As we take handover of the first homes at our Magna Rise development in East Cowton, North Yorkshire, a partnership with our supplier Daikin is helping ensure our customer care colleagues are trained in how to use air source heat pumps.
All 68 homes on the new development will be powered by the low-carbon systems and the hands-on session was designed to ensure the team are able to fully support customers moving in, who may not have experience of the technology.
The training covered the key components of an air source heat pump system, how the technology efficiently heats homes and hot water, and the best ways residents can operate their systems to maximise comfort and energy efficiency.
Amy Robinson, Construction Project Manager for Karbon Homes, who organised the session said: “As more and more of our new homes are being powered by air source heat pumps, it’s essential that our colleagues have the knowledge and confidence in the technology to be able to support customers.
“This training has provided valuable insight into how the systems work and how residents can use them effectively. Ensuring the customer care colleagues from both Karbon and the contractor Adderstone Living are confident and comfortable with the systems will help ensure we’re delivering the best possible customer experience to new residents moving in.”
Commitment to improving the energy efficiency of homes
Karbon owns and manages around 34,000 homes across the North East and Yorkshire and with homes accounting for around a quarter of all the North of England’s carbon emissions, we have a big role to play in ensuring the new homes we build are energy efficient and fit for the future.
During the last financial year (2025/26), we built 478 new homes:
We are always exploring what new and innovative methods and technologies are available that we can utilise.
An example of this in action is harnessing the natural resources underneath our region.
Working in partnership with Durham County Council, the Mining Remediation Authority and Vital Energi, we're connecting the 750 affordable homes we're building at the new Seaham Garden Village in County Durham, to a new, ultra-low carbon district heat network powered by naturally occurring mine water.
Due to its geothermal energy the water in the mine shafts sits at 19-20 degrees throughout the year. So rather than allowing that heat to simply dissipate into the atmosphere on extraction, the system will extract the heat, put it through a heat exchange to increase the water temperature further, and then send it to the homes.
This means that our customers not only benefit from warm, comfortable homes, but also save money thanks to lower energy bills.
When designing and building new homes, we adopt a ‘fabric first’ approach, seeking to reduce energy demand and lower our carbon footprint. The use of modern methods of construction is key to this, ensuring both quality and sustainability.
37% of the homes we built last year used timber frame construction, a non-toxic and renewable method that has the lowest emission levels of any building material.
And for larger developments like our two extra care developments in South Tyneside, one with 95-apartments and the other with 124-apartments, the use of light gauge steel frame systems, where prefabricated panels are produced off site and delivered to site for assembly, improves the overall efficiency of the build phase.
Sarah Robson, Executive Director of Development and Asset Management at Karbon Homes, said: “Lowering the carbon footprint of our homes and operations, whilst also positively impacting the lives of customers is the ethos of our response to climate change.
"Our strategy focuses on how we can implement positive changes across the organisation to reduce emissions and become more energy-efficient, and we take that very seriously when it comes to the new homes we build. This also means lower retrofit costs in future and less disruption for customers."
Our investment in a sustainable future is not just about building new homes. We are also making energy-efficiency improvements to our existing homes.
83% of all the homes we own and manage already achieve an EPC C rating or above, which means we’re well on our way to getting all our homes to the legislative target of EPC C by 2030.
To do this, we have begun working on the next phase of our energy efficiency improvement programme, part funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Warm Homes Social Housing Fund. Over the next three years we will invest around £4.8million on improving over 450 homes, primarily in North Durham and West Northumberland.
As we take handover of the first homes at our Magna Rise development in East Cowton, North Yorkshire, a partnership with our supplier Daikin is helping ensure our customer care colleagues are trained in how to use air source heat pumps.
All 68 homes on the new development will be powered by the low-carbon systems and the hands-on session was designed to ensure the team are able to fully support customers moving in, who may not have experience of the technology.
The training covered the key components of an air source heat pump system, how the technology efficiently heats homes and hot water, and the best ways residents can operate their systems to maximise comfort and energy efficiency.
Amy Robinson, Construction Project Manager for Karbon Homes, who organised the session said: “As more and more of our new homes are being powered by air source heat pumps, it’s essential that our colleagues have the knowledge and confidence in the technology to be able to support customers.
“This training has provided valuable insight into how the systems work and how residents can use them effectively. Ensuring the customer care colleagues from both Karbon and the contractor Adderstone Living are confident and comfortable with the systems will help ensure we’re delivering the best possible customer experience to new residents moving in.”
Commitment to improving the energy efficiency of homes
Karbon owns and manages around 34,000 homes across the North East and Yorkshire and with homes accounting for around a quarter of all the North of England’s carbon emissions, we have a big role to play in ensuring the new homes we build are energy efficient and fit for the future.
During the last financial year (2025/26), we built 478 new homes:
Over 99% of these new homes are EPC B or above, including 42% achieving EPC A
37% are powered by air source heat pumps or other low carbon heating systems (including connections to district heating networks where available)
62% have solar panels
We are always exploring what new and innovative methods and technologies are available that we can utilise.
An example of this in action is harnessing the natural resources underneath our region.
Working in partnership with Durham County Council, the Mining Remediation Authority and Vital Energi, we're connecting the 750 affordable homes we're building at the new Seaham Garden Village in County Durham, to a new, ultra-low carbon district heat network powered by naturally occurring mine water.
Due to its geothermal energy the water in the mine shafts sits at 19-20 degrees throughout the year. So rather than allowing that heat to simply dissipate into the atmosphere on extraction, the system will extract the heat, put it through a heat exchange to increase the water temperature further, and then send it to the homes.
This means that our customers not only benefit from warm, comfortable homes, but also save money thanks to lower energy bills.
When designing and building new homes, we adopt a ‘fabric first’ approach, seeking to reduce energy demand and lower our carbon footprint. The use of modern methods of construction is key to this, ensuring both quality and sustainability.
37% of the homes we built last year used timber frame construction, a non-toxic and renewable method that has the lowest emission levels of any building material.
And for larger developments like our two extra care developments in South Tyneside, one with 95-apartments and the other with 124-apartments, the use of light gauge steel frame systems, where prefabricated panels are produced off site and delivered to site for assembly, improves the overall efficiency of the build phase.
Sarah Robson, Executive Director of Development and Asset Management at Karbon Homes, said: “Lowering the carbon footprint of our homes and operations, whilst also positively impacting the lives of customers is the ethos of our response to climate change.
"Our strategy focuses on how we can implement positive changes across the organisation to reduce emissions and become more energy-efficient, and we take that very seriously when it comes to the new homes we build. This also means lower retrofit costs in future and less disruption for customers."
Our investment in a sustainable future is not just about building new homes. We are also making energy-efficiency improvements to our existing homes.
83% of all the homes we own and manage already achieve an EPC C rating or above, which means we’re well on our way to getting all our homes to the legislative target of EPC C by 2030.
To do this, we have begun working on the next phase of our energy efficiency improvement programme, part funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Warm Homes Social Housing Fund. Over the next three years we will invest around £4.8million on improving over 450 homes, primarily in North Durham and West Northumberland.
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