Positive Homes: Building Innovative & Efficient New Homes

Positive Homes: Building Innovative & Efficient New Homes

Positive Homes is a housebuilder with innovative ideas and solutions for the housing market. As well as building new, super energy efficient and sensibly priced homes, the company also looks to support the local economy, working with local colleges and investing in apprenticeship schemes to help bring on and develop their employees. Based in Nottingham, Positive Homes builds properties across the East Midlands and works closely with local councils when looking at new projects and possibilities.

Finding the Right Suppliers to Achieve its Vision

First established in 2015, the business wanted to engage with suppliers who would support its vision. It also needed suppliers who could run their supply chains as efficiently as Positive Homes finishes properties. It had to be very specific in its needs to be able to meet its requirement of highly efficient products at cost effective pricing. In addition to this, it wanted like-minded suppliers who could provide new ideas and ways of utilising products to ensure that not only the correct building standards are met but to also find ways to surpass efficiencies in each project taken on.

Martin Valentine, Managing Director at Positive Homes said:”We don’t think it’s enough that new homes barely meet modern Building Regulations. We can do better and we are doing better – by some distance. And if we can, so can every housebuilder.

“Anyone moving into our homes will be saving a small fortune every year on their utility bills. The difference between a Positive Home and an old Victorian house will be more than £1,000 a year.  In the current economy, this is of growing importance for our customers.’

The Projects

Positive Homes had three initial projects it was engaging suppliers for. One in Keyworth, Nottinghamshire which was for 2 x 4 bedroom luxury properties, another in Old Whittington, Chesterfield for 4 x 2 bedroom homes and the final in William Street North, Chesterfield for 3 x 3 bedroom homes. With a few different projects, Positive Homes was after a supplier who would scope each of the projects individually but enable them to gain economies of scale overall.

Thermal Economics was one of the suppliers engaged by Positive Homes and showed fantastic customer service from the outset. Ben Atack, Technology Director explain: “What I liked about Thermal Economics is the time and effort they made from the start. Their Account Manager Matt Tiller came in for a number of meetings to fully understand our project and from that, provide advice and ideas to make sure the project worked well.”

  

Technical Knowledge & Knowhow

With a dedicated Technical Team at its head office, Thermal Economics could not only provide Positive Homes with the products needed for the builds, but also recommend alternative approaches to further enhance each build with cost effective insulation solutions.

The technical services team has always been a strong aspect of Thermal Economics service offering. With everyone in the team having worked in the construction market for a number of years, the team is able to advise and recommend solutions to its customers because of their detailed knowledge of their own products, the complimentary products from other suppliers as well as an understanding of the build process and time scales that need to be considered.

Matt Tiller, Head of Technical Services at Thermal Economics explains: “We believe that to provide the best service to our customers, we need to have a full understanding of their project and the right level of building knowledge to support this. This not only makes our service more efficient, but also keeps our customers happy. Therefore, whilst we offer both thermal and acoustic products for the construction market, we like to see ourselves as a concept to completion solutions provider and help our customers on a wider scale should they need it.”

Core Products Used

To ensure all Ben’s requirements for the build were met, the following products were chosen:

200mm Thermal Economics Platinum Ground Floor Insulation (Platinum GF)

This was used within the Beam & Block Ground Floor and is a BBA certified thermal insulation and floor system for Part L 2013 and Section 6 2015 compliance. It is an extremely cost effective alternative to PUR and PIR insulation board but with the equivalent thermal performance, so ideal for achieving highly energy efficient houses cost effectively.

Alreflex ThermaEdge

This was installed to limit the effects of cold bridging around the floor edge and SIP Panel Construction. Again, this is a simple and low cost solution. With its flat top edge, the ThermaEdge can be built into the inner leaf with ease and is water and rain resistant to help prevent drafts or water penetration.

To maintaining the high specification of the builds, additional products such as MVHR, PV tiles and high performance SIP panels were recommended and used; which all work well with Thermal Economics’ insulation products. Both of the core solutions above are also environmentally friendly with ODP readings of zero and GWP readings of less than 5.

Successful Relationship

Positive Homes was established on and wants to maintain its vision for highly energy efficient homes. To do this, it recognises that it needs suppliers who maintain investment in R&D to continue to raise the game in the construction industry.

Ben concludes: “We have found a supplier that is aligned to our way of thinking and really support us in the way we work. It has been great working with Matt and the teams at Thermal Economics and we look forward to working with them in the future. The projects were a great success for us having achieved an average EPC rating of 94 and average yearly energy bill of just £313 per property (inclusive of lighting, heating and hot water).  This is why we started Positive Homes and we look forward to achieving even more in the next projects.”

If you would like to speak to one of our team about our services and products, please either contact us directly on 01582 450814 or email us at [email protected]