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Ground source heating solution being installed in UK’s first net zero carbon retirement community
Ground source heat pumps manufactured and installed by the Kensa Group will deliver the lowest carbon heating solution for the UK’s first net zero carbon retirement community, creating a sustainable future for older generations.
The Millfield Green site in Caddington, Central Bedfordshire, will provide 200 sustainable new-build homes specifically designed to accommodate older people’s needs, as well as a village centre with state-of-the-art wellbeing and leisure facilities. The development will use renewable energy generation throughout, including Kensa Heat Pumps’ ground source heat pumps, which will give the senior residents ample heating and hot water, whilst helping to combat climate change. The heat pump system, containing a mix of residential and commercial properties, will be the largest of its kind to have been installed by Kensa to date.
Kensa Contracting was enlisted for the project by Inspired Villages, a developer and operator of later living homes, owned by Legal and General, which has a 35% stake in the Kensa Group. Inspired Villages carefully considered several different renewable heating systems before concluding that ground source heat pumps would provide the lowest carbon and lowest cost heating solution for the development.
Dr Stuart Gadsden, Director of Sales for Kensa Contracting, says: “Retired communities deserve safe heating systems that are low cost, low air pollution and low carbon. Once installed, the ground source heat pumps will provide plentiful heating and hot water for the senior residents at Millfield Green, improving their quality of living and tackling two serious national emergencies: climate change and fuel poverty.
“Many older people face tough choices each winter about how to cover the cost of keeping warm, and poorly heated homes result in health problems and can even contribute to loss of life. By investing in ground source heating systems, Inspired Villages have ensured optimum comfort and low running costs for residents who can enjoy their retirement without worrying about whether they can afford to run their heating, as well as knowing that they are having a positive environmental impact.”
Ground source heat pumps extract heat energy from the ground and convert this for use in space heating and hot water inside a home. They are electrically-powered devices with no point-of-use emissions, meaning they help maintain local air quality and combat global warming. They are also highly efficient compared to other heating systems, typically delivering between three and four units of heat for every one unit of energy consumed to power the system. As the electricity grid further decarbonises with more renewable generation from wind and solar, the carbon footprint of the heat pumps will decrease even further.
The government recognises that renewable technologies, such as the ground source heat pumps being installed at Millfield Green, are a vital part of the UK’s decarbonisation plan – this is reflected in their target to install 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028. Following advice from the Climate Change Committee on the Sixth Carbon Budget, prime minister Boris Johnson has recently agreed to legislate a new target to slash national emissions by 78% by 2035, to move the country three-quarters of the way towards its 2050 net zero ambition. Developers like Inspired Villages are leading the way by creating sustainable communities for the future, utilising technologies with as minimal environmental impact as possible.
The project will feature Kensa’s Shoebox ground source heat pump, which is small and compact enough to be installed inside the airing cupboard of each apartment. Larger output Kensa Plantroom heat pumps will provide heating and hot water for shared facilities, including an on-site restaurant, café, library, cinema room, and wellness centre featuring a swimming pool, fitness studio and gym.
Drilling for an ambient temperature shared ground loop array utilising boreholes drilled to depths of between 145-190m has recently been completed on site, which will provide a source of sustainable heat energy for the ground source heat pumps installed inside each property. This innovative heat pump system architecture, pioneered by Kensa, avoids heat losses through distribution pipework which increases system efficiency. It also allows each homeowner to have independent control over their own heating and hot water, and the freedom to switch energy supplier.
Dr Matthew Trewhella, Managing Director of Kensa Contracting, says: “I am very pleased to see our first project with Inspired Villages making progress. The long-term ownership business model of Inspired Villages is ideally suited to the shared ground loop array system architecture. The shared ground array becomes a long-term, low-maintenance asset that will serve the community for decades and the heat pumps fit neatly into each home to enable the extraction of energy from the ground array.”
The carbon footprint of the heat pumps will decrease even further
