Member Spotlight

It is our members that make Tpas such a great organisation to be part of, and there is no better way to show this than with our member spotlight feature.

Each month we invite one of our members to share their engagement achievements, tips and ambitions, so you can keep up to date with what others are doing across the sector.

Recoup Energy Solutions

We asked Caroline Bowler from Recoup Energy Solutions to share some of the work they are currently doing.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact Caroline at caroline.bowler@recoup.co.uk.

Give us a little known fact about your organisation

Recoup has been a UK business since 2011, beginning as a start up with a very small team dedicated to raising the profile of Waste Water Heat Recovery for Showers (WWHRS). It is now part of the international Kohler family of businesses which includes Recoup’s sister company Mira Showers, another UK business that had been providing innovative market leading shower systems for over 100 years.

Tell us about a time that engagement has made a difference to your services or communities?

Engagement is at the heart of everything we do. Every conversation with homeowners, tenants and industry professionals reinforces and demonstrates its importance. WWHRS is not widely understood, even within the construction industry, despite being a simple and proven technology. Once explained, people quickly grasp the concept, often asking: “Why isn’t every new home fitted with it?” which is a very good question. Additionally, because much of the discussion around low-carbon technology focuses on energy generation, such as heat pumps and solar panels. WWHRS is different as it conserves energy, recovering heat from shower waste water that would otherwise be lost down the drain. We feel energy conservation technologies do not receive the focus they should. This makes all engagement essential. By raising awareness of WWHRS, we can demonstrate how a simple technology can help homeowners reduce energy use, lower bills and make a meaningful difference to both household finances and the environment.

What are you currently working on when it comes to engagement?

We are currently producing a virtual demonstration room to be able to show our product fully installed, in location within a bathroom or shower room space. We find that visualisation of our products and how they are integrated into a space can be difficult for people, especially as the WWHRS and the water pipework it is connected to is concealed within the property. Our virtual demonstration room will allow users, where ever they are at the time, to see a finished space, but to then be able to reveal the Recoup WWHRS and interactively explore how it is installed and how it works. We believe this will allow us to provide an even greater level of engagement and understanding for all sectors and customer types.

Why did you decide to join Tpas?

We joined Tpas to strengthen our engagement with tenants and tenant groups. With new Recoup WWHRS products introduced and designed specifically for the social housing sector, we want to ensure that the people who benefit most are fully informed about the technology, how it works and the value it provides. By working with tenants directly, we can raise awareness of WWHRS, explain how it can be installed with minimal disruption, and highlight the benefits it delivers through lower energy consumption, reduced costs and improved efficiency. Housing providers and property managers will also benefit from more sustainable, energy-efficient homes. We believe tenants can help us deliver and strengthen the engagement we will have with them too.

What is your top engagement tip?

Engagement involves both talking and listening, talking is easy, but listening is usually the most important part. It is only through listening that you can fully understand the point of view for the person you are speaking to and engage with them in a way that makes what you are discussing truly relevant.

What’s the one thing you are really proud of when it comes to engagement?

We are proud of the impact that we have had establishing WWHRS as a recognised and widely adopted technology in the new-build housing sector. This success did not happen easily or by chance. It was built through years of engaging with industry professionals, developers, house builders, specifiers, technical teams and installers to raise awareness and understanding of a technology that was largely unknown. Looking ahead, we’re excited to take on the challenge of repeating that success in the social housing and existing homes sectors. Just as before, meaningful engagement will be the key to making that happen.