NEWS | DIGEST IN BRIEF Britain falls behind as European heat pump sales soar Awaab Ishak, who died because of mould problems in his housing association at Gove urges landlords to learn lessons from mould tragedy Two-year-old Awaab Ishak died after exposure to mould in a housing association at Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has urged social landlords to go further than the letter of the Decent Homes Standard when it comes to damp issues, after a coroners ruling that a toddler died because of mould problems in his housing association at. Goves call was triggered by a nding by Greater Manchester coroner Joanne Kearsley, following a seven-day inquest, that two-yearold Awaab Ishak died in December 2020 as a result of a severe respiratory condition caused by prolonged exposure to mould in his home. Awaabs parents had previously complained to their landlord, Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH), about the black mould present in the kitchen and bathroom, and had asked to be rehoused. Their at did not have a window in the bathroom and the window in the kitchen led to a communal walkway. A health visitor had twice written to RBH expressing concern about the mould in the property. Kearsley has called for the governments Decent Homes Standard for social housing to be strengthened to include damp and mould. In a letter to all social landlords, Gove urged them to absorb the lessons of the inquests nding: All social homes must meet the Decent Homes Standard; you must be aware of any that do not and undertake rapid remedial works. However, in light of this case, I expect you to go further than the letter of the standard and have particular regard to damp and mould. Damp and mould are not lifestyle issues, as the Housing Ombudsman Service underscored last year. Where people complain about damp and mould, you must listen; where you nd them, you must take prompt action. To keep tenants safe, you must not hide behind legal process. He added that social landlords will be expected to undertake assessments of damp and mould issues affecting their properties, including the prevalence of category 1 and 2 damp and mould hazards, and any resulting actions that need to be taken. See page 18 for Hywel Davies article on the case. Extract ventilation firm left hundreds exposed to risk of lung disease A ventilation company has been ned for putting hundreds of workers at risk of serious lung diseases, following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). Airtec Filtration Ltd tested extract ventilation systems, which reduce exposure to airborne contaminants in a workplace, for businesses. However, an investigation by the HSE found that the rm, based in St Helens, gave customers inaccurate test results, potentially leaving staff in those businesses unaware of the risks they faced. In one incident, when assessing a car manufacturing business, the Airtec engineer failed to identify the presence of carcinogenic rubber fumes. Visits by HSE inspectors to multiple sites where Airtec had carried out testing found a number of signicant and common failings at each one. Documents received by inspectors raised concerns about the accuracy of its tests of several businesses local exhaust ventilation systems. Airtec pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates Court on 4 November to contravening Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. The company was ned 2,666 and ordered to pay costs of 4,074. New analysis from the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has found that UK domestic gas usage would fall by 31% compared with 2021 rates if the countrys heat pump uptake matched that of Poland and Estonia. Pressure from the war in Ukraine has driven up heat pump sales across Europe. As gas prices have risen, there has been an urgent demand for heat pumps to replace gas boilers, which are becoming too expensive to run. Heat pumps have been dubbed by the US as freedom pumps, because they reduce dependence on Russian gas, said Jess Ralston, senior analyst at ECIU. In 2021, Estonia sold 1,583 heat pumps per 100,000 people 25 times more than the UKs 63 per 100,000. Heat pump installations in France total 3.1 million, compared with just 280 000 in the UK. Octopus offers heat pump incentive Octopus Energy and Lloyds Banking Group have launched a pilot scheme to slash the cost of installing heat pumps for Halifax mortgage customers. Under the scheme, the lenders mortgage customers will be eligible for a 1,000 Green Living Reward if they take advantage of an offer by Octopus to provide and install one of its heat pumps. In conjunction with a 5,000 grant from the governments Boiler Upgrade Scheme, this cashback sum could cut the cost of getting a heat pump installed to as little as 2,000. Giant battery storage system goes live A battery energy storage system near Hull, which can store enough electricity to power 300,000 homes, has gone live. The Pillswood facility in Cottingham has the capacity to store 196MWh in a single cycle. Developed by North Yorkshire renewable power firm Harmony Energy, the Tesla-based storage has been built next to the National Grids Creyke Beck substation, which will be connected to the worlds largest offshore wind farm at Dogger Bank, which is under construction. www.cibsejournal.com December 2022 7 CIBSE Dec 22 pp07 News.indd 7 25/11/2022 18:04