THREE businesses specialising in green building products face a long wait to find out if they have won an award for cleaning up the air.
The trio, Breathing Buildings, Sustainable Energy Academy and Monodraught, have been shortlisted in the 2013 Ashden Awards which reward companies that help to reduce CO2 emissions.
In total, 12 organisations have been shortlisted. Finalists will be announced in May and the winners, which will be revealed at a dinner in June, will receive a prize of £20,000 as well business support and access to investors.
Breathing Buildings, a spin-out from Cambridge University, has been working on a different approach to natural ventilation that will cut down on cold draughts and lower heating bills, while Sustainable Energy Academy has joined forces with a housing firm to develop made-to-measure internal wall insulation. Third shortlisted firm is Monodraught whose Cool-Phase system provides low-energy air conditioning.
“The heating and cooling of buildings is one of the most significant uses of energy in the UK and while new buildings can be relatively efficient in this area, the challenge is dealing with all the existing buildings,” said Mike Pepler, UK awards manager at Ashden.
“Any innovation which makes it easier to reduce their energy demand is very welcome.”
