these years of research."

FINDING SOLUTIONS FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS

Over the years it was vital to gain insight into the challenges of all building types. Design issues such as cavity wall sizes, loft gaps or other neglected areas of buildings can all have an impact on energy savings as well as problems such as condensation or mould. “Buildings use 40% of energy and cause 36% of emissions in Europe. It is unacceptable. We need to find a solution for generations to come. With KES we can make a difference,” says Barry.

HOUSING COMPANY FEEDBACK

Bart Vranken, Director of SHM Woonpunt Zennevallei:
"Working with Knauf Energy Solutions is helping us re-imagine the way we retrofit our stock. Their combination of advanced Internet of Things technology, innovation and on-site quality control is unique. It offers us a great opportunity to dramatically improve our stock’s energy performance."

Koen Verdru, Director of Mijn Huis:
"We have partnered with Knauf Energy Solutions to deliver high performance retrofit designs that work in practice, not theory."

Luc de Smedt, Director of Brugse Maatschappij Voor Huisvesting:
‘KES is using high performance data to enable us to find a practical approach to insulating the walls of our older stock that reduces future maintenance risks at an affordable cost.”

BUILDING THE WORLD’S VIRTUAL ENERGY INFRASTRUCTURE

At Knauf Energy Solutions (KES) we believe that the smart retrofit of 400,000 homes would save the same amount of energy as would be generated by a one-gigawatt power station in a year for a fraction of the cost.

For the first time energy efficiency can be measured in the same way as energy generation — meaning a kilowatt hour of energy saved is now equivalent to a kilowatt hour of energy supplied. Barry Lynham, Managing Director, Knauf Energy Solutions, says: “Instead of focusing on energy supply such as power plants or reactors we should be focused on infrastructure projects that save vast reserves of energy. KES turns the traditional energy infrastructure model upside down.”

For more information visit knaufenergy.com