Ventive, the British company behind an award-winning low-carbon and low-cost ventilation system, is to manufacture its ground-breaking and fully integrated ‘intelligent home’ solution at a new manufacturing facility at Hartlebury in Worcestershire, owned by QM Systems, a subsidiary of PipeHawk PLC. The unique “Ventive Home” system will provide households with heating and hot water, as well as whole-house energy efficient ventilation and cooling in a single unit, similar in size to a fridge/freezer.
Ventive and QM Systems plan to manufacture 7,500 “Ventive Home” systems in the next 18 months, rising to 100,000 systems by 2025. The new facility is expected to create 40 new jobs over the next 18 months. Growth will continue as the volume of Ventive Home units ordered and delivered grows. It’s the first time that Ventive, renowned for its expertise in building physics and developing innovative solutions that maintain healthy indoor environments, has established a dedicated manufacturing base.
Ventive’s “Home” system – an all-in-one home comfort system – builds on air source heat pump and heat recovery technology and utilises a thermal battery to provide an efficient solution that can be considered a direct replacement for a conventional gas or oil-fired heating system, which are to be phased out as the UK moves towards Net Zero.
The development of the Ventive Home solution has been supported by the UK Government, via the BEIS Thermal Efficiency Innovation Fund, and has been trialled in Nottingham in partnership with Nottingham City Council, Nottingham City Homes and Energiesprong UK. Ventive has also received support from the UK’s Energy Systems Catapult and Carbon Limiting Technologies, through BEIS’s Energy Entrepreneurs Scheme.
The opening of the Hartlebury factory has been welcomed by Lord Callanan, Energy Minister at the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS): “If we are to meet our bold commitments on tackling climate change, finding low-carbon solutions to how we warm and cool our homes and workplaces is going to be vital. Backed by government funding, Ventive is supporting the move away from using fossil fuels to heat buildings and demonstrates how UK innovators continue to lead the fight against climate change whilst creating new job opportunities along the way.”
Rob Morrison, Managing Director of Ventive said: “We are delighted to announce this modern production facility at Hartlebury; it will allow us to quickly scale up production to meet growing demand for these products in the UK as the country switches away from gas central heating and moves towards Net Zero. Switching domestic heating from gas to electricity and reduce the carbon emissions of our homes is one of the biggest and most essential challenges of our time.”
“We expect market growth to be huge over the next decade, at a rate that hasn’t been seen for many years; it’s reminiscent of the central heating boom in the 1970s – but far quicker. To meet the UK’s carbon reduction targets, it’s estimated that 20 million buildings will need to be retrofitted with heat pumps and Ventive Home offers a neat all-in-one solution that helps reduce our reliance on gas. The facility in Hartlebury will ensure that Ventive plays its part in this mission.”
“Working closely with QM Systems, we have an agile manufacturing solution that allows us the opportunity to scale up as demand increases. Together, we have designed a unique method of modular assembly that is efficient, controllable and importantly we can double outputs with ease. This is not just the beginning of a new era for new and existing homes, this is a new era for heat pump manufacturing.”
The innovative production facility, co-developed with QM Systems, is the first of its kind and represents four years of research and development.
Nick Field, Managing Director of QM Systems said: “With the UK market for heat pumps projected to grow from 37,000 units per annum today to 600,000 by 2028 per annum, we are very excited to be working in partnership with Ventive to manufacture their new and innovative “Home” system. The market opportunity is significant. The opening of Hartlebury is a first for UK manufacturing and we expect it will put Ventive and QM Systems at the forefront of domestic heating and hot water solutions in the UK and, in due course, overseas.”
For more information about Ventive: www.ventive.co.uk
