JOHN Pentland MSP recently added to the growing list of politicians to have expressed an interest in the research work being carried out at the award-winning BRE Ravenscraig Innovation Park.
The park is located within his Motherwell and Wishaw constituency and Mr Pentland joins Deputy First Minister John Swinney, Scottish Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Communities Ken Macintosh MSP, Marion Fellowes MP and Phil Boswell MP, in visiting the site.
Dr David Kelly, Group Director BRE Innovation Park Networks, joined Mr Pentland on his visit and conducted the facility tour explaining the research being carried out in each of the innovative new homes on the Park – homes which many believe will influence Scotland’s future housebuilding agenda.
Dr Kelly said, “We are greatly encouraged by the growing level of interest being shown by leading Scottish politicians into the work carried out by BRE. To be able to share our vision and ambitions for the Innovation Parks with such an influential audience is gratifying. The innovative buildings, products, and technologies on the Park demonstrate future solutions to many of the housing issues we face today. We very much hope that the insight gained by our politicians as a result of these visits will ultimately play a part in influencing thinking around future policy.
“At BRE Ravenscraig Innovation Park, we aim to blend science and technology with innovation and entrepreneurship to find solutions for existing and future buildings not only in Scotland but in the UK, in Europe and around the world.”
Mr Pentland visited the Curriculum House, which has been designed and built by architectural and construction students from New College Lanarkshire and is the first ‘live’ higher level educational project of its kind in the UK.
He also enjoyed a guided tour of the Energy Efficient Home, specifically designed for the affordable sector of the market by Scottish firm AppleGreen. This home has attracted international attention from organisations and governments across the globe who are seeking to address their own housebuilding industries, by improving skills, creating jobs and ultimately building large volumes of quality, affordable, energy efficient homes.
Mr Pentland also witnessed the Refurbished House, a recreation of the “four in a block” home – a house type of which there are over 250,000 in Scotland. The model at Ravenscraig, which has been delivered by BRE Scotland, Edinburgh Napier University and Historic Scotland and was constructed by local builders Cruden, demonstrates a range of innovative “retrofit solutions” for this house type, which accounts for some of the most energy inefficient homes across the country.
