Institutional Inertia and Failed Adaptation: A Comparative Analysis of the UK Heating Sector and Star Wars Systems of Governance and Information

Helping YOU find good heating engineers. We share case studies from engineers in the Guild of Master Heat Engineers to help people find top installers, help gas and oil engineers increase their knowledge around heat pumps, and provide a solution for third-sector professionals to understand the industry better.

Introduction

The 4th May (may the fourth be with you) earlier this month was Star Wars day. Did you celebrate it? Over the next few newsletters I’m going to use some of the Star Wars themes to help discuss the UK heating sector.

Obviously, the big visible theme in Star Wars is good vs evil… but there is a lot more to the films than this.

Star Wars explores the failure of institutions and individuals to adapt effectively to changing political and emotional realities, resulting in cyclical collapse and renewal.

Complacency

Complacency is a theme in the trilogies. The Old Order (goodies) and the Jedi became complacent which led to the Empire (the baddies) and the Death Star. After the Empire was destroyed the New Order (goodies) rose. This also became complacent and gave rise to the First Order (the baddies). If you’ve ever watched the films you may also remember the Senate scenes: thousands of people from around the Galaxy constantly discussing stuff but getting very little done. The indomitable Leah became very frustrated with the New Order and formed the resistance (also the goodies, but far more proactive)

The UK heating sector is very similar in as much as there are some who are becoming increasingly frustrated with the sector. These are not just the Guild Engineers I know. I am very fortunate to know some wonderful people working in the Civil Service, Local Authorities, Housing Associations, etc. They can not publicly moan about stuff like I am able to do. They can see very clearly the sector has become complacent. Things which need to be addressed are not getting addressed and we won’t have a successful transition if they are not sorted out.

“Bureaucracy functions as a stabilising force under normal conditions but becomes a constraint during periods of required transformation”

Star Wars

There have been three separate trilogies of Star Wars resulting in the nine famous episodes.

Star Wars was the first film I ever saw at the cinema with my dad. I can’t remember much about the film but I do remember the Cinema being HUGE. The Norwich Odean was a steep sloped, single auditorium cinema which seated 1016 people. Half of the cinema was for smokers. People selling ice creams would constantly walk up and down the steps. I wish some cinemas were still like that. Instead, they now have small screens and sell the most expensive bottled water and popcorn in the Galaxy.

My dad bought me the 45 record (the theme tune) being sold in the foyer. That was my first ever record…I’m now wondering to myself: was I in the smoking section? as my dad smoked JPS SuperKings back then…

It was fifty years ago the filming of Star Wars happened and its release anniversary is next year

Star Wars is not filmed with digital cameras. It is filmed using ‘real film’ cameras. That film has to be developed by very large Kodak machines. The building where these machines used to live was heated and cooled by a heat pump system my cousin installed. A few years ago, Pinewood Studios et al wanted to showcase the befits of filming on real film (I think a lot of Tom Cruise’s shots are also filmed on real film…as well as Bond) and the three large Kodak machines were disassembled and moved to Pinewood. I designed and installed the temperature controlled water system the machines required and my cousin installed the heat pump system into the glass fronted building the machines now live in.

During reassembly the fantastic gentlemen who rebuilt these amazing machines replaced some of the parts. I was allowed to keep the rollers…

THE ISSUES

As aforementioned the next few newsletters will tackle what needs to be changed. We basically need a bit of a reset. Here are some of the things which will be discussed:

• Boilers: how they are being installed/controlled and why does no one seem to care. I’ll be using George Bennitt’s fantastic thesis as well as a peer reviewed paper he also wrote. Please check them out before hand if you have the time

• Training: where do I start. This is my actual skill set within the sector. I hate being called a good engineer. I’m not bad, but no where near as good as many I know. But for my degree I studied how humans learn and the way training is discussed or approached is woefully inadequate.

• Confusion around Low Temperature heating: it is being discussed as if it is something new. That would contravene the laws of physics. So I aim to help clear up the confusion.

• Regulations e.g. Building regulations.

• Grants. One should remember that it is the tax payer (and bill payer) who is funding much of what is going on. As I am sure most of you are aware the average tax pay does not think about net zero or the decarbonisation of heat. I recently contacted the Heat Pump Association to ask what they thought about one of their executive members rewarding hundreds of people with long haul flights every two years. They do not wish to make comment. It was pointed out that a Japanese/American multi national company is arguably benefiting from the UK grant system to increase their volume and profits which it then uses to reward heating engineers with carbon intensive flights. The point was made that the company (I need to properly fact check all this) used 5.2 million (tax payers money) to build/develop manufacturing in the UK and 1 million to help with its training facilities. Add to this 21 million (tax payers money) for the Heat Training Grant that their training has access to. Then add on top the tax payer funds the BUS grant which benifits manufacturers. It was pointed out to the HPA that the evidence they gave to the UK Government in 2023 (when they were asking for an increase to the £5000 BUS grant) used evidence which associated heat pump installations with the equivalent carbon saved from plane flights.

THE HOLONET

The HoloNet is the primary galaxy-wide communication system in Star Wars, enabling near-instant transmission of holograms, data, military orders, and news across vast distances via hyperspace relays. It functions as a combination of internet, broadcast media, and secure government network, making it essential for governance and coordination on a galactic scale.

Under the Galactic Republic, the HoloNet was treated as neutral public infrastructure, widely trusted by institutions such as the Senate and the Jedi. However, this trust proved misplaced. Darth Sidious secretly exploited the system, using it to manipulate both sides of the Clone Wars while remaining undetected. After becoming Emperor, he centralised control of the network, transforming it into a tool of propaganda, surveillance, and authoritarian control.

We have a communication problem in the sector. In fact I made the argument at a recent event I hosted that the ‘skills gap’ is actually a symptom of a communications gap. There is so much information being disseminated and quite a bit of it contravenes the laws of thermodynamics. We have an incredible advantage in the heating sector compared to other sectors. In a recent email to my friend at Nineteen Group, who are arguably the largest dissemination entity in the UK heating sector I stated:

“[we] have grown up being told one minute red meat is bad for us, then the next minute it's fine. Same with eggs, coffee, butter etc.

Within the food industry, it's often incredibly difficult to determine what the correct advice actually is. The same applies across many sectors, pharma, cosmetics and countless others, because there will always be research, including academic research, supporting both sides of the argument.

That's not the case in our sector.

Our sector has a massive advantage compared to most others.

We have the Law. The laws of thermodynamics.

The physical laws of heat are set in stone. They cannot be disputed.

Yet bizarrely, despite this, there is an unprecedented deficit in understanding across the sector, evidenced time and time again”

I’ve a meeting coming up with Nineteen Group to discuss information and its circulation. I’ll keep you updated. Nineteen Group (who own Lyrical Communications, who own Installer Online and the Installer Show) are a fantastic team of people who have been incredibly helpful to me in my quest to help the sector. I’ve a good idea which can help. I’ll keep you updated.

That’s all folks, keep an eye out for the upcoming newsletters and may the force be with you.

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Nathan

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