Wates launches green tech education programme

The leading family-owned construction, residential development and property services company is partnering with Rewise Learning to create the first ever ‘House of the Future’ kit that will be used in technology lessons to support the Government’s sustainability and climate change strategy for education. This will be accompanied by an online hub hosting resources and lesson plans, as well as a series of workshops.
The kit, which is being made from recycled materials, follows the modular design of Wates’ houses. Once constructed and programmed by students, it will be powered by solar energy, with underfloor heating and phone charging points that mimic those used for electrical vehicles.
Learners will be able to control and measure the sustainable functions of the house remotely via a dedicated smartphone app, which is available to download on Apple and Android. For example, using heat capture technology, they will be able to measure the internal temperature of the house and experiment with different windows to see the effect. They will also be able to experiment with ‘battery storage’ represented by a wall mounted power bank that stores ‘solar energy’ for use later.
125 year nine pupils at Eastern High School in Cardiff and Sacred Heart School in Harrow will be the first to take part in the workshops, which are being delivered as part of the wider social value programmes on Wates’ development partnerships with Cardiff and Harrow councils.
As well as highlighting the critical role that green technologies can play in boosting energy efficiency, the workshops will teach students about electrical safety and coding, as they work in small teams to assemble the modular building components and wire the basic electronic circuits for the green tech and control centre. Wates hopes that the programme will promote an interest in the skills needed to enter sustainable construction.
Charlie Hargreaves
Regional Social Value Manager at Wates Residential
Nathan John
CEO at Rewise Learning