Energy Manager Magazine October 2017

OCTOBER 2017

www.energymanagermagazine.co.uk

Helping today’s Energy Manager to become tomorrow’s Utilities Manager See page 12

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Liverpool CC and E.ON unite with new £1.5m energy saving scheme

New Evinox ModuSat® XR Takes HIU Efficiency to Another Level

Middlesex Aerospace engineers substantial energy savings

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Today’s energy managers invited to ‘have their say’ in order to develop pre-emptive solutions to tomorrow’s utility challenges See Page 12 www.inenco.com/innovation

OCTOBER 2017 PUBLISHER: Ralph Scrivens ralph@energymanagermagazine.co.uk PRODUCTION TEAM: Lucy Drescher lucy@energymanagermagazine.co.uk Sarah Daviner sarah@energymanagermagazine.co.uk ACCOUNTS: accounts@pssmagazine.co.uk PRINT: Mixam Print

INSIDE:

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Inprova Energy publishes guide to ISO 50001

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Police set example for climate protection

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HVAC rental: how efficiency is becoming top priority

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Too much data, not enough time?

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“ Coming Soon: Free tools and data for heat network planning”

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Kingspan Kaptures daylight for longer

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Top 10 Must-Attend Energy Efficiency Experts Sessions at EMEX

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ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS

Liverpool City Council and E.ON unite with new £1.5m energy saving scheme

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amilies across Liverpool can get a warmer and more comfortable home this winter and beyond thanks to an energy saving scheme launched by E.ON and Liverpool City Council which could see up to £1.5 million invested in improving homes across the city.

Liverpool City Council and E.ON are working together to create warmer homes and lower energy bills by offering all private landlord tenants, and homeowners, up to £775 worth of free or subsidised insulation and boiler discounts for homes who meet qualifying criteria for a time limited period only.

Families can benefit from loft and cavity wall insulation as well as replacements for inefficient gas boilers.

Applicants do not have to be E.ON customers in order to be eligible.

Launching the scheme, Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “I’m delighted that E.ON has committed to supporting

the Mayor’s Hope Fund objectives.

Tackling fuel poverty is a priority for the city because there are far too many people struggling to make ends meet due to the impact of austerity. This is another part of our commitment to helping those most in need, in addition to the £2 million Hardship Fund we have established and the crisis support payments we make. This scheme will make a huge difference to the lives of a lot of households in our city.”

Jim Lightfoot, E.ON’s Managing Director of Business to Municipalities, added: “We know insulation is a crucial first step in making our homes more comfortable and cheaper to run and in recent years we’ve provided more than 1.2 million energy saving measures to homes across Britain, giving people the support they need to become more energy efficient and to save money on their heating bills. Working alongside Liverpool City Council our home improvements project will also benefit the wider Merseyside economy, helping to create new jobs and skills opportunities by working with local installers and suppliers.”

The scheme represents a great opportunity for the community to have their homes insulated at little or no cost – the eligibility criteria

for funding is on the Liverpool City Council website liverpool.gov.uk Figures show there are around 14,000 privately rented homes across Liverpool on a qualifying ECO benefit.

A typical family home could save £285 a year on their heating bills by having cavity wall and loft insulation. Almost a third of heat lost in the home escapes through walls and a quarter through the roof in an un-insulated home.

Homeowners, as well as private landlords whose tenants meet the qualifying criteria can receive loft and cavity wall insulation for FREE through this scheme. Homeowners who do not meet the qualifying criteria but who want to improve their energy efficiency can do so by contacting the City Council Healthy Homes team on 0800 012 1754.

Free replacement boilers are also available to households receiving qualifying benefits whose boiler meets certain criteria.

E.ON has some innovative solutions to assist, with, whole house retrofitting with insulation and heating controlled to operate as efficiently as required.

For details about E.ON’s free insulation offer visit liverpool.gov. uk or call E.ON on 0330 400 1798.

WIND CONTINUES TO DRIVE RENEWABLE PROGRESSION

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trong levels of wind generation and increased levels of biomass output contributed to a second successive quarter in which the GB power market saw over half of all power generation come from clean sources.

At the same time the decline of coal, at least in the short-term, continued in the third quarter of 2017 to see gas remain the primary fuel type – in contrast to many countries in Europe where coal remains the main source of power.

These are the key findings from a report released to the market by energy market monitoring firm EnAppSys. In the three months to the end of September, gas-fired power stations generated 25TWh of power (down from 27.7TWh in the previous quarter), with this amounting to 37.3% of the total generation in the market. This came as the overall share of generation from fossil fuel sources totalled 40.1% in the quarter.

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As gas is a cleaner fuel than coal, the decline in activity at coal-fired power stations in recent years has reduced carbon emissions significantly, with the market having seen around 10GW of plant closures at coal stations in recent years. However, gas prices have been climbing in recent months and this means that while coal-fired plants only accounted for 2.8% of total generation in the quarter, it would not take a major shift for levels of coal output to start climbing once again.

Strong levels of renewable output in the quarter meant that for the second quarter running an estimated 52% of generation came from clean power sources (nuclear or renewable). The 18.8TWh generated by renewables was lower than the previous quarter but more than the 16.9TWh generated by nuclear plants in the market.

Levels of renewable generation

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

continue to be underpinned by strong and consistent levels of wind generation, with wind farms providing 47% of the renewable total in the quarter. This came as several large new wind farms started to come online during the period and windy conditions increased levels of farm utilisation.

Despite growth in levels of solar generation in recent years, the limited hours of output at these projects continues to limit their overall generation impact on the market, even though they provided 17% of the renewable total in Q3 2017. Instead, biomass plants continue to be the second largest contributor to levels of renewable generation in the market at 30% of the renewable output.

For the full report, please visit: https:// www.enappsys.com/summary-reports

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NEWS

BSRIA launches white paper on ‘trends towards wearables & wellbeing in buildings – a threat or opportunity for the HVAC industry?’

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SRIA is delighted to have launched its White Paper on ‘Trends towards wearables and wellbeing in buildings – a threat or opportunity for the HVAC industry?’. As a leading international industry body concerned with building services, BSRIA has always taken a keen interest in new and emerging technologies and their potential impact on the built environment.

Wearables include everything from smart watches, which can record and transmit a huge range of different types of information about the wearer and his or her health to smart glasses, smart jewellery and even smart clothing. As well as helping the wearer to interact more effectively with his or her environment, wearables open a range of new opportunities for building systems, along with some important challenges.

Krystyna Dawson, Business Manager of BSRIA’s World Market Intelligence Division, commented: “Traditionally, HVAC management systems have focussed strongly on ensuring energy efficiency, which also reduces costs, while keeping system failures and down-time to a

minimum. Increasingly, the comfort of the building’s occupants is recognised as an important goal in itself and as one that contributes to employee productivity and hence to the bottom line.

Wearables have the potential to help with all of these objectives. By tracking the wearer’s movements they can help ensure that heating and cooling is directed to where it is needed and take account of variable factors like body heat.

They also provide the potential to help provide a personalised environment suited to the individual wearer. If the wearer’s personal preferences are known then the local environment can be adjusted to the ‘optimal’ temperature, humidity etc. A smart watch can even potentially signal that the wearer is tired and in need of more ventilation.

This of course raises huge questions.

The first is one of privacy and, more specifically, whether it is reasonable to expect wearers to share information about their personal state with a building system, with subsidiary questions about how else the information might be used and how it will be secured against misuse.

The second big question is how far a building system is capable of exploiting this new wealth of information. Providing a ‘personalised’ environment requires an HVAC system that can direct heat, cooling and ventilation in a very granular way and also respond quickly to changes. Failing this, the system might fall back on the majority preference of those in an area of the building.

There are also issues around standards and protocols to enable all of these systems and devices to interact.”

Krystyna concluded: “This new wave of technology throws out huge opportunities for existing suppliers, but also for new suppliers to disrupt the market. It also marks yet another great leap forward for data and analytics one of the vital drivers of building services.”

Trends towards wearables and wellbeing in buildings – a threat or opportunity for the HVAC industry?

White Paper published in 2017 is available in combination with the purchase of additional BSRIA studies.

More information at www.bsria.co.uk.

INPROVA ENERGY PUBLISHES GUIDE TO ISO 50001

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nprova Energy has published a free guide to the ISO 50001 international energy management standard, which for certified organisations can provide full compliance with the audit requirements of the Energy Services Opportunities Scheme (ESOS).

ISO 50001 enables organisations of all sizes to establish policies and processes to track, analyse and use energy more efficiently. Evidence shows that ISO 50001 accredited businesses are achieving energy performance improvements of 10 or more, often through low and no-cost measures.

The guide provides a high-level explanation of the four key steps to obtaining ISO 50001 and its Plan-DoCheck-Act continuous improvement process. This involves reviewing energy usage, and actions and objectives (Plan);

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followed by implementing the action plan (Do); then monitoring and measuring progress against targets (Check); and finally, developing actions to achieve continuous improvement (Act).

“ISO 50001 can be a direct route to compliance with ESOS if used to cover an organisation’s entire energy consumption, but it offers much broader benefits,” said Rob Leak, ISO 50001 Lead Auditor at Inprova Energy. “It’s the backbone of a successful energy and carbon management strategy, and is certainly not just a exercise.”

He continued: “ISO 50001 can be easily integrated with other management systems such as ISO 9001 and 14001.

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

As well as demonstrating environmental leadership, it helps organisations to identify energy wastage and focus energy efficiency improvements for impact, which can lead to significant cost savings and CO2 emissions reductions.

“Organisations can apply and work towards ISO 50001 themselves, or they can use a qualified Lead Auditor to help them through each step of the assessment and accreditation process.

If they are thinking of implementing ISO 50001 as a route to ESOS compliance, it’s advisable to get started early as it can take 6 to 12 months to get certified.” www.inprovaenergy.com/ISO50001

NEWS

RESEARCH FROM INENCO SHOWS HOW THE ENERGY MANAGER OF TODAY WILL EVOLVE INTO THE UTILITIES MANAGER OF TOMORROW

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ew research carried out by energy consultancy Inenco has predicted that by 2030, today’s energy manager will have evolved into a utilities manager with a much broader remit.

This senior-level, digitally-savvy data scientist will be responsible for making key strategic business decisions across many areas – ultimately playing a crucial role in reducing non-domestic carbon emissions.

The company’s chief technology officer Jon Bauer explains more about the role of the future utilities manager.

Research recently carried out by Inenco* has predicted how the role of the energy manager will change in the future. Our study suggested that by 2030, the energy managers of today will have evolved into utilities managers with an even more pivotal role, and a remit broad enough to have considerable impact.

By 2030, energy will be higher up the political and financial agenda. And, with non-domestic energy still making up around 75 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption, the utilities managers of the future will need to be making strategic decisions that will ultimately help to deliver the UK’s low carbon agenda. Energy will be included in all decision-making processes, further advancing the role of the utilities manager and expanding their responsibilities.

However, when it comes to improving energy efficiency, by 2030 all of the easy-to-implement, lowcost energy saving initiatives will have been actioned, and finding ways to make savings will become harder.

As a result, utilities managers will need to adopt a more dynamic approach.

Alongside energy reduction, they will need to identify income opportunities from energy – utilising onsite generation, energy storage, demand response and Time of Use (ToU) tariffs.

Utilities mangers must be able to identify opportunities, optimise processes and, importantly, manage complex data systems. Technology is going to rapidly evolve over the next 13 years, and it will increasingly change the way we all operate, use resources and make decisions.

By 2030, the Internet of Things

and artificial intelligence will be used daily. Artificial intelligence will enable automated data capture and processing, and will be used for data-driven analysis of energy demand, generation and supply – therefore aiding the decisionmaking process. With a much higher level of automation and access to real-time data, there will be more in-depth energy monitoring, both in terms of resource consumption and the movements of employees.

So, the new breed of utilities manager will be expected to have a more diverse skill set, ranging from under­standing energy management systems to being digitally-fluent. Data is already driving decision making and reporting in business energy, with a fifth of respondents taking part in our research commenting on a substantial increase during the past five years, and unanimously agreeing that this trend is set to continue. In readiness for this data-driven future, 14 per cent of today’s energy managers are already investing in better data systems and analysis functions.

Due to the increased level of automation, the utilities team of the future will be smaller than it is today, with infrequent functions such as maintenance, servicing and safety checks being outsourced. Consultants will become increasingly valuable for the role they can play in structuring and utilising data, and end of year reporting.

Two thirds of today’s energy managers now use a TPI, and all expect this trend to grow to accommodate their increased responsibilities, including, in particular, technology, data, insight and compliance.

Indeed, by 2030, the utilities manager will have a much broader remit, covering all business areas.

Energy, water, waste, health and safety, environmental regulations and compliance will all fall under the remit of the utilities manager, as will transport.

In fact, our research showed that one third of energy managers have already gained responsibility for transport during the last five years – and the rising popularity of electric vehicles (EVs) will see this trend continue.

EVs will become an integral part of

the utilities manager’s plans to optimise energy use, especially within businesses with fleets to manage.

The environmental impact of diesel and petrol, both in terms of carbon emissions and air quality, have continued to drive the shift from the internal combustion engine to EVs. From now until 2030, the UK can expect to see a substantial rise in the number of EVs on its roads – current Government forecasts put the number between 3 million and 10.5 million by 2030**. This means demand for electricity (from both businesses and consumers) will increase, leading to localised demand peaks. Fleet and utilities managers will need to collaborate to manage demand.

While utilities managers’ responsibilities are set to grow, by 2030 energy procurement will have moved out of their remit altogether, with procurement and finance teams taking more control of this function. This reflects a trend seen today; only 67 per cent of the energy managers we interviewed currently have responsibility for procurement, and only 31% have full responsibility.

So, an interesting and exciting time lies ahead.

In the future, utilities managers will have a seniorlevel role spanning most, if not all, business areas.

The actions they take will therefore have a real impact on non-domestic carbon emissions, and the evolution of technology and data will help them to make informed, strategic decisions.

However, there is a risk to be recognised; to deliver the utilities manager of the future, there is a need for investment in technology and training – with significant challenges to overcome. Unless businesses are effectively supported and are able to embrace best practice and innovation, meeting the UK’s energy targets could be under threat. In response, we are launching an Innovation Hub, which will focus on developing solutions through a series of hackathons.

For further information, please visit www.inenco. com/innovation, where the full Future Utilities Manager report is available to download along with further details on the upcoming hackathons.

* I nenco partnered with MRS-accredited research agency DJS Research to commission primary research among UK businesses, interviewing 88 energy managers across a range of sectors over June and July 2017. Inenco then worked with Ricardo Energy & Environment to combine the findings with industry, digital and environmental trends to determine how the role of the energy manager will change in the future. Ricardo Energy & Environment consulted with a range of experts to validate the hypotheses and findings. ** https://www.spenergynetworks.co.uk/userfiles/file/Electric_Vehicle_Uptake_Forecasts.pdf

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS

PassivSystems completes first installation phase for ‘Freedom – future of energy’ hybrid heating project, targeting £1.3bn annual savings by 2030

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irst collaborative future of energy project will provide hybrid gaselectric heating systems in 75 Bridgend homes in readiness for smart energy system trials.

PassivSystems has installed more than half of the planned 75 hybrid heating systems in private and social housing properties in Bridgend, South Wales as part of a £5.2m innovation project designed to prove the economic benefits of providing a flexible choice between fuels for heating.

Designing heating systems that combine gas boilers with air source heat pumps (ASHP), while employing smart switching between the gas and electric load, enables the choice of fuels to match consumer demand for heat.

This highly flexible approach allows the heating system to take advantage of time-of-use price differences between the two fuels – so-called ‘fuel arbitrage’.

Hybrid heating systems can help householders save money on heating and hot water bills while supporting the shift towards the decarbonisation of heat. Avoiding the use of electricity during times of peak demand will help reduce the need for further

investment in generation capacity.

Initial modelling outputs from Imperial College London suggest that the UK energy system could save £1.3bn annually by 2030 as a result of installing hybrid heating systems in preference to all-electric air-source heat pumps.

“A vision of the future of heating is emerging,” said Colin Calder, chief executive of PassivSystems. “The gas boiler is going to be around for a number of years. This hybrid approach has the potential to make the best use of the hot water delivery appliances currently installed in most UK housing stock. Using gas boilers alongside air source heat pumps, with some intelligent switching between the two, gives us a pragmatic pathway to decarbonising heat. In the future, we will have options to use green gases to deploy ‘hybrid green’ systems.”

PassivSystems is leading the day-today project management, development of control algorithms, designing the architecture of the smart switching system, overseeing the recruitment of homes and the procurement and installation of hybrid heating systems.

The project’s principal funders are Western Power Distribution, the

electricity distribution network operator and Wales & West Utilities, the gas distribution network operator.

The Freedom project’s hybrid heating system includes an exterior air source heat pump, a reliable, high-efficiency gas boiler inside the home, and a hybrid control panel that enables switching between the two heat sources to automatically use the most cost-effective heating mode at any time of the day or night. There are no further modifications or interruptions required in customer properties.

PassivSystems will monitor the performance of the hybrid systems during the 2017/18 heating ‘season’ to evaluate the potential for energy savings and reducing carbon emissions. Initial estimates suggest a 35% reduction in carbon emissions for a small home. www.passivsystems.com

GSHPA LAUNCH REALTIME CO2 CALCULATOR AND GOOD PRACTICE GUIDE AT GROUND SOURCE ENERGY EXPO 2017

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he Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA) are delighted to have launched two new tools at this year’s Ground Source Energy Expo 2017 recently held in Stone: the first being a ground-breaking and unique realtime CO2 calculator; the second, a revised and user-friendly Environmental Good Practice Guide for Ground Source Heating and Cooling. Prior to the opening of the Expo, the GSHPA held their AGM and are delighted to welcome Mark Burton from Vaillant and David Jones from Hafod Renewables as newly-elected Council Members.

The first of the GSHPA’s launches: The new realtime CO2 calculator is an app displaying the realtime carbon intensity of

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the UK electricity grid. This value is used to calculate CO2 emissions from Ground Source Heat Pumps (GSHPs) using power at that moment. It is updated every half an hour and clearly illustrates how much lower carbon emissions are from ground source systems compared to burning fossil fuels. The CO2 issued by a GSHP powered solely from green electricity is, of course, zero. This CO2 emissions calculator, sponsored by Geoscience, shows the CO2 issued if your GSHP uses grid electricity. The values for GSHPs using grid electricity have fallen rapidly as grid electricity generation from coal has been largely replaced by gas and generation from renewable power technologies.

The second of GSHPA’s launches: The

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

Environmental Good Practice Guide for Ground Source Heating and Cooling.

The original version was first published in 2011 by the Environment Agency to provide information, advice and guidance to prospective users of ground source energy, their consultants and contractors.

This has now been significantly updated by the GSHPA and focuses on good practice for open and closed loop GSHP systems. A copy may be obtained by contacting info@gshp.org.uk.

The Ground Source Energy Expo 2017, hosted by the Ground Source Heat Pump Association (GSHPA), provided a fantastic platform to educate, promote and raise awareness of the significant benefits of ground source heating and

NEWS

Change your approach to renewable energy Power quality specialist releases whitepaper urging reform

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ower quality specialist REO UK is urging businesses to reconsider their relationship with renewable energy. The company has released a whitepaper exploring the state of the renewable energy sector and argues that the time is ripe for organisations to think about how they can overcome problems such as the changes to feed-in tariffs, power quality problems, planning permission and the threat from cheap imports of renewable technology.

The paper looks at the growth of the renewable sector, including recent figures that show that 2016 was a record year for the installation of renewable power, with 161GW added to the world’s capacity, with solar power leading the way.

While the response from businesses has been positive — many have already committed to sourcing 100 per cent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020 — Government incentives, such as the feed-in tariff scheme, have repeatedly come under fire. The feed-in tariff scheme alone has been widely criticised since its introduction in 2010.

The paper looks at some of the alternative schemes and models of renewable-energy sourcing available to

cooling. This year’s Ground Source Energy Expo welcomed key players in the sector including the Environment Agency and was sponsored by MGS and Iftech. The Expo comprised a series of informative presentations by key individuals including the Environment Agency, followed by industry specific advice clinics by Ofgem E-Serve and Procure Plus, as well as, workshops to allow for discussions around practical issues, as well as, tailored ‘Question and Answer’ sessions. The event

Wind turbines are one of the three most common sources of renewable energy.

businesses. It also explores the ongoing challenge of planning permission, power quality and the threat of cheap imports of heavily subsidised renewable solar panels from China.

“Along with a change of approach to renewable energy models, business leaders must also consider the quality of the renewable equipment they buy,” explained Steve Hughes, managing director of REO UK. “Now that renewable technologies are becoming a reality for many businesses, it’s important to understand issues such as electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility.

“We’ve written this whitepaper to inform business leaders thinking about adopting renewable technologies as part of the wider initiative to go green.

Although larger businesses have had the resources to try their hand at renewable technologies for many years now, renewables have only recently offered a financially viable and strategically sustainable alternative to fossil fuels.”

The whitepaper can be downloaded from REO UK’s website and anyone interested in talking about power quality components for their renewable applications can contact a representative on +44 (0) 158 673 411. www.reo.co.uk

covered a wide range of subjects, as well as, highlighting recent developments in the industry and what makes ground source heating and cooling, both a beneficial and viable, contender when considering heating and cooling alternatives. GSHPA would also like to thank our main sponsors Dragon Drilling, Vaillant and Teckna Group.

John Findlay, Chairman of the GSHPA, comments: “The Expo was a resounding success – both an invaluable day of learning, but also a testament to the huge

knowledge and passion of the GSHPA members. The real-time CO2 Calculator is a sophisticated and insightful tool which brings to life exactly how much of a difference using GSHPs can make in contrast to burning fossil fuels. GSHPs are a low-carbon heating and cooling technology and becoming rapidly lower all the time. Raising awareness of this can only be positive news for us all! Similarly, the GSHPA, felt that it was important to update the Good Practice Guide to create a user-friendly document promoting good practice across closed and open loop GSHP systems. In that last 12 months, we have seen a significant increase in the uptake of this technology, which signals changing times, greater awareness of the advantages of renewable technologies and underlines GSHPs as the best available means to obtain efficient, longlived renewable heating and cooling.”

Charlotte Watters – Charlotte.

Watters@gshp.org.uk

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS

CENTRICA COMPLETES INSTALLATION OF BATTERY STORAGE SCHEME FOR GATESHEAD COUNCIL

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entrica’s Distributed Energy and Power business has today (Monday) announced the installation of one of the country’s largest commercial battery storage schemes for Gateshead Council.

The battery project has been designed to store or release energy for the Gateshead District Energy Centre, which opened earlier this year, and will be capable of responding to any fluctuations in demand in under a second.

With a total capacity of 3MW, the state-of-the-art battery scheme is made up of six units that hold the equivalent of one million AA battery cells. It is capable of storing enough power to meet the needs of 3,000 homes for one hour.

Once commissioned, Centrica will manage the project under a 10 year contract, providing various flexibility services for the grid which help keep the national electricity network in balance.

In time, it will also be used to help meet peaks in local demand, providing electricity through a private wire to council-owned buildings and well-known Tyneside buildings including Gateshead College and the Sage Gateshead concert venue.

Alan Barlow, UK&I Director for Centrica Distributed Energy and Power said: “The Gateshead Energy Centre is a ground-breaking scheme and an impressive demonstration of how distributed energy solutions can generate cost savings, strengthen resilience, by bringing together battery storage and other energy technologies.”

The Gateshead District Energy Centre consists of a pair of 2MW combined heat and power (CHP) units, which generate enough electricity to power 5,000 homes. The power is distributed via a private wire network consisting of high voltage electricity cables, while waste heat from the engines is recovered to provide hot water for heating via a 3km network of heat pipes.

Cllr John McElroy, Gateshead Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “This battery installation completes the wider District Energy Scheme, which will provide low cost heat and power to homes, organisations and businesses in central Gateshead.

“It’s a bold, imaginative scheme that means we can also store and

release power when we choose, as well as supporting the National Grid, which helps raise more income to support Council services.”

The battery storage scheme builds on a long-term energy partnership between Gateshead Council and Centrica who have installed 2MW of solar panels on 34 public buildings in the town. The business has also separately installed CHP units at five council-owned leisure centres including Gateshead, Heworth and Dunston Leisure Centres.

To find out more about how Centrica is helping businesses to gain advantage from their energy, go to http://www. centricabusinesssolutions.com

Unique new energy efficiency funding service launched

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unique new energy efficiency funding service has been launched by energy specialists JRP Solutions, in partnership with ethical investment company, Elegen, that will clear the way for organisations to deliver a multitude of energy savings that otherwise would not be achieved.

“In our experience the greatest barriers to implementing energy saving measures are lack of resources, funding and expertise,” comments Jes Rutter, Managing Director, JRP Solutions. “This new service overcomes all these barriers by providing all the resources needed to deliver an energy saving project or programme – with no upfront costs and with all costs paid from the energy savings achieved!”

The service is unique as there are no risks at all for the client and the savings are guaranteed. There’s is no upper or lower limit to the project value and the funding isn’t centred around fixed assets. Funding

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can be used for any energy saving initiative, from training to capital projects no matter how large or small. And finally, there is nothing to pay until the savings have been proved. The energy saved pays for all resources needed to deliver the agreed plan – development knowledge, expertise, implementation, management, tools and equipment. All further savings are shared.

On-going monitoring and service of the projects delivered ensures that energy savings are sustained and where possible further improvements are made.

In the first instance, JRP carry out an initial energy survey, at no cost to the customer, to assess their current energy use and to determine how and where energy can be saved. This survey leads to a commercial proposal and the start of a very rewarding energy saving journey.

“Many businesses are reluctant to commit resource to delivering energy efficiency programmes,” adds Jes, “even

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

though they will make this money back – and more – in savings on their energy bills.

We recognise that they have other investment priorities and may be risk averse and wanted to use our expertise and funding source to overcome this obstacle to saving energy.”

JRP and Elegen have built a team of some of the UK’s most proficient energy professionals and have no links to manufacturers, ensuring that any equipment supplied or recommended is the most suited to an individual customer’s needs.

“We believe this funding service is a real game-changer for energy efficiency,” concludes Jes. For more information, please contact jane.stanbridge@jrpsolutions.com – 07790 888321 www.jrpsolutions.com

NEWS FEATURE OPINION

TODAY’S ENERGY MANAGERS INVITED TO ‘HAVE THEIR SAY’ IN ORDER TO DEVELOP PRE-EMPTIVE SOLUTIONS TO TOMORROW’S UTILITY CHALLENGES

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n September 2017, leading business energy consultancy Inenco released its latest insight into how the role of the energy manager will change by 2030, and has highlighted the level of investment needed.

Inenco partnered with independent research agency DJS Research to commission primary research among UK businesses, interviewing energy managers across a range of sectors.

Inenco then worked with Ricardo Energy & Environment to combine the findings with industry, digital and environmental trends to determine how the role of the energy manager will change in the future.

The research revealed that by 2030, today’s energy manager will have evolved into the future utilities manager – a senior-level, digitally savvy data scientist who will be responsible for making key strategic business decisions. With non-domestic energy still making up around 75 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption, the utilities managers of the future will play a pivotal role in delivering the UK’s low carbon agenda.

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While predicting a significant expansion in the scope of the energy manager’s responsibilities, Inenco’s report also highlights a skills and technology gap that must be addressed in order for businesses to future-proof their operations and support the UK’s transition to a low carbon economy.

The growth of artificial intelligence, the role of big data, the introduction of new low carbon technologies and an increasingly decentralised grid mean that the future utilities manager will face major challenges. With at least two new energy compliance schemes forecast to be introduced in the next 13 years, they will also need to be adept at navigating new and complex energy legislation.

However, in order to deliver the utilities manager of the future, there is a need for investment in technology and training – with significant challenges to overcome. Unless businesses are effectively supported and are able to embrace best practice and innovation, meeting the UK’s energy targets could be under threat.

In response, Inenco has launched its Innovation Hub, an online platform for energy professionals to upload the challenges they face today by using #InencoHub on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Instagram.

A panel of experts will carefully select and prioritise each of the hub submissions and will then focus on developing pre-emptive solutions to tomorrow’s utility challenges through a series of hackathons, to be held in 2018.

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

Inenco is inviting the best and brightest minds to help find a solution for some of the biggest challenges in the energy market. The Bright Spark Energy Hackathons are designed for college and university students nationwide to ‘hack out’ a common challenge, collaborate with experts from the industry, brainstorm ideas and put them into practice outside the lecture theatre.

The series of hackathons are being held in March 2018, across the North West, Birmingham and London, with teams of two to four people tackling each challenge.

Final ideas will be pitched to industry experts, who will judge each team.

Judging panellists include Inenco’s chief technology officer Jon Bauer, Laura Sandys, CEO of Challenging Ideas, and Andrew Eadle, director of customer service at First Utility, with more panellists to be announced in the coming months.

The proposed innovative solutions will be judged on their level of creativity, technical skill and conceptual design, along with the ability to pitch the idea well. The winners will be awarded with both career accelerating and monetary prizes, and the events will provide a great experience and networking opportunity for the participating students.

Inenco and partners will then look to invest in developing the successful solutions further to support and encourage the energy transition between now and 2030.

To have your say and voice your energy challenges, please visit the Innovation Hub www.inenco.com/ innovation, where the full Future Utilities Manager Report is available to download along with further details on the upcoming hackathons.

Helping today’s Energy Manager to become tomorrow’s Utilities Manager

Join the conversation at www.inenco.com/innovation

To help today’s energy managers bridge the gaps and challenges identified in our recent Future Utilities Manager report, and inspire the next generation of energy professionals, Inenco has launched the Innovation Hub. You can get involved by sending us the challenges you face, using #InencoHub on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

We’ll be inviting some of the best minds to come together to help debate and solve the biggest challenges through The Bright Spark Energy Hackathon.

Inenco’s Future Utilities Manager report looked at how the role of the energy manager will evolve in the future.

Download the report at www.inenco.com/future so that you and your business can prepare.

NEWS OPINION FEATURE

HOW MUCH DOES HOT WATER ACTUALLY COST YOUR BUSINESS?

Hot water is an often unrecognised part of energy costs since most properties have one meter that covers both heating & DHW. This means that hot water costs are absorbed into overall energy heating costs. However, the cost of hot water can be substantial, sometimes as much as 47% of the overall bill.

Therefore making savings on your hot water costs could result in significant savings on overall consumption.

Martyn Savage, Technical Director at CircoSense explains more:

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he biggest issue in a flow and return DHW system is that most of this hot water is wasted due to circulation losses. While the building is in operation the water will circulate continuously even though there will not be a continuous demand. As the water circulates, it loses heat and in some cases can be returning to the stored hot water vessel at up to 15 degrees cooler, which in turn causes the boiler to repeatedly fire up in order to maintain boiler set point temperatures”.

WHAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT? CircoSense uses smart technology to learn and store usage patterns forecasting probability and length of use to achieve a balance between optimal energy saving and optimal comfort level. It does so by measuring flow and return temperatures.

CircoSense provides instant and improved results as the system learns the buildings DHW demands. Since most building operators switch off boiler plant when the building is not in operation, CircoSense typically makes it savings while the site is open. This results in many small gains equating to average overall savings on DHW consumption of 39%.

CircoSense3000 was initially trialled

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under the supervision of the University of Strathclyde’s ‘Eco Innovation Unit (SEIU)’ for Renfrewshire Council at their Langcraigs Primary School. The trial was proven a success with energy saving empirically verified by the SEIU of a 42% reduction on the fuel to heat the Domestic Hot Water System.

HOW DOES CIRCOSENSE WORK? CircoSense switches on your circulation pump only when required in three overlapping operating modes:

1) Look-ahead circulation The CircoSense system learns and automatically stores hot water usage patterns. After regular daily consumption patterns have been recognised, CircoSense will automatically start hot water circulation in advance of the recognised usage patterns, thereby ensuring water is circulating

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

when required. CircoSense keeps “learning” constantly and continuously adjusts the look-ahead running times to the actual tapping times. If the usage patterns are abandoned, CircoSense of course “forgets” them again, too.

2) Random request Should there be a call for hot water outside the normal recognised usage patterns CircoSense will immediately react to this. Our sensors will detect the call for water and will reactivate the circulation pump. Provided the boiler has been left in normal operation (i.e. it has not been turned off by a BMS or other programmed system), then hot water will be circulated immediately and be available after a short time at the outlet.

3) Circulation Cycling CircoSense has a built-in cycle where if there is no detected usage and no look ahead usage for a period of 24 hours, CircoSense3000 automatically circulates the water until the return temperature is steady at the maximum recorded level. This helps to ensure that HSE guidelines for water circulation are adhered to. This setting of 1 circulation cycle is automatically programmed into the system as a minimum requirement and follows HSE guidelines in this regard. Should the client request, the system can be programmed, either before or after installation, to circulate more frequently if required.

WHERE WILL CIRCOSENSE WORK EFFECTIVELY? Although many of the installations have been in the education and leisure sectors, the table below includes information from metered Proof of Concept trials and demonstrates clearly that CircoSense works across all sectors where flow/return systems are present.

ENERGYFEATURE SUPPLY NEWS

Other clients include Heathrow Airport, Emcor, CBRE, BAM, Servest, ISS Facility Services, Abellio ScotRail, Surrey Police, and many councils including Essex, Surrey, Ealing, Nottingham in the South and Glasgow, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire, Renfrewshire & Aberdeenshire in the North.

PROOF OF CONCEPT PROCESS: The Proof of Concept process for the CircoSense3000 allows you to try our innovative technology over a 6-week period, with peace of mind that if it doesn’t deliver as agreed in our proposal, you have no obligation to buy. Additional metering is installed on the DHW source for accurate M&V, while data logging equipment is fitted for remote visibility to ensure flow/return temperatures are being maintained. All of this information is included in the M&V report presented to you at the end of the 6-week trial.

NHS WATER QUALITY TESTING NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde were interested in a Proof of Concept trial at their Fernbank Health Centre to see the savings which could be achieved. Additional metering accurately demonstrated a saving of 53% on DHW consumption while data logging equipment showed flow/ return temperatures being maintained however NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde understandably advised that the safety and wellbeing of staff and patients alike was of paramount importance and that they were to instruct their own external water sampling results to ensure water quality had not deteriorated since the trial was fitted.

The test procedure started on 4th April 2017 and finished on 19th May 2017. Water samples were collected two times per week from 6 outlets and were analysed for Legionella. There was no Legionella growth found in any of the 12 water samples collected.

For more information on the CircoSense device and the savings it can provide, please call on 0333 320 1000 or visit the website, www.circosense.com.

CASE STUDY 1 NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL VICTORIA LEISURE CENTRE

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ircoSense was installed at Victoria Leisure Centre in December 2016 on a ‘Proof of Concept’ basis, with heat metering installed for accurate M&V. After the trial period concluded, it was established that the CircoSense3000 had saved over 24.5% on DHW consumption resulting in a payback period of 1.78 years. Since then Nottingham City Council have installed in a further 12 leisure sites.

James Kirkwood, Energy Project Officer at Nottingham City Council, stated, “One of my roles within Nottingham City Council is to implement energy saving projects to our buildings using Salix funding. We have several leisure centres with high hot water demands – with energy prices rising and the cost of water, as an aside, also rising, the opportunity to reduce hot water usage was too good to miss. We trialled the CircoSense unit at one of our busier leisure centres with the view that if the unit can be cope with the peaky nature of the hot water consumption here, it could be implemented elsewhere. The 6-week

trial resulted not only in excellent energy savings that could easily be funded by Salix, but there were no adverse effects to the hot water demand to the user and the ‘fit and forget’ nature of the unit was welcomed by operational staff. Following this the easy decision to extend the installation to other leisure centres and high use sites was reached with several leisure centres, large offices and a theatre included. Similar energy savings were found and the professional nature of the works, the installation and follow-up measurement and verification reports were excellent and I would recommend this technology to anyone struggling with hot water demands at their sites.”

CASE STUDY 2 EALING COUNCIL

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ircoSense3000 was trialled at the Greenford Service Centre on a ‘Proof of Concept’ basis. Using an additional gas meter for DHW it was determined that CircoSense3000 had resulted in a 31% saving on DHW consumption. Since the initial trial Ealing Council have installed in further sites and have included CircoSense in their energy reduction strategy.

Ivan Sommerville, Building Services Manager at Ealing Council, commented, “I am pleased with the systems we have installed to date at London Borough of Ealing.

We were approached by CircoSense regarding installing HWS control systems on our sites, we carried out a trial with sub-metering and the results proved

the system was saving 30% on the water heaters gas consumption. We have since installed more systems and are monitoring the performances with a view of installing more systems where they are providing a below 5 year payback estimation.”

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS MANAGEMENT ENERGY

POLICE SET EXAMPLE FOR CLIMATE PROTECTION The Passive House Institute carried out the scientific monitoring for this administrative building in the town of Baunatal in Germany. The Passive House building contributes towards climate protection due to its low energy consumption. © PHI

Successful pilot project in Germany – monitoring by Passive House Institute

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ith the completion of the new police administrative building, the German state of Hesse has shown how energy efficient construction works. The administrative building in Baunatal in northern Hesse contributes significantly to a reduction in the energy consumption of government buildings in the province of Hesse and thus promotes climate protection. This is one of the numerous outcomes of the monitoring carried out by the Passive House Institute on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Hesse. Other government buildings in Hesse will profit from these findings, future buildings can be designed to be even better and even more costefficient. This was jointly announced by the Passive House Institute and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Hesse.

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CLIMATE NEUTRAL PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION BY 2030 In order to play its part in climate protection, the provincial administration of Hesse will become CO2 neutral by the year 2030. To achieve this goal, Hesse has specified new energyrelevant construction standards for government buildings. The building in Baunatal, which the police have been using since the end of 2014, makes a substantial contribution to climate protection due to its low energy consumption and the saved carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Its construction was seen as a country-wide pilot project for the Passive House Standard.

NEW ENERGY-RELEVANT CONSTRUCTION STANDARDS The three-storey administrative building in Baunatal with a length of 80 metres and an effective area of about 4000 square metres is an office of Northern Hesse police department in Kassel. The Passive House Institute provided consultancy for the entire

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

building project and carried out monitoring after its completion on behalf of the government of Hesse.

CABLES AND SENSORS IN THE BUILDING SHELL Preparations for subsequent scientific monitoring by the Passive House Institute already began in the planning phase of the administrative building. Staff from the Darmstadt branch of the Institute installed cables and numerous sensors in the building for the measurements and then calibrated these. After the police department moved into the building, the scientists analysed the data over a period of more than two years, beginning at the start of 2015 and ending in April 2017.

WHAT NEEDS TO BE MEASURED? “For scientific monitoring, the measurements to be carried out during use of the building and the technology to be used were already specified during the planning phase. Accordingly, preparations were already made for this during the construction period,” explains Søren Peper of the Passive House Institute. The scientist managed

ENERGY MANAGEMENT approach, energy is used all the year round for cooling the five server rooms.

As the main possibility for reducing the cooling demand, the Passive House Institute identified an increase in the temperature of the server rooms and better adjustment of the building management system (BMS).

PASSIVE COOLING THROUGH SOLAR PROTECTION

Passive House Institute staff installed numerous cables and sensors for the subsequent monitoring. Photo: Passive House Institute

the monitoring in Baunatal, from initial preparations to the data analysis.

AS ANTICIPATED, THE HEATING ENERGY CONSUMPTION WAS LOW One of the many outcomes of the monitoring was the fact that the measured heating energy consumption of the building was just 19.2 kWh/(m²a), it was therefore significantly lower than the consumption value of normal office buildings. In addition, this value comes very close to the calculated value of 18.3 kWh/(m²a) for the prevailing boundary conditions which the Passive House designers had determined in advance using the planning tool PHPP. The building also provides a high level of thermal comfort for its users, a fact which was examined in detail and confirmed.

IDENTIFYING THE POTENTIAL FOR IMPROVEMENTS Søren Peper says: “With online access to all measured data of the building, we could immediately examine any changes in the building control system.

Then we were able to see the direct effects on the mode of operation as well, which in turn can affect thermal comfort. With this monitoring method, we were able to identify where the potential for improvements existed.”

COOLING ENERGY DEMAND The monitoring showed that cooling energy played a big role in this project. Contrary to the planning

In addition, the potential of passive cooling on hot days by means of solar protection was not fully utilised in the offices; however, active cooling was used. Nevertheless, the Passive House Institute measured a very low electricity consumption of 10.9 kWh/(m²a) of the heat pump. Søren Peper says: “The heat pump in this building is so efficient that the entire cooling and heating energy was generated with nearly 11 kWh/(m²a). This is effective building technology, which perfectly complements the Passive House Standard.”

HEAT PUMPS SERVE FOUR ACCUMULATORS In total, two heat pumps connected to a borehole heat exchanger field and a cooling tower supply the Passive House building in Baunatal for heating and cooling. The heat pumps serve four cold and heat accumulators with different temperature levels ranging from 12°C for recirculation air coolers and cooling via an air handling unit, 18°C for space cooling, 28°C for space heating and 50°C for the hot water supply. Distribution of heat and cooling takes place by means of concrete core temperature control (CCTC).

SUPPLY CONCEPT FOR THE FUTURE Søren Peper explains: “Operation of the heat pump has definitely been successful. In addition, the exclusively electrical supply of the building fits very well into the sustainable supply system of the future which is based on electricity generated completely from renewable sources.” The experts of the Passive House Institute in Darmstadt are also extremely satisfied with the performance of the highly efficient ventilation unit with heat recovery.

SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER OPERATING COSTS The government of Hesse has invested around 20 million euros in the construction of this administrative building. With reference to the costs, Søren Peper of the Passive House

Ventilation pipes in the corridor of the administrative building in Baunatal.

Photo: Passive House Institute

Institute explains: “Even before its construction, it was clear that the slightly higher investment costs for energy efficiency measures would be refinanced through the much lower operating costs. In addition, the building has a higher level of comfort. Furthermore, the cost risk due to rising energy prices is much lower in the Passive House with its small heating energy demand.”

HESSE ALREADY FULFILS THE REQUIREMENTS FOR 2019 In the area of energy efficient construction, Hesse already fulfils the requirements of the European Performance Buildings Directive for 2019. The extension of the Ministry of Finance Wiesbaden, which was officially inaugurated in May 2016, was also built to the Passive House Standard due to the positive experiences with the pilot project in Baunatal. “Energy efficiency in buildings means greater comfort with less energy consumption. Even large buildings with special usage requirements can be brought up to the Passive House Standard. The government of Hesse funded the scientific monitoring of this project in order to demonstrate this fact.

The findings will be very helpful for many future buildings,” explains Tarek Al-Wazir, the Minister of Economic Affairs in Hesse.

A summary of the monitoring report for the administrative building in Baunatal is available for download on Passive House Institute website: www.passivehouse.com

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS HVAC

HVAC RENTAL: HOW EFFICIENCY IS BECOMING TOP PRIORITY Carl Webb, Specialist Hire Director at Andrews Sykes, discusses the importance of energy efficiency and getting the most from a hired climate control solution 18

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ith UK businesses becoming increasingly geared towards efficient energy use wherever possible, the acquisition of economical short-term operational equipment – including HVAC systems – has become a main priority for many companies.

Plant supervisors, facilities managers and industrial resource owners all share a common goal when it comes to increasing efficiency, with various reasons for this.

In many instances, it is more costeffective to source HVAC units for a set period of time rather than purchase

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

them outright. When this is the case – and there are many scenarios where it might be – the onus is on those responsible for your budget to procure the required kit without overspending on fuel or manpower. Increasing the efficiency of any climate control hire package is therefore crucial. So, how do you get value for money?

Firstly, project managers must ensure they get the most appropriate unit, or series of units, for the assignment in question. Failure to address this point will have far-reaching ramifications and will almost certainly become a financial burden further down the line.

It is futile to install a new high-

HVAC

efficiency boiler – even on a temporary basis – if it has not been sized correctly beforehand. Bigger is not always better.

In fact, investing capital funds on a large unit that has been designed for an application far bigger than where it has been deployed is extremely counterproductive. Rather than save you money, a boiler arrangement like this will actually lead to energy costs rising even if the unit itself boasts economical specifications and functionality.

To avoid this, it is advisable that a specialist engineer is consulted before any equipment is commissioned on your premises. Organising a site survey in advance will instil peace of mind and enable a qualified technician to recommend the best course of action for your circumstances.

Before a boiler is fitted, the hot water needs of a client should be evaluated by an expert to ensure the unit performs to expectations once connected. This assessment will include a heat loss calculation and it is important

the entire process is conducted proficiently in order to amplify overall efficiency. These considerations must all be taken ahead of installation.

Another crucial yet often overlooked factor in maximising efficiency within the field of HVAC is to have a tangible contingency plan in case things go wrong. By activating a backup strategy when disaster strikes, a company can limit hampering disruption and maintain a level of productivity that would be impossible if no such plan was in place.

A faltering heating system, for example, may one day break down completely and leave your business unable to achieve expected output targets. In such scenarios, having the ability to acquire replacement equipment within a quick turnaround time is absolutely vital and will save you thousands of pounds in salvaged productivity and labour.

By arranging a reliable contingency service, you safeguard against any unfortunate situation that could lead to the continuous operation of your business being restricted. This will also prevent panic setting in if and when adversity strikes, as following a succinct plan of action eliminates uncertainty and accelerates any necessary recovery.

As far as heating, air conditioning and ventilation are concerned, there are countless advantages of obtaining highly efficient equipment when things go wrong – with a reduction in energy costs perhaps being the most obvious.

High capacity indirect fired heaters are perfect for large open areas and will even recirculate warm air safely and inexpensively. This type of unit

has been specifically designed to deliver large volumes of clean, dry air without incurring the extortionate running costs you might associate with such a product.

Similarly, temperature-critical environments like data centres and server rooms may require emergency cooling if their existing equipment fails. This may happen completely unexpectedly but there will also be occasions where organised maintenance stipulates the need for an alternative cooling solution.

For either purpose, portable air conditioners with high efficiency ratings are the most suitable option. Even larger applications may benefit from the deployment of heat pump chillers which feature inverter technologies and heat recovery capabilities – optimising performance and limiting running costs via reduced energy consumption.

To ensure you get the most from any HVAC hire, a customer must take a number of variables into account which, when combined, lead to substantial cost savings. The type and size of your unit(s), nature of the application and the availability of equipment, a power source and a trained technician will all contrive to affect the efficiency of a project – underlining the importance of selecting a trusted supplier. www.andrews-sykes.com

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS MONITORING & METERING

TOO MUCH DATA, NOT ENOUGH TIME?

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ata is at the foundation of every good energy management strategy.

However, energy management is increasingly being dealt with by those who are too stretched in their day-to-day role to spend the time looking at their data in-depth, particularly when companies are collecting data points in the thousands.

This means that opportunities to improve operational efficiency can be missed – a significant issue considering that energy costs are set to continue increasing for the foreseeable future, with reducing consumption one of the few remaining ways of reducing costs.

Richard Roberts, Account Manager at IMServ, suggests that the wider energy

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landscape means that this is a concern that will only grow in importance, both from an economic and social point of view.

“Between 2010-13, energy prices rose by 37%, and they’re predicted to rise another 50% by 2018,” he says. “This is going to have a significant impact on the profitability of most organisations, so they need to be exploring ways to decrease demand to try and counter this. Energy efficiency is a means of reducing costs and increasing profitability, but too often companies let internal factors get in the way of achieving this.

“Furthermore, there’s an increased sense of stakeholder awareness now, which is encouraging companies to act in a more socially responsible manner. They’re starting to look at

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

technology that can help them reduce their carbon footprint and operate more sustainably, and energy efficiency is central to this effort.”

Nonetheless, despite these incentives, many organisations are failing to use the data they’re collecting to implement an effective energy management strategy. Mr Roberts outlines four reasons why companies can struggle with implementing good energy management policies: 1. Amount of data – the sheer quantity of data being collected can make it difficult to utilise it effectively. Organisations can find it difficult to even aggregate the data they’re gathering, let alone interrogate it in order to make decisions.

2. Inadequate internal resources – employees are unable to find the time or manpower to sift through the data. However, this stems from taking the wrong approach to the data collected.

“Human resource is limited and valuable,” Mr Roberts says.

“It should be focused not on interpreting enormous data sets, but in-stead implementing the findings from these.”

3. Absence of robust systems – even though companies are aware of the benefits that analysing data can bring to energy management, they

MONITORING & METERING NEWS may still lack the systems or processes required to analyse and present the data. “There can be an overreliance on software like Excel,” adds Mr Roberts.

“Whereas specialist software and specialist reporting services can be both more effective and more efficient at providing insight into energy usage patterns.”

4. Inaccessible reporting – having a working system in place does not necessarily mean that it presents findings from data in the best way. Too often, the findings are complex and impenetrable. “There’s no point in drawing conclusions if you can’t easily convey those conclusions to the wider team in order to drive change,” Mr Roberts notes. “Companies need to be more flexible and more accessible in how they present data analysis, whether that’s a top-line summary or something that digs deep but is still comprehensible.”

For Mr Roberts, companies should turn to advanced metering and reporting services in order to start ad-dressing these issues.

“Investing in specialised services that provide a concise, clear summary of energy data is a crucial first step in correcting inefficiencies and making savings. Services like our Continuous Efficiency can provide different levels of transparent reporting – companies can look at things as simple as lighting all the way up to system interactions – as well as expert support, so you can apply your own resources elsewhere. It can even help drive behavioural change through features like automated league tables.”

With energy data and costs only heading in one direction, Mr Roberts believes that outsourcing data collection and analysis will become increasingly significant in helping companies make the most of the former and reduce the latter.

“It helps support a company that otherwise might not have the time or resources to develop energy efficiency programmes. It’s also an ongoing process, so companies can track progress and assess things as they go. The current situation, where the quantity of data and lack of resource can render internal energy management strategies inflexible and stop-start, is not sustainable in the likely scenario that energy costs continue to rise. A different approach is needed, and specialised reporting services will be an intrinsic part of that.” www.imserv.com

THE SMART WAY TO MONITOR ENERGY

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eading manufacturer and distributor of field control devices, Sontay has introduced a new smart power and energy meter.

Designed with the user in mind, the SC-PM-E23C5 is a simple to use, easy to install and flexible meter, which will help deliver improved energy monitoring to commercial buildings.

The new Smart Energy Meter allows building owners and operators to conduct energy monitoring and sub metering in both new and existing commercial buildings. Its universal inputs allow utilisation of existing Sontay Current Transformers (PM-CT range) as well as the new low profile Rogowski Rope Transducer PM-CTR-UO18 up to 5000A. For easy integration, the energy data gets transmitted either via the Modbus RTU or BACnet MS/TP protocol.

“Energy efficiency is such an important issue in commercial buildings,” comments Sandy Damm, Managing Director at Sontay. “Providing effective energy management, the Smart Power and Energy Meter will also provide useful information for cost allocation for building owners and tenants within a building. Using the Modbus and BACnet protocols ensure this new meter can communicate seamlessly with the majority of Building Managements Systems (BMS). We are delighted to be introducing this product and are sure it will help our customers with their metering requirements.”

The meter’s small form factor enables installation in existing panels with limited space and does not require external mounting of the expense of extra enclosures or conduit runs, making the whole installation process a quick and simple task. Sontay has ensured commissioning is easy as possible with auto-detection of the baud rate, parity and protocol type as well as making the meter simple to operate for users.

Offering unidirectional or bidirectional

energy measurements, the Smart Meter is compatible with current transformers from 5-5000A and flexible configurations.

Sontay produces the most comprehensive control peripherals offering to the UK building services market. All Sontay products are renowned for their accuracy, reliability and discrete appearance and are used by many of the market leaders in the worldwide building controls industry. Their products and control solutions help improve building management system performance, reduce energy and maintenance costs and increase occupant comfort levels.

For further information on the Sontay product range, contact sales@sontay. com or visit www.sontay.com.

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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DISTRICT HEATING NEWS

“ COMING SOON: FREE TOOLS AND DATA FOR HEAT NETWORK PLANNING” Joshua Thumim, Head of Research at the Centre for Sustainable Energy in Bristol, introduces a new initiative designed to dramatically reduce the cost of planning local heat networks in Europe

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lanning a local heat network is an expensive and complex business. This is hardly surprising, since district heating schemes are placespecific systems designed for the individual neighbourhoods they serve.

There’s no off-the-shelf option.

The networks themselves are conceptually straightforward; the top-level decisions are where the heat supply will be located and which buildings will be connected, and what is the most technically and economically efficient route to join the two.

In practice however, and even in a relatively small neighbourhood, these choices can combine to produce a mind-boggling number of possibilities of which only a fraction are likely to be viable. And that’s assuming that you have good information on factors such as local heat demand and the likely cost of digging up the roads, but also the ability to use that information to model the techno-economic performance of a proposed network.

So the challenge can be framed as a ‘search problem’: out of the hundreds of possible heatnetworks that you could build in a particular area, which is the best? Which buildings should be included, where should the energy centre go, how should we route the pipes that connect them, and – something often forgotten by planners – what does all this mean in practice for the occupants of the buildings being connected?

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Photo credit: Matthias Naumann / Alamy Stock Photo

The first step is to identify a small number of sensible candidates from the large set of possible networks. This is known as pre-feasibilty work. Once complete, more detailed analysis is undertaken to refine the list and identify a preferred option. This is known as feasibilty work, and only once this stage is fulfilled can full engineering design work be undertaken.

The pre-feasibility stage is of critical importance, since it is here that potential solutions are identified or ruled out.

However, public authorities often lack the tools and capacity to do this themselves, so typically commission this work from a limited number of consultancies who tend to undertake it more or less ‘manually’ – for example, selecting areas of high spatial heat demand density from heat demand maps, and then looking for potential network solutions within these areas using various rules of thumb.

This process is expensive, inefficient and slow, and does not tend to build capacity within the public authorities.

It also fails to consider the full range of possible networks in a given area.

What if it didn’t have to be like this?

What if the energy system maps, software and modelling tools for identifing the best heat-network options were freely available to local authorities, energy companies and other agencies?

We believe that this would reduce planning costs and development time,

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and bring the benefits of heat networks to more people, sooner. And this is exactly what THERMOS is attempting to do.

Thermal Energy Resource Modelling and Optimisation System is a £3m EC Horizon 2020 funded research project which will provide the methods, data, and tools to enable public authorities and other stakeholders to undertake sophisticated thermal energy system planning far more rapidly and cheaply than they can today.

In a nutshell, THERMOS aims to make local heat networks cheaper to develop by providing high resolution energy system maps, free software for identifying viable heat networks, and perhaps most importantly, sharing experiences between city energy planners, during and after the development of these tools.

Of course, this won’t make the actual building of district heating networks cheaper or quicker, but it should dramatically accelerate the pace and reduce the cost of identifying the most promising networks in a given area, and help ensure that the systems that do go ahead are the right ones.

WHAT THERMOS OFFERS Specifically, THERMOS will: • Develop and publish a stateof-the-art methodology for developing address-level energy system maps, to enable public authorities and other

ENERGYHEATING SUPPLY NEWS DISTRICT Dr Tom Hinton, Software Developer at CSE, sketches out THERMOS software features at City Application Workshop, London (UK), photo credit: ICLEI Europe

stakeholders to efficiently (and in some cases more rapidly) plan for the upgrading, refurbishment and expansion of existing heating and cooling network systems in any given area.

• Produce a set of such maps for a series of four ‘pilot cities’ (the local authority areas of Islington borough council in London, Warsaw in Poland, Jelgava in Latvia and Granollers in Spain.

• Develop and publish models for analysing these maps to answer a range of questions required for thermal energy system planning by city, regional and national stakeholders.

• Incorporate these models in a free, open-source software application tailored to the specific needs of different pilot city stakeholders.

• Work closely with energy planning stakeholders to support the use of the new tools in real-world energy planning.

• Support the implementation of the energy system mapping methodology, and subsequently the use of the software, in a further four ‘replication’ cities or regions (specifically Cascais in Portugal, Alba Iulia in Romania, Berlin and London).

During and beyond the three-

year lifetime of the programme itself, THERMOS will engage in a wider programme of dissemination and communication to maximise the impacts of the project. And after 2019, our hope is that we will leave a legacy through opensourcing the methods data and tools, so that the benefits are spread far and wide.

The four pilot cities were chosen because of their potential to plan and design a real-world system using the THERMOS tool. Each has different levels of experience and know-how with planning district heating. Readers may know of Islington’s innovative scheme centred on a 2MWe gas CHP engine and a 115m3 thermal store at Bunhill that serves over 700 homes and two leisure centres. This is respectable by UK standards but it pales in comparison with Warsaw and Jelgava’s longestablished heat networks that supply 85-90% of these cities’ heat demands.

Between them, our pilot cities have a deep well of knowledge of the challenges facing thermal network planners. We’ll be using this to develop software that builds on real-world experience, and helps us understand what best-practice looks like - and how it can be replicated elsewhere.

The four replication cities involved in the project – Cascais, Alba Iulia, Berlin and London - all have the desire and potential to expand, modernise or re-introduce They’ll play a crucial role in roadtesting the THERMOS planning

CSE’S National Heat Map zooms into the town of Rugby in the west Midlands.

Photo credit: Centre for Sustainable Energy

methodology and software to identify optimum areas for new networks and the best ways to refurbish existing ones. The replication cities will ensure that the tools THERMOS develops are fit-for-purpose and work to support real-world energy planning processes.

And after that, the THERMOS resources will become available for everyone to use.

Our plan is for local authorities and others to access the tools and data through an online software application which is simple to use, but which also reflects the detailed models required to underpin local network planning - an interesting design challenge in itself!

At the moment the software is under development, progressing well in the capable hands of our software team here at CSE in Bristol, with the all important energy system modelling algorithms being created by THERMOS partner Imperial College London.

We think THERMOS could be the key to unlocking the huge potential of district heating and cooling networks, and if we do our job well, many more parts of the UK and Europe will be in a position to benefit from an energy system which offers the much-needed low carbon and low cost energy supplies of the future.

WORKING WITH CSE ON THERMOS Our partners include universities, local authorities and city-wide authorities, energy and environmental agencies and specialist consultants: UK: Imperial College, London, Greater London Authority, London Borough of Islington; Spain: Creara Consultores SL, Ajuntament de Granollers; Poland: Krajowa Agencja Poszanowania Energii SA, Miasto Stoleczne Warszawa; Latvia: Vides Investiciju Fonds SIA; Jelgavas Dome; Denmark: Aalborg Universitet; Germany: ICLEI European Secretariat GMBH, Deutsche Energie-Agentur GMBH; Romania: Primaria Municipiului Alba Iulia; Portugal: Municipio de Cascais www.thermos-project.eu

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NEWS DISTRICT HEATING

CUTTING HEAT NETWORKS DOWN TO SIZE

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he main draw of a heat network is its promise of heat provision at a lower cost and in an efficient way. However, the industry, from designers, contractors and operators cannot afford to be complacent, as a small number of failing schemes have demonstrated.

Many district heating designers oversize heat network schemes and the plant heating source as part of a conservative approach; sometimes overcompensating to allow for future expansion and the connection of further networks. There is a lack of experience and guidance on design best practice for heat networks in the UK, and as a result, designers tend to over-specify to allow extra capacity for unknown elements.

This may seem like a minor error at first, only affecting capital expenditure, but in reality, oversizing a network from the outset will have huge ramifications for the long-term efficiency, overall performance, and return on investment of a system.

An iterative approach is therefore necessary, refining elements of the

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A well-designed heat network scheme has the potential to deliver on efficiency and provide accurate metering for end users but designing these systems correctly and ensuring they deliver real savings is crucial. Pete Mills, Commercial Technical Operations Manager at Bosch Commercial and Industrial outlines some of the potential pitfalls that need to be avoided when it comes to sizing a heat network. design to ensure that realistic heating and DHW loads are used, which can mean spending more time modelling loads and accurately assessing heat losses.

OVERSIZED AND INAPPROPRIATE BOILERS A problem with the design of many smaller heat networks is a lack of renewable or low carbon energy heat sources within proposed schemes,

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as it is the efficiency gains from these sources that deliver reduced energy costs. Peak load boilers should only operate when the load cannot be met by the renewable or low carbon heat sources and should be selected based on good turndown ratios.

It is important to note that these heating systems spend a lot of their life operating at between 10% and 25% of their peak due to 24 hour operation with

DISTRICT HEATING NEWS periods of low demand, so pumps and boilers need to be sized correctly in order to perform efficiently at these operating points. Opting for boilers with a large turndown ratio is a smart move as the wider the operational range of the boiler plant, the better it can respond to meet fluctuating requirements in the network.

In this scenario, cascades of smaller boilers can be particularly beneficial as the turndown ratio is based across the entire cascade rather than a single boiler. What’s more, selecting multiple boilers in a cascade arrangement ensures even load matching as each boiler will only operate when required.

Good turndown, along with good control, help ensure peak load boilers do not flood a system with thermal energy that could have otherwise been picked up by a renewable or low carbon heat source. Wear and tear is effectively shared between the boilers, enhancing efficiency, extending the operational life of the system, and making the chance of a complete breakdown far less likely.

Rather than designing extra capacity into the system, the CIBSE CP1 Code of Practice suggests that top-up standby boilers can be used for additional capacity when needed rather than continuously operating a boiler which is too large for the network.

Common issues affecting the sizing of both the network pipework and heat producing plant are inappropriate diversity factors for DHW demand, and over conservative delivery temperatures. Whereas in the past, the use of inappropriate standards has led to significant oversizing, CP1 has cleared up any doubt about diversity standards with guidance to use the Danish DS439. For delivery temperatures, the guidance contained within HSE ACOP L8 for instantaneously heated hot water, should allow designers to work with delivery temperatures as low as 50°C. These two factors have a significant impact on the overall design which would otherwise distort the network size, efficiency, and cost.

PIPE DOWN With the goal of reducing network heat loss, pipe work runs need to be carefully considered. It is normal to optimise the pipe runs to reduce cost, but for a heat network, even greater attention is required.

Experience has shown that common issues with poor installation and insulation occur on the lateral runs, leading to some of the most significant heat loss. CP1 gives guidance based on this to consider breaking up the

network into more vertical runs, which tend to be better insulated and installed.

Where appropriate, smaller pipe sizes, with their reduced surface area, will give lower heat losses; and whilst there is a knock on effect to pump energy use, it can still work out to give the best efficiency overall. The target should be to reduce network heat losses to below 15% with 10% being best practice.

LEARN, DON’T COPY It’s clear that European and Scandinavian countries lead the way when it comes to wellperforming, efficient district heating schemes, with the likes of Denmark using this method to heat the majority of its residential housing. However, it is important that when it comes to designing heat networks in the UK, we consider typical UK operating conditions rather than directly replicating larger projects in other countries.

There are many good UK examples of how well designed and operated schemes have significantly reduced users’ bills and the industry must learn from these by using them as a template to inform future designs. Heat networks should offer the potential for energy cost reductions over many years, which means a long term view is necessary.

This way of thinking should permeate the design and operation strategy adopted. It is vital that the end user is properly considered from the outset, how they will be metered, billed and pay

must be considered early on. The Heat Trust scheme has done terrific work to establish itself quickly as a voluntary consumer protection scheme, giving end users the confidence they need.

Ultimately, the efficiency of a heat network is dependent upon correct design procedures from the outset.

The UK has the potential to benefit greatly from district heating schemes, particularly local authorities and housing associations which are often faced with tight budgets and high efficiency targets. However, appropriate design is crucial in realising these benefits.

Correctly sizing a plant and network according to heat demand and using smaller pipes and less pipework to keep heat loss in a network to a minimum are two key factors to consider.

For more information on Bosch Commercial and Industrial and its district heating solutions, visit www.boschindustrial.co.uk or call 0330 123 3004.

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS OPINION DISTRICT HEATING

NEW EVINOX MODUSAT® XR TAKES HIU EFFICIENCY TO ANOTHER LEVEL

Evinox has extended its best-selling range of ModuSat® Heat Interface Units with the introduction of the new ModuSat® XR and ModuSat® XR- ECO Twin Plate models. Providing both indirect space heating and domestic hot water, ModuSat® XR units are ideal for use in modern, efficient district and communal heat networks. All units deliver fast, dynamic domestic hot water response, and the ModuSat® XR-ECO models also provide ultralow DHW return temperatures to the primary heat network.

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ith extensive experience in the design and application of HIU’s across thousands of UKwide installations, Evinox has made significant advances in the performance of its latest range, aiming to help improve the overall efficiency of heat networks, whilst retaining high levels of user satisfaction and comfort levels.

MODUSAT® XR – EVEN FASTER, MORE EFFICIENT DOMESTIC HOT WATER PERFORMANCE An overriding requirement for many consulting engineers involved in the design and specification of heat networks, is to ensure abundant and responsive supply of domestic hot water. This goes hand-in-hand with residents expecting consistent and safe hot water at the tap. ModuSat® XR HIU’s deliver fast hot water without reducing the efficiency of the heat network.

“There is strong evidence that speed of hot water delivery is a key requirement for residents living in homes

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operating on communal and district heating schemes” comments Emma Alexander, Evinox Energy Marketing Manager. “The ability to be able to deliver abundant hot water quickly, while at the same time ensuring the efficiency of the heat network is not compromised, is a key challenge for heat network designers and HIU manufacturers, so the improved performance of the new ModuSat® XR range is an important step forward in this area.”

EVINOX MODUSAT® XR-ECO; HOW LOW CAN YOU GO? It’s clear that lowering system temperatures is a critical factor in the efficient operation of UK heat networks.

Reducing the network primary flow & return temperatures enables heat generation plant to operate more efficiently; lower grade, low carbon heat sources to play a more predominant role in the energy mix; and network heat losses to be dramatically reduced.

ModuSat® XR-ECO units have been designed precisely with this in mind, incorporating ultra-high efficiency domestic hot water plate

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heat exchangers with improved volumetrics that encourage turbulent flow and optimal heat transfer.

These latest improvements mean designers are given the opportunity to focus on the energy efficiency performance of HIU’s and the wider heat network, with the confidence that units will continue to deliver impressive full load hot water capacity and flow rates.

A NEW TEST STANDARD FOR HEAT INTERFACE UNITS FROM BESA The ModuSat® XR has been tested under a new UK test standard, intended to help heat network designers to evaluate individual HIU performance on their network under typical UK conditions. The new scheme, operated by the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), will provide HIU benchmarking, similar in many ways to the SEDBUK scheme for domestic boilers.

Evinox believes independent testing is an important step for the UK HIU industry, so the latest ModuSat® XR and XR-ECO models have been developed very much with these new standards in mind. Evinox is confident that this new standard will lead to HIU systems and heat networks being designed with efficiency as much as maximum hot water capacity being the key consideration.

Find out more about the new ModuSat® XR Range of Heat Interface Units by contacting us on 01372 722277, email info@Evinox.co.uk or visit www.evinoxenergy.co.uk

DISTRICT HEATING NEWS

STOKVIS EVOLUTION BOILERS CONNECTING WITH BOOM IN COMMUNAL HEATING The continuing housing shortage and the demographics of an ageing population are increasing the popularity of apartment living as well as sheltered housing schemes, and also fuelling rapid growth in the uptake of communal or district heating schemes. The new EVOLUTION boiler ranges from Stokvis Energy Systems are ideally suited to power such projects.

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he R40 EVOLUTION and R600 EVOLUTION series represent the latest generation of Stokvis Energy Systems’ long-established and widely-specified boilers, which can be installed along with the manufacturer’s H Series Heat Interface Units (HIUs) to supply heating and domestic hot water to individual dwellings.

Using the R40 and R600 EVOLUTION boilers in centralised plant rooms provides a primary heat source for the HIU’s with an excellent efficiency while saving landlords the headache of gaining access for annual gas safety inspections and maintaining individual

units in each flat where space is often limited. Instead, connecting heating circuits to Stokvis H Series HIUs ensures residents can enjoy DHW and space heating comfort around the clock.

The Econoflame R600 EVOLUTION, in fact, offers outputs from 142 to 540KW and incorporates a patented downward firing pre-mix burner and stainless steel heat exchanger. Low weight and compact dimensions enables them to pass through standard, single leaf doorways on wheels that are incorporated with the boilers. They can also be installed in a cascade arrangement to share load.

Equally versatile, the R40 EVOLUTION wall hung range encompasses six models delivering between 56 and 138KW. These can be combined either back-to-back or in line to provide a maximum capacity of 1,102KW as a Modupak solution.

It is vital that developers or building owners such as social housing providers understand the importance of accurate

specification to meet the special requirements of communal heating systems: including calculating combined demand of multiple households, as well as sizing the boilers and the HIUs to suit.

As a highly experienced supplier working with a network of installers, Stokvis Energy Systems can offer specifiers extensive design support from conception through to commissioning.

This can include combining the R40 or R600 boilers with solar thermal input or other renewables and buffer vessels at the central plantroom and then coupling the plant to a number of WRAS approved H Series heat interface units that can deliver heating and hot water to a number of dwellings in an efficient and hygienic manner.

For further information on Stokvis Energy Systems, please call 020 8733 3050, or visit www.stokvisboilers.com

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS DISTRICT HEATING

DISTRICT ENERGY NETWORKS – SECURING THE FUTURE OF THESE VALUABLE ASSETS Dominic Barton, Metropolitan Infrastructure Ltd.

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istrict energy is a proven technology, with more than 2000 networks already in place in the UK. The recent injection of substantial Government loan funding for the public sector to encourage the development of district energy is expected to deliver £2 billion of new heat network infrastructure.

Many local authorities and other publicsector organisations are consequently considering implementing this energy solution by taking advantage of the funding and support available through the Heat Network Investment Project (HNIP), Heat Network Development Unit (HNDU) in England and Wales, and the District Heating Loan Fund (DHLF) and Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme (LCITP) in Scotland.

Implementing district energy demands a long-term commitment – a well-designed network can be expected be in operation for up to 60 years, with plant needing replacement every 15-20 years. Successful district energy networks are assets that can generate income and deliver sustainable, affordable energy for end customers.

It is vital therefore that organisations developing new heat networks establish appropriate ownership models and governance structures to ensure their district energy networks deliver the required outcomes over their lifetime.

They will need to plan, design, build and maintain these networks either on their own or in partnership.

Developing new heat networks involves significant capital outlay and requires an appreciation of unique investment risks that need to be appropriately managed.

DE-RISKING THE PROCESS For a district energy network to become a well-run, income-generating asset requires detailed, multi-disciplined

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experience at the planning stage.

Successful schemes need to have robust business cases, with clear direction on how the network is to be commercialised.

This is essential if investment is to be attracted, from the Government or the private sector, by demonstrating a realistic return on investment (ROI).

Crucially, too, the business plan will set out the future ownership model for the network and choosing which model to embrace is one of the most important decisions to be made.

There are a number of models which are available to the public sector, each delivering a different balance between control and risk. Publicsector organisations need to assess the level of risk that they can tolerate and the extent to which they are prepared to be directly involved in, and therefore liable for, each network.

• Wholly-owned by the local authority, housing association etc. Here the assets are owned entirely by the council or other public-sector organisation and they must bear all the risks of network operation such as design, performance, replacement of assets, debt and energy procurement.

Typically, a number of subcontractors will be appointed to design and build and then operate the various aspects of the network: the energy centre; the underground heat network; secondary heating networks; and metering and billing.

Examples of networks operating under this model include those in Gateshead, Bristol and Leeds and the London boroughs of Camden and Southwark.

• Wholly-owned separate company created by local authority. In this model, the design and operation of the network is undertaken in a similar way but the risks are placed more at arms’ length from core council

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activities. This is the model operated in Nottingham, Pimlico and Aberdeen.

In these first two models, there is a heavy demand on internal resources to bring schemes forward and all the operating risks are borne by the council.

Capital funding needs to be raised by the council themselves either by accessing EU grants or loans or through the Public Works Loan Board. This works well for organisations wanting to generate revenue directly and retain full control of, and responsibility for, the network.

There are, however, additional risks to be factored in beyond the initial design and building of the network. External contractors’ priorities will be different to those of a council, for example. For the contractor, their responsibility ends when the network is installed and becomes operational and they have no reason to concern themselves over whether the network is over-engineered or running inefficiently. In contrast, the local authority must take a long-term view. A heat network that functions inefficiently will be more expensive to run and will cost more over its lifetime than a system that has an optimal design. The consequence of getting this wrong can mean that councils are left with systems that do not generate the anticipated financial returns, which in turn can impact the heat prices that residents have to pay. Maintenance of the network is another area where problems can occur. Budget pressures can lead to cuts in maintenance expenditure resulting in breakdowns on the network, interruptions to heat and the delayed replacement of plant due to the lack of identified capital funding. Realistic, forward-planning for the lifetime of the network is required to mitigate these risks.

There are, however, alternative models available which reduce the exposure to risk.

• Concession. In this scenario, the local authority grants a concession to a private-sector entity to develop and operate

DISTRICT HEATING Left: The Energy Centre at King’s Cross Below: King’s Cross under construction

Combined Heat and Power (CHP) engine at King’s Cross (painted pink in aid of Breast Cancer Research)

a heat network for a defined period of time. Typically, the concession holder takes the majority of the risk and therefore also the majority of the rewards.

The local authority can receive discounted energy costs for their buildings connected to the networks and the assets are handed back to the council at the end of the concession period. Networks in Birmingham, Sheffield and Leicester are operated on this basis.

• Special-Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

Here, the local authority creates a new company with a privatesector partner to jointly develop and operate heat networks.

The council is able to generate a return on investment and to define the level of risk it is comfortable with, having secured a private-sector partner willing to assume the remainder.

A number of councils are currently considering this option.

Alternatively, the local authority may choose to procure a private-sector partner to install, maintain, fully own and operate the network, reducing all commercial risk to the council.

These two options allow councils to transfer operating and financial risk to third parties. In the concession model, this is more complete but with the consequence that the council only benefits from cheaper energy rather than an income stream. The SPV model enables the council to share the risk and also generates a revenue stream. Private companies that enter partnerships to develop and operate networks bring a wealth of experience to projects, ensuring that networks are developed in an optimum way. Invested for the long-term, they have as much interest as the public-sector partner in the efficient running of the network and the lowest associated life-cycle costs.

KING’S CROSS – AN SPV IN OPERATION Metropolitan’s district energy network at King’s Cross is an example of how an SPV can work in practice. A fully-managed energy services company (ESCo) runs the network and provides professional metering and billing services to householders. The lead developer, Argent, owns a majority share in the ESCo, and the remaining share is owned by Metropolitan. This means that both Argent and Metropolitan will continue to have a mutual interest in the success of the development, managing the customers’ needs, long after the construction phases have been completed. Customers’ interests are further protected by the scheme’s membership of the Heat Trust. Metropolitan was one of the first to register a district energy scheme with this industry-led, self-regulatory initiative which recognises best practice for heat customers; fault and emergency reporting; billing and payment arrangements; support of vulnerable customer and complaint handling.

The energy centre at King’s Cross meets 99% of the current development’s heat demand with a saving of 50% in carbon emissions over traditional utility solutions whilst achieving a 5% reduction in residents’ fuel bills. Indeed, the King’s Cross scheme has delivered heating generation efficiencies in excess of those planned – achieving a CHP Quality Assurance Certificate with a QI score of 116.46, 10 points above the expected level (CHP Quality Assurance is a government initiative which monitors energy efficiency and environmental performance). It has been shortlisted by ADE (Association for Decentralised Energy) to be named District Energy Scheme of the Decade.

REAL BENEFITS FOR COMMUNITIES Whichever ownership framework is chosen, the benefits of district energy are clear. With heating accounting for 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions and more than two million households in fuel poverty, the challenge to provide low-carbon, affordable and secure heat supplies has never been greater. The twin benefits of low-carbon emissions and reduced fuel bills are the key drivers behind Government support for district energy. As infrastructure projects, too, they generate jobs, both in building and maintaining networks. The flexibility of district energy networks means these advantages are not restricted to new developments; adjacent older buildings can be retrofitted as their heating systems require replacement, extending the energy network and its benefits into more of the local community.

Local authorities and other publicsector organisations understandably want to secure these benefits for their communities and to take advantage of the newly-available Government funding.

They must, however, ensure that they consider the longer term and take clearheaded decisions now about how they will build and operate the networks.

Contact www.met-i.co.uk

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS LIGHTING

KINGSPAN KAPTURES DAYLIGHT FOR LONGER Kingspan Light + Air is helping buildings to achieve excellent daylighting levels for a greater number of hours in the day with the launch of Kingspan DayLite Kapture – a precision engineered rooflight with outstanding light diffusion.

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t the heart of Kingspan Day-Lite Kapture is an advanced, nano-prismatic layer which uses microscopic structures to efficiently scatter light. This innovative design helps to reduce light reflection when compared with conventional pigmented diffusion approaches – ensuring excellent levels of light transmission.

The product’s contoured form is comprised from three overlapping spherical domes. This unique shape allows light to be captured at low sun angles — illuminating internal spaces during early morning and late evening — and performs equally well in any orientation. It also helps to transfer loads, such as snow, to the side of the rooflights.

Kingspan Light + Air understand each building is different, and through its

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advanced research and development facilities, the firm can adapt and tailor Kingspan Day-Lite Kapture units to each project’s unique requirements. Options include an enhanced outer UV resistant layer to include IR blocking particles, providing additional protection for properties at risk of significant solar gains, and dual nano-prismatic layers for even greater diffusion.

To maximise the energy and cost savings that can be achieved in each application, Kingspan Light + Air also manufacture and supply low energy lighting with optional daylight harvesting sensors which dynamically react to lighting demand. The firms expert design team generate detailed reports for each project, creating 3D models of the building and applying local climate

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data to identify the optimal solution and layout. These comprehensive documents provide a clear indication of the expected performance and cost benefits from installing the Kingspan Light + Air solution including expected energy savings, carbon reduction, pay-back period and the total return on investment over a ten year period. www.kingspan.com

LIGHTING NEWS

ENERGYS HELPS YPO ‘PRACTICE WHAT IT PREACHES’ WITH COMPREHENSIVE LIGHTING UPGRADE The UK public sector procurement organisation recently overhauled an outdated fluorescent lighting system in one of its large office facilities in favour of the latest LED technology – with dramatic results.

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ased in West Yorkshire, public sector procurement organisation YPO supplies an extensive range of products and services to a wide range of customers – ranging from schools and local authorities to charities and emergency services – in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. With a focus on securing the very best solutions and deals for its customers, YPO also likes to ‘practice what it preaches’ when it comes to its own operations – a principle that was underlined by a recent lighting upgrade project at one of its main office locations.

As a 100% publicly owned organisation, YPO has an obligation to be cost-effective in everything that it does, allowing the maximum value to be returned to the tax-payer. The reduction of energy expenditure was therefore a primary driver of the lighting revamp, although the organisation was also keen to reduce its carbon output and improve the overall standard of illumination to the benefit of employees and overall productivity.

Leading lighting specialist Energys was engaged to work on the upgrade having won a competitive tender through YPO’s own Dynamic Purchasing Framework. CapEx funding helped to finance the work, which focused on the replacement of a fluorescent system that had become inefficient and outdated when compared with contemporary equivalents.

Energys Group Senior Account Executive Ian Humphries recalls that the existing T8 fluorescents “had become very energy inefficient and were delivering poor light levels. To

transform this situation we installed Energys New Vision 1200 x 600mm LED panels with Helvar Active iDim control. A total of 90 have been fitted in phases one and two of the project – and the resulting improvements have been pretty dramatic for all concerned.”

MINIMUM DISRUPTION, MAXIMUM RESULTS As a business with consistently high level of activity, it stands to reason that disruptive installation work must always be kept to a minimum. Consequently, the Energys team worked out of hours and overnight to guarantee a minimal impact on day-to-day operations – a feature of the service that has been praised by the YPO team.

Once completed, the benefits of the installation became very apparent, very quickly. “There was a dramatic increase in the lux levels, and the offices now look much brighter and more attractive. This is something both staff and management have remarked upon,” says Humphries.

Richard Hudson, who is YPO’s Procurement Manager for Energy, concurs: “This new LED lighting system is a welcome improvement to the YPO building. Staff feedback has been great, and it’s good to see that this investment has improved working conditions, while saving us money and contributing towards our efforts to reduce energy consumption and emissions.”

SUBSTANTIAL SAVINGS Moreover, it is evident that these savings are likely to be very substantial indeed – both in the short- and longterm. As a result of the first two phases, YPO stands to benefit from an

annual kWh saving of approximately 55,000, equating to a total yearly saving of £6754. With such a dramatic reduction of energy expenditure, the payback period for the new system is predicted to be as little as 2.5 years.

Of course, the energy saving capabilities of the new system will be fully optimised by the decision to implement it alongside occupancy and daylight harvesting technology – ensuring that light is only used when it is needed and where it is needed.

In addition, average life expectancy of 50,000 hours for the panels and a five-year warranty means that the issue of replacements will diminish hugely in importance, while support and maintenance costs will also be slashed.

As Mr Hudson explains, “the new system means that lighting stays on when it needs to be on. Each LED panel also contains a separate movement detector and very gradually dims over time if the sensor detects no movement. I would also highlight the consistent lighting levels that we are now able to enjoy and which meet the stringent CIBSE industry guidelines.”

Reflecting on the successful completion of a project that has brought a whole new standard of illumination to YPO offices, Richard Hudson sings the praises of “an aesthetically pleasing system that lends our locations a modern and streamlined look”. And it’s by no means the end of the story with a projected further two phases of work set to bring the latest LED lighting to other YPO facilities. www.energysgroup.com

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NEWS LIGHTING

MIDDLESEX AEROSPACE ENGINEERS SUBSTANTIAL ENERGY SAVINGS WITH GOODLIGHT LED LIGHTING

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ward winning brand, Goodlight, have announced that Middlesex Aerospace, a leader and strategic manufacturer of aerospace engineering components has made between 50-80% energy savings following the replacement of their old fluorescent lighting with energy efficient, low maintenance LED tube lighting from the Goodlight range. Payback on the installation is on target and expected to be achieved within 18 months. The company adopted Goodlight LED lighting to meet their commitment towards ISO14001.

Installation of the LED lights was carried out over the weekends to limit the impact on production times and reduce disruption for staff. Middlesex Aerospace specified Goodlight GX1 Plus (150W) LED High Bays, G5 LED Battens, T8 LED Tubes and LED Ceiling Panels for their main production factory and inspection area at the 50,000

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sq ft manufacturing site in Hampshire, replacing energy hungry fluorescent lighting.

Commenting, John Masey, Senior Buyer at Middlesex Aerospace said, “Once we had made the decision to switch to LED lighting, we chose Goodlight because of their commercial success over the past 11 years. The fact they have full design control of their own manufactured products, technical support in the UK and were one of the first on the market with this LED technology, made us confident we were choosing the right company.“ He continued, “Since the installation, we have been very impressed with the light quality which is evenly distributed over the factory floor. The new Goodlight LED lighting is flicker free, therefore reducing eye strain, has low UV emissions and promotes performance amongst our staff, greatly improving the working environment. In addition, we are making substantial energy

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

savings and have eliminated maintenance costs.”

Goodlight LED lighting technology offers more efficient light at lower cost and reaches full brightness instantly with no warm-up required.

The lights are specifically designed for retrofit applications and can be quickly and easily installed into existing fixtures. They provide immediate energy savings and are virtually maintenance free. Goodlight LED products are guaranteed for five years and rated at 50,000 hours. www.goodlight.co.uk

RENEWABLE ENERGY NEWS

WEST POINT MILITARY ACADEMY INSTALLS KINGSPAN SOLAR THERMAL TECHNOLOGY AT NEW BARRACKS

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est Point is a world-renowned US military academy with a 200-year history and a prodigious alumni list.

The Academy planned the opening of a new $200m barracks to house 650 cadets as part of an investment programme to upgrade buildings and accommodation. The six-storey, granite-clad Davis Barracks were commissioned to help relieve some crowding, as well as provide additional, flexible accommodation during the modernisation and refurbishment of other barracks.

The Academy’s project team were keen to install renewables energy solutions to reduce CO2 emissions as well as provide financial savings over the long-term.

Kingspan Solar’s expert team was invited to survey the site and offer recommendations for installing leadingedge solar thermal technology which could provide heated water for the barracks.

In the largest Kingspan solar thermal system ever specified in the USA, the team specified 132 x Thermomax HP450-30 Evacuated Tube Collectors to be mounted on the rooftop. The system was supported

by custom Pump Skid comprising controls, duty-standby solar circulation pumps, duty-standby secondary circulation pumps, double wall heat exchanger to transfer the heat from the solar loop to the secondary DHW loop, telemetry, flow meters, etc.

The system would pre-heat 3 x 2,000 gallon tanks which feed the 3 x 4,000 gallon DHW tanks.

The annual solar contribution (T*Sol) is calculated as 1,223.4 MMBtu, with predicted annual CO2 savings of 188,043.22 lbs - equivalent to the CO2 absorbed by circa 3,900 trees per annum.

Thermomax solar collectors are up to 30 per cent more effective than traditional flat plate panels. They use vacuum technology to deliver an unrivalled transfer of solar energy into heat.

The vacuum inside each tube provides outstanding insulation and suppresses heat loss by protecting the system from cold temperatures. This provides optimum performance throughout the year, even in Northern Europe. Output is measured by an MX controller unit with built-in LCD display, which provides a constant,

accurate measure of heat production for facilities managers to keep on record.

Thermomax collectors are also well suited to buildings such as universities and schools where usage and loading can vary greatly throughout the year. They are highly reliable with little risk of either stagnation or overheating while routine maintenance is minimal with the system needing servicing only once a year to maintain its optimum performance.

Kingspan Solar offers customdesigned solar packages tailored to meet the needs of each specific application.

These include total customer support from initial advice, through to bespoke design and specification, installation, final commissioning and technical support.

The Kingspan Solar range includes both flat plate options (‘in-roof’ or ‘on-roof’) and Thermomax evacuated tube collectors, together with all required components for the complete installation. The Davis Barracks building was open to cadets in August 2017.

For more information go to www.kingspansolar.com, email solar@ kingspan.com or call 028 3836 4520

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS RENEWABLE PROCUREMENT ENERGY

THE BREXIT STORM – HOW PROCUREMENT IN THE ENERGY SECTOR IS PERFORMING SINCE THE UK VOTED TO LEAVE THE EU

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he tidal wave of change has hit the UK and European economies offering highs and lows since the UK’s decision to leave the EU. The resulting volatility in currency has offered advantages for exporters while importers have struggled with higher costs and less uncertainty than they once knew.

Keeping supply chains of goods and services open to fuel customer and business needs is a fascinating study in these interesting times. So CIPS (The Chartered institute of Procurement & Supply) decided to run a survey amongst its global community of procurement professionals to see how this momentous decision for more than two generations is impacting on supply chains.

The EU referendum vote was split – a majority of 51.9% compared to 48.1% who wanted to stay in Europe. But once Article 50 was invoked on the 29th of March 2017 the formal process of ‘divorce’ had begun. This decision is just one example of the global lack of trust and transparency in business as supply chains are being increasingly disrupted by ideological battles, and the move away from globalisation towards more protectionist agenda.

Any prolonged conflicts whether physical or ideological are likely to result in supply chain no-go areas, and potentially, a scarcity of some goods.

Over 2000 professionals from a variety of sectors and from around the world responded to the survey* and the overall results showed that at least in part, companies were going to do business in a different way. For instance, the overall results showed that 32% of UK businesses using EU suppliers were already looking for British replacements. The value of insourcing is not insignificant. Turbulent times means highcritical products may need more management and closer control and UK supplier costs attractively lower because of the weak pound making imports more costly. However, there is always a flipside.

According to 46% of the respondents in the global results, procurement professionals in the energy sector are planning to reduce their use of UK suppliers so this certainly does not necessarily mean more business for the UK. In the energy sector itself, a high proportion of supply chain managers (26%) said they were looking for more suppliers inside the UK. According to the Energy in the UK report in 2016, the energy sector is a significant contributor to the UK economy, with the creation of 637,000 jobs and with £18bn invested in generation, distribution, and customer service. It could be

argued that this contribution will rise if more UK suppliers are employed by the sector.

The survey found that currency fluctuations have had the biggest impact as the UK moves towards the EU exit doors. 55% of respondents said that supply chains had become more expensive as a result of currency fluctuations. Though the pound has regained some of its strength, marginal gains, it has fallen around 15% against the dollar since last year’s vote and doesn’t look like making a strong recovery any time soon.

The UK is a big importer of energy and these price rises are impacting on every sector and business margin unless there was currency hedging in place and price caps in contracts keeping costs low.

But, that hasn’t been the experience of 20% of survey respondents who have admitted to having to re-negotiate contracts with their suppliers. Procurement teams are likely to see more pressure from their Boards and CEOs to bring prices down as Brexit negotiations progress and volatility continues. Around 12% of procurement professionals responded said they have had to cancel contracts in response to this uncertainty.

With all this turbulence, energy procurement teams in the main, haven’t been slow in attempting to at least begin to understand any impact to their business as 41% said they were performing a risk analysis exercise. Others were mapping the possibility of new tariffs (35%) to control their costs but almost a quarter, worringly (24%) had done nothing at all to prepare. When the survey was conducted we were still waiting for the results of the General Election and an expected Conservative majority. But following the surprise result the political and economic situation became even more complex, so we would expect more businesses to be planning their contingencies as we approach the second survey of the procurement community in a few weeks’ time (amend as necessary).

Looking to the future, the sector had decided on a number of major factors that

would make Brexit negotiations difficult.

The UK’s weak negotiating position at 47% came top of the challenges as the EU’s unwillingness to offer an easy deal became obvious. Next, the lack of negotiating skills was also an impactful result as 41% of respondents were doubtful whether the existing skills were strong enough to make a meaningful deal. Time was also an issue amongst 37% of procurement professionals and the difficulty the Government faced of having too few business contacts was of concern to 33%.

Judging their own supply chain skills, the profession was optimistic in the energy sector. 71% believed they had the right mix of skills to manage future disruptions to their supply chains along the Brexit road. The free movement of people was also of lower concern as only 13% thought ensuring free movement of peoples between the UK and Europe was important in the sector.

As volatility and uncertainty follows every Government Brexit announcement, the energy sector agreed (59%) that uncertainty around trade agreements would continue to make long-term planning difficult. This uncertainty also made the management of supply chains difficult for 38%.

And finally as 85% believed international global supply chains would still play an important role in business, the results of the second CIPS survey should be fascinating reading. Maintaining the health and strength of crucial supply chains, keeping businesses and consumers supplied with their energy needs will be uppermost in the sector’s response to Brexit no matter what the obstacles are ahead. www.cips.org

*The survey comprised of 12 questions and ran from 31st March to 12th of April 2016. The survey included 904 UK businesses with European supply chains and 117 European businesses with UK supply chains. The highest number of respondents came from the manufacturing, banking, retail and energy sectors.

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ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

RENEWABLE EXHIBITION ENERGY NEWS

TOP 10 MUST-ATTEND ENERGY EFFICIENCY EXPERTS SESSIONS AT EMEX, THE ENERGY MANAGEMENT EXHIBITION ON 22 & 23 NOVEMBER AT EXCEL LONDON UK energy efficiency’s movers and shakers meet at The Energy Management Exhibition (EMEX), the largest business focused event taking place this year from 22nd – 23rd November at ExCeL in London.

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here are a number of Experts that will share their expertise with attendees. Highlights include on Wednesday 22nd November: Gary Shanahan, Head of Business and Industrial Energy Efficiency, Tax and Reporting at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) will give an update on streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting, ESOS, CCA and CRC schemes.

Richard Smith, Group Environmental Manager at VINCI PLC will reveal how to use ESOS as a springboard for action. Richard will discuss the net financial savings and avoided costs that have been achieved across VINCI PLC from energy management.

Evan Joanette, Policy Manager at the Consumer Council for Water; Adam Yarnall, Network Utilities Manager at Camping & Caravanning Club; and James Tiernan, Group Energy & Environment Manager at Unite Students will reveal how they approached the opportunity offered by the recently deregulated water retail market. They will also discuss the barriers and the opportunities they unveiled as they switched their service.

Simon Davey, Environmental Manager at Freedom Leisure and Ben Dhesi, Managing Director at Pulse Business Energy will give practical advice on how to drive efficiency and promote collaboration through the central management of data.

Robert Williams, General Manager, Procurement at BT and Michael Clark, Technical Director and Partner at Become Energy, will provide you with the basics of battery storage technology for a successfully implementation.

On Thursday 23rd November: Universities are large complex organisations and their governance is often less then logical. Rachel Ward, Sustainability Manager at London Metropolitan University; Tristan Wolfe, Energy Manager at University of Aberdeen and Ian Lane, Head of Sustainability at University of the Arts London will share some lessons learnt from their work at major universities.

Andries van der Walt, Head of Sustainability for Property and Asset Management at JLL; Dr. Andrew Lewry CEng Principal Technical

Consultant - BREEAM at Building Research Establishment (BRE); and Emma Bushell Sustainability and Energy Manager at Octavia Housing will discuss the gap in performance between design and the building “in-use” and share some fascinating insights on how they have managed to reduce this gap.

Richard Eaton, Energy Manager at Aggregate Industries will explain how new technology is enabling the company to coordinate assets across multiple sites and markets to maximise the value of their demand-side flexibility.

The development of onsite renewable technologies is now challenging more traditional solutions and previous thinking.

Tim Pollard, Head of Sustainability at Wolseley UK; Michelle Davies, Partner and International Head of Clean Energy and Sustainability at Eversheds Sutherland LLP; and Michael Beale, Head of Development UK at Lightsource, will help interested parties to understand the latest developments in the fast moving renewables sector with a view forwards towards complete decarbonisation of power and heat.

Paul Thomas, Energy & Environment Manager - SuperGroup Plc and Gary Bark, Managing Director at Optimised Buildings will provide early results on the recent deployment of an advanced cloud-based platform to monitor and manage 26 ‘Superdry’ stores.

New in 2017, The Flexible Power Zone created, in partnership with Power Responsive (by National Grid), for the uninitiated to understand and evaluate this widely talked about opportunity. A dozen participating DSR Battery Storage partners of National Grid including ScottishPower, E.ON Energy Solutions, EDF Energy, Dong Energy, EnerNOC, Flexitricity, Energy Pool, Open Energi, Endeco Technologies and Origami Energy, will each give a presentation and will be available to talk with attendees one on one. It’s a rare opportunity to find a supplier that talks your language and makes sense for your business.

Rising energy bills represent a massive financial burden for businesses that can only be addressed by reducing demand and buying better tariffs. EMEX tackles this head on.

EMEX is the energy management show that connects all energy users with leading experts, policy makers, suppliers and technical solutions. This marketplace includes a free-toattend CDP accredited conference programme that will help you control energy costs, gain industry insights, source innovations, share knowledge and stay up to date with the latest and upcoming legislative changes and how these are affecting businesses in the UK. EMEX is also an exhibition ranging from major utilities to brokers and consultants, equipment manufacturers to training companies. Whatever the size of your business there is opportunity to find out more about wise energy consumption. Participants include E.ON Energy Solutions, Siemens, Vinci Facilities, ScottishPower, Dong Energy, Good Energy, ABB, Affinity for Business, Carlo Gavazzi, Kingspan Light + Air, Carbon Trust, Bre Global, Ecopilot, Harvard Technology, Grundfos, Lightsource, Argand Solutions, EcoCooling, Enercon, Integrated Environmental Solutions (IES), EATON Electric, ebm-papst, Green Energy Consulting, Savills, Sabien Technology, SMA, SES Business Water, Thorlux Lighting, Vattenfall, Wilo, Wilson Power Solutions and many more.

With such diverse solutions, knowledge and expertise on offer, it is not surprising that thousands of small and medium businesses, as well as household names such as CocaCola, NHS, British Airways, Harrods, Hilton Worldwide, Boots, RBS, TATA, British Land, Ministry of Defence, AstraZeneca, Sodexo, Microsoft, Bellrock, BAE Systems, Co-Operative Group, Ofgem, Network Rail, MITIE, CBRE, Whitbread, Mitchells and Butlers, British Telecom, House of Fraser and many county, city councils and universities are already registered to attend.

Finally, the Energy Managers Association central networking area has been significantly enhanced to ensure that attendees can meet and exchange ideas and experiences with their peers in a very relaxed environment.

To register for free, please visit www. emexlondon.com

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

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NEWS EXHIBITION NEWS

SEE YOU IN BIRMINGHAM ....

Following on from the success of our inaugural University and Healthcare Estates and Innovation Conference and Exhibition last year, we have planned a bigger and bolder event for 2017.

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aking place over two days at the University of Birmingham Campus on the 14th & 15th of November. We have put together a timely, relevant and comprehensive programme backed up by a strong line up of industry expert speakers and a focused exhibition for our delegates.

Put simply - the similarities and parallels between Higher Education and Healthcare Estates sectors are striking.

At this year’s Conference we will address these issues and many more.

• Management of large, complex and demanding sites.

• The need to tackle compliance, deliver projects and control diverse property portfolios.

• Management of suppliers and procurement, construction and maintenance at scale.

The University and Healthcare Estates and Innovation Conference and Exhibition, is a unique opportunity to hear from the sector experts and to network and share solutions and experiences.

This event will be the second meeting of minds – that builds upon last year’s inaugural event and will lead to closer future collaboration between sectors and stimulate opportunities for shared thinking and shared benefits.

Now more than ever we should be sharing ideas and pooling solutions.

I look forward to meeting you at the University of Birmingham on the 14th & 15th of November.

Trevor Payne

MORE ABOUT UNIVERSITIES AND HEALTHCARE ESTATES CONFERENCE AND EXHIBITION 2017:

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH AUDE

•

SUPPORTED BY:

•

• • • • • • • • • • •

BIFM CIC University of Birmingham, The Carbon & Energy Fund, Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust BESA, BIM4 Health The Carbon Trust University of Liverpool ASIS DQI and digital 2 all

MEDIA PARTNERS: Building Education, Building & Facilities Management Magazine, Energy Manager Magazine, Hospital Times, Public Sector Sustainability Magazine, Risk UK and University Business

MAIN EXHIBITORS & SPONSORS: Built Offsite, Capsticks, Clarke Energy, Clearview Intelligence, Cortech, Ecophon, ESG, Extra Space Solutions, Fusion, HYDROP, IES, IHEEM, Jactone, Jewson, Langley Design, Micad, MWA Technologies, Paxton, PPL Training, SFG20, Salix, Shire Controls, Smarti Ltd, Snapsys Solutions and SearchHigher.

CONFERENCE TOPICS FOR 2017: • • • • • • • • • •

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Brexit - thoughts on the impact on the HE/ NHS estate A Shared approach to Campus Master planning Property Management in HE/ NHS Emergency Preparedness HE/ NHS Lessons Learned Property Management from the NHS Ransomware Virus Attack Commercialising the Estate – HE/ NHS Succession Planning & Developing Capacity Building the Estates Team – HE/ NHS Compliance - the Challenge of Managing Older Buildings in HE/ NHS Sustainability HE/ NHS

Director of Estates University of Birmingham

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ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

• •

•

Food Waste Management within the HE/ NHS Occupy in HE/ NHS Space Management and Agile Desking Solutions for HE/ NHS The Oxford Journey to Customer Service Excellence HE/ NHS An Alternative Delivery Model for E and F Services in the HE/ NHS Sharing Processes and Resources: How a common process can work for disparate organisations HE/ NHS

JUST A FEW OF THE SPEAKERS AT UHEI 2017: •

Simon Corben - Director & Head of Profession NHS Estates & Facilities–NHS Improvement • Trevor Payne – Director of Estates – University of Birmingham • Andrew Burgess – Deputy Chief Operating Officer – Loughborough University • Karen Johnson – Operational Director - University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust • Duane Passman - Director of 3Ts - Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust • Stewart Crowe - Health & Safety & Risk Manager University of Liverpool • Russell Smith - Head of Estates - Bradford University • Louise Webster - Head of Environmental Sustainability - University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust • David Reilly - Head of Carbon Trust Wales - Carbon Trust • Rachael Hanmer-Dwight - Environmental Manager - University of Liverpool • Ian Stenton - Head of Sustainability - Royal Liverpool & Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust • Lisa Hofen - Deputy Head of Strategic Facilities Management - University of Oxford • Robert Gormley - Business Change Manager University of Edinburgh For more information on how to register for this UHEI 2017: Email: info@ascentevents.co.uk www.ascentevents.co.uk/uheibirmingham.php

EXHIBITION NEWS

AM&T & BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE

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ncreasing the awareness of energy consumption at all levels within an organisation is certainly nothing new.

Labels applied to light switches and heating controls imploring us to consider the impact of our actions come in and out of fashion.

The last few years have seen much debate on the subject. To some, ‘behavioural change’ is the holy grail of energy management, hard to achieve but a fight worth winning. Does an increased level of awareness amongst stakeholders and employees cut consumption by a useful amount, or is it tinkering around the edges when what you really need is a new boiler and some LED lighting? If it is worth the carrot – how best to achieve it?

Well the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so the delivery mechanism is the starting point and the monitoring and targeting software has been the method of choice for the practitioners so far. Gone are the days when the Energy Manager is the only individual who wanted to log in to the M&T system. Nowadays anyone can do so, and we hope everyone wants to.

There have been changes of course! If you’re thinking bar charts, regression analysis and CUSUM, you’d be dead right, but of more relevance to the subject of this article are

interactive dashboards, realtime building energy displays, multi-platform compatibility and unlimited user profiles. All of these features have appeared relatively recently as customers demand –and get - more from their M&T software. M&T – from the right provider – is now a ‘big data’ operation.

Today’s dashboards are both attractive and informative. The web pages can be tailored for the required ‘corporate’ appearance or combined with interactive building or site diagrams to simplify navigation. The first challenge is to get the invited audience to turn up at all. The second is to get them to come back, and good design is critical. But that’s not delivering behavioural change!

As always, the software is just the tool, and in this instance it’s an effective one but it is how it is used that is key to success. At Elcomponent we’ve seen a great deal of imagination applied to this by our customers but in most cases the software is used to foster competition, best practice and lowering consumption. This often takes the form of a league table, which sounds simple, but nevertheless requires a degree of sophistication to deliver. Apples must be compared with apples, so information such as floor area, occupancy and degree data must form part of the equation. If this is not the case,

the data will lack credibility and interest will wane quickly.

If all the key ingredients are present, the results tend to back the enthusiasts view of behavioural change.

What are those ingredients again?

• An Attractive presentation (it’s an invited audience) • Cross-platform compatibility (that audience uses smartphones!)

• Accurate data (you still need your AMR must work properly!)

• Correct use of driver data (traditional M&T functionality) • The right provider!

So come and see us at EMEX to find out more. www.elcomponent.co.uk

Market-leading sustainable metering & monitoring solutions

aM&T Sub-Metering Systems Flexible cost-effective metering for all utilities and every type of business. We have the hardware, software, networking and installation skills to supply the package you need, on time and on budget.

• Automatic data collection and alarm signalling

Energy Data Loggers

Power Quality Analysers

Easy to use portable data loggers for electricity and general utility monitoring.

Safe, non-invasive.

High performance instruments for the most demanding energy and power quality analysis applications designed and built to the highest quality standards.

Supplied complete with the latest windows software.

• All kits supplied ‘ready-to-go’ • Tough waterproof cases (3 phase analysers) • Simple Windows software • Available to hire

• All electrical parameters • THD, Harmonics, Flicker etc • On-board power for flex CT’s

• Flexible networking options

• Plug-in Memory

• Web enabled hardware

• Available to hire

• Tenant Billing

www.elcomponent.co.uk e sales@elcomponent.co.uk t 01279 503 173 f 01279 654 441

Unit 5,ENERGY Southmill MANAGER Trading Centre, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017CM23 3DY 37

NEWS PRODUCT SHOWCASE

RINNAI HOT WATER DELIVERY SYSTEMS FOR LARGE SITES AND DEMANDS

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arge commercial building owners, in both public and private sector whether hospitality, healthcare, education or office buildings can benefit from fully modulating continuous flow water heating systems.

Independent comparisons on the Rinnai range showed 7% savings over the lifetime of the appliances (20 years) against certain traditional storage methods. This follows another independent endorsement of Rinnai energy efficiency claims – ErP Energy Labelling. The ErP A-rating the Rinnai models have achieved applies over the complete Infinity range – from small domestic models to XXL sized industrial units.

Rinnai is said to be the only manufacturer that can field a complete range of gas fired continuous flow water heaters that exceeds the demands of new legislation on fuel efficiencies and yield outstanding reliability throughout the life of the appliance.

An example of just one of the Rinnai units is the heavy duty condensing models (HDC), the Infinity HDC1600i. This premium condensing water heater which has been tested to below 20 ppm NOx, produces the lowest emissions on the market and has 107% net thermal efficiencies. The

Infinity HDC 1600 renewables-ready low NOx series is the first heater of its kind to utilise Rinnai’s own patented pre-mix burner technology. The newly developed down-firing burner allows increased efficiency and reduces NOx gases. The Infinity 1600i low NOx series is available with an output of 58.4 kw producing 16.2 litres of temperature controlled hot water per minute (or 9.73 per hour) raised at 50°C. The Infinity Plus solution for large commercial operations has been developed to provide never-ending hot water without costly storage and brings together multiple units of the company’s award-winning condensing continuous flow water heaters into single, easily manoeuvrable modules.

The comprehensive Rinnai Infinity PLUS range offers specifiers and end users a system that guarantees a constant flow of safe hot water at precisely the chosen temperature.

Operated via an easy to use built-in digital controller, the water heater provides near mains pressure flow for as long as is necessary, without the need for thermostatic mixer valves. For large building operators who have stringent

CSR conditions to fulfil, Rinnai hot water systems can help achieve targets.

As for Legionella control, Rinnai has new technology for secondary return DHW systems where there is a pipework of cooling water that could possibly breed Legionella. This innovation comes in the form of a ‘little grey box’ inside which is both a timer channel programme and a temperature controller.

The ‘little grey box’ ensures the timer will over-ride the temperature control for a short period and then revert to safe levels. This combination allows for safe running of water at 42°C core temperature during the day and 60°C at a time when the building is closed. By the time the building opens again, core temperature is back down to 42°C for safe use. It assists in eliminating risk from Legionella bacteria and scalding and is ideal for use in schools, office blocks and sports clubs to name just a few applications.

For more details on RINNAI products visit www.rinnaiuk.com

AIR INTAKE SCREENS PROTECT DATA CENTRE’S CHILLERS FROM DAMAGE

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he Hibernia Atlantic data centre is located on a one acre site on the north west coast at Southport in Lancashire.

It’s a remote location surrounded by fields and the chiller cabinets would normally be subject to local airborne debris in the form of seed, pollen, leaves and insects.

However, when adjacent land was sold off for house building development, the project has massively increased the amount of airborne debris, not only from increased traffic but also the dust from construction.

RAB Specialist Engineers Ltd surveyed the site and subsequently supplied and fitted large RABScreen filter media up to 15ft in length to cover all sides of the three Daikin chiller cabinets. The screens were made with 32mm borders and easily fitted onto the cabinets using stainless steel grommets.

The RABScreens are likely to reduce the maintenance requirements by the air conditioning company every quarter and there should also be energy savings

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through the more efficient running of the air conditioning system. Just 1mm of dirt can reduce efficiency by 21%.

Manufactured in the USA by Permatron, the RABScreen BHA air intake screen is a black engineered mesh, which is heavy duty and high abrasion resistant.

Incoming debris held in place on the mesh is easily removed by vacuum, brush or washing during regular maintenance.

Protecting the data centre’s equipment from incoming debris with RABScreen external screens saves money by extending the life of disposable filters and saves as much as 30% of input energy on chiller coils. This together with labour saved by reducing cleaning and chemical use, means that return on investment can be less than six months.

The RABScreen air intake screens are made of a black high abrasion (BHA) specification comprising a single layer of 9 x 9, 1000 denier multi polymer coated polyester mesh. Highly durable, rot and

ENERGY MANAGER MAGAZINE • OCTOBER 2017

weather resistant, and UV protected, the air intake screens are UL classified for flammability and come with a tenyear UK warranty covering the media, grommets, final border and stitching.

The media has ripstop corners that will not tear. There are numerous fixing methods to suit different situations and these include fittings with studs, bolts, self-tapping screws, magnetic strip, drop tab fittings, or by using a wrap-around technique with Permatron bungee cords. Tel: 01635 248633 Email: info@ RABScreen.com www.RABScreen.com

7 CONFERENCE, EXHIBITION & GALA DINNER

University & Healthcare Estates and Innovation 14th -15th NOVEMBER 2017 / UNIVERSITY OF BIRMINGHAM

Universities & Healthcare Estates and Innovation is a unique conference and exhibition that addresses some of the key issues facing the University and Healthcare sectors.

The conference addresses each issue from a University perspective, and then from a Healthcare perspective - allowing delegates to gain insight into both areas and share best-practice.

The event will feature a wide range of high profile industry speakers that will focus on identifying the synergies and opportunities between these two sectors, and how best-practice can be shared effectively.

If you would like to find out more, please contact: Ascent Events T: 01892 530027 E: info@ascentevents.co.uk or register at http://www.ascentevents.co.uk/uhei-birmingham-registration.php Event Partner

Hosted By

Supported By

@UHEI_UHEI

Energy Savings Through Intelligent Water Circulation

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For your no obligation survey, call us now on 0333 320 1000 0333 320 1000

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