Lunch & Learn: Commission with care
Part of the Future Homes Standard Essentials Series
Date / Time:
Friday 10 July, 1-2pm
What is the webinar about?
An integrated approach to commissioning is essential to deliver homes that perform as intended. As homes increasingly rely on low carbon technologies including heating, hot water and ventilation systems, careful commissioning is critical to ensuring these technologies operate efficiently, efficiently deliver comfort, and provide a positive experience for homeowners from day one.
Commissioning should be treated as an integral part of the delivery lifecycle, not simply a pre-handover step. Achieving good outcomes requires early planning, clearly defined responsibilities at procurement, competent installers, and effective coordination both in design and on site. Fit for purpose processes are needed to make sure systems are installed, commissioned, and handed over correctly.
Join a panel of industry experts as they explore the commissioning principles that underpin successful delivery, with a particular focus on heat pumps and ventilation systems. Drawing on practical lessons from leading homebuilders and the Future Homes Standard Essentials guidance, the webinar will highlight the key actions that help reduce defects, improve building performance and ensure homes perform as designed.
Meet the Speakers
Debbie Haynes - Carbon Reduction & Sustainability Manager, OX Place
With 18 years working in domestic energy including the Private Rented Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) roll out and Oxford's early energy retrofit agenda, Debbie now specialises in residential construction. Working alongside colleagues, she oversees the rollout of the carbon and energy related elements of design and construction for OX Place, Oxford City Council's wholly owned development company. This includes supporting and guiding on emerging and current environmental policy such as the Future Homes Standard.
She also manages a ground breaking energy quality assurance service across sites; collaborating with a range of specialists and building professionals to reduce the energy performance gap and improve environmental performance. Key areas of current engagement are heating (now primarily heat pumps), EV charging, building fabric, and ventilation with an eye on emerging low carbon and renewable technologies.
Ian Mawditt – Director, Fourwalls Consultants
Ian Mawditt is a Building Performance Specialist with over 35 years of experience in the built environment.
He is recognized for his field-based investigations into building performance, including energy efficiency, ventilation, indoor air quality, and comfort. His work has directly informed UK regulations and standards, helping to close the gap between design intent and lived experience.
Ian has been a long-standing partner to the AECOM-led technical team advising the UK and Welsh Governments, leading major updates to Building Regulations and shaping retrofit quality and compliance. He is also part of the UK Centre for Moisture in Buildings (UKCMB), championing evidence-based approaches to managing moisture risk in homes. Ian's commitment to healthy, resilient, low-carbon buildings is evident in his work, where robust evidence and lived experience inform policies and practices that shape the homes of the future.