Better Planet and London Metropolitan University Launch Partnership to Tackle Fabric Heat Loss and Drive Down the Cost of Green Heating
A project is underway to reduce the cost of ground source heat pumps by recovering the heat lost through building fabric – a move that could unlock low-carbon heating at scale across the UK and beyond.
Better Planet, a leading UK-based renewables company, has been awarded Innovate UK funding for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with London Metropolitan University. The goal: to prove that fabric heat loss can be captured and reused, eliminating waste and improving the economics of renewable heating systems.
At the heart of the project is a system that integrates with ground source heat pumps to recover energy from walls, floors, and structural elements of buildings. By doing so, it may reduce or eliminate the need for costly boreholes, which currently make up a significant portion of system installation costs.
The technology has the potential to:
- • Lower barriers to heat pump adoption for homeowners and developers
- • Reduce carbon emissions by improving overall system efficiency
- • Support the UK’s Net Zero goals by decarbonising heating in both new builds and retrofits
A KTP Associate will lead development efforts, working closely with academic experts in materials science and thermal engineering. The project will focus on materials testing, thermal modelling, cost analysis, and real-world feasibility.
This KTP not only accelerates innovation in the heating sector but demonstrates how collaboration between industry and academia can deliver tangible climate solutions.
“We are excited to work with London Metropolitan University to demonstrate that fabric heat losses can be recycled, effectively bringing down dynamic U-values to zero,”
says Dr Tomas Larsson, founder of Better Planet and the patent holder behind the core concept.
“This KTP is a milestone for London Metropolitan University’s School of the Built Environment. In partnership with Better Planet, we are supporting the development of ground-source heat pumps and fabric heat recovery systems to make urban regeneration projects, including retrofits and new builds, more practical and affordable. By diffusing this innovation into the market, we aim to advance the UK’s Net Zero targets and climate action while enhancing applied research and curriculum development in materials science, environmental design, construction technology and project management, demonstrating how academia and industry can drive meaningful decarbonisation,”
says Dr Maria Christina Georgiadou, Head of Surveying and Real Estate and Principal Lecturer in the School of the Built Environment at London Metropolitan University.
