Exclusive: Kingspan builds up solar ambitions

A new generation of construction materials could soon allow buildings to generate energy using their walls and roofs, according to one of the world's largest providers of building materials and insulation.

Kingspan has revealed that its panels division, which specialises in highly insulated metal panels for buildings, is working on a variety of new products designed to integrate renewable energy technologies such as solar cells and heat pumps directly into building materials.

Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Mark Harris, divisional building technology director at the company, said the long-term goal was to make the " external envelope the renewable power plant of the building", ensuring that walls and roofs not only provide insulation but also generate heat and electricity.

The company recently launched a new EnergiPanel, which uses small grooves in the panel to transfer heat from the sun up the side of a wall and into the building, and Harris said that it was now investigating adding a heat pump system to the technology to help store the heat for use overnight. "The metal casing of a building can be heated to about 30 degrees even in winter, so it makes sense to try to use that heat," he explained.

Similarly, Kingspan's panels division is working with the company's solar panels division to integrate photovoltaic solar cells into building panels to generate electricity as well as heat from the entire building envelope. Harris said that prototypes of the technology could be completed as early as this year.

However, Harris warned that green building materials would struggle to break into the mainstream without greater levels of government support and urged the Treasury to provide new financing mechanisms to support companies looking to improve the energy efficiency of their buildings in the forthcoming budgets.

"Businesses understand the benefits of energy efficiency but they are s truggling to find the up-front money needed to fund projects," he explained, adding that there were a number of measures the government could adopt to tackle financing issues, such as expanding the Salix Finance interest-free loan scheme which helps public sector bodies pay for energy-efficiency projects to cover the private sector.