In one of our past features, we looked at how build standards to ensure that park and leisure homes are as eco-friendly as possible and highlighted ways that homeowners can save on energy consumption.
In the past couple of years, there’s been a big surge in the number of manufacturers incorporating energy-saving measures, and it’s fair to say that there is diversity in the way they are doing that as they all work hard to reduce the industry’s carbon footprint.
Atlas Leisure Homes is a great example. Managing Director Steven McGawn said; “Atlas is leading the way in sustainability, actively investing to transition towards a more eco-friendly business model. We’re scrutinizing every aspect of our operations—from the raw materials we use to build our products and our manufacturing processes, to our partnerships with suppliers, transporters, and our interactions with customers and the broader community.”
He added; “The Atlas Mirage holiday home is available as an all-electric model, featuring ASTECtherm heating systems and Sunamp’s innovative, space-saving thermal energy storage for water heating. Looking ahead to 2025, we are excited to introduce the Avanti holiday home. This new addition broadens our sustainable offerings with an all-electric option that blends style with eco-consciousness, showcasing a chic coastal design.”
SUSTAINABILITY ACROSS THE BOARD
As one of the UK’s leading chassis manufacturers, Gateway Chassis Solutions places high value on the health and wellbeing of their workforce, environmental impact and energy consumption levels.
Managing Director Chris Ramsden agrees that it’s about every aspect of operations, and commented; “In order to look at the health and safety of our workforce, we needed to look at the environmental aspects of our work as our manufacturer and how we could improve on them.
Working with the Aura Innovation Partnership, we implemented an innovative solution that not only addresses the internal air quality, but also makes sure that what we pump out is clean as well. The benefits are huge. Our goal is to become carbon neutral, to become a more sustainable and environmentally friendly chassis manufacturer, and we’ve shifted our position significantly towards that. We can all play our part as businesses.”
If you already live in a park home, or spend a good amount of time in a leisure home built to residential standard, you’ll probably already know that they are pretty costefficient in comparison to many traditional brick-and-mortar homes, and that’s part of their appeal.
ENERGY CONSUMPTION COST COMPARISON
It’s not just the manufacturers who have their eyes on this. Parkhouse Air Conditioning Director Paul Atkins says; “Contrary to many expectations, air conditioning units are not noisy or expensive to run – they make no noise at all when professionally installed. There’s a running cost comparison online showing how economical they are to run compared to an existing heating system. Many of our customers find us by word of mouth, when someone they know on the same park has had a system fitted and is enjoying the benefits. That’s lovely for us- we are blessed to have great reviews from many of the lovely homeowners we have installed systems for, and there’s nothing better than hearing how it’s made a real difference to them.”
BUILDING IT IN
You will have seen us talk about Vuestro Furniture in recent features too, another classic example of a supplier focusing on sustainably sourced products that will stand the test of time, with Accoya Wood or Crete stone finish options available, their grill tables are fitted with a high-performing electric grill, with the option of a drinks cooler, so this is a no-flame option.
WORKING WITH THE ENVIRONMENT ON PARKS
We’ve touched on another major innovative solution in our Stoneleigh Show round up in this issue, which could be set to transform the park development side of the industry.
The Flood Technology Group will be making their Flood Adaptive Platform for holiday lodges and mobile homes available to tourism businesses across the UK and beyond, helping them to future-proof their operations against the increasing flood risk posed by climate change.
By applying their innovative technology to mobile homes and holiday lodges, they can support the safe development of prime plots of land adjacent to bodies of water and in flood risk areas, thanks to its proven ability to keep people and property safe throughout a flood event. This is particularly important in flood-prone and coastal areas, where the impact on tourism hits business owners hard.
There are approximately 365,000 caravan holiday homes and an additional 100,000 residential park homes in the UK, with around 73,000 holiday caravans and 10,000 park homes at moderate or significant risk of flooding. In the region of 20,000 caravan pitches in the UK are not even being used due to flood risk, according to data from the National Caravan Council. Simon Gilliland, Chief Executive of the Flood Technology Group says; “The transformative potential of flood adaptive technology extends beyond flood risk reduction; it offers a pathway to building thriving communities capable of co-existing harmoniously with the natural environment.”
IN SUMMARY
So, across all areas of the park and leisure home industry, innovative businesses are using cutting-edge technology to rise to the challenge of working in an eco-friendly and sustainable way, and will no doubt keep pushing forward with new technologies to help. We’ll be watching!
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
www.atlasleisurehomes.co.uk
www.floodtechnologygroup.co.uk
www.gateway-chassis.co.uk
www.parkhouseac.com
www.vuestro.furniture
