| Without action, by 2050, 92% of homes are likely to overheat |
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As the UK broils under record-breaking heat, the trains fail, the kids get sent home from school and workers weigh up a hellish Underground commute for the bastion of cool offices. Only one thing brings respite: air-con. And in the UK, it’s much less prevalent than we’d like.
Our nation isn’t known for its embrace of air-con. Apart from a fever-dream improvement for the tube during summer, it hasn’t really been seen as a necessity. But as climate change makes heatwaves more frequent and severe, this surely must change!
Mastering the flow
David sees air-con and building ventilation as a big global growth area for coming years. Belimo isn’t a name that you will know, but there’s a good chance that you’ve encountered their products if you’ve recently staggered with sweet relief into an air-conditioned shop or office in the past week. They make an essential part for commercial HVAC (heating ventilation and air-con) systems that help regulate the flow and efficiency of the air.
Belimo’s products are only a small part of a complex process, but they are mission critical to the result. Their valves and actuators help keep temperatures steady and drastically improve the efficiency of a building’s air conditioning system. Critically, given the likely increase required in air-con systems, Belimo’s components can make these systems much more efficient. In some cases, they save 80% of the energy used by competitors, according to the company’s figures. There’s a huge backlog opportunity for them, in addition to the growing data centre market, which also requires heavy cooling to keep its (robot) occupants from melting.
Cooling more efficiently
The UK really doesn’t do air-con, but we do have companies that deliver venting solutions that are a big part of helping to keep buildings from overheating. Allowing a building to breathe and using the temperature fluctuations to power the changes you want to make in a building’s environment are fantastic ways to harness natural energy.
While it won’t get you all the way to a refrigerated nirvana, that base load of heat reduction dramatically reduces the cooling burden put on air-con systems. That makes the air-con systems themselves more reliable and less susceptible to breakdowns – or to having to shut them down in order to save them, as we’ve seen in many UK buildings recently.
Volution (stock ticker: FAN!) provides these solutions in the UK, the Nordics and Australasia for residential new builds, retrofits and commercial buildings. Alexandra has held the stock for many years. It has delivered roughly 6% compounded each year, a solid return that shows the sustained demand for its technology.
Cooling homes isn't just about installing expensive air-con; ventilation is a big part of the puzzle. Modern homes in the UK are built and legislated to retain heat, which is great in winter but awful in heatwaves. Overheating in UK homes is increasing due to insulation, airtightness and climate change, while air-con penetration remains low. Ventilation is also really important for preventing freezing and mould in the winter – because while it may not feel like it now, it will be cold again one day!
