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The Larkfleet Group of Companies
Images: Top right: Larkfleet Group headquarters / Bottom left: Construction at Gretton Valley, Weldon / Bottom right: Karl Hick The Larkflet Group of Companies CEO /
Innovation and sustainability has always been at the heart of The Larkfleet Group of Companies, Lincolnshire’s award-winning house building, development and renewable energy business.
Contact Information
www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
The entrepreneurial spirit, energy and commitment of Karl Hick, chief executive officer, has led to the establishment of a unique group of businesses which all have a distinctive focus on sustainability, renewables and clean energy generation.
Our corporate ‘vision’ is to produce high quality sustainable developments using innovative technology and construction methods, delivered to exceed customers’ expectations.
Although our focus on sustainable housebuilding remains core to our business – and our roots remain firmly in the Lincolnshire town of Bourne where we have our headquarters – the group is expanding across the UK and internationally. We are seeking to develop more energy-efficient and sustainable homes and introduce new renewable generation technologies.
Established in 2002 with just three staff, The Larkfleet Group of Companies now employs more than 100 people and turns over in excess of £80 million each year.
Group activitiesOur customers and clients include homebuyers, local authorities, housing associations, solar farm developers, independent builders and construction companies.
We strive to employ local people and place contracts with local suppliers. Our success means we are able to support local economies with employment opportunities, support local ecosystems with our sustainable construction and wildlife protection practices and support the local environment with our low carbon building methods.
We are a major supporter of training initiatives, not just through our own apprenticeship and graduate recruitment programmes but through support for local colleges and sponsorship of the Greater Peterborough University Technical College.
Our success also enables us to support local communities through activities such as working with local schools and charities and sponsoring business awards to celebrate the achievements of local companies.
We invest heavily in research and development of innovative new building designs, materials and construction methods.
All of the businesses within the group share a common philosophy of embracing sustainability in all its aspects – environmental, social and economic.
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Investing inResearch and Development
Images: Top right: Elevating house / Bottom left: PassiveHouse / Bottom right: Solar Steam rig /
The Larkfleet Group of Companies is a major investor in research and development (R&D) of new building technologies and systems and new options for renewable power generation.
Contact Information
www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
HousebuildingWe have invested in a number of demonstration projects which aim to improve the sustainability of new housing and make it possible to build in areas where development is currently precluded because of flood risks.
The Larkfleet Passivehouse, built alongside our head office in Lincolnshire, UK, has been constructed using Startlink Lightweight Building Systems (SLBS) materials and methods. It is highly energy-efficient and requires only very limited power for daily living.
It shows how lightweight pultruded glass-reinforced plastic (GRP) composite beams and panels could revolutionise the way in which homes are constructed. It is designed to be ‘factory built’ using modular components that can be mass produced off site and then easily installed on site with minimal labour and site waste.
Having now proved this principle we are pursuing ways of bringing the concept to a wider commercial market.
We are also investigating the exciting potential for houses to be built on foundations that could rise in response to flooding. We have built a half-scale timber-framed house on rising foundations in the garden of the existing Larkfleet Passivehouse and have now obtained planning consent to build a full-scale version using a steel frame on a site near Spalding in Lincolnshire. The three-bedroomed house can be raised up to 1.5 metres above ground level by eight mechanical jacks, lifting it above flood waters.
We are currently planning to fit a ‘standard’ new house with a series of technological innovations to make it a ‘grid neutral’ dwelling – it will generate all the electrical power it needs. The technology in the house will also minimise energy use.
Renewable energyWe have built and tested a ‘solar steam’ power rig designed to generate carbon-free electricity. It works by concentrating solar energy through a series of plastic lenses, mounted on a giant sun-tracking array, which focus the sun’s rays onto water-filled metal tubes to produce hot water and steam.
We are currently undertaking trials of the system in both India and Mexico.
We are involved in a number of other R&D projects dealing with issues such as wind power generation and energy storage – essential to establish a ‘green energy’ economy where power from renewable sources is available when required and not just when the sun shines or the wind blows.
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Solar Steam is one of the most exciting and innovative research and development (R&D) projects being undertaken by The Larkfleet Group of Companies.
Contact Information
www.solarsteam.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
Images: The Solar Steam rig located at Bourne, Lincolnshire /
Solar Steam
The technologyThe Larkfleet solar steam technology, developed in association with Cranfield University, concentrates the power of the sun’s rays to heat water to create steam which can be used in industrial processes or for power generation.
It works by focusing the sun’s rays through a Fresnel lens array onto a tube which contains water.
The angle of the lens array can be adjusted through a vertical axis to track the sun and is seated on a circular track which allows the array also to follow the sun’s progress horizontally across the sky. By tracking in both planes, the system maintains maximum levels of solar radiation concentrated on the tube.
Solar steam builds on existing ideas about using solar radiation to generate heat and takes them a step further. We have been granted a UK patent for the technology and have applied for patents in the European Union and in India.
ApplicationsPotential for renewable power generation using a solar steam array is greatest in sunny regions like southern Europe and Asia.
Power generation companies can use solar steam to increase renewable heat input and reduce energy costs. Industrial facilities that use fossil fuels to provide the thermal energy required for their processes can instead install the Larkfleet solar steam collector to generate low carbon heat.
The solar steam system can also be used in desalination, the process of removing salt from water to make it potable. This is of particular value in coastal countries with water shortages.
Latest developmentsThe initial development of the project is complete. We are now seeking to take this technology to a wider market where we believe it will have a positive impact on the generation of sustainable and renewable heat.
We have obtained funding to deliver a pre-commercial demonstration of solar steam at a site in Morelos in Mexico and to build a mobile version of the system to deliver renewable heat and power in rural India.
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Larkfleet Elevating House
Images: Bottom left: The normal position of the elevating house / Bottom right: The elevating house elevated /
The Larkfleet Elevating House is designed to rise on stilts to avoid flood waters. It could enable housebuilding on thousands of sites across the UK which at present cannot be developed because of the risk of flooding.
Contact Information
www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
The Larkfleet Group of Companies is building an experimental Elevating House to test the operation and maintenance of the jacking system which will lift the house in the event of flooding. The building will sit on a steel ring beam in place of conventional foundations.
Experiments will run for up to three years from 2017. The house will then be removed and the site returned to agricultural use.
Experimental house type: Three bedroom detached home, 8.7 metres x 6.3 metres.
Experimental house weight: 65 tonnes, including ring beam.
Experimental house structure: Steel-framed, modular building manufactured off-site and then erected on jackable steel ring beam.
Location: Weston Hills, near Spalding, Lincolnshire.
Jacking system: Eight mechanical jacks driven by shafts from single electric motor and gearbox.
Jacking height: Up to 1.5 metres above ground level.
Jacking speed: From zero to maximum elevation in less than five minutes.
It is anticipated that houses of this design would be jacked up well ahead of the arrival of flood waters, based on advance warnings from organisations such as the Environment Agency.
Power and utility connectionsPower for operating the jacks would be guaranteed by a battery that would be charged and kept topped-up by solar panels. However, this system is regarded as a ‘back up’. Because the house would be lifted in advance of flooding, the jacking mechanism would probably be powered from the normal mains electricity supply before this was cut off by flooding.
The battery and solar panels would provide the house with some continuing electricity supply when raised above the ground and the gas, water and sewage would remain connected through flexible hoses. However, it is not envisaged that residents would remain in occupation during floods. Instead, the householders would pack up, lock up and jack up the home before taking refuge in temporary accommodation on higher ground elsewhere.
UK and international patents are pending.
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Larkfleet ‘Grid Neutral’ House
Images: Top right: The standard design of the grid neutral house before installation of solar panels /
Bottom left: Water related technology to detect water levels / Bottom right: Solar panels /
Larkfleet Homes is planning to fit out a ‘standard’ house that it is building on one of its commercial housing developments with a series of technological innovations to make it a ‘grid neutral’ dwelling – it will generate all the electrical power it needs.
Contact Information
www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
Photovoltaic (PV) solar cells on the roof of the grid neutral house and conservatory will provide electricity even on cloudy days and the power that they produce will be stored in a battery pack in the garage of the house. The battery will provide power at night, when the sun is not shining, and during the day at times of peak demand.
It will also provide power to charge an electric car in the garage overnight.
At times of peak sunshine, electricity from the PV panels will be used to heat water in addition to powering domestic appliances. Excess power will be exported to the grid. During winter the house will draw from the grid – but over a year as a whole will export as much (or more) electricity as it imports.
As well as generating power the technology in the house will minimise its use with high levels of insulation and energy-efficient appliances and lighting being installed.
The objective is to take a standard Larkfleet house and make it self-sufficient in electricity, demonstrating the capability of ‘off the shelf’ technology to deliver substantial improvements in domestic energy efficiency.
Water conservationThe new technology being tested in the house extends beyond energy to water conservation. Among the systems installed is a smart water meter which will – among other things – turn off water at the mains if it detects unusual flow patterns that indicate a leak. Another system will detect the water level in a bath or basin and turn off the taps to prevent flooding if they have been left unattended.
The water-related technology also includes a heat exchanger which will take energy from waste bath water and use it to heat fresh water.
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Education and Training
Images: Top right: Students constructing a model Larkfleet house / Bottom left: Karl Hick with the Principal and CEO of GPUTC / Bottom right: Larkfleet at a GPUTC open day /
The Larkfleet Group of Companies has a track record of investing in apprenticeships, even during the recent recession, and also has a graduate recruitment and training programme. We are proud to be an employee sponsor of the Greater Peterborough University Technical College.
Contact Information
www.larkfleetgroup.co.uk
Larkfleet House, Falcon Way, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 0FF
01778 391550
Careers in sustainable constructionConstruction is an increasingly ‘high tech’ business. It therefore needs to recruit the brightest and best young people in a wide range of trades and professions and at a number of different educational and professional levels.
The industry’s needs range from ‘hands on’ trades people working on construction sites through to scientists, engineers and technologists working in research and development. We also need a range of first class ‘support staff’ ranging from sales and marketing professionals through to business managers, administrators and accountants.
Larkfleet is committed to training the next generation of construction professionals in all these areas.
We recruit young local apprentices who gain experience in energy-efficient construction during their time with us. We provide local graduates with business experience through structured training. With both these programmes we aim to encourage local talent and to harness the innovation and enthusiasm provided by these young people.
Greater Peterborough University Technical CollegeThe Greater Peterborough University Technical College (GPUTC) is an exciting new education facility with a specialist engineering and built environment syllabus aimed at both girls and boys. Larkfleet has been involved in the creation of GPUTC since before the first plans were drawn up.
We were one of only three local ‘employer sponsors’ at the outset of the project, donating both cash and expertise to help get the college started. Our CEO, Karl Hick, sits on the college steering group.
The GPUTC helps local students to get a solid foundation of hands-on experience alongside educational learning, increasing their skills and providing them with great career potential for the future. Its ambition is to ensure that every student leaves with a job, an apprenticeship or a place at a college or university. It guarantees all of its graduates job interviews through its employer sponsors such as Larkfleet.
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