The Kensa Group continues to add to its unprecedented growth in the wake of the UK’s bid to be net-zero carbon by 2050, with the appointment of two leading authorities on large-scale ground source heat pump installations.
Ieman Barmaki and Karl Drage join the business at a time when the British-ground source heat pump manufacturer’s facilities are being expanded to allow for a 10-fold increase in current production levels. Simon Lomax, Kensa Group CEO, comments:
“Recruiting Ieman and Karl is a further demonstration of Kensa’s commitment towards continued growth and development and is a true reflection of our ability to continue to attract the very best talent.”
Ieman Barmaki
Ieman joins Kensa Contracting as Director of Low Carbon Partnerships to work with local, regional government and social landlords to help achieve their 2030 Carbon reduction ambitions by developing innovative renewable heating projects.
Ieman has worked closely with local authorities for many years, specialising in delivering carbon savings and holistic sustainability programmes. Laterly as Head of Asset Management and Sustainability at Enfield Council, governing the council’s £125 million asset management strategy. Having worked in private, public and third sector organisations Ieman brings a wealth of internal knowledge and experience in developing award winning large scale energy and carbon saving projects. Ieman is particularly passionate about eradicating fuel poverty and addressing the social inequality that this causes.
Kensa Contacting’s Managing Director Matthew Trewhella comments:
“We have worked closely with Ieman since early 2017 on Enfield Council’s 400 flat tower block ground source heat pump retrofit project. I am delighted to welcome him to Kensa full time. Ieman’s experience at Enfield council and working with Kensa means he is uniquely placed to assist other local authorities achieve their low carbon plans and develop ground source heat pump projects.”
Ieman comments:
“Whilst at Enfield Council I saw first hand the social and environmental impact that Kensa heat pumps connected to shared ground loops can have. Delivering such large projects in local government can involve a lot of collaboration from different departments both internally and externally with partners and funders. I joined Kensa to both replicate and increase the speed at which local authorities can decarbonise their heating demand, addressing both carbon emmisions and fuel poverty through innovation and renewables.”
The award-winning Enfield project is England’s largest installation of ground source heat pumps in social housing flats connected to shared ground loop arrays to date, winning District Heating Project Of The Year at the H&V News Awards 2019 and featued in the Mayor of London’s Climate Action Week.
Karl Drage
Karl Drage joins the Kensa Group as Director of Business Development. As the focus on climate change becomes more pronounced, major entities are seeing the potential for groud source heat pump’s to enter the mainstream. Karl will be looking to partner with these organisations, creating new markets so ground source heat pump’s can deliver exceptional outcomes for the owners, users, and the environment.
A Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers with a Masters in Engineering from Imperial College, Karl has been involved in the ground source heat pump sector for over 15 years delivering over 1000 renewable heat systems, includingsome of the largest installations in Europe. Working as a Director at Geothermal International, a contractor specialising in large-scale commercial and industrial installations and more recently at Smart Renewable Heat, a company with a focus on the residential market, Karl has worked across the sector to establish MCS standards that have since been adopted as the key industry certification (MCS: MIS 3005). Karl was also the founding Chairman of the Ground Source Heat Pump Association and has retained close links with Government ever since.
The Kensa Group’s CEO, Simon Lomax, comments:
“We are delighted to welcome Karl to the Kensa Group. Karl is hugely experienced and his exceptional technical and commercial abilities can help take ground source heat pumps into the mainstream. There is growing awareness that distributed heat pumps linked to shared ground arrays offers a compelling solution for both new build housing and social housing retrofit applications and Karl will help identify and deliver offers which separate the cost of the ground array from the house builder or social landlord.”
Karl comments:
“I am delighted to join Kensa as it continues to grow and develop at this critical time for the heat and power industry. The next few years will see a major shift in how we heat our built environment as we transition to a low carbon economy. I am thrilled by the possibilities with Kensa to deploy our leading solutions for low carbon, renewable heating at scale.”
About Kensa:
Established in 1999, privately-owned, and headquartered in Truro, Cornwall, the Kensa Group is a fast-growing collection of award-winning businesses involved in the manufacture and installation of ground source heat pumps and the ownership of associated underground infrastructure.
Now employing over 40 people the Kensa Group wholly owns Kensa Heat Pumps Limited and Kensa Contracting Limited.
Kensa Heat Pumps remains the UK’s only manufacturer of ground source heat pumps and is the long-established market leader according to BSRIA annual reports. It provides products and technical support to an extensive network of plumbing contractors.
Kensa Contracting is a specialist installation business which focusses on large-scale new build and social housing retrofit programmes. It benefits from unrivalled experience and expertise and has delivered the UK’s largest installations in the residential sector.
Kensa Utilities is an infrastructure asset company which funds, owns and maintains shared ground loops that serve heat pump installations. It utilises subsidy support to provide these assets at zero cost to the housebuilder or social landlord.
