Almost every major government – and most major international businesses – now have environmental targets in place. Talk of Net Zero has become ubiquitous, with a universal understanding that we need to act to tackle climate change.
Technology will play such a crucial role in helping us all realise these ambitious aims. Innovations like electric vehicles are becoming more and more popular, but other tech, like heat pumps, can have a transformational impact, too.
For example, research from the International Energy Agency (IEA) confirms the need for heat pumps, arguing that we need 600 million of them worldwide, up from the current 175 million, if we’re going to become a Net Zero planet by 2050.
While companies like Samsung Climate Solutions, a Refresh client, are at the forefront of developing these technologies, ensuring personal relationships are productive is another core element of reaching climate goals. Solutions are tech-led, but ultimately, human-enabled.
That’s why Samsung Climate Solutions worked with us to design and deliver an engaging, informative and entertaining event at their flagship space in London’s King Cross to showcase their incredible work.
The ‘High tech, low carbon homes of the future’ event was designed to uncover the role smart technology can play in delivering true homes of the future and how Samsung solutions can support the wider industry through the transition to a more efficient UK housing stock, which would support the longer-term journey to Net Zero.
Ensuring the right audience was important, too. We wanted quality, but quality from across various sectors. Utilising Samsung’s technology will require a joined-up effort. As such, we welcomed representatives from UK housebuilders, HVAC installers, industry partners, and relevant journalists.
While highlighting the importance tech can play in tackling climate change was a general objective, specifically, Samsung wanted to demonstrate its latest EHS Mono R290 series – a revolutionary series of heat pumps, designed for both domestic renovation and new constructions.
In short, this event was designed to achieve three purposes. Firstly, to position Samsung and its partners as valuable players in delivering on the long-term goal of Net Zero; then, to showcase the specific heat pump system; and finally, to bring people together in acknowledgement of the joined-up effort needed.
With both the audience and the objectives in mind, we developed a three-fold approach to achieve them; support in the build-up to the event, support on the day to make the best use of everyone’s time, and crucially, post-event support to ensure all the positive momentum wasn’t lost.
A crucial element of the event was generating media and press support interviews with some of the key stakeholders from Samsung Climate Solutions. We did this by reaching out to the most relevant media well in advance to arrange these interviews. To supplement these interviews, we issued a press release and an accompanying campaign wrap-up report.
On the day, we were committed to securing a diverse range of speakers to represent the integrated approach needed in this space. Whether that was Mark Seaman, Head of Samsung’s B2B Integrated Offering Team, who discussed the growing demand for energy-efficient homes and how smart technology can support consumers in decarbonising homes. He also covered how its recent partnership with British Gas will empower customers to make smarter energy choices.
Or Charlotte Lee, Chief Executive Officer at the Heat Pump Association, who delivered a rousing speech on the considerations and opportunities presented by heat pumps, covering current uptake and policy, the ins and outs of the UK’s boiler upgrade scheme, and the industry road map for the future. The quantity and quality of speakers allowed for us to cover a range of issues in an engaging and interesting way. Mark and Charlotte were joined by Leonardo Melo, Business Development Engineer at Samsung Electronics Air Conditioner Europe and Jan Rosenow, Director of European Programmes at the Regulatory Assistance Project.
The final tactic was ensuring there was dedicated time for networking. Unlike some networking opportunities that can be underwhelming and an ineffective use of time, we semi-structured the networking session to make sure we were maximising impact. Touching on topics like:
- Future-focused technology meeting sophisticated design
- The importance of training and building a skilled workforce for heat pump installations
- How Samsung SmartThings Energy empowers homeowners to make better energy decisions
- How to address the shortage of labour in low carbon heating by recruiting a diverse workforce of technicians
As the dust settled, neither Refresh nor Samsung Climate Solutions thought the issue had been solved overnight. This is a long journey, which needs both state-of-the-art technology and excellent human-to-human relationships; both of which we were able to showcase.
Looking ahead, the event was both the culmination of months’ worth of work, but only the start of something much bigger. The foundations have been laid for relationships to flourish and solutions to be found.