Powerwall

Sector In Profile: Low Carbon

Powerwall spent three decades building a successful business in external insulation. But for much of that time, the firm was quietly developing an innovation that anticipated the demand for low-carbon construction.

It’s only in the last few years that the market has woken up to the potential of Powerwall’s structural steel frame. It allows for sustainable buildings to be constructed almost entirely offsite, with associated savings in costs, waste and carbon emissions.

Now the company’s waiting game is paying off. With the support of Scottish Enterprise, its Volumetric Space Frame system is being adopted for use in housing, hotels and schools, and is spreading internationally through licensing deals.

According to Global Sales Director Joe Pacitti, the market just wasn’t ready for the system until recently. “Modular construction didn’t have cultural acceptance. We got a lot of resistance from the industry, so we kept the product on the back burner,” he says.

What began to shift attitudes was a combination of customer demand for sustainable buildings, and the regulatory changes that followed Scotland’s commitment to tough carbon reduction targets.

The Powerwall system achieves carbon ratings that are 10 to 15% more efficient than new legislation demands. The frame is 85% more thermally efficient than traditional construction methods, and CO2 emissions during manufacture are up to 70% lower.

Costs and timescales are also highly attractive to customers. Because materials are delivered to one central location for factory assembly, there are no delays due to bad weather or poor delivery coordination. And the lightweight nature of the system saves time on foundation works, generating less material for removal after excavation.

As it became clear that the product’s time had come, Powerwall called in Scottish Enterprise specialist Lilian Smith for help with its strategy.

“We had a dilemma: did we become a full-scale construction company, or focus on selling our great product idea?” Joe recalls. “We decided that we had to do both.

“Rather than develop our own plants abroad, we set out to licence our technology in other countries. But we realised we could only convince other people to adopt the system if we could show we were making money from it ourselves.”

SE provided marketing and PR help to target what Joe calls “intelligent users” – early adopters of low carbon technologies, such as government bodies, hotel and leisure groups. The company now presents itself as offering “a 21st century approach to construction”.

Visit the Scottish Enterprise Knowledge Series website for further information.