Red Construction

Red Construction, the specialist main contractors had been tasked with building a pioneering eco hotel using plant running on more sustainable fuels but an electric version of the 10m telehandler they required was not available.

However, they knew their preferred supplier was more than up to the challenge, and a JCB 533-105 hired from UK Forks that can run on this alternative fuel proved a winning ingredient and is now halfway through the project.

While the UK Forks telehandler would have traditionally run on white diesel, it was simple to make the fuel switch, and for Red Construction to meet the brief from the Zeal Hotel – a 142-bedroom net zero carbon hotel designed over four levels by architects ECE Westworks – on Exeter Science Park.

The telehandler was required to unload and deliver material around the 5,000m2 site, to ensure that external storage areas were kept well organised, and to move material within the crane lifting radius.

Red Construction site manager Jake Woodrow had worked with UK Forks at a previous company and when he joined Red got the hirer set up on their supply chain.

“I’ve had a range of telehandlers and accessories from UK Forks, ranging from 4m to 17m telehandlers, fork skips, lifting blocks etc, and the performance has been really good. There have been minimal issues/breakdowns with the machines, and they’ve been delivered in good working order. Lee Newbery [business development manager] is really helpful when it comes to site issues and resolutions.”

He explained that the Zeal Hotel is being built using Passivhaus principles to minimise the energy needed to run it, including an air source heat pump to provide heating and cooling for the ground floor, with adiabatic cooling and electricity providing the heating for higher floors.

The hotel also features on-site photovoltaics, on both the south, east and west facades (a first in the UK) as well as the roof, which will provide most of the energy needed, with the rest coming from renewable energy sources.

In addition, the building uses a ‘fabric-first’ approach, with careful consideration of its environmental impact. Embodied carbon from the hotel structure will be offset on the opening of the facility.

Jake said: “The site has been tasked with running plant on more sustainable fuels. We would have liked to use electric kit but for the size of telehandler required, this wasn’t currently available. We are therefore using HVO rather than white diesel and some benefits of that include lower levels of carbon than standard diesel produces, a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of up to 90%, and better cold temperature performance.”

He added: “The service from UK Forks has been excellent. I would use UK Forks over and over again for telehandler needs on any project.”

Lee Newbery said: “This project involved the integration of renewable energy sources both on and in the building fabric to deliver exceptionally low energy usage. And as part of that a compact, high-spec, low-emissions telehandler was required. I did a full site survey to ensure the most suitable kit was provided.”

The Zeal Hotel will include a large open-plan bar and restaurant dining area with interactive theatre kitchen, flexible work spaces, conference facilities and a gym, as well as electric vehicle and electric bike charging points. Targeting an industry leading BREEAM Rating of Outstanding, its renewable energy sources will deliver an exceptionally low energy usage intensity below 55kWh/m2, generating more energy each year than it consumes. The building will also be constructed achieving the RIBA 2030 embodied carbon-built target of less than 750kgCO2/m2.