As we approach the end of 2023 and another year of superb webinars and thought-provoking content comes to an end, Lucy Dixon rounds up some of her highlights.
The year has been challenging for anyone focused on decarbonising the built environment, with record high energy prices putting even more of a focus on the need to drastically improve the efficiency of our buildings. It’s also been a year full of opportunities to innovate, find solutions and share knowledge, regardless of what’s going on in government, so here are three of my highlights from 2023.
- Interviewing industry leaders
The editorial team at elemental – and our fantastic expert contributors – has been fortunate enough to speak to some of the people leading the way on net zero and it’s been a real highlight to publish these interviews. My three personal favourites are my discussion with the HPA’s Charlotte Lee (which happened on the very day Rishi Sunak watered down some of the country’s net zero commitments); the chat with Jewson’s Matt Handley about the crucial role of the building trades in delivering sustainable retrofit; and my interview with Vattenfall UK’s new MD Jenny Curtis about demystifying the language around district heating.
- Bringing experts together online
Our webinar programme proved incredibly popular again this year, and allowed us to bring even more experts together throughout the year, with sessions on everything from heat network efficiency to the latest funding models for housing retrofit. For each session, we endeavour to put together a panel of speakers that can offer real insight into their work on decarbonisation, with learnings that our audience can use on their own projects. A particular highlight, for me, was the session from The Carbon Trust and the Heat Pump Ready projects, chaired by Roger Harrabin, which gave a taster of some of the exciting heat pump developments that have been funded through the project.
- Listening to Gary Neville and more at InstallerSHOW
The hundreds of speakers inspiring the audience at InstallerSHOW this year all deserve recognition for helping us to bring the industry together for education and entertainment. Former footballer Gary Neville added a little star power to the proceedings, and he spoke passionately about the need for low-carbon measures to be affordable for all. Sadly for us, Gary can’t return in 2024 as he’ll be in Germany for the Euros, but rest assured we’re putting together a stellar line-up of informative and inspiring content that will ensure another must-attend event at the NEC in June.
Merry Christmas from the whole elemental team – see you in 2024!
