The Building Podcast with Mark Wakeford

Mark Wakeford

Mark Wakeford is a Director of the National Federation of Builders, Strategy Director of the Global Solar Council and Chair of the West Midlands Solar Taskforce.  He has run a large regional building contractor and now chairs Evoenergy, one of the UK's foremost renewable companies, bringing low carbon solutions to corporate Britain. Mark talks to leading experts from across the construction sector to discuss issues facing the built environment.  He explores various challenges with his guests, who offer solutions, information and ideas that listeners can apply to their own situations, be it in a company, on a project or studying at college. The Building Podcast aims to provide 'CPD on the go'.  Supporting the sector with easily digestible ideas to support a rapidly changing industry! https://www.linked.com/in/markwakeford/ 

  1. Oct 19

    Businesses as Advocates and Leaders in Society

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome With political leaders around the world moving and changing at ever increasing speeds, businesses find themselves as one of the few constants in their communities.  This gives them opportunity to act in concert for changes that they believe will benefit their communities and meet their long-term business goals. Listen to Ben Tolhurst, a Director of Business Declares talk about the responsibility placed on businesses to act dutifully and to use the strengths of capitalism to support positive change within their communities.  Ben describes the three pillars of effective advocacy and change that businesses who sign up to Business Declares will support; climate honesty, nature improvements and both social and racial justice, noting that increasingly communities require their businesses to have an opinion and to support positive action on behalf of these campaigns.  Listen to hear why it is imperative for businesses to speak up and to work together in concert for the future wellbeing of their communities and by extension supporting their own long-term success. Listen to hear how businesses can coordinate and examples of the successes that these businesses have delivered, both for their communities and for the business themselves. Ben Tolhurst | LinkedIn About Business Declares

  2. Oct 16

    Carbon Capture in our Soils – The sustainable and best way to make farmland more resilient and productive

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome Farmland with high levels of organic carbon will be more resilient to periods of high or low rainfall and to greater swings in temperature.  Achieving this requires both the knowledge of what level of organic carbon exists in the soil and best practice farming methods.   Working in this way can help secure the food supplies that we need during times of climate stress, ensure an income to farmers and replace much of the carbon capture figures that Government hopes to store to still allow the use of carbon fuels. David Wright is the CEO of Ecometric, a UK based company that has the peer reviewed, scientific backed tools to measure organic carbon in soils anywhere around the world.  Listen to this podcast to understand the power of measurement to inform cropping decisions and the benefit of resilient, high carbon soils.  Listen to hear how farmers are using carbon credits to support their transition to lower input, high resilient soils through a second income stream.  Listen to hear how solar farms can benefit from this income stream to help mitigate demand side risk for carbon free energy into the future. David also talks about the need for farmers to manage their soil carbon to prevent any further degradation.  He explains that industrial farming methods, with high inputs will need to be changed if we are to continue feeding our populations and secure the future of our farming communities. David Wright | LinkedIn Annual Soil Carbon Measurement for UK Farms | Ecometric

    Carbon Capture in our Soils – The sustainable and best way to make farmland more resilient and productive

  3. Sep 22

    Residential Electricity Supply – Matching variable supply with demand

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome One of the biggest challenges of renewable energy generation is that it is intermittent, even when averaged out over a country.  This makes matching demand with supply, or vice-a-versa difficult.  Add to this the challenges of a warming climate that increase variability in wind and sun levels, then there is an opportunity for clever businesses to find a solution. Nigel Banks is the Technical Director for Octopus Energy, the UK’s largest residential energy provider and one that wins awards for its innovations and customer care.  Through its adoption of technology, its investment in making itself vertically integrated and its consistent priority on the customer experience, it has found solutions that suit its customers and provide lower energy bills. Listen to Nigel’s podcast to understand the environment that has unlocked these innovative solutions for the public to buy energy.  Listen to hear the importance of Octopus solving the challenges experienced by their customers, rather than relying on their customers to minutely manage their own energy bills.  Listen to hear the objectives of Octopus and the need to drive down costs to homeowners. Listen to hear how Octopus work with stakeholders in housing to provide optimum tariffs in an explainable and logical way and how the lessons that can be learnt around the world to unlock the variable demands side needed by renewable generation. Nigel Banks | LinkedIn Join the UK's most popular energy supplier | Octopus Energy

    Residential Electricity Supply – Matching variable supply with demand

  4. Sep 16

    Developer led local skills training – Opening the door to long term facility quality and thriving communities

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome Nishant Kumar is the Vice-President and Head of Asset Management, Sustainability and Quality for Indian Independent Power Producer Ayana Renewable Power.  He is responsible for the performance of their generating assets, which supply businesses throughout India.  Nishant talks about his approach to maximising returns, which starts before a blow is struck on site.  Ayana arranges to train the community on how to install the solar array, ensuring that those who want to learn a profession are given an opportunity.  Nishant talks to the benefits that provides the community in terms of long term careers in solar, reduction is emigration to the cities and enabling local businesses to thrive. Listen to this podcast to hear why a developer funds local training and how it creates value in ESG, project acceptance and long-term performance.  Listen to hear of the opportunity within the Indian market and where the limited barriers to growth exist. Nishant Kumar, | LinkedIn Ayana Power Global Solar Council | GSC Home

    Developer led local skills training – Opening the door to long term facility quality and thriving communities

  5. Sep 14

    Solar the cheapest, greenest and most resilient energy source for today and all our futures – The role of the Global Solar Council

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome Andrew Birch, known to all as Birchy, has been promoting solar all his professional career.  He is now the Treasurer of the Global Solar Council (GSC), the trade body that represents all stakeholders involved in solar and storage, from all around the world, bringing his passion and expertise to promote the cheapest and most resilient energy available to mankind.  Listen to this podcast to find out about the role of the Global Solar Council, the arguments on why solar energy will win in the race to power human activity and the opportunities available to those who work within this growing sector. Listen to this podcast to hear why the focus of the world’s solar energy professionals needs to be on explaining the value of solar, the physics that mean that its costs will always be lower than that of fossil fuels and the benefits of a decentralised grid.  The podcast also explains why fossil fuels continue to receive subsidies whilst they continue to pollute the atmosphere and increase global warming. Birchy also explains why he set up Open Solar, a platform to allow solar contractors easy access to expertise, designs and products, free of charge.  Listen to hear the benefits to the industry and the work that Birchy and his team are doing to develop the services and capability of the sector. Andrew Birch | LinkedIn Global Solar Council | About GSC OpenSolar | Accelerating Solar Adoption with Free Software

    Solar the cheapest, greenest and most resilient energy source for today and all our futures – The role of the Global Solar Council

  6. Sep 8

    Setting the Standard for Solar Training Globally - Transferable qualifications in the world's fastest growing energy sector

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome The solar sector is comparatively young, with few institutions or standardisations.  Yet it is the world's fastest growing energy generator and will be vying for the top spot within the decade.  In order to take this prize, the sector must ensure that its installations are to the highest quality, delivered safely and that they provide a robust source of energy.  A major element of this is the workforce that design, deliver and maintain these assets and the Global Solar Council is working with The Global Wind Organisation to develop and deliver a training programme around the world to service this growing demand. Thomas Redmond is the Training Project Manager at the Global Wind Organisation (GWO) who is responsible for developing these international standards and for rolling them out to training providers around the world.   The GWO has the infrastructure to work with its members and representatives from the Global Solar Council (GSC) to be able to arrive at competent qualifications quickly and effectively.  They also have a network of providers who understand the governance of quality and course development that the GWO insists upon who are ready to pick up the solar qualifications. Listen to this podcast to find out how the GWO creates and delivers competent courses that support a growing industry. Hear how these qualifications can enable a successful career in renewable energy delivery and why these skills are transferable around the globe.  Listen to find out why these qualifications are so relevant to the work of solar professionals and why they are backed by the members of the Global Solar Council to deliver quality installations all around the world. Thomas Redmond | LinkedIn Global Solar Council | Skills GWO Solar Training Committee

    Setting the Standard for Solar Training Globally - Transferable qualifications in the world's fastest growing energy sector

  7. Aug 24

    Net Zero – Mandatory Change and Massive Opportunities for the Early adopters in Construction

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome The seventh Carbon budget has just been accepted by the UK Government.  This tracks progress towards our net zero ambition by 2050 and is now a mandatory target.  Government will publish its plans to achieve this.  Construction and Energy sectors will have a huge role to play in delivering these intermediary targets, particularly as these sectors influence a massive 43% of UK emissions, compared to representing 8% of the UK’s GDP. Hannah Vickers is the Co-Chair of Construct Zero, the initiative set up by the UK’s Construction Leadership Council.  The initiative aims to lead the industry towards its net zero responsibilities, showcasing best in class and benchmarking companies and their projects on net-zero criteria.  There is much to do, and Hannah is focused on the biggest wins that the industry can deliver in terms of carbon savings. Listen to this podcast to find out what is driving change in construction and how the sector will need to modify its priorities.  Listen to find out how the industry will need to adapt to respond to the statutory carbon targets and how the industry can work through the Construction Leadership Council to ensure that these changes can be delivered. Hannah Vickers | LinkedIn CO2nstructZero – Construction Leadership Council Built Confidence | Success starts here

  8. Aug 20

    Community Energy – A powerful tool to bring communities together through renewables and energy savings

    Send a Text - Feedback Welcome Community Energy Schemes have been around for over a decade, providing access to energy investments to local communities.  They continue to gain in popularity and the movement continues to gain momentum as more and more organisations look to unlock the power of community engagement.  Sarah Burgess a freelance expert and director of Grand Union Community Energy Ltd talks about the structure, the skills and the mechanism for getting a community scheme off the ground and onto site. Listen to hear how a community energy scheme works, the importance of community engagement and local support, both from local government and other local organisations.  Listen to hear how anyone with the passion and people skills can get a scheme off the ground, if they have an idea and suitable roof.  Listen to hear how these community organisations are structured, the importance of shared values and a sense of humour to get you through the low spots. Listen to hear about the opportunities for community energy companies to “Power Up” with investment opportunities and to “Power Down” to provide bespoke advice to help people with their energy bills and energy saving measures. Sarah Burgess | LinkedIn GUCE – Invest in the power of your community Community Energy England - The voice of the community energy sector

    Community Energy – A powerful tool to bring communities together through renewables and energy savings
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About

Mark Wakeford is a Director of the National Federation of Builders, Strategy Director of the Global Solar Council and Chair of the West Midlands Solar Taskforce.  He has run a large regional building contractor and now chairs Evoenergy, one of the UK's foremost renewable companies, bringing low carbon solutions to corporate Britain. Mark talks to leading experts from across the construction sector to discuss issues facing the built environment.  He explores various challenges with his guests, who offer solutions, information and ideas that listeners can apply to their own situations, be it in a company, on a project or studying at college. The Building Podcast aims to provide 'CPD on the go'.  Supporting the sector with easily digestible ideas to support a rapidly changing industry! https://www.linked.com/in/markwakeford/ 

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