Offsite housing specialists TALO and building performance consultants Mesh Energy have announced a collaboration agreement to accelerate the delivery of ultra-low energy homes. The collaboration will combine TALO’s advanced timber superstructure technology from Finland with Mesh’s experience of providing net zero building performance and engineering services for housebuilders, architects and residential property developers. Working closely together, TALO and Mesh will aim to significantly increase the energy efficiency of new homes for market sale, rent and affordable housing, exceeding both Passivhaus energy standards and Future Homes standards, in compliance with the latest regulations. Doug Johnson, Director of Mesh Energy: “TALO’s timber superstructure solutions for low rise housing are the very best we have seen in the UK in terms of energy efficiency, air tightness, cost and quality. Their latest projects are achieving at least a 30 per cent improvement on Passivhaus energy standards and at no cost premium. We don’t believe there is anything like this on the market today and yet it is very needed. Some of the biggest issues facing housebuilders and developers are managing risk and addressing skills shortages. TALO’s system addresses both of these challenges extremely well. New regulation is coming which will make it increasingly difficult for developers to balance the rising cost of building new homes to the required energy and air tightness standards and the risk of non-compliance. New homes simply need to perform better. And yet the risk for developers is in the fabric and performance of each home. Our new collaboration will give housebuilders the benefit of much greater certainty of delivery to the required quality, air tightness and energy standards from the inception of a project. Our work on the energy strategy, data and compliance will support TALO’s extremely efficient way of building new homes to reduce risk for residential property developers.” TALO and Mesh have already collaborated on a number of projects. Under the new agreement, both businesses can leverage their respective experience to enhance the efficiency and economics of new residential projects. Dr Anthony Greer, Corporate Strategy Director of TALO said: "Our vision is to transform UK housebuilding by taking proven technology which has been used to build thousands of units in the Nordics – in one of the most extreme climates in the world. Our goal is to address some of the difficult problems that have been challenging the UK construction industry for many years – skills shortages, speed of delivery, sub-standard quality, and poor energy efficiency. Our ultimate goal is the offsite construction of high quality, ultra-low energy homes that can eradicate fuel poverty and snagging. By radically reducing time on site, developers can achieve a faster return on investment. They need fewer trades on site because we are using highly efficient offsite technology. Our processes are entirely dry – from forest to site – which means better air tightness performance and more accurate programme scheduling for the fitout phase to further reduce risk. Homes built by TALO exceed Passivhaus energy and air tightness standards at no cost impediment. This means homeowners and tenants will have hugely reduced energy costs that are verified by A-rated EPC certifications. Our housebuilding solutions will be enhanced with our collaboration with Mesh, helping to solve the technical and economic challenges that are constraining the sector and compounding the housing and cost of living crises.” In the new arrangement, Mesh will provide the energy strategy, data analysis and compliance work to support TALO’s delivery of the offsite superstructures for low-rise housing projects – which range from terraced housing, semi-detached family homes and larger executive schemes for developers and housebuilders across the UK.

Discover the critical role of a feasibility study in integrating renewable technologies into your home. Learn how to make informed decisions for sustainable living.

As we come out of our end of year hibernation period for 2023 and try to both digest and interpret what 2023 had in store for us, how we dealt with it, and what we would change if we could; we drag ourselves out into the blinding light of 2024 and hope for a less tumultuous year in the UK’s sustainable construction sector. I am an optimistic person and ‘glass half-full thinking’, as well as doing my best to gaze into the future, is my default position. When working with a team on the sharp end of sustainable building design, there are some trends which simply cannot be ignored and hold great promise for 2024. The following trends are in areas we’ve seen growing design time and client fees being spent to great effect, and that’s why these are my top four sustainable construction prediction of 2024.

In recent years, sustainability has seen a massive increase in priority within the construction industry. As climate change and its effects worsen around the world, architects, builders, and developers are now feeling more compelled to adopt more environmentally friendly practices. While pursuing sustainable building design is definitely a commendable course of action, the process itself has its own set of challenges; introducing potential risks to the construction industry that must be addressed.

In May 2023, we discovered we’d been included in The Sunday Times’ ‘Best Places to Work in 2023’ list . This phenomenal achievement was the icing on the cake of what’s been a great few years for Mesh as an employer. From achieving our B Corp in November 2021, to being recognised in B Corp’s ‘Best in the World’ category for workers in March 2022, to growing the business to the 22-strong team it is today, it’s been both incredible to see our recognition grow, and a mammoth effort to get here.

Incorporating low-energy solutions like solar PV, battery systems, and other energy-efficient technologies into commercial buildings offers several key benefits. We cover the top 5 in our latest blog.

In this second blog on the technology behind low-energy commercial projects, I'll be exploring why solar PV, energy storage, EV charging systems, and LED lighting are crucial assets to any low-energy commercial building.

It's estimated that commercial buildings contribute around 8% of the UK's total annual carbon emissions, and carbon associated with heating, ventilating, and cooling buildings makes up about 40% of a building's total annual energy usage.

When it comes to sustainable and energy-efficient building design, architects are increasingly turning to geothermal technology as a viable option.