EIBI March 2020

MARCH 2020

PROMOTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

www.eibi.co.uk

In this issue Heating Technology Smart Buildings CPD Module: Space Heating Water Treatment Electric Vehicles

EV infrastructure Making a solid business case

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A living laboratory Setting a benchmark in design

Working together Boilers and heat pumps in harmony

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MARCH 2020

PROMOTING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

www.eibi.co.uk

In this issue

Contents

www.eibi.co.uk

Heating Technology Smart Buildings CPD Module: Space Heating Water Treatment Electric Vehicles

EV infrastructure Making a solid business case

A living laboratory Setting a benchmark in design

Working together Boilers and heat pumps in harmony

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MARCH 2020

8

26

FEATURES

12

Heating Technology The hydrogen versus electrification debate is hampering investment in low carbon heat, believes Charlotte Owen. What is required is a combination of different approaches Decarbonising social housing is affordable with smart hybrid heat pumps, says Ian Rose. They can work in conjunction with gas boilers to reduce stress on the grid (14) As organisations look to reduce energy consumption and demand across their estates, CHP is proving an economic tool to improved efficiency in sites with high heat demand, says Mark Gibbons (16)

26

Smart Buildings Mark Dowson examines how one building in the north east is a living laboratory designed to enable continuous research and learning in the field of energy management As a younger workforce grows more digitally native, worker expectations evolve. Pradyumna Pandit explores why a comfortable work environment is a basic requirement (28)

Reaping the benefits from smart buildings will require cultural change, education and a change in the perception of high cost, believes Nick Sacke (30)

32 Water Management

When it comes to protecting commercial central heating systems adding value is crucial to demonstrate its widespread benefits. A total system approach offers the greatest chance of success, says Ian Roberts There is a growing need for advanced water treatment processes to address micropollutants and disinfection in water supply, say Beatrice Martin and Steffen Rüting (34)

37 Electric Vehicles

The EV battery journey will have profound effects on the supply chain, notably on the development of lightweight components, believes Christopher Black As the government looks to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles businesses are turning their attention to the infrastructure needs of EVs, says Andrew Toher (38)

REGULARS 06 News Update Many councils have little idea of how much energy they are using while the European Union is set to completely fail to meet its 2020 target of an energy reduction of 20 per cent from 1995 levels

10 The Warren Report The power sector has been decarbonising rapidly this century. But this is due more to energy efficiency than a switch to alternative supply sources

20 New Products Energy-efficient pre-insulated flexible pipe for community heating and a filterless fan for social housing are among this month’s products new to the market

21 The Fundamental Series: CPD Learning Neil Peacock takes energy managers through the options available for efficient and economic space heating including underfloor heating and radiant systems

25 View from the Top James Page believes that the proposals for the Future Homes consultation do not go far enough and may even be a retrograde step. They could be seen as a steer to provide the bare minimum

39 ESTA Viewpoint Net zero by 2050 is a daunting target for many organisations. Rajvant

Nijjhar believes that an end-to-end solution is required to take in all aspects of energy use and trading to allow end users the best possible opportunity to hit this target

40 Products in Action A bottling line saves energy costs while a state-of-the-art air conditioning system has been installed to bring comfort to a residential care home in Hereford

42 Talking Heads Data will be key to the energy management sector in the coming years. Joel Stark wants to make sure that his company continues its philosophy of ensuring customers get the very best from all this information

Follow us, ‘like us’ or visit us online to keep up to date with all the latest energy news and events www.eibi.co.uk MARCH 2020 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | 03

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Editor’s Opinion

Follow us on @ twitter.com/energyzine and twitter.com/markthrower1

No time for predictions

P

www.eibi.co.uk

The EiBI Team Editorial

redicting the future is always a dangerous

retirements, conversions to biomass and the growth

game. As the American commentator and

in wind capacity. But reductions in electricity demand

journalist, George Will, said: “The future

dwarfed all the others – helping to push down power

Managing Editor Mark Thrower tel: 01483 452854 Email: editor@eibi.co.uk Address: P. O. Box 825, Guildford GU4 8WQ

has a way of arriving unannounced.”

prices and environmental impacts.”

Advertising

Economists rarely get predictions of economic

That might be OK for the past, but what of future

development correct and politicians’ intentions are

demand? Government forecasts are for a return to

blown off course by events happening around the

increasing consumption post 2025. However, Imperial

world. Such as the coronavirus. Just a few weeks

College, perhaps knowing better than to make bold

ago only those with access to a particularly effective

predictions, takes a slightly different line. “Electricity

crystal ball would have foreseen such a global event.

demand may bottom out, and then begin growing

Now, it’s impossible to say what effect this might have

towards the end of the 2020s. But on the other hand,

on the economy and the energy sector.

they reckon “it may continue its gradual decline.” Very

But looking back on Government forecasts

wise to sit on the fence. The great unpredictable here is

from 2005 makes interesting reading. The Energy

the growth of electric vehicles that might require 8GW

White Paper in that year had reckoned that by

of extra capacity. But smart charging could cut that to

2020 electricity consumption would already have

below 4GW, according to National Grid.

increased by 15 per cent. In reality, it has decreased by

Now that the UK has made a commitment to reach

Sales Managers Chris Evans tel: 01889 577222 fax: 01889 579177 Email: chris@eibi.co.uk Address: 16-18 Hawkesyard Hall, Armitage Park, Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 1PU Russ Jackson tel: 01704 501090 fax: 01704 531090 Email: russ@eibi.co.uk Address: Argyle Business Centre, 8 Leicester Street, Southport, Lancashire PR9 0EZ Nathan Wood tel 01525 716 143 fax 01525 715 316 Email nathan@eibi.co.uk Address: 1b, Station Square Flitwick, Bedfordshire MK45 1DP

16 per cent. That is a forecasting exaggeration of over

net zero by 2050 predictions for future energy growth

30 per cent. This has been down to a huge increase

become somewhat irrelevant. We have to maintain that

in energy efficiency, according to Imperial College.

decline in energy consumption. An increase post 2025

Dr Iain Staffell, lead author of a recent report, said: “In

just won’t get us to that target. The future has arrived.

the past decade, we’ve seen unprecedented changes

This time announced loud and clear.

Classified sales

MANAGING EDITOR

Circulation

Mark Thrower

Sue Bethell Tel: 01889 577222 Email: circulation@eibi.co.uk

in Britain’s power system, which has transformed at a speed never seen before.

“Several factors made significant contributions to falling emissions including carbon prices, coal

Sharon Nutter Tel: 01889 577222 Email: classified@eibi.co.uk

Administration/ production Fran Critchlow Tel: 01889 577222 Email: info@eibi.co.uk

THIS MONTH’S COVER STORY Resource management company Veolia, working through its specialist energy performance contracting team, is now helping the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust save money and cut carbon emissions using wide-ranging energy efficiency services.

By delivering a 20-year energy performance contract (EPC) that will target savings of over £1m per year the company will implement a wide range of improvements at the 500-bed Rotherham Hospital.

Backed by the necessary investment and payback through the Carbon and Energy Fund Procurement framework, the EPC will now upgrade energy provision, reduce CO2 emissions by 49,620 tonnes and build long-term energy resilience.

See page 6 for more details Cover photo courtesy of Veolia UK & Ireland

Publishing Directors Chris Evans Russ Jackson Magazine Designer Tim Plummer For overseas readers or UK readers not qualifying for a free copy, annual subscription rates are £85 UK; £105 Europe airmail; £120 RoW. Single copies £10 each.

Published by: Pinede Publishing Ltd 16-18 Hawkesyard Hall, Armitage Park, Nr. Rugeley, Staffordshire WS15 1PU ISSN 0969 885X This issue includes photographs provided and paid for by suppliers

Printed by Precision Colour Printing Origination by Design and Media Solutions ABC Audited Circulation Jan-Dec 2019 12,175

04 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | MARCH 2020

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news update For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk

Auction of EU:ETS permits restarts The UK government has started auctioning carbon permit allowances again under the European emission trading scheme (EU:ETS) – fourteen months after the last such sale was cancelled owing to uncertainties over Brexit.

On March 4 just over 5.7m allowances were made available.

And an official timetable has been published, which is operating on a fortnightly basis until December 9. Over this period a total of well over 110m permits are officially set to be auctioned off.

This is in complete contrast to the UK response to potential involvement with the EU:ETS during 2019, when no auctions were organised, and legislation was passed permitting the government to replace the trading system with a new carbon tax post-Brexit (see EiBI April 2019).

Last spring the Committee on Climate Change was charged with making recommendations for other options to replace the EU:ETS (see EiBI June 2019).

Although it reported to Government last July, neither the report nor any formal Government response to it has yet been published.

Compliance with the EU:ETS has formed a key role in the initial salvoes from the European Union concerning the creation of an operational trading relationship with a post-Brexit UK. The bloc is demanding that a system of carbon pricing is implemented that is “at least as effective as the EU:ETS”, as part of requirements to maintain all existing European-wide environmental standards. Indeed French president Emmanuel Macron is pushing for a closer alignment, to ensure that the UK stays in alignment with Brussels, as the EU it introduces its own ambitious green deal.

• The UK government has just issued a record £5.6m in fines to be levied upon UK companies that have violated EU:ETS requirements. This is the largest batch of non-compliance fines to date. Among those said to be in breach include the low cost airline EasyJet and the luxury department store Harrods.

LOW LEVEL OF MONITORING AMONG LOCAL AUTHORITIES

Councils in dark over energy use Many councils in England have no idea how much energy they use, a new survey reveals. The findings make it “inconceivable” that they will become carbon neutral within 30 years, as the government has mandated.

According to the survey, 43 per cent of councils – 93 of the 214 local authorities that responded to a freedom of information request from electrical contractors’ trade body ECA – do not measure the energy they use in council-owned buildings, or know how much carbon they produce.

This is even though 265 (65 per cent) of councils have declared a climate emergency. And for the past quarter century, every housing authority has been required under the Home Energy Conservation Act to maintain an up-to-date plan on the relative energy efficiency of

homes in their area.

ECA energy adviser Luke Osborne said the findings were “highly concerning”. Without immediate changes, “it is inconceivable that councils are going to become carbon neutral in less than 30 years”, he said.

Despite 78 per cent of councils in the survey saying they are planning towards net zero operation by 2050, 47 per cent say they do not have

a strategy in place to reduce the carbon emissions from housing, offices and other buildings. Of the 49 councils in the survey that stated they would be carbon neutral by 2030, 11 do not know their current carbon footprint.

Council buildings pump out large amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2).

On average, a council HQ building emits 1,234 tonnes of CO2 a year, according to ECA. Overall, English council headquarters emit more than 250,000 tonnes of CO2 a year – the equivalent of 150,000 return flights from London to New York.

Many councils have older, energyinefficient buildings, said Osborne, but there are simple measures that could be implemented quickly, such as switching to LED lighting and monitoring occupancy levels. “There is a lot of rhetoric out there, but very few action plans,” he said.

Energy services to help Yorkshire NHS trust Resource management company Veolia, working through its specialist energy performance contracting team, is now helping the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust save money and cut carbon emissions using wide-ranging energy efficiency services.

By delivering a 20-year energy performance contract (EPC) that will target savings of over £1m per year the company will implement a wide range of improvements at the 500-bed Rotherham Hospital.

Backed by the necessary investment and payback through the Carbon and Energy Fund Procurement framework, the EPC will now upgrade energy provision, reduce CO2 emissions by 49,620 tonnes and build long term energy resilience.

Maintaining a modern patient care environment for the Trust, which treats over 430,000 patients each year, means that a secure and cost efficient energy supply is essential. To meet this energy demand and dramatically reduce the carbon footprint, the projects will cover the design, delivery, installation, commissioning and subsequent operation of combined heat and power plant, replacement of seven 40-year-old boilers, and installation of a chiller plant to provide effective air conditioning.

As good lighting levels have a positive effect on patient treatment and outcomes in the contract will upgrade the lighting to take advantage of the latest low energy and LED technology through the installation of 7,000 new fittings. Further energysaving measures will include insulation on pipes and valves, and a battery energy storage system. These energy saving measures will be guaranteed by Veolia who will also provide a comprehensive 20-year maintenance service.

06 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | MARCH 2020

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news update For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk

REGULATIONS TO BE UPDATED

IN BRIEF

‘Grandfathering’ set to be banned House builders will be banned from “grandfathering” building regulations energy efficiency standards, once new zero-carbon requirements are finally introduced in 2025. During the 2015 General Election campaign former Chancellor George Osborne had surprised practically everybody by axing plans to require all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016.

For decades, builders have been permitted to build to whatever regulatory standards were in existence when the local authority had given permission for construction. This means that larger building sites are still being built at the same unambitious energy levels that applied once any initial work on any part of the development had been undertaken.

However, during the Second Reading debate of the Domestic Premises (Energy Performance) Bill in the House of Lords, former environment secretary, Lord Deben, referred to the Government’s public consultation on upgrading the Regulations. He argued that: “From 2025, the new standards will come into operation on any house that is under construction, and not wait for people to have fulfilled their planning period. Otherwise, it will not be 2025 - as history tells us, it will be 2029 before the higher standards become commonplace.”

Expanded offering for relaunch

Energy Minister Kwasi Kwarteng (right) at the Sustainable Energy Association annual reception in the House of Commons, with new SEA boss Jade Lewis, both backing Lord Foster’s Domestic Premises (Energy Performance) Bill

Responding for the Government, junior energy minister, Lord Duncan of Springbank, told Lord Deben that: “I will give that commitment. This may not be in the consultation, but I think that would make perfect sense. We need dates to be meaningful, and 2025 is the meaningful date we are talking about here.”

The Bill in question is being promoted by Lord Foster, a former building regulations minister between 2013 and 2015. It seeks to ensure that

domestic properties have a minimum energy performance certificate rating of C by 2035. Originally introduced before the December election in the Commons by Conservative MP Sir David Amess, the Bill is likely to return for consideration by MPs this spring.

• Since making that commitment, Lord Duncan has been replaced as energy minister by Lord Younger.

However, later in his speech, Duncan confirmed that this proposal was now firm government policy.

Call for general taxation to fund energy efficiency Energy supply trade association, Energy UK has called for general taxation to fund a national energy efficiency programme focussed primarily on fuel poverty.

The suggestion is among 14 steps Energy UK says the Government could take in the upcoming Budget and its long-awaited energy white paper.

They include investing in largescale, low-carbon heating trials – covering both green gas and electrification; as well as introducing incentives to the development of large-scale energy storage, in a bid to increase flexibility across the energy system.

Responding to that announcement,

Energy UK’s interim chief executive Audrey Gallacher (left) said: “The UK power sector has been world-leading in reducing emissions and we stand ready to work together to help transform other sectors, like transport and heating, as well as our own.

“And we look forward to the forthcoming energy white paper and Budget where we hope to see measures that will allow the necessary innovation and investment to flow – and ensure that as a country we go further and faster towards net zero.”

Among the other 14 steps proposed

by Energy UK are: • build on the success of the Contracts for Difference scheme, by allowing the lowest cost, low carbon generation – onshore wind and solar power – to

compete in future auctions; • recognise the vital role a wide mix of generation technologies will play in maintaining a stable electricity grid in the transition to net-zero, providing a route to market and supporting innovation to enable continued investment in these assets; • support the completion of the smart meter rollout; • invest in large-scale, low-carbon heating trials to find the best local options for decarbonising heat; and • tighten building regulations to ensure all new properties are fit for the future; that they have a smart meter and access to EV charging infrastructure, and from 2025 be ready for a low carbon heating system or a connection to a heat network.

t-mac Technologies, the energy and building insight specialist, has relaunched into the metering and controls marketplace with an expanded offering for microbusinesses and large firms.

Its next-generation, metering, monitoring and control technologies were previously only available to mid-sized businesses and can now be accessed by all organisations across all sectors including manufacturing, retail, commercial and education. t-mac’s IoT technology connects building hardware systems with dynamic software to enable users to remotely manage key utilities including electricity, gas and water, as well as heating and ventilation systems. t-mac is now part of the Majestic Securities Group of businesses, which also includes Energy Intelligence Centre Ltd and several other energy and water specialists.

Energy from waste set for Midlands Vital Energi has signed a contract to design, build and operate an energy from waste facility near Burton Upon Trent that is set to contribute to greening the grid by generating 18MWe of electricity from non-recyclable Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF).

The facility will also make a valuable contribution to diverting waste from landfill with the capability of processing 169,000 tonnes of non-recyclable Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) each year.

The RDF is combusted, and the syngas produced during this process is then consumed by the boiler to create steam which then drives the 18MWe steam turbine which generates electricity. An additional benefit of the project is that Vital Energi has designed the facility so the heat generated can be used to provide heat and hot water for nearby developments should demand arise.

The new facility is scheduled to be completed by 2023 and Vital Energi will have a 30-year concession to operate the facility.

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news update For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk

Consultation on future of UK heat networks The UK Government has published a consultation on heat networks in advance of dedicated legislation and awarded £40m to seven projects in the first and second round of funding through the Heat Network Investment Project.

Heat networks deliver cost effective, low carbon heat, in the form of hot water or steam, from a central point of generation to the end user through a network of insulated pipes. There are already around 500,000 customers receiving heat through heat networks, equating to around 14,000 heat networks. The CCC (Committee on Climate Change) has set a target to grow this to serve 1.5m homes in 2030, making £320m available in funding through the Heat Network Investment Project to grow the industry.

Meanwhile, the Scottish Government has released its budget, inclusive of business rates relief guaranteed until 2032, to provide investor certainty and committed to £50m for the Heat Networks Early Adopters Challenge Fund.

Ian Calvert, director of the Association for Decentralised Energy, said: “For too long, the heat sector has played second fiddle in the fight against climate change, overlooked for more familiar technologies like electric cars and wind turbines. The announcement that the Government will bring forward its consultation on heat networks is most welcome. We are delighted to see £40m invested in seven projects that will bring jobs and unleash investment up and down the country. Business rates relief is a crucial step towards levelling the playing field on the rates and fees levied on heat networks compared to other essential utilities.” Significantly, these announcements signal the considerable potential that heat decarbonisation can make to reaching the net zero target. The Heat Network Industry Council, which the ADE has been convening, will release its offer to Government shortly and this consultation sets a strong direction for industry and Government working together to grow this underrated sector.

CONSUMPTION IN EUROPEAN UNION ABOVE CONSUMPTION GOAL

EU set to miss 2020 energy target The European Union is set to completely fail to meet its 2020 target of an energy reduction of 20 per cent from 1995 levels. Latest Eurostat figures reveal that primary energy consumption last year was 4.9 per cent above the efficiency target.

Final energy consumption figures – measured at consumer level- are slightly more encouraging, but still remain 3.2 per cent above benchmark.

Poland and Spain are the worst offenders, according to Eurostat figures. Their performances have worsened by 13.7 per cent and 7.5 per cent respectively.

The official European Environment Agency has long been concerned that lack of purposeful national energy saving policies is placing the EU at “risk of not meeting” its 2020 energy efficiency targets. “This worrying trend is most prevalent in the buildings sector”, the agency warns. “Final energy consumption has

increased within buildings by 8.3 per cent.” This is acknowledged to be the largest single sector, responsible for 45 per cent of energy usage.

Projections for 2030 don’t look good either. According to the European Commission, energy efficiency targets currently planned by national governments (including the UK) leave a gap of 6.2 per cent versus the agreed 32.5 per cent energy saving benchmark agreed for 2030.

“Energy Efficiency First is the

vital principle in the clean energy transition,” Kadri Simson (left), the EU’s new energy commissioner, has told European Parliamentarians.

“Improving energy efficiency of buildings will be an obvious place to start. The European Green Deal will aim to triple the annual rate of renovation, which currently stands at 1 to 2 per cent of the building stock.

“I want to do more to ensure it applies in practice,” she added.

She intends to “provide concrete guidelines to member states” in order to mainstream energy efficiency “into all levels of policy making.”

“Europe is about to blow its target for cutting energy waste,” warns Clémence Hutin of Friends of the Earth. “This is the biggest miss of all the EU’s climate related targets due to de delivered this year. There is still a clear lack of political will, even though energy efficiency is the foundation of the energy transition.”

Private finance ‘critical to achieving net zero’ Private finance will be “critical” to creating a net zero economy, according to Mark Carney, the finance adviser to the Prime Minister for COP26.

In a speech following the announcement of his appointment, Carney, who also governor of the Bank of England, stressed that “today is all about action” from the private financial sector, as well as from regulators, governments and countries.

“Achieving net zero will require a whole economy transition- every company, every bank, every insurer and investor will have to adjust their business models,” Carney said, adding that this could turn an existential risk into “the greatest commercial

opportunity of our time”.

Companies, banks, insurers, pension funds and investors will increasingly be expected to develop and disclose their transition plans, which could mean setting a net zero target by a specific date, assessment and disclosure of how the transition to a net zero business model will impact strategy, short term milestones to track progress and details of governance, including whether executive compensation is tied to success and how risks are managed at the board level.

The Bank of England will stress test its major banks and insurers against different climate pathways, including the “catastrophic” business-as-usual scenario and the “ideal – but still challenging” transition to net zero by 2050, as well as the late policy action scenario.

Low-carbon generation tops 50 per cent in 2019 Low-carbon generation accounted for more than 51 per cent of the electricity supplied in the UK in 2019, a 2 per cent growth on 2018 levels, according to statistics from the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy.

BEIS’ December 2019 energy statistics revealed that low-carbon generation reached a record share of 51.6 per cent of the UK’s electricity generation mix, up from 49.6 per

cent in 2018. The 2 per cent growth is attributed to new capacity in wind, solar, hydro and bioenergy. Previous Government statistics revealed that the renewables share of generation reached 33 per cent in 2018, an increase of 3.9 per cent compared to 2017.

Renewable energy production rose by 4.9 per cent in 2019, with bioenergy outputs growing by 2.1 per cent and “a record high level” of wind and solar

capacity delivering an 11 per cent growth. Nuclear output fell by 14 per cent - the lowest level since 2008 – due to the summer power outages.

Production of coal fell to new record lows, recording a 14 per cent decline in 2019, but oil production actually rose by almost 2 per cent, largely due to new production from the Clair Ridge field which opened in late 2018.

Gas production was down 1.3 per cent in 2019.

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news update For all the latest news stories visit www.eibi.co.uk

Heat as a service trials held across UK cities

POWER SECTOR EMISSIONS FALL

Demand decline drives carbon cuts A decrease in power demand was the single biggest driver of emissions decline in the electricity sector in the past decade.

From 2010 until the end of last year carbon emissions from the UK’s power sector fell by around two thirds, as the industry rapidly shifted away from coal and natural gas towards renewables such as wind and solar, according to a study undertaken by Imperial College London and commissioned by energy supplier, Drax.

The report detailed how CO2 emissions from the power sector stood at around 161m tonnes in 2010, but subsequently fell to 54m tonnes last year, as output from new wind and solar projects surged and coal plants were shut.

Electricity demand, which fell 13 per cent over the decade, delivered around a third of the decline in carbon emissions in the sector over the period, while wind energy delivered a quarter of the reduction.

The fall in power demand came

even as the population grew by 7 per cent and GDP rose by a quarter as measures such as more energyefficient lighting, manufacturing and other efficiency measures took hold.

However, this decline could be reversed in the years ahead with the rise in the use of electric vehicles and household heat pumps, meaning further decarbonisation cannot be achieved through a reduction in demand alone.

The report warns that with the greater reliance on weather-

dependent sources ‘system operability will undoubtedly become more difficult in the years to come’, with a need for increased system support services and greater flexibility.

Dr Iain Staffell of Imperial College London and lead author of the report, said: “In the past decade, we’ve seen unprecedented changes in Britain’s power system, which has transformed at a speed never seen before.

“Several factors made significant contributions to falling emissions including carbon prices, coal retirements, conversions to biomass and the growth in wind capacity.

But reductions in electricity demand dwarfed all the others – helping to push down power prices and environmental impacts.

“If this pace of change can be maintained, renewables could provide more than half Britain’s electricity by the end of this decade and the power system could be practically carbon free.”

Buildings should be recycled to reach net zero

Current government tax structures incentivise the demolition of buildings that should instead be recycled in order to reach net zero.

That’s the suggestion from the Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission, which is an independent body set up to advise the government on how to promote high-quality design in developing

new homes and neighbourhoods.

It claims existing buildings should be taxed more fairly, noting VAT is currently charged at 20 per cent on repair, maintenance and adaptation work to existing buildings – it says this contrasts with new builds, which are not charged VAT. This means in many cases it is cheaper to knock a building down

and rebuild it rather than retrofit it, even though the former may be more environmentally intensive – the report says ‘the greenest building is the one that is already built’ and highlights as the built environment sector is currently responsible for up to 40 per cent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, more needs to be done to encourage greener practices.

It notes building a new twobedroom house emits the equivalent of 80 tonnes of carbon dioxide, whereas refurbishment emits only eight tonnes on average.

The report states: “It is desirable to make better use of existing buildings in city centres given not only the colossal challenges facing traditional urban-based business but critically the need to better use finite natural resources. We want to dispel the perception that renovation represents poor value for money in comparison with demolition and reconstruction.”

UK energy companies Bristol Energy and Baxi Heating have completed year-long trials funded by the Department of Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to explore whether offering heat as a service could drive demand for lowcarbon heating solutions in the UK’s domestic building stock.

The two energy companies partnered with Energy Systems Catapult to trial Living Labs, whereby 100 homes across Newcastle, Manchester, the West Midlands, Gloucestershire and Bridgend in Wales were fitted with smart heating systems.

The aim of the trial was to garner how the public would interact with the systems, due to many prioritising comfort and cost over whether or not the heat source is low carbon. In response, the companies trialled selling “heat-asa-service”, offering a “Heat Plan” where consumers purchased ‘hours of warmth’ rather than units of energy (kWh). This enabled the households to schedule and budget for heating and were offered a fixed price based on data about the thermal efficiency of their home and the number of hours of warmth needed by every customer each week.

According to Energy Systems Catapult, the accessibility and ease of the smart heating systems could lead to more willingness amongst the public to adopt low-carbon heating.

Energy Systems Catapult’s consumer insight business lead Dr Matt Lipson said: “Consumers have concerns about their ability to get warm and comfortable at an affordable price and how to fix the system if it breaks down. Yet our research clearly shows that people care more about heating outcomes – such as getting warm and comfortable - than which device or system delivers the heat.

“If people have the peace of mind that heat-as-a-service will deliver the comfort they want at a price they can afford…then when it comes time to replace their gas boiler, they will be more confident of switching to a low carbon heating system like a heat pump, district heat network or hydrogen boiler.”

MARCH 2020 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | 09

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THE WARREN REPORT

03.20 Andrew Warren is chairman of the British Energy Efficiency Federation

It may be under-valued but efficiency provides a win-win The power sector has been decarbonising rapidly this century. But this is due more to energy efficiency than a switch to alternative supply sources

B

reathless headlines greeted the welcome news that, since 2010, the UK has been decarbonising emissions from the power sector at a faster rate than anywhere else in the world. The rejoicing was prompted by a new survey “Electric Insights” issued by Imperial College London.

Cue the inevitable pictures of windmills and biomass power stations. Cue intense concentration by commentators about how the country’s generators have led the transition away from coal and gas to renewable sources.

Sadly, nobody chose to illustrate the story with pictures of LED lighting, or of super-efficient electrolysis components.

Which is very misleading. Because statistically, the biggest decarbonising driver of the lot has not been to do with switching supply sources. It has happened entirely as a result of investments in more energy-efficient technology.

As the Imperial College report concludes: “It should be of little surprise that carbon pricing, coal and wind were big drivers (of change). However, these were all dwarfed by reductions in demand – reinforcing the often-overlooked mantra that efficiency is the ‘first fuel’ that should be considered.

“But, whereas carbon prices and coal retirements pushed up wholesale power prices, efficiency improvements reduced them. Demand reductions genuinely pushed down both prices and environmental impact. This is a rare winwin.”

Throughout this century primary energy consumption in the UK has been falling. And falling. And falling. It is now

over 20 per cent lower than it was in 2000. In the case of the main heating fuel, natural gas, the impact has been even more pronounced. Sales have dropped by approaching one-third.

Largely due to better insulation and more efficient boilers and heating systems.

Yet there has long been an underlying assumption that the trend towards decarbonising the economy means that electricity will become responsible for a larger percentage of the fuel mix.

That is undeniably occurring. This presumption has led to tax breaks galore offered up to suppliers - contracts for difference, depletion allowances, carbon floor prices, and capacity market auctions. No equivalents exist for the demand side investments.

But the critical question is surely: what is the total size of the overall energy market likely to be?

Attempts to peer into a crystal ball half a century ahead are always fraught. As recently as 2010, the incoming Conservativeled government was officially planning on the basis of a possible “doubling, even tripling” of electricity consumption by 2050.

Even then, in practice electricity generation was already falling year on year.

Forecasting exaggeration of over 30 per cent The 2005 Energy White Paper had reckoned that by 2020 electricity consumption would already have increased by 15 per cent. In reality, it has decreased by 16 per cent. That is a forecasting exaggeration of over 30 per cent.

Given that between them the two serious new nuclear power station complexes – Hinkley Point C and Sizewell C – were both planned in that 2005 White Paper to deal quite specifically with this anticipated 15 per cent demand increase, it is little wonder that their interminable construction delays have not led to any capacity worries whatsoever.

Today’s official forecasters in the Business Department are now working from a far lower initial consumption baseline.

Past experience has made the gung-ho a little more chastened.

Currently primary energy demand is officially forecast to keep falling, by a further 11 per cent to 2025.

But after that, apparently we shall revert to the bad old ways.

The Government forecasters reckon that we shall return to the world as they used to know it. The decline in consumption will suddenly cease, and within ten years it will be back not just to today’s levels, but to a whole 2 per cent more.

‘It remains puzzling just how little political attention is being given to how and where these crucial savings are occurring’

Interestingly, the Imperial College analysts are far more equivocal about likely electricity consumption trends. On the one hand, they state that: “Electricity demand may bottom out, and then begin growing towards the end of the 2020s. But on the other hand, they reckon “it may continue its gradual decline.”

Proponents of big new electric power sources eagerly point to road transport sector growth. But National Grid keeps saying the power system can cope with an overnight boom in electric vehicles (EVs), and that the extra generation capacity required to handle millions of vehicles is no big deal.

Nine million electric vehicles on UK roads might require 8GW of extra power generation capacity if people charge them up when they like. But smart charging could cut that to well below 4GW, according to National Grid’s EV lead, Graeme Cooper.

The firm’s modelling concludes that “not a tremendous amount of new generation is needed”, so long as energy companies “marry up the challenge of the generation and the wires to get the generation in the right place.”

So, even if increases in electric vehicles meet the most aggressive scenarios, National Grid’s modelling suggests the transmission system will not require a “wholesale upgrade”.

Given how critical the demand side of the energy equation is proving to be, it remains puzzling just how little political attention is being given to how and where these crucial savings are occurring - and then to realising the many unfulfilled potentials.

Hopefully, the March 11 Budget will kick-start genuine action. As the Imperial College researchers phrase it, the “first fuel” offers genuinely rare win-win opportunities. 

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eibi.co.uk/enquiries Enter 5

Heating Technology

Charlotte Owen is policy officer at the Association for Decentralised Energy

For further information on Association for Decentralised Energy visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 126

Make or break for heat networks The hydrogen versus electrification debate is hampering investment in low carbon heat, believes Charlotte Owen. What is required is a combination of different approaches

T

he UK heat networks industry is on the cusp of a make, break or stagnate moment – and is indicative of many other low-carbon sectors in the UK. With policy signals a confusing mix, the publication of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s longawaited consultation on the market framework for heat networks is a breath of fresh air, and a reminder that low carbon heating remains firmly on the government’s agenda.

Right now, if you speak to anyone within the heat networks industry they will probably speak of uncertainty and risk. With the future of the Renewable Heat Incentive uncertain, the £320m Heat Networks Investment Project coming to a close in 2021, and the confusing signal that is the current draft of Standard Assessment Procedure and Part L; the future of the low-carbon heating market is by no means certain.

This year, HM Government will publish its Heat Decarbonisation Roadmap, and many within industry are looking to this to settle the debate between hydrogen and electrification. Instead, I would like to see HM Government commit to a more robust approach; a ‘patchwork’ approach, where local actors drive decision-making about the most appropriate local solution, expanding the conversation beyond just electrification and hydrogen.

As someone in the heat networks sector who is frequently immersed in the discussion but on neither ‘side’, it is easy to see how unhelpful playing these two paths at odds with one another can be. These two solutions are sometimes pegged as mutually exclusive pathways, when in fact a combination of the two, alongside solutions including heat networks, biomass, solar thermal, bioLPG and geothermal, will play a role.

But at roundtables and working groups, discussion frequently comes back to the old debate, with conversation about key policy asks faltering at this point. This is not the fault of industry alone. The

The future of the low-carbon heating market is by no means certain

government and academia spur on the debate about which single pathway to take, promoting an unhelpful narrative that only one of these two pathways will ‘win’ in the end. Though perhaps a tactic to fast track innovation as companies bid to be on the winning side, the counter-impact is that it’s not only the conversation that is faltering – it’s investment.

The insinuation that one fuel or tech will ‘win’, and one will ‘lose’, fosters uncertainty – and uncertainty underpins risk. Heating solutions are mid-to-long-term investments, but the fear of backing the wrong horse and investing in future stranded assets is preventing these decisions from being made at all.

However, this is no single horse that’s going to win – or at least there

shouldn’t be if consumers are placed at the heart of decision-making. I prefer to think instead of a chariot crossing the net zero finish line, pulled by multiple horses, perhaps with Greta Thunberg or Sir David Attenborough at the helm.

Heating isn’t that simple The reason there isn’t going to be one single winner is because heating isn’t that simple. The energy efficiency of buildings, availability of waste heat, access to outside space, presence of ambient heat, building fabric, existing gas grid connections, emissions, industrialisation, temperature demand, density, size of electric cabling and many other factors, all affect the viability of certain options.

The debate about the future of how

we heat our homes and buildings needs to be taken from a national level to a local level and encompass fuels and technologies beyond just hydrogen and electrification.

Local actors are well placed to take a view of their area, identify opportunities, and prioritise the key values of the area to make a decision about the most appropriate decarbonisation pathway.

Indeed, if you dare wade into the hydrogen discussion, you’ll find that already we see discussion of hydrogen ‘zones’, where particular areas of the country are expected to produce and use hydrogen. This is something we see in the heat networks industry too, as heat networks are particularly suited to dense, urban areas.

Heating, including hydrogen, will provide an integral role in helping to decarbonise and safeguard our electricity grid. By working in partnership with the low-carbon heating industry, distribution network operators could help to identify the least cost pathways for an area, looking at the impact that different pathways would have on the need for grid reinforcement, considering the expected impact of peak demand on the carbon intensity of generation, and identifying which local pathway helps to reduce overall consumer costs.

The Government needs to provide certainty to industry that it will not artificially pick a winner, and an acknowledgement that the most appropriate decarbonisation pathway will differ across the UK. In providing this certainty that investment will not be locked out, it then allows industry to begin playing a clear role in identifying and shaping local decarbonisation pathways alongside consumers. It’s only by policy making investment in low carbon solutions a clear business interest that we will see this investment take off. The solution?

A national framework which allows national government policy to be directed at a local level, creating clear investment pipelines. 

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Heating Technology

Ian Rose is professional services director at PassivSystems

For further information on PassivSystems visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 127

Hybrids ready to take stock Decarbonising social housing is affordable with smart hybrid heat pumps, says Ian Rose. They can work in conjunction with gas boilers to reduce stress on the grid

W

hile decarbonisation of the UK’s domestic heating is one of the country’s most challenging problems, only 5 per cent of the energy used to heat our homes is from low-carbon sources. Smart hybrid heating systems, however, offer a practical and affordable pathway to help achieve the transition.

The introduction of the Future Homes Standard in 2025 mandates the use of low-carbon heating for all new-build homes in England.

However, there are over 4m social homes in the UK that need to move away from fossil fuels if we are to achieve our net-zero ambitions. For social landlords, how they transition their housing stock while continuing to deliver social value and comfort for their tenants is a particularly difficult challenge.

All-electric heat pumps offer a low-carbon technology solution to replace traditional boilers, but the cost to retrofit the UK’s 4m social homes is estimated by Capital Economics to be almost £35bn. With most homes expected to undergo two or three boiler replacements before 2050, the UK needs a transition plan that avoids leaving registered social landlords (RSLs) with stranded heating assets and guards against saddling them with unaffordable capital costs.

Adopting a hybrid heating approach offers an effective pathway to achieving low carbon heating while helping to address concerns over costs and stranded assets.

Hybrid heating systems operate an electric heat pump alongside the existing gas or oil boiler to offer benefits to both RSLs and tenants.

Typically, the hybrid approach is easier and cheaper to retrofit than an all-electric heat pump. It does not require a change to the existing radiators and a smaller heat pump can be fitted. It also opens up the opportunity for RSLs to benefit from future demand side response market payments by using smart, integrated technology to dynamically switch

Smart controls can allow fast and easy switching between gas and electric supply

between the use of electricity and gas. This reduces demands on the electricity grid at peak times and turns homes into ‘peaking plant’ able to reduce the amount of electricity in use when the grid is under stress.

Flexibility to support the grid has the potential to bring financial benefit to RSLs so a hybrid, dual-fuel approach to low-carbon heating can lead to valuable additional income.

This approach helps to reduce bills for tenants and lower carbon emissions, but without compromising comfort levels in the home.

The scope of deployment is significant, as highlighted in a recent report by the Energy Networks Association, ‘Pathways to Net-Zero’1.

The report predicts the installation of 22m hybrid heating systems by 2050 in its ‘balanced scenario’ which

uses low carbon and renewable gases in combination with low carbon electricity. The result: hybrid heating systems become the dominant option for heating buildings.

Electrifying our domestic heating and transport systems will increase electricity demand. BEIS forecasts that we will require 80GW of new capacity by 2035, a big increase from the current capacity of around 100GW.

Hybrid with smart controls Hybrid heating systems using smart controls offer the opportunity to switch between the gas and electric supply. These systems can deliver flexible demand response and help to decarbonise domestic heating with no increase in peak load. By deploying this approach at scale

using multiple properties, RSLs have the potential to benefit from the financial value inherent in residential demand response.

A typical scenario would see the heat pump warm the house using cheap electricity overnight ready for the morning. Come mid-afternoon, the smart controls call on the gas boiler to quickly increase heat in the property. During early evening, the smart control system can switch between the gas boiler and electric heat pump to avoid adding to peak electricity demands.

Hybrid heating systems can move as much demand to gas as they like – they have complete load flexibility.

With a gas boiler always available, the system need never compromise the comfort of the occupants.

A smart control system, developed

by PassivSystems, enables switching between the two heat sources to automatically use the most costeffective heating mode at any time of the day or night.

The control unit uses machine learning to understand the thermal characteristics of the property and create a mathematical model of the house and heating system.

The smart control system combines the thermal model with weather data to choose exactly the right approach to keep the heat pump running gently while ramping up slowly throughout the night using a dynamically controlled flow temperature. This allows the house to cool slightly, reducing thermal losses, while keeping the heat pump running at a temperature that is as low and efficient as possible.

Machine learning enables the system to automatically tune the algorithm to the properties of the house. For example, the system would choose continuous heating for a slow responding system such as underfloor heating or turn off for some of the night if the house loses heat quickly.

Hybrid heating is proven technology, which is in use today.

Unlocking the value of demand response capacity in domestic homes, enabled by hybrid heating, would provide the means for RSLs to fund their transition to low carbon heat. 

Reference 1) https://www.ft.com/content/9cba0522-f56411e9-b018-3ef8794b17c6#comments-anchor

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Heating Technology

Mark Gibbons is Remeha CHP’s national sales manager

For further information on Remeha visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 128

Balancing your goals with CHP As organisations look to reduce energy consumption and demand across their estates, CHP is proving an economic tool to improved efficiency in sites with high heat demand, says Mark Gibbons

I

t is well established that energy efficiency is one of the long-term economic tools that can help us meet our environmental targets.

Certainly, energy managers, who must balance improved building energy performance with reduced operational costs, often cite improved energy efficiency as one of the biggest opportunities to effect change.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), on a global scale, energy efficiency could enable the world to achieve more than 40 per cent of the emissions cuts required to reach its climate goals. Further, the IEA estimated that energy-saving measures can yield benefits of up to 2.5 times the value of avoided energy costs. Yet, while research shows that energy efficiency could be improving by 3 per cent a year, the rate of progress is on a downward trajectory.

So how to reverse this trend?

Buildings are a good starting point as they account for 30-40 per cent of the world’s emissions. And in buildings with high demand for heat and power, one technology that is proving an economic tool to more efficient energy use is combined heat and power (CHP).

Boosting the financial savings and accelerating the return on investment still further is CHP’s ability to generate electricity onsite at gas prices. Most CHP units are currently fuelled by natural gas, which has been consistently cheaper than grid electricity in recent years. The wide ‘spark spread’ between electricity and gas prices remains positive, enabling organisations to use this lower cost electricity on site to mitigate energy costs. All of which makes the commercial case for CHP still more compelling.

So how and where is CHP being used? One example is the recent CHP installation at Macclesfield Leisure Centre by consulting engineers SVM-Building Services Design and project M&E Contractor CM Oxendale.

Pairing CHP with high-efficiency boilers is an effective means for ensuring that the system performs to it its full potential

Macclesfield Leisure Centre is owned by Cheshire East Council.

As the Council has the ambition to become carbon neutral by 2025, its energy department is keen to explore ways of reducing environmental impact across its estates.

Intensive users of energy Leisure centres are typically intensive users of energy, with related costs accounting for 30 per cent of the complex’s total operational costs – greater than in any other industry sector. CHP is well suited to sites like Macclesfield Leisure Centre as the site is open almost every day of the year and has a 25m swimming pool as well as a training pool to heat.

Cheshire East Council had a programme in place to upgrade the existing failing boiler plant as part of multiple refurbishment projects at the Centre.

“CHP was the obvious choice for us when the opportunity became available for the Council energy department to improve the efficiency of Macclesfield Leisure Centre,” said Colin Farrelly, energy manager at Cheshire East Council.

Pairing CHP with highefficiency condensing boilers is an effective means of ensuring that the system performs to its full potential. The design scoped by SVM-BSD for Engie, the council’s principal contractor and FM provider, identified a Remeha The commercial case for CHP remains compelling

R-Gen 50/100kW ultra-low NOx condensing CHP unit working in conjunction with six Remeha Quinta Ace 160 high-efficiency condensing boilers.

“Having one point of contact certainly makes life much easier,” said Paul Towler, director at CM Oxendale. “A major benefit for us is that the Remeha team have an in-depth understanding of both technologies which has resulted in a well-integrated system. They supported us throughout, from the design stage and hydraulic arrangement to the final ‘fine tuning’ of the system.”

As CHP is a specialist piece of plant, it’s advisable to implement a service plan, usually with the supplier, to maximise the lifetime efficiency of the CHP and related benefits. Cheshire East Council has implemented a Remeha service plan to ensure that the CHP operates continuously and at optimum performance.

At Macclesfield Leisure Centre, the CHP is running continuously, using all of the heat it generates to heat the swimming pool, provide space heating throughout the leisure centre, feed the Air Handling Units and serve the hot water demand.

Indeed, the scheme has proved so successful that the Council is installing a second Remeha R-Gen CHP unit in another of its leisure centres imminently.

“Since 2009, when Cheshire East Council was established as part of structural changes, the local authority has reduced its CO2 by 40 per cent,” Farrelly added.

“Alongside our environmental goals, the council has the ambition to improve the health of residents by providing them with access to leisure centres. So, it makes perfect sense to make them as efficient as possible – and CHP is helping us do just that. The leisure centre is one of our largest energy users and, as such, the impact of applying CHP will be significant across the whole estate.” 

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Heating Technology For further information on products and services visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter the appropriate online enquiry number

Direct fired water heaters meet ErP regulations

Enhanced range of cascade accessories Ideal Commercial has enhanced its range of cascade accessories with the introduction of magnetic low loss header and cascade insulation kits.

The Magnetic low loss header kit introduces magnetic filtration to the Evomax 2 accessories range.

Available in four different sizes to match Evomax 2 header kits, the magnetic low loss header offers an additional approach to hydraulic separation while providing a solution that is space efficient by combining a low loss header and a magnetic filter. Butterfly valves for system isolation are available as an optional extra. The magnetic low loss header supplements the low loss header and brazed plate heat exchanger hydraulic separation options already available for Evomax 2 Cascade installations.

Insulation on a cascade installation does improve operational efficiency. Following feedback from customers, the new insulation kits improve on the insulation previously offered on Evomax and Evomax 2 Header kits. Made from robust expanded polypropylene, the insulation kits consist of modular sections which are combined to encase a range of headers, including the low loss and magnetic low loss headers. 

ONLINE ENQUIRY 130

Commercial boiler manufacturer Hamworthy Heating has extended its Dorchester range of direct fired water heaters to include the DR-LL and DR-XP. The Dorchester DR-LL is an atmospheric low NOx water heater which was specifically designed to meet the requirements of ErP regulations and refurbishment projects alike: It can be used on old systems with existing flues (the draught diverter will require changing), saving on costs for flue replacement. If the existing system is a flue cascade, then the appliances and draught diverter will require replacement to comply with BS6644 & IGEM UP10. The integral stainless steel burner produces low NOx emissions (34-45 mg/kWh) and benefits from an automatic gas/air premix burning system for increased efficiency. The water heater is available as three models with continuous outputs (50°C delta T) of 850 to 1600 litres/hour, recovery rates from 12 to 23 minutes and a working pressure of up to 8 bar help to meet the continuous demands of bigger (taller) buildings.

An optional unvented supply kit (up to 3.5 bar working pressure) which

enables direct connection to the water hot supply reduces the risks associated with cold water storage tanks. It delivers better hot water performance at taps as well as higher hot water pressures in low level buildings.

The Dorchester DR-XP is a condensing water heater with stainless steel tank available in two models (3850kW input) of 184 litres. With an ErP efficiency of 91 per cent - 93 per cent and NOx emissions ≤ 53 mg/kWh, it is compliant with the latest ErP regulations that were further restricted in 2018.

Thanks to the grade 444 stainless steel tanks, no anodes are required to protect it from corrosion. This makes it a great choice for soft water areas. With an operation temperature of up to 85°C, stored hot water stretches further (up to 15 per cent) thanks to mixing. As fully room-sealed appliance, it can be sited in small compartmental areas. Flexible flue options mean the water heater can be installed almost anywhere. For easy servicing, all components are accessible from the front.

Both water heaters have an easyto-use LCD display and are compatible with natural gas. They deliver an independent hot water supply from the main boiler and hence increase the efficiency of a heating/hot water system. 

ONLINE ENQUIRY 129

Instantaneous electric water heaters come to the UK market Stiebel Eltron has launched in to the UK market two new compact instantaneous electric water heaters as part of its DCE range.

The DCE-X Premium offers users temperatures that can be set between 20 and 60 degrees in 0.5-degree intervals. The system also has two memory keys installed so that it can remember frequently used temperature settings and activate an ‘eco’ mode which offers increased energy efficiency. Giving users complete control over their heating preferences and energy bills.

Each unit is held within a spacesaving housing and has been designed with rapid installation technology, making it the ideal solution to highdensity, city-centre developments in which space is at a premium.

The range also includes the DCE-S Plus which offers economical hot water and high energy efficiency for both residential and commercial use.

Mark McManus, managing director of Stiebel Eltron UK, said: “Customers, whether they be specifiers or residents themselves, are increasingly looking for efficient space-saving alternatives

for their water heating systems.

Particularly as demand for smaller homes in central locations increases.

“This new range has been created with this in mind. Whether the customer is looking for a standard unit for constant water temperature, or a higher-end system with more control features, we have a solution available as a part of this range.

“Sustainable water heating solutions

like the DCE range will play a key role in the decarbonisation of UK homes by offering the opportunity to supply hot water powered by electricity generated by renewable means.

“With the climate crisis deepening and decarbonisation targets getting tighter, it’s vital that we embrace this approach wherever we can.” 

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Reduce the energy consumption of your buildings.

Achieve your energy saving

Retrofitting fans Retrofitting fans TheThe power

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New Products

For further information on products and services visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter the appropriate online enquiry number

Efficient ventilation for social housing The intelligent Lo-Carbon Response 7 from Vent-Axia is a new filterless unitary fan designed to meet the specific needs of social housing. Replacing Vent-Axia’s original Lo-Carbon Response, the new Lo-Carbon Response 7 fan features a series of new and improved features to meet the changing needs of the sector including: an ultra-low profile for discreet installation; increased airflow performance; a new digital control menu; as well as a 7-year guarantee.

The Response 7 range boasts powerful, quiet, efficient ventilation, helping provide good indoor air quality (IAQ) and comfort for residents, while being quick and easy to install, low maintenance and reliable.

With four new models: Response 7, Response 7 Pro, Response 7 SELV, Response 7 Pro SELV, the range boasts flexibility built into the digital control menu allowing it to meet the variety of needs encountered in social housing properties by offering, continuous ventilation, as well as constant volume and SELV options. Plus, the Response 7 (IPX7-rated on SELV models) is backwards compatible with previous Response installations, so it is easy to replace old units.

The powerful Response 7 is ideal for properties where a longer duct run is needed since the fan speed can simply be turned up as required, providing efficient ventilation while still maintaining low noise levels.

The addition of Smart Sense intelligent technology to the new Response 7 means a quick and easy install for electricians due to its simple alpha numeric LED display which is clear, easy to read and has a three-button menu for ONLINE ENQUIRY 102 commissioning and data gathering.

Advanced range of weather sensors OTT Hydromet has launched a suite of weather monitoring sensors that are suitable for the construction and building management sectors.

“Our latest Lufft sensors, the WS Series, deliver professional-grade weather data with instruments that are extremely compact, rugged and reliable,” says OTT managing director Nigel Grimsley. “In the past, customers would have had to purchase multiple sensors to monitor outdoor conditions effectively, but this can now be achieved with substantially less costly devices; many of which would fit in the palm of your hand.”

Weather monitors are routinely employed at construction sites to check that conditions are suitable for work such as pouring concrete or crane operation, but with facility managers looking for more sustainable solutions, Grimsley believes the big market is now building management.

OTT Hydromet is a specialist manufacturer of smart weather instruments for environmental monitoring and building automation purposes. With no moving parts, OTT’s comprehensive range of compact, low-energy multi-parameter sensors offer long-term reliability for almost any weather parameter with easy integration into building control and HVAC systems.

The WS range offers the ability to select from parameters including temperature, relative humidity, air pressure, ONLINE ENQUIRY 103 wind velocity / direction, and precipitation.

Pre-insulated pipe systems for community heating schemes Specialist pipe solutions provider, Flexenergy, has widened its range of energy efficient, pre-insulated flexible pipe systems to meet the requirements of higher temperature and higher pressure community heating schemes.

The company, a key supplier of pre-insulated pipe technology for more than 30 years, has added PEX (cross-linked polyethylene) pipe to its PB (polybutylene) range to meet growing demand for non-corrosive solutions in the district heating market.

Three new pipe products are available from Flexenergy: HeatFlex, FibreFlex and FibreFlex Pro, all of which have a minimum service life of 30 years.

HeatFlex is suitable for most applications up to

eibi.co.uk/enquiries Enter 9

95oC and 6 bar, while FibreFlex and FibreFlex Pro are designed for higher temperature and pressure environments. FibreFlex operates up to 95oC and 10 bar, with FibreFlex Pro designed for applications of up to 115oC and 10 bar.

All are insulated using CFC free bonded polyurethane (PUR) foam, which provides outstanding thermal properties and helps optimise energy efficiency in heating and cooling networks.

Flexenergy’s sales director, Sandy Fairley, commented: “The new PEX range extends our offer to the market at a time of growing interest and investment in community heating as the UK looks towards lower carbon heating solutions.”

ONLINE ENQUIRY 101

“ Energy in Buildings and Industry and the Energy Institute are delighted to have teamed up to bring you this Continuing Professional Development initiative ” MARK THROWER MANAGING EDITOR

SERIES 17 | MODULE 09 | SPACE HEATING

Choosing your space heating

By Neil Peacock, managing director of Energy International

I

n the UK, and many other parts of the world it is necessary, for comfort and health to heat the spaces that we live and work in.

As well as providing comfortable and healthy living and working conditions there is also, sometimes a need to space heat for other reasons such as frost protection or plant raising.

Around 20 per cent of UK energy consumption is used for space heating. Over 70 per cent of space heating systems are currently fuelled by natural gas. Clearly, space heating is an important area for consideration of energy efficiency.

If we are to de-carbonise the UK’s energy systems, there is much to do in the area of space heating. It is important that we have a good understanding of space heating systems, where efficiencies can be improved and how renewable energy systems can be integrated into them.

There are many and various methods of providing space heating.

For the purposes of this article we may consider the following segmentation: wet, radiant, air handling, underfloor, direct expansion heat pump. Each of these systems will be considered with this article.

Conditions within the building Before considering the type of system that may be suitable to employ in any particular situation we may first consider: The conditions that we wish to achieve within the building. The external conditions that we expect the building to experience.

One of the most widely accepted, authoritative sources of space heating design criteria in the UK are the Chartered Institution of Building Services (CIBSE) guides.

When considering internal space conditions, the internationally accepted standard term used to

describe the space temperature is Operative Temperature (θc). θc = H θai+ (1-H) θr Where: θai = Dry bulb temperature H = A dimensionless factor calculated from surface convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients θr = Mean radiant temperature We can see from this formula that both dry bulb temperature and radiant temperature play a part in providing a comfortable environment.

One commonly referred to piece of UK legislation is The Fuel and Electricity (Heating) (Control) Order of 1974. This prohibits the use of fuels or electricity to heat premises above 190C. In reality, space heating design temperatures range from c.160C in factories and warehouses to c.220C in offices and dwellings. Hospitals may require higher temperatures possibly up to 240C. Considering external conditions, space heating system design is

usually based purely on dry bulb temperature. Very often a figure of -10C is used as the minimum external temperature on which to base the calculation of the maximum plant sizing. Of course, winter temperatures well below -10C are frequently experienced in the UK. The ability of the space heating system to provide the desired internal conditions under extreme external conditions will depend on a number of factors including: The degree of plant oversizing, the thermal mass of the building.

It is a well-accepted fact that people are thermally dissimilar.

Where a group of people are subjected to the same environment not everyone will be satisfied all of the time. Space heating systems and their controls need to be capable of providing conditions to meet the needs of a range of occupants of the space. In addition to temperature this may also include factors including ventilation rate, air velocity, humidity and thermal radiation.

In order to ensure that any space heating system meets the design criteria some form of heat loss calculation will need to be performed. There are numerous calculation methodologies in Produced in Association with

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common use. These range from relatively simple ‘manual’ and steady state analysis to sophisticated, computer-based, dynamic models.

There are also some well-tried ‘rules of thumb’. A more detailed description of this aspect of space heating is beyond the scope of this article. The choice of the design/ calculation methodology employed will generally depend on the size and complexity of the project.

Wet systems are probably the most commonly found systems in the UK. They are used in many types of building including: homes, hospitals, schools, and offices. Here, a central thermal energy generating plant distributes its output through a system of pipes. While lowtemperature hot water (LTHW) is an extremely common media, medium (MTHW) or high temperature hot water (HTHW) or steam may also be used. LTHW poses a much lower safety risk than the other fluids.

The maximum recommended temperature for exposed heating surfaces in health care establishments in the UK is 430C. Steam, MTHW & HTHW all involve fluid temperatures in excess of 1000C. Typical flow and return temperatures for LTHW systems range from 350C to 800C. In some situations, care must be taken, even when using LTHW to avoid the risk of injury due to burning.

The central heat-raising plant may be some form of hot water or steam-raising boiler. This may be fuelled by fossil or renewable fuel. The most common boiler fuel in the UK is currently natural gas.

Liquid petroleum gas (LPG), oil and coal are also commonly used fossil fuels. Probably the most common renewable fuel is biomass in the form of wood chip or pellets.

Heat pumps grow in popularity Heat pumps are growing in popularity and will most likely continue to do so as we attempt to decarbonise. Whatever the source of energy: slinky, borehole, air or water it is always desirable to deliver the heat at the lowest temperature that is practicable and economical.

Delivering heat at low temperatures promotes the all-important coefficient of performance of the heat pump.

Modern wet LTHW heating

systems are normally designed on the ‘two-pipe’ system. Here the heat emitters are connected to a flow and return system. It is common to design the system to deliver its maximum output with flow and return temperatures of around 80–700C respectively. Older systems often operated on a ‘one-pipe’ system. The obvious disadvantage of this is that the circulating fluid got progressively cooler on its route around the system.

All wet systems require that the delivery network is carefully designed, installed and commissioned such it is capable of delivering the correct amount of heat energy to the whole of the system and its individual parts. This involves correct pump and pipework sizing and well as appropriate control and balancing valves.

The term emitter is commonly used to describe any component which takes heat energy from the delivery network and provides it to the space. There is a wide range of different types of emitter commonly in use: • bare pipework – this method of space heating is not commonly seen in recent times. Generally, lengths or loops of pipework are arranged at high or low level to provide space heating. Usually larger diameter pipe than that required for flow purposes is used to increase the heat transfer area. The advantages of this system is that it is very robust / vandal proof

and generally low cost. This type of emitter is commonly found in prisons and sports changing rooms.

• panel radiators – possibly the most commonly used of all types of wet system emitter. They are usually made of pressed steel and very low cost. The term ‘radiator’ is really a misnomer in this case. Most of the heat energy delivered from panel LTHW fed radiators is by convection.

Panel radiators are the most common form of heat emitter found in dwellings and small/medium-sized rooms of all uses. Panel radiators can be single or double thickness and may have extended surface finning added to increase their output. In the same category similar radiators are often found made of cast iron or aluminium. A derivation of panel radiators are towel rails.

Panel radiators can, of course be electrically heated (direct resistance) in which case they usually incorporate electronic temperature and time controls in an attempt to ameliorate the high cost of electricity.

• perimeter or sill line radiators – a subset of panel radiators, these are ‘short’ radiators. They are often used in conjunction with air handling systems particularly in front of glazing to prevent cold spots and / or condensation.

• low-temperature radiators – another subset of panel radiators but designed such that no ‘touchable’ area exceeds 400C usually for safety reasons but also for enhanced

aesthetics appearance. These are often constructed from a serpentine of pipe with added extended surface finning.

• fan convectors – these are capable of greater thermal output than panel radiators for a given wall area. They consist of an extended surface heat exchanger (fan coil) and a fan, usually centrifugal. They are commonly found in larger offices and meeting rooms. The fan speed is usually controllable, and they are often controlled by individual thermostats.

Heating the occupants In radiant systems, by definition, the heat transfer mechanism employed is radiation rather than convection.

The main aim of a radiant system is to reduce energy consumption by heating the occupants of the space rather than the space itself. To better understand how this is achieved we need to briefly consider the calculation of operative temperature shown earlier. We can see from this that radiant heat plays a significant part in providing comfortable environmental conditions.

Radiant heating is commonly employed in buildings with high ceilings and in open spaces.

Factories, indoor markets and churches are good examples of the former. Smoking areas and outdoor dining are very common applications in open spaces.

In the past, radiant heating using panels fed with steam were very

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common in factories. As the use of steam has declined so natural gasfired radiant tubes and plaques have become more common. In some applications liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is also a commonly used fuel.

Gas-fired radiant tubes may be flued or un-flued depending on the space ventilation rate. They consist of a metal tube with a forced draught natural gas burner at one end. They may comprise one long tube or serpentine or a herring bone configuration.

Radiant plaques comprise ceramic plaques on the surface of which natural gas burns to heat the ceramic to red heat. They are always un-flued. Because of the higher radiant temperature of the plaques compared to tubes they can be mounted at higher levels than radiant tubes.

Electrically powered radiant systems are now very popular.

These generally utilise halogen type heating elements which emit heat energy in the infra-red frequency range.

The claimed energy efficiency benefits of radiant heating can be savings in the order of 30 per cent.

Enormous number of variations Air is very commonly used as a medium for providing space heating.

This is particularly true in larger buildings such as: hospitals, theatres and offices. There are an enormous number of variations on the air handling systems. To attempt to describe them all is way beyond the scope of this article.

The majority of air handling systems are ‘mechanical’ i.e. air movement is created by fans. Natural ventilation relying on the buoyancy effect to create air movement is also used. These offer some energy efficiency advantages.

The basic components of a mechanical system ventilation system are: inlet duct, supply fan, heat exchanger, supply duct and grilles, extract duct and grilles, extract fan, outlet or exhaust duct.

The centralised components of a mechanical ventilation system are usually housed in an air handling unit (AHU).

In addition to these basic components air handling systems may also contain other components including: frost protection heat

exchangers, filters, heat recovery heat exchangers, recirculation dampers and ductwork, variable air volume boxes.

Where air conditioning is also incorporated into the air handling system cooling heat exchangers and humidification systems may also be required.

Thermal energy can be supplied to air handling systems via: steam, HTHW, MTHW, LTHW, or refrigerant (in heat pumps).

Once a favourite of the Romans in recent years underfloor has become increasingly popular in the UK. Underfloor systems may utilise LTHW or direct resistance electricity.

The advantages of underfloor systems include: no air movement, no visible emitters, works well with the lower temperature LTHW and therefore a good match to heat pumps.

Direct Expansion Heat Pumps are another alternative heating system.

You may be wondering why the term ‘direct expansion’ (DX) has been used here. The purpose of this is to differentiate between heat pumps whose output is delivered via LTHW systems and those in which

heat energy is delivered directly via the condenser side of a heat pump system.

DX systems can be further segmented into ‘split’ and ‘multi-split systems’ although, for the purposes of this article they can be described as one type.

It is probably true to say that this form of space heating came about as a natural progression from ‘through the window’ and then ‘split’ comfort cooling systems. There is now a plethora of available heating and cooling systems using the vapour compression cycle.

One of simplest forms of DX system is where one evaporator / condenser is mounted externally connected via refrigerant pipe work to one internal evaporator / condenser expanding on this we now see buildings where a whole network of indoor units is fed from a single outdoor unit.

Indoor units providing both heating and cooling are available in many types: wall mounted, ceiling mounted, floor mounted.

Heating and cooling of different spaces within the same building simultaneously can be achieved

with heat recovery being utilised.

Most of these systems are air source however they could also use the other available sources: ground or water as appropriate.

There are numerous different types of space heating control system. Some are applicable to all types of system and some are system specific.

The thermostat is a very common, simple form of control, a temperature activated switch which switches on or off the heat source. The heat source could be a direct electric resistance heater, fan convector, heat pump, fluid control valve, etc.

In the past these tended to always be of the bimetallic strip type with not very repeatable accuracy. More modern thermostats are electronic and may incorporate a digital display and / or a timer.

Sophisticated controls More modern sophisticated controls are likely to yield benefits both in terms of energy efficiency and comfort. It is worth reminding that 10C overheating results in around 15 per cent more energy use.

Thermostats are very commonly used on LTHW systems to provide individual room temperature control.

They can now be electronic, with internet connectivity and digital displays etc.

Weather compensation is another very commonly used technique in LTHW systems to adjust the flow temperature (control the heating output) in relation to the outside air temperature.

Optimum start/stop is a control system designed to ensure that the heating system starts and stops at the correct time to provide comfort conditions. It relies on automatically acquired knowledge of the building dynamics and outside air temperature.

Regarded as the ultimate in control system sophistication, building management systems are now available in many guises and levels of affordability. BMS can be used to control any type of space heating system. With the continued growth of the ‘internet of everything’ we can imagine increasing levels of sophistication at all levels of system size and complexity. Systems such as Hive are a portent of this growing sophistication.

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ENTRY FORM SPACE HEATING Please mark your answers below by placing a cross in the box. Don't forget that some questions might have more than one correct answer. You may find it helpful to mark the answers in pencil first before filling in the final answers in ink. Once you have completed the answer sheet, return it to the address below. Photocopies are acceptable.

QUESTIONS 1. Which is the most common heating media in wet systems?

■ ■ ■ ■

High temperature hot water Steam Low temperature hot water Cold water

2. What is the most common space heating fuel in the UK? ■ ■ ■ ■

Fuel oil Electricity Natural gas Coal

3. What is a typical dry bulb space temperature for a home?

■ ■ ■ ■

160C 190C 220C 240C

4. What is currently the most common construction material for panel radiators?

■ ■ ■ ■

Cast iron Pressed steel Cast aluminium Copper

5. Which of these is a key component of a mechanical ventilation system?

■ ■ ■ ■

A fan An atrium A chimney Opening windows

6. Which is the ‘delivery end’ of a vapour compression heat pump system?

■ ■ ■ ■

The evaporator The condenser The compressor The slinky

7. Which of these factors is used by a weather compensation control system?

■ ■ ■ ■

Building thermal inertia Time of day Outside air temperature Date

How to obtain a CPD accreditation from the Energy Institute Energy in Buildings and Industry and the Energy Institute are delighted to have teamed up to bring you this Continuing Professional Development initiative.

This is the ninth module in the seventeenth series and focuses on Space Heating. It is accompanied by a set of multiple-choice questions.

To qualify for a CPD certificate readers must submit at least eight of the ten sets of questions from this series of modules to EiBI for the Energy Institute to mark. Anyone achieving at least eight out of ten correct answers on eight separate articles qualifies for an Energy Institute CPD certificate. This can be obtained, on successful completion of the course and notification by the Energy Institute, free of charge for both Energy Institute members and non-members.

The articles, written by a qualified member of the Energy Institute, will appeal to those new to energy management and those with more experience of the subject.

Modules from the past 16 series can be obtained free of charge. Send your request to editor@eibi.co.uk. Alternatively, they can be downloaded from the EiBI website: www.eibi.co.uk

8. Which of these factors is used by an optimum start control system?

■ ■ ■ ■

Level of building occupancy Outside air temperature Boiler capacity Boiler flow temperature

9. Which types of space heating system can building management systems be used to control?

■ ■ ■ ■

Any Wet systems Air handling plant Boilers

10. What is a thermostat?

■ ■ ■ ■

A temperature sensitive switch A temperature sensor A proportional control device A digital display device

Please complete your details below in block capitals

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SERIES 16

SERIES 17

MAY 2018 - APR 2019

MAY 2019 - APR 2020

1 BEMS 2 Refrigeration 3 LED Technology 4 District Heating 5 Air Conditioning 6 Behaviour Change 7 Thermal Imaging 8 Solar Thermal 9 Smart Buildings 10 Biomass Boilers

1 Batteries & Storage 2 Energy as a Service 3 Water Management 4 Demand Side Response 5 Drives & Motors 6 Blockchain Technology 7 Compressed Air 8 Energy Purchasing 9 Space Heating 10 Data Centre Management*

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VIEW FROM THE TOP

James Page is head of engineering at Joju Solar

These proposals don’t go far enough James Page believes that the proposals for the Future Homes consultation do not go far enough and may even be a retrograde step. They could be seen as a steer to provide the bare minimum required

I

t is 20 years since I started to take an active interest in the idea of planning regulations requiring renewables in new buildings, as a means to reduce carbon emissions.

The subsequent headway made by the London boroughs of Richmond, Merton, as well as the Greater London Authority and others, was at first promising.

However, it only takes a glance at new housing rapidly being built across the country to see that the take up of solar panels is still woefully low. And where they are installed there are frequently a minimal two or three panels on a roof large enough for many more. Rather than an opportunity to add value to the house the developer sees the regulations as a steer to provide the minimum required. And if it is possible to avoid solar altogether by providing a green roof or heat pumps as alternatives, the developer will do so. If this approach were ever justified on the grounds of the cost of PV panels it is no longer, as the costs have plummeted. However, it is the regulator’s job to address the issue.

Page: 'I've come across large solar systems that have been switched off for years, or never turned on'

What is the Future Homes Standard consultation?

In June last year the UK became the first major economy to pass a net zero emissions target into law.

The 2050 target is an ambitious one and government are keen to reduce emissions quickly. Both new and existing homes account for approximately 20 per cent of UK carbon emissions and although much has already been done in this area to reduce emissions (introduction of the Clean Growth Strategy, Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards etc), it is evident that more is needed.

The Future Homes Standard Consultation, released in October 2019, presents a proposal from government to introduce a new Future Homes Standard, and to make relevant changes to Approved Document Part L1a (Conservation of fuel and power in new dwellings) as well as Part F (Ventilation). The government proposes to simplify the guidance presented in both approved documents and also presents its ambition to tighten ‘transitional arrangements’ to ensure that all homes are built to new energy efficiency standards.

The consultation outlines two options to uplift

energy efficiency standards and requirements for Part L of the Building Regulations in 2020: • Option 1 - Future Homes Fabric: 20 per cent reduction in carbon emissions delivered primarily through better building fabric; and • Option 2 - Fabric plus technology: 31 per cent reduction in carbon emissions delivered predominantly through carbon-saving technology and fabric improvements.

The government prefers option 2 as their 2020 ‘stepping stone’ for the Future Homes Standard. This option delivers greater carbon savings and lower fuel bills, but would introduce higher build costs for developers.

The government is proposing that the Future Homes Standard will be implemented fully by 2025, with an intermediate uplift to energy efficiency standards in mid/late 2020. It is anticipated that any new build homes constructed to this standard will produce 75-80 per cent less carbon dioxide emissions then one built to current standards/ requirements.

It’s true that adding renewables will add a small cost to the house price (it may cost a little more, but it does add to the value). In many parts of the country this will be almost negligible but the proportion of the cost will clearly vary in different regions. This is just one reason why the GLA should be allowed to continue to set standards above the national minimum (to say nothing of their democratic right). They also need the right to ensure the panels are actually working and continue working, at least for a reasonable period. I’ve come across large systems that have been switched off for years, or never been turned on. The developer has sold the property and the new owner has no interest in the solar.

The Future Homes consultation proposals do not go far enough, and in some ways go back. This is not just to say that we need to do all we can reasonably do to reduce carbon emissions. The proposals appear to give developers the choice of triple glazing, heat pumps or solar PV (or perhaps other technologies, but these are all mentioned as options). The clear indication is that all three will often be perfectly feasible but the reduction targets will only require the most cost effective to be deployed (subject to tenant ‘affordability’ constraints).

The document also implies that triple glazing and solar will not therefore normally be required to meet the 31 per cent reduction. If the 31 per cent was a figure determined by what is reasonably practical and economic, and solar is considered to be so (especially when installed at the outset while scaffolding is present etc) does having a ‘choice’ not imply that the 31 per cent is not ambitious enough? There may be a few buildings where solar doesn’t make sense at all, but not many. Especially if it is considered in the design stage.

Moreover, the life-time of the panels will on average far exceed that of a heat pump - a factor that will often not be taken in to account by a developer looking for the lowest up front cost, and can only be addressed by regulation.  MARCH 2020 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | 25

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Smart Buildings For further information on BuroHappold visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 132

A building twinned with the future

Mark Dowson examines how one building in the north east is a living laboratory designed to enable research and learning in the field of energy management

F

or those working in design engineering, Building Information Modelling (or BIM) is one of the most disruptive technological innovations seen in recent years.

Its use helps simplify the design process and enables us to construct complicated, complex structures.

But the collection and use of ‘building information’ needn’t stop when construction ends. Through the creation of smart buildings, BIM can go on to inform ways to optimise efficiency, manage energy consumption and improve ongoing building performance.

A case in point is Newcastle University’s Urban Sciences Building.

Located in the city’s new Helix quarter, a city-centre development fast becoming renowned as a global centre for innovation, the 12,800m2 Urban Sciences Building (USB) houses Newcastle University’s School of Computing alongside a series of innovative labs focused on research into the urban environment.

Opened in 2017, it has set a new benchmark for building design. Not only is it an exemplar of sustainable construction and electrically led design, it is also a ‘living laboratory’ – a smart building designed to enable continuous research and learning in the field of energy management.

In a feat of engineering, the university installed over 4,000 digital sensors throughout the building to constantly monitor environmental conditions and energy use. Data collected from these sensors is creating some fascinating outputs which we believe are a first in building management.

Through a collaboration between the university’s estates team and PhD researchers, with support from the wider project team, a 3D digital twin of the entire building has been created. This enables live data from the thousands of sensor points to be visualised in a 3D visualisation model.

Newcastle University’s Urban Sciences Building has set a new benchmark for building design

Using this digital twin, the university’s facilities and building managers can focus in on a specific room, floor or area of the USB and look at how internal environmental conditions are performing to within seconds of the reality. From an FM point of view, this means that if someone complains that an environment is too hot, they can instantly review the temperature in that space to see if it has in fact increased, and adjust it accordingly, or whether that person just needs to take off their jumper. This is a real leap forward for facilities management and potentially, energy efficiency.

The Urban Sciences Building is an inspiring exemplar of sustainability and energy management

Importantly, the modelling enabled by the sensors in the building also helps the University’s researchers to forecast how the building will behave under future scenarios. An example of this is in the University’s EPSRC funded ‘Building as a Power Plant’ project which we are supporting. Here, PhD researchers are looking at evaluating the building’s potential to provide rapid demand response when the national electricity grid comes under strain through the removal of the smaller, non-critical energy loads of individual buildings. Although this kind of scenario testing has been done on a mass scale, for very large

Mark Dowson is an associate in the BuroHappold Sustainability and Building Physics team

energy consumers, it has never before been tested with a single building – another first for the USB. Through extensive engagement with the university’s researchers and the design team working in collaboration with Hawkins/Brown architects, we embedded and enabled a host of technologies within the building into the design concept which would directly support academic work. For example, sensors in concrete floor slabs measure the temperatures to enable monitoring of the thermal mass and associated night-time purging; the soil moisture levels of the building’s green roof are constantly monitored; supercharging points for electric vehicles are linked to a microgrid within the building and solar photovoltaic-thermal (PV-T) panels on the roof generate renewable electricity and heat.

In yet another first, the building also houses a unique energy storage test bed, connecting multiple battery and super-capacitor packs to the main grid, which also feeds power directly to a DC micro grid serving one floor of the building. But, a truly smart building isn’t solely focused on managing the current status quo, it is also a building that can flex and adapt to future uses. Early on in the process of designing the USB, we worked with both the university’s estates team and groups of academics who would be using it day-to-day to get a detailed understanding of their differing needs. This allowed us to create the building with them in mind, meaning it wasn’t overly customised for any one group. It also put our focus firmly on flexibility, so large portions of the building’s fit-out elements are reversible meaning entire floors can easily be reconfigured, giving it longevity.

The information that data can provide to a building’s managers is a way to add real value to its day-today operations. Bricks and mortar are static, but the data that flows through them can help us adapt the built environment around us to changing times. The USB is a really exciting building and is an inspiring exemplar of sustainability and energy management. And, with the University team’s focus on ongoing improvement and the development of new energy innovations, its green credentials will only get better and better over time. 

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Gateway supports EnOcean devices To ease the integration of EnOcean devices into a BACnet system, Contemporary Controls is making available its EnOcean to BACnet Gateway.

With its non-proprietary, webbased remote commissioning of EnOcean devices, the gateway supports most common EnOcean wireless sensors and actuators out of the box, making it ideal for most automation projects.

The EnOcean devices can be discovered or manually entered into the gateway. If a device equipment profile is not supported in the gateway, a web-based firmware update can be provided. EnOcean analog and binary input/output devices will communicate wirelessly to the gateway where the selected devices will appear as virtual BACnet devices with their own objects representing the EnOcean point data.

The gateway also supports EnOcean remote commissioning, allowing some devices to be configured and bound to other EnOcean devices wirelessly. An EIA-485 serial port is provided as well. Network communications of the EnOcean to BACnet Gateway include BACnet/ IP and EnOcean wireless, making the gateway a flexible gateway device for EnOcean to BACnet applications. All configurations of the gateway occurs via a standard web page and no special applications or EnOcean devices are required to discover EnOcean devices and configure the gateway.

ONLINE ENQUIRY 133

Controller developed to save time during commissioning of a BEMS Phoenix Contact is offering the ILC 2050 BI, a controller developed and designed to save time and space in installation and commissioning of a building automation system. The software is based on Tridium’s Niagara framework, developed to provide integration of the standalone systems.

With a design width of just 80mm the controller can be installed in a small footprint panel.

In addition, the input/output terminals are a little over 10mm per terminal.

Some of the technical advantages of using the ILC 2050 BI include: • connection to up to 63 terminals directly; • reduced commissioning time and costs; • support the application using our extensive couplers; • improve security by isolating the building network; and • easy identification with colour-coded modules.

ONLINE ENQUIRY 134

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Smart Buildings For further information on Schneider Electric visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 135

Time for a smart building revolution

As a younger workforce grows more digitally native, worker expectations evolve.

Pradyumna Pandit explores why a comfortable work environment is a basic requirement

T

he workplace building plays an increasingly vital role in the satisfaction and productivity of younger workers. However, about 35 per cent of the EU’s building stock is more than half a century old, and 75 per cent is energy inefficient.

Workplaces are crucial in attracting and retaining the best talent, and companies are becoming increasingly aware of it. The competition for new employees will only grow fiercer as the global labour market contracts. Between 2015 and 2030, the world’s working age demographic will only grow at half the pace it did between 2000 and 2015. In the UK and other developed economies, demand for talent will outstrip the growth in supply, especially in the technology sector.

The dearth of skills necessitates an appeal to young people who are early into their careers or who are just entering the workforce. However, these millennials are very different to their parents and grandparents.

The first generation to grow up with digital technologies from an early age, these cohorts expect the latest services, digital amenities and conveniences. Businesses need to find ways to deliver these services.

Pradyumna Pandit is vice president of Digital Energy UK and Ireland at Schneider Electric

salaries and benefits comprising around 90 per cent of the operating costs of any typical large business, even modest increases in productivity arising from better working environments can significantly improve the bottom line.

Improving employee fitness, access to natural light, good food and healthy temperatures are playing a more important role in workplace design due to their impact on absenteeism and staff turnover.

Employee physical activity

Smart building systems and sensors create valuable insight to optimise businesses

allowing everything to run smoothly.

Central to the effort to engage with the young is the adoption of technologies that promote wellness, satisfaction and productivity. The global market for wellness is worth around $4.2tr, and it’s being driven by young people. As understanding grows around the mental and physical impacts of a sedentary, office-based lifestyle health will become an even greater concern for

Ageing buildings fail to appeal Organisations trapped in inert, poorly connected and ageing buildings will struggle to appeal.

Digital services require an immense amount of real-time data to provide the best experiences. This can only be achieved with technologies connected to the Internet of Things (IoT), exchanging information between devices and systems.

Smart, IoT-connected sensors embedded throughout a building are an effective means of collecting the data digital services require. When connected to a smart, centralised building management system (BMS) data flows quickly and easily between the different building functions,

the young. Employers that show they can look after their employees physically and mentally will be an attractive prospect.

There are also other benefits to taking in-work health seriously.

According to PwC, absenteeism costs UK businesses £29bn per year.

Wellness initiatives that reduce the number of sick days make sensible investments that can significantly boost business performance. With

Sensors lead to one of world’s smartest buildings The innovative use of smart sensors and data is exemplified by the Edge, an office building in Amsterdam and one of the world’s smartest and most sustainable buildings. Within the structure, a variety of services are available via an integrated building app.

Occupants can find working spaces, reserve meeting rooms and even locate their colleagues simply by using their smartphones.

Even better is that once you have entered your meeting room the BMS will automatically adjust lighting and air conditioning levels to suit your individual preferences, maximising comfort and productivity.

Gartner, a global research and advisory firm, estimates that 10,000 companies gave fitness trackers to their staff in 2014 in order to combat sedentary lifestyles. Some have even trialled fitness bands that capture data on employee physical activity.

Sensors have also come to the market which help prevent back, neck and muscle pain, and for good reason.

The Office for National Statistics reports that in 2013 30m work days were wasted due to musculoskeletal problems. Addressing these problems now is important not only for impressing young workers, but for keeping them engaged and healthy into the future.

Air quality can also impact the productivity and wellbeing of occupants. High CO2 levels have been shown to increase feelings of tiredness and negatively affect decision-making in a number of studies. To prevent this, many firms have installed sensors to detect and measure levels of CO2, allowing the BMS to adjust heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) settings when needed. Natural ventilation or mixed-mode conditioning can bring about a number of benefits, including savings on health costs, HVAC energy, and increased productivity.

Smart building systems and sensors create insight to optimise businesses and help them attract the next generation of young, tech-savvy workers. The notion of the office as a ‘dumb’ space for work, is being shaken by agile workplaces that use data to enable new services, augment wellness and improve performance.

Smart, young people won’t put up with old, dumb workspaces. The businesses that realise this now are the only ones that will stay relevant for years to come. 

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Nick Sacke is head of IoT and products, Comms365 Ltd

maintenance can be performed swiftly when it is required, rather than waiting until a system breaks down. IoT technology can also aid in energy reduction, by helping to identify the causes of energy spikes and in turn resulting in an overall decrease in energy bills. By interfacing IoT-enabled devices to a building management system, key data parameters can be used to anticipate needs, take the requisite action and control the entire process from end to end e.g. turning the air conditioning on or off when required – without the need for human interaction. While this involves monitoring a level of personal information, with data protection legislation in place individuals cannot be identified but can still play their part in the smart building measurement model.

Break down the barriers

Reaping the benefits from smart buildings will require cultural change, education and a change in the perception of high cost, believes Nick Sacke

S

ince 2015, analysts have been talking about the Internet of Things delivering new types of ‘smart buildings’ that are able to provide a better experience for tenants and a more efficient, highly monetizable set of building management services to facilities managers. The picture now emerging is one of digital transformation at building level. The benefits of this approach are translating into a huge market opportunity, estimated at $31.74bn by 2022, to deploy, and make useful, smart technology in buildings.

There is now a much greater availability of lower cost IoT devices that in their millions can harvest data at scale. As a result, integration of local area and wide area wireless communication networks to relay sensor data, enhanced data processing via cloud-based data analytics, and mechanisms to enable action from insight, the design of commercial, industrial, buildings and their operations blueprint has changed. So what are the opportunities that smart building technology can offer and how can the

barriers to adoption be overcome to ensure the growth of the IoT market continues at its predicted rate?

Cultural barriers to break down One of the most significant barriers to adoption within the smart building market is cultural. The UK is one of the most CCTV-intensive nations in the world and, in recent times, we have become used to our movements constantly being observed. However, when the subject of ‘big brother’ is raised, the majority are of the opinion that 24/7 monitoring makes people very nervous, especially when it comes to the issue of data protection. In order to realise the true benefits that intelligent building technology can provide, a wide range of data measurements need to be taken and this could cause concern for those who are apprehensive about having their personal data recorded.

For an environmental monitoring solution, for example, information such as energy usage, humidity, carbon monoxide and acoustics needs to be monitored. But what happens to that data, and who owns it? Many do not understand how

‘But what happens to all the environmental monitoring data?’ smart technology can have a positive impact on elements such as energy usage, not just in terms of lowering bills but in turn reducing the impact on the environment and many more subsequent benefits. Without this insight, the automatic response to new technology can be nervousness and scepticism. Education is therefore key to overcoming these cultural concerns and by encouraging collaboration between all parties at an early stage of the plans, the benefits can be clearly explained.

The potential cost of an IoT implementation can also be a perceived barrier, but in the majority of cases the cost benefit analysis can present significant financial savings. For example, IoT technology can help to lower the maintenance quotient of a building by monitoring key parameters such as water usage, temperature and movement of people. With this approach,

Wafer-thin sensors There are many new developments that may stir the market of intelligent buildings, including wafer-thin sensors that can be placed unobtrusively in challenging areas, robotic assistants that are able to ‘walk’ with you around a facility, tiny drone surveillance of perimeter security, and many, many more.

These new developments seem to be focused on a single main objective: improvement of operational processes with the attendant commercial impact and increase in user satisfaction. A good example of this is shared office facilities in the Nordics where resources are dynamic, flexing desk space and facilities for tenants and guests based on actual demand on any given day.

In the near future, we expect this flexibility to go even further, with an increase of highly customisable buildings that will provide individualisation and personalisation of the environment for the individual user, bringing together multiple ergonomic parameters that can be customised at will. For example; technology that matches the seating settings in your car to your desk chair, individual temperature zones by desk, digital image overlays around the user and adaptive lighting to positively impact mood will all work together to provide a more productive, pleasing and personalised environment for each user. 

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8-11 Sept 2020 Fiera Milano Visit us Hall 9 Booth 14

Water Treatment

Ian Roberts is managing director at ADEY Commercial

For further information on ADEY Commercial visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 136

Holistic approach holds key When it comes to protecting commercial central heating systems adding value is crucial to demonstrate its widespread benefits. A total system approach offers the greatest chance of success, says Ian Roberts

W

hile the domestic sector has been quicker to embrace the adoption of preventative system maintenance, momentum is now gathering on the commercial side which is helping to drive demand.

This means knowledge and expertise are even more important as decision makers look to prioritise heating system protection and ensure that the most effective measures are in place.

While progress has undoubtedly been made, education still remains a key ingredient to ongoing success, not only to ensure the benefits of magnetic filtration are understood, but to explain how it’s just one part of a sustained and planned programme of system maintenance.

Looking at the system as a whole and considering how solutions can work alongside each other will prove most effective in the fight against the damaging effects of magnetite. The ability to understand how commercial systems work is crucial alongside the impact of more modern technology, which while welcomed in some respects, has also caused its own problems.

Newer boilers are more efficient but less tolerant than their cast iron predecessors, which makes protecting them even more important to ensure the risk of breakdown is mitigated.

We know that greater pressure is also being put on budgets, with facilities managers and procurement teams needing to make cost savings.

Any investment that is made in the heating system needs to be justified as the installation of a new boiler represents a significant cost. This should put protection at the very forefront of commercial heating system management which means ensuring it is fitted to a clean system, that the correct filter is fitted, the system dosed with premium chemical and water quality is regularly tested. A dirty system that isn’t properly protected is also likely to break down more regularly, and

The scope of water testing services has widened with both chemical and microbiological options available

in a worst-case scenario, could result in total system failure. This has a cost implication as well, so it makes sense to put measures in place that are going to help prevent any issues.

While specifying magnetic filtration from the start is the most effective way to ensure proper protection, solutions can also be retrofitted. As the name would suggest, magnetic filtration has magnets as its core. These are usually powerful neodymium magnets which are tolerant to high temperatures and available in different sizes depending on the size of the system. The filter can easily be fitted to the pipe work and this can be done on a brand-new heating system or retro fitted. The filter will also need to be monitored, emptied

and serviced as the sludge collects around the magnets. Some filters also offer greater flexibility, with both side stream and in-line installation being possible.

Holistic, best-practice approach It’s important though that fitting a filter isn’t considered in isolation and we encourage engineers to take a holistic, best-practice approach for maximum results. The first step is to clean the system with a premium chemical cleaner which will help dislodge any system debris that has built up and make it easier to collect. A system flush should then be carried out to properly clean the system and ensure it is free from magnetite. A magnetic filter is then installed to collect the sludge and

A dirty system that is not properly protected is likely to break down more regularly

it should be serviced once a year. A chemical inhibitor is added which helps protect against corrosion and limescale deposits, before a water test is carried out with options for both chemical and microbiological testing available.

The role of water testing has become increasingly important as engineers look for a fast and reliable way to test samples. Regular, ongoing monitoring of a system is regarded as best practice but there are also situations in a commercial context where water testing is a must have before a system is given the green light.

Before a new closed system can be commissioned for use, there is a range of tests that should be performed to ensure that the system is clean and in optimum condition; this testing is set out in the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) guidance, namely BG29 and BG50. This sets out the parameters that should be monitored along with the pass and fail limits associated with them. A system must pass all requirements prior to being commissioned as part of the handover process.

The scope of water testing services has widened with both chemical and microbiological options available.

The former helps detect a broad range of chemical compounds that might affect system performance while the latter has an essential safety role to play. In the healthcare sector for example, the presence of Legionella bacteria in the system can cause Legionnaire’s Disease so vigilance is required. The tests can also analyse for the presence of coliforms, pseudomonads, anaerobic colony counts and closed system bacteria such as nitrate reducing bacteria and sulphate reducing bacteria.

While the sector is making strides to embrace the role of a complete water treatment programme, ongoing education will help to improve understanding of how solutions can work together to achieve the best results. 

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Fabricated water supply systems and drainage stack solutions arrive on-site, fully configured and ready to install. Whilst a dedicated project manager and technical team cover every detail to ensure that it fits perfectly; first time, every time.

What’s more, using the Polypipe Advantage Service gives you more time savings, more cost-effective installations and makes a complex project, simple. What more could you possibly need?

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One size doesn’t fit all

There is a growing need for advanced water treatment processes to address micropollutants and disinfection in water supply, say Beatrice Martin and Steffen Rüting

I

t’s common for micropollutants, such as traces of pesticides or pharmaceuticals, including disease-carrying pathogens, to make their way into drinking water, affecting its quality and compromising its safety.

And just as the advancing capabilities of analytical and treatment methods have made us more aware of the dangers these compounds pose, it has also highlighted that there is no off-theshelf approach to removing them.

Each area faces different challenges and is at risk of different micropollutants. Extremely sophisticated treatment options are available, but different compounds require differing doses and approaches. Experts will usually recommend a combination of techniques depending on the use case.

That each utility will face a unique challenge is no surprise when we consider how micropollutants enter the water supply.

There are several expressions known for (potentially) harmful chemicals present in waste and drinking water in the typical concentrations of microgram and nanogram per litre: e.g. trace substances, organic micro pollutants (OMP) or contaminants of emerging concern (CEC). The latter comprise

non-regulated micropollutants which are supposed to have negative health effects on humans and/or animals and the environment even at such low concentrations. Therefore they are watched closely by the water industry.

CECs may include compounds from pharmaceuticals, industrial products, pesticides, cosmetics or personal care products. All of these can cause harm when ingested, particularly in high quantities.

Many are known to be nonbiodegradable and bio accumulative, meaning they can build up in the body, and are highly hazardous to humans, animals and aquatic species alike.

To mitigate safety risks, provide quality water and ensure regulatory compliance, water managers are increasingly turning to advanced oxidation processes (AOPs).

AOP describes a set of chemical treatment procedures that use oxidation to remove OMPs including CECs from drinking water and pretreated wastewater, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach.

Experts will often recommend a combination of treatment methods, carefully designed to meet the needs of each specific application, but only after an extensive process of research.

A good amount of experience is used to determine the process, but a lot of work is guided by piloting.

Some compounds are not strippable, absorbable or biodegradable, so they need to be oxidized and then captured, for example, while some compounds have only one appropriate treatment technology.

Biological make up of water Water technology companies carry out extensive testing to determine the precise chemical and biological make-up of the water present, before designing a bespoke AOP system.

Designing an UV-based AOP usually consists of a collimated beam test which uses a laboratory UV bench equipment to determine the base UV dose response curve for a particular water matrix including the addition of an oxidant like hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl). The UV light activates the oxidant to form hydroxyl radicals (OH-radicals) which are extremely powerful in oxidizing and removing even recalcitrant OMPs which are not targeted by other treatment technologies.

Another mainstay of AOPs is ozone, which uses a tri-atomic gas created from oxygen. Ozone itself is used for disinfecting, as well as colour

Steffen Rüting is AOP process engineer, Xylem Services GmbH, Wedeco Products and Beatrice Martin is business development manager - water treatment, Xylem Water Solutions UK

removal, chemical oxygen demand removal, micropollutant reduction, and odour removal. Depending on the required reductions and the kind of micro pollutant, ozone-based AOP is applied. In contrast to UV-based AOPs, ozone activates H2O2 to produce OH-radicals. Ozone / NaOCl do not exist, because it doesn’t work.

These technologies may also be combined with processes such as chlorination or biologically active filtration (BAF) to achieve the best results.

Health and regulatory concerns are not the only consideration for water utilities tasked with supplying quality drinking water – customer satisfaction is also a priority.

In 2013, Anderson in the USA, encountered a problem with green-blue algae blooms in its lakes.

These blooms, which are also called cyanobacteria, release a number of toxins, including microscystin, which can damage the liver, geosmin and MIB, both of which impact the taste and smell of the water.

Attempts to treat the lake, first with copper and then with powderactivated carbon, proved successful in reducing microcystin levels to within US EPA standards. But while the water was safe to drink, MIB compounds were still giving it a muddy, earthy taste.

Xylem was called in to conduct a series of on-site and on-lake tests.

These included laboratory and pilot studies that compared how different processes could be used to reduce the taste and odour compounds in the water.

UV AOP, ozone AOP were compared at different ozone concentrations and it was discovered that Ozone AOP at an applied dose of 2mg/l ozone and H2O2, was able to reduce MIB levels by 90 per cent.

In response to this finding, Anderson took delivery of two PDOevo 900 generators, capable of producing 38kg of ozone per hour.

Now, the plant typically applies between 2mg/l and 2.5mg/l to its water as part of its treatment process, effectively eliminating the MIB taste and odour compounds.

Utility managers have moral, legal and business reasons to remove micropollutants from the product they provide – but there’s no one-sizefits-all solution to doing so. 

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Water Treatment For further information on products and services visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter the appropriate online enquiry number

Wastewater treatment plant is the toast of Scottish distillery Leading solutions provider in the water sector, Alpheus Environmental, has toasted another major contract win working with Glenmorangie Distillery in Tain.

Alpheus Environmental will operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant for the distillery, responsible for the production of the world-renowned single malt whisky, driving down operational costs.

In addition, as the treatment will incorporate an anaerobic digestion process, green energy will be generated as a by-product of this which will be returned to the distillery, enhancing its already strong sustainability credentials.

Three full time Alpheus members will be employed onsite, supported by other engineering resources.

The contract win provides for a longterm commitment between Alpheus and Glenmorangie enabling the delivery of long-term sustainable value to the client.

Through adopting technologies and processes developed in the water sector such as advanced water and waste water monitoring and treatment processes, increases in production can be delivered in more sustainable manner. Through its Innovation Group, Alpheus will also be working with Glenmorangie on delivering this increased level of sustainability in treating their wastewater stream on site.

Commenting on the win, Declan Maguire, managing director of Alpheus Environmental and Celtic Anglian Water said:

“In addition to protecting the Dornoch Firth, the recovery of energy from the treatment process feeding back into the distillery makes it highly sustainable and beneficial for the environment.

“We are always seeking to bring the new innovative water and waste water treatment technologies and processes developed in the Group to other industrial, commercial and municipal clients in the UK and Ireland.”

“Businesses have always had challenging

growth objectives, however, now more than ever there is an increasing demand to deliver this growth in a sustainable manner. One way of helping to achieve this is by managing the treatment of the water and wastewater streams using the most advanced technologies available.

We endeavour to do that in a cost effective way for our clients.”  ONLINE ENQUIRY 138

Solar power harnessed to bring desalinated water to smart city Technology researched at Cranfield University that harnesses concentrated solar power to desalinate sea water is being adopted by a new smart city under construction in Saudi Arabia.

NEOM – a region in northwest Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea being built from the ground up as a living laboratory – has signed an agreement with Solar Water plc to build the first ever ‘solar dome’ desalination plant.

Solar Water’s groundbreaking carbon neutral approach was developed through a Cranfield master’s group project and represents the first large-scale use of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technology in seawater desalination.

Professor Chris Sansom, head of the Centre for Renewable Energy Systems at Cranfield, and currently a consultant to Solar Water, said: “Research for this technology began as a group MSc project five years ago and we are delighted to see it now being rolled out at full-scale.

“The adoption of solar dome desalination in

NEOM will be a trailblazer for other countries struggling to generate environmentally safe and sustainable sources of fresh water. The process could be used to produce clean water for a range of uses including farming, reforestation, biotech consumption, or use by high-tech industries that rely on pure clean water for their manufacturing.”

The Solar Water process involves seawater being pumped into a hydrological ‘solar dome’ made from glass and steel, before it is heated, evaporated and eventually precipitated as fresh water. The technology also reduces the total amount of brine that is created during the water extraction process and prevents any damage to marine life as no brine is discharged into the sea.

The heat that accelerates the evaporation of the seawater is harvested from a concentrating solar thermal field of mirrors next to the desalination dome.

David Reavley, CEO of Solar Water, said: “Currently, thousands of desalination plants around the world are heavily reliant on burning fossil fuels to extract water, poisoning our oceans in the process with excess brine. Our gamechanging desalination technology is 100 per cent carbon neutral and entirely sustainable.”  ONLINE ENQUIRY 139

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Christopher Black is global director of automotive business development at TR Fastenings

Electric Vehicles For further information on TR Fastenings visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 140

A light touch needed

The journey to EV batteries will have profound effects on the supply chain, notably on the development of lightweight components, believes Christopher Black

A

s the automotive market continues to evolve and environmental and economic pressures increasingly demand a shift towards sustainable solutions and lower carbon emissions, Electric Vehicles (EV) is one of the fastest growing markets to have emerged in recent years. As this sector adapts to public and market demands, the whole supply chain is working to flex to these changes, with considerable developments being made in technology, cost-saving initiatives and lightweighting techniques.

The role of fasteners in EV is not insignificant: not only are they needed for the vehicles themselves, but charging units, EV battery casings and general infrastructure equipment all require high quality fastenings to provide robust and secure settings for this valuable technology.

The growing consumer demand for EVs, coupled with the rapid development of EV and EVB technology has enabled TR Fastenings to combine our extensive fastener product range and breadth of knowledge into the ideal package to support and contribute to these ground-breaking sectors.

The EV and EVB markets are such exciting, fast-moving sectors and the resulting impact on global supply chains in both the automotive and electronic industries has been huge in terms of demand and opportunity.

It’s a real privilege to be involved in such a cutting-edge field, delivering our products and knowledge to start-ups, OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers developing transformative technology such as longer lasting batteries, lightweight solutions and connected devices.

According to BloombergNEF’s latest EV Outlook report, 57 per cent of all global passenger vehicle sales and 30 per cent of the global passenger vehicle fleet will be electric by 2040.

Two million EVs were sold worldwide in 2018, and this number is expected to rise to 10m by 2025, 28m by 2030 and 56m by

Investment must be made in the EV charging infrastructure

2040. The growth in this sector has been rapid, rising quickly into the millions, a far cry from 2010 when only a few thousand EVs were sold across the globe.

However, infrastructure still remains a major challenge for the sector, as the chicken and egg dilemma of supply versus demand continues to amount to far fewer charging points than needed being installed.

Charging infrastructure For the electric car market to grow at a sustainable and profitable rate, investment must be made into growing the charging infrastructure across Europe and, crucially, awareness of the charging network.

Once consumers are satisfied that there are sufficient charging points, we will likely see an uplift in electric Worldwide sales of EVs are expected to hit 10m by 2025

vehicle adoption.

According to the UK charging point platform, Zap-map.com, there are currently (as of 31 May 2019) 23,417 charging connectors, in 13,788 devices, at 8,614 locations across the UK. The total number of connectors has increased from just over 13,000 in November 2017 to over 23,000 in May 2019, a 57 per cent increase in just 18 months.

The global charging landscape looks healthy as well. There are 630,000 public charging points installed globally, as well as commercial charging points serving the utilities, oil and gas and automotive sectors.

Although charging infrastructure continues to grow, resources and investment are also being routed towards battery development, exploring different options in battery

types, materials and longevity.

The battery sector is naturally the major focus for growth, as battery and lithium prices continue to drop and significant investment is made into new chemistry and technology, such as single state battery development.

According to Bloomberg’s EV Outlook forecast, “Lithium supply looks sufficient until at least the mid-2020s, but new cobalt and nickel mining capacity will need to come online to meet growing demand.”

According to Bloomberg, China is expected to continue leading the market in battery manufacturing capacity for the foreseeable future, with Europe as the second largest region in this regard.

In an effort to speed up the discovery and development of the ideal battery solution for the EV market, European governments are coming together to fund research and production in this area. In early May 2019, it was announced that France and Germany were forming a consortium and launching a multi-billion Euro initiative into EV battery research, sourced from private European companies such as Automotive OEMs and energy businesses.

Another concern in terms of EVB is lightweighting: as one of the heaviest components in an EV, the electric battery runs the risk of negating the idea of carbon emission reductions if the vehicle’s weight increases energy consumption.

As a result, fastener companies and other suppliers are constantly looking at ways to achieve gains in lightweighting, and looking at other industries for inspiration.

In aviation, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is constructed largely of carbon-fibre-reinforced plastics instead of the traditional aluminium, which is inspiring automotive firms such as BMW to look at carbon-fibre for its new electric vehicle, in order to reduce the vehicle’s weight and enhance the driving experience.

At TR, we work with Tier 1 suppliers to ensure that where possible, lightweight solutions, such as the Mortorq screw we are licensed to manufacture by Phillips Screw Company, are used throughout vehicle applications to make weight savings and counterbalance the impact made by the battery weight. 

MARCH 2020 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | 37

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Electric Vehicles For further information on Enel X UK visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter ENQUIRY No. 141

Andrew Toher is head of customer insights Enel X UK

A no-regrets EV infrastructure As the government looks to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles, businesses are turning their attention to the infrastructure needs of EVs, says Andrew Toher

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rganisations are seeing an increasingly attractive business case for electrifying their fleets. Companies who have already committed to EVs are realising savings on fuel and maintenance costs. For some businesses, becoming an early adopter of zero-emission transport is a tangible demonstration of their commitment to combat climate change. For delivery firms and logistics companies where transport is the core of the business, those who can offer a net-zero service first will attract new customers.

A potent combination of government legislation and user demand are compelling drivers for businesses to act on EV charging.

Some of the key issues include: site capacity and load; choosing the right charger; taking a modular approach to design; identifying grid balancing opportunities and signing up to the right supply contract.

For many sites, considering the impact of adding EV charging stations on site power load is fundamental to the feasibility and cost of the project.

While a basic parking facility might have a power load of just 5-10kW for features like lighting and barrier entry, adding a single rapid charging unit will increase the peak power load for that facility by 5-10 times.

Providing workplace charging for EV fleets introduces a key challenge – how to manage overall power loads at facilities.

Large sites with half-hourly billing will have agreed a maximum import capacity (MIC) with their supplier.

Capacity needs to be in line with demand, and exceeding the MIC incurs financial penalties. There may also be a risk of exceeding total supply capacity by using EV charging stations while operating normal electrical loads in buildings.

The Distribution Network Operator will be involved in looking at worst-case power load scenarios to assess whether network upgrades are required, which can take many weeks and require significant

Considering the impact of adding EV charging stations on site power load is crucial to the feasibility and cost of the project

investment if the business has to pay for reinforcing the network. The extent to which the customer has to pay for these connection costs is under review as part of the Access and Forward Looking Charges Review and could be more onerous in future.

Remote monitoring of charging By monitoring the building’s energy consumption, the charging process can be remotely managed in real-time while making the most of the existing available power. This approach can avoid the need for expensive network reinforcement, enabling optimal use of charging infrastructure while minimising costs through dynamic load balancing.

Rather than taking a one-sizefits-all approach, it is necessary to consider the needs of users and the potential business models when specifying charging solutions for public and private infrastructure.

For example, a 50kW fast charger may be too fast for a shopping centre or a business park, where visitors are expected to stay on-site for a number of hours.

A retail park, pub or motorway service station will have different business requirements that are met by different charging solutions.

Some operators of public charging infrastructure earn revenue by

renting parking spaces from the site owners for a fixed annual fee, while the site owner benefits from an additional customer amenity and, in some cases, a share of the charging revenue.

Anticipating and balancing the needs of users with a design that satisfies those needs will be challenging for any business committing to providing EV infrastructure for employees. There are many variables at play, including the rate of uptake of e-mobility, EV battery range, technology advances and driver behaviour (for example, how drivers choose to charge their cars; whether keeping them ‘topped up’ or recharging from empty).

Rather than attempting to predict the future, the no-regrets strategy would be to take a modular approach to specifying on-premise EV charging. By planning for future expansion while implementing what’s needed today, businesses can review usage patterns and power loads so that decisions about future needs are based on real data.

Most appropriate supply Another consideration for businesses is whether they are signed up to the most appropriate supply for EV charging. Some energy suppliers are introducing innovative tariffs that are highly suited to smart

EV charging. However, it may be more difficult to realise benefits from off-peak time-of-use tariffs as EV charging becomes the norm. If everyone is charging at off-peak, it’s probably not going to be off-peak any more.

Using EVs for energy storage requires vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology and the ability to discharge the car’s battery to the grid. While there has been a raft of successful proof-of-concept V2G trials, there are some practical barriers to implementing V2G today.

Support for bidirectional charging is currently limited to CHAdeMO, the Japanese standard. The Combined Charging System, or CCS, is the fastcharging standard for Europe, North America and some other countries.

CharIn, which is the association that promotes and supports CCS, recently stated that bidirectional support is still five years away.

Implementing a bidirectional V2G charging capability will add a cost premium to the charging hardware.

Until volume manufacturing delivers V2G at scale, the cost of adding V2G functionality to hardware could be relatively high.

Implementing V2G also needs to take into account the effect on the driving experience. Exporting electricity from batteries back to the grid may heighten range anxiety. 

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ESTA VIEWPOINT

For further information on ESTA visit www.estaenergy.org.uk

How to meet our net-zero budget early Net zero by 2050 is a daunting target for many organisations. Rajvant Nijjhar believes that an end-to-end solution is required to take in all aspects of energy use and trading. It is a huge task but not impossible

T

he UK government has set a target of reaching net zero by 2050. That means making better use of our energy system while allowing industrial growth and ensuring a reduction in our absolute energy consumption with any remainder consumption to be 100 per cent true renewables. In addition, many councils are declaring climate emergencies but have privately admitted that they do not have a clear idea on how to execute this. Unless we properly look at the whole system approach, our target will not be achievable. And 2050 is really too late, so the sooner the better.

To look at the whole system, we must look at an end-to-end solution. We must do more to integrate demand side management with demand side response, bearing in mind the intermittent nature of EV usage and renewables. This usage may be buffered by clever solutions such as battery storage or heat dump into thermal stores or aquifers. Also, we must look to design our buildings in a more passive manner; we must look at energy optimisation and we must examine local energy and flexibility trading from building level to national markets. These create real marketplaces and drive costs down.

In other words, at the energy value chain throughout.

Although I have a background in ESCO/ Energy Performance Contracting and the measurement of energy efficiency savings, the emergence of new markets such as energy and flexibility trading is giving light to a real need to merge these disparate disciplines in the field of ‘energy’ together.

In the last two years, I’ve started to become more involved in ‘smart local energy’, wondering in fact when and how the two businesses will merge.

One example where it recently became obvious, is in the development of ‘baselines’. We need to understand our baseline energy usage to understand how much energy we are saving an asset owner, and we need to understand our baseline to develop the ‘what would have been meter’ when it also comes to flexibility trading.

This will impact how much peak power we are saving a DNO and defer costly grid investments.

To that extent and to meet the aims of Net Zero, BankEnergi is working on an innovative end-to-end energy and trading framework and specification to look at a whole energy system. Our aim is to realise the full potential of our energy assets and to optimise the whole energy system more efficiently. We are focussing on three main strands in this energy value chain when developing this specification: • asset selection for optimisation based on end user risk profile; • technology deployment – optimisation, microgrids, renewables and storage; and • local energy trading from building to region to grid supply point The specification will provide the tools that market participants from energy users, to power generators and suppliers, traders and ancillary services, need to use to match supply with demand and for us to optimise the energy system.

Developing a common set of standards will also give confidence to end users in industry, commerce and the public sectors.

Organisations of all types and sizes will be able to maximise their energy, cost and carbon savings.

Our consortium of eight partners brings

Rajvant Nijjhar is director, BankEnergi, and iVEES

together experts from energy demand management, energy supply, regulation and compliance, information technology and artificial intelligence. We recently have been awarded UK Research and Innovation grant funding of £340,000 to develop this specification and enhance upon the previous design and concepts study that was successfully concluded under my leadership in July 2019, in which we received an initial £140,000.

The team will also liaise with key organisations across the energy system such as the Energy Networks Association, Open Data Institute, Elexon, OFGEM, Energy Systems Catapult and ESTA in order to develop a common set of processes, enabling substantial energy cost savings to consumers throughout the UK, with great potential to export this approach globally.

Local energy trading will also reduce the risks around increasingly intermittent generation, such as wind and solar, and unpredictable charging by electric vehicles. It should also help prevent unplanned power cuts and the need for costly reinforcement of the local energy supply grid by DNOs. One of our partners, Chris Clarke, Wales & West Utilities energy strategy director said: “We’re excited to be part of this project. As the gas network for Wales and south west England, we have significant experience in whole systems research. We look forward to working with the other project partners to help assess the impact of the trading solution on peak energy demand and identifying the contribution we could make towards Net Zero.”

Our local use must, in the end, eliminate the wholesale market as this is largely fossil-fuel based and relies on local generation and storage if we are to become net zero. Brave words. Huge task. Many challenges to overcome. We hope that you are just as excited about the energy revolution as we are.  • For further enquiries – please contact the BankEnergi team at info@bankenergi.com. Please note, we are currently seeking commercialisation stage funding, Interested parties, please enquire to Rajvant@bankenergi.com.

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Products in Action For further information on products and services visit www.eibi.co.uk/enquiries and enter the appropriate online enquiry number

A/C brings comfort to new-build offices

LED lighting for distribution centre EcolightingUK was specified for the LED lighting at a new build 46,000m2 clothing and home distribution centre in Hatfield as part of a five-year transformation plan for a large UK retailer.

The existing site, which opened recently, was formerly used by another retailer and has been converted into a mechanised clothing distribution centre and serves 150 stores in the South East and employs more than 500 people.

The specification was to install LED luminaires inside the distribution centre alongside a RAPID emergency monitoring system. The site was also fitted with external lighting.

Split into two warehouses, Boxed (boxed items) and Hanging (hanging garments), both buildings have been installed with automation so that products are able to be transported between floors.

The Boxed warehouse and The Hanging Garment warehouse combined have been fitted with more than 13,600 of Ecolighting’s Sapphire luminaires with 3,600 programmable dimmable sensors providing background lighting after non-occupancy and 10,000 switching sensors. Both warehouses also benefit from over 2,600 Altos emergency lighting LED luminaires and each have the RAPID Emergency system installed.

Ecolighting’s Sapphire is one of the company’s most popular LED luminaires that is designed for use in commercial and industrial environments.

For the outside areas at the site, 100W and 200W Atlantis LED floodlights and 35W, 60W and 200W Medusa amenity lights were selected. With energy savings of up to 90 per cent compared to halogen lamp floodlights, the frosted tempered glass cover for uniform illumination offers IP65 protection and a luminaire efficacy of up to 115 lumens per watt.

Nursing and care home supplier Acticare is now able to provide heating, comfort cooling, and fresh air ventilation to its employees with the installation of air conditioning from Mitsubishi Electric.

The new-build, two-floor facility in Hereford comprises open-plan spaces, satellite offices and meeting rooms.

The company was looking for a system which delivered a fresh, temperate working environment for its office staff to help maximise workplace productivity and wellbeing.

The solution is R32 Hybrid VRF air conditioning working in tandem with a Lossnay heat recovery ventilation system, to deliver perfect levels of comfort and fresh air in one of the most energy efficient ways possible.

The Hybrid VRF system differs from traditional VRF as it uses water throughout the majority of its pipework instead of refrigerant but is still able to simultaneously heat and cool different rooms..

The company worked with EMS Ltd to design and install the new system. EMS is a business solutions partner with Mitsubishi Electric and ONLINE ENQUIRY 104 has worked with the manufacturer for many years.

ONLINE ENQUIRY 105

Smart street light project makes savings Scottish technology company arbnco has been selected as the delivery partner for a first-of-its-kind smart street lighting pilot in Lincolnshire, in partnership with South Kesteven District Council, which draws to a close this month. In addition to providing the highest quality LED street lighting, arbnco has deployed IoT technology to monitor air quality and footfall in the community during the trial.

The pilot will help the Council reduce its energy consumption, and support its ambition to reduce its carbon footprint by 30 per cent before 2030. It is expected to deliver energy savings of at least 60 per cent.

Twelve street light heads have been installed for the pilot, which will collect data on their surroundings: four on a public footpath in Grantham; four at Stamford bus station; and four at Cattle Market car park in Stamford. They are fully integrated with smart technology, offering sensor control and dimming, with some of the lights also providing air quality and video monitoring.

Data collected by the lights is streamed in real time to a control dashboard via the cloud, allowing the Council to make informed data-led decisions, interventions and optimisation strategies.

The LED chips used in the light heads are more durable and efficient than the existing metal halide lamps across the district, and will generate a minimum of 60 per cent reduction in energy cost for the council during the trial period.

All twelve street lights are fitted with timing and dimming controls to reduce their energy consumption through the night.

ONLINE ENQUIRY 107

Energy cuts put the fizz into bottling line A year after Japan-based Suntory Beverage & Food announced its £13m investment in Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s Coleford factory, the company has launched its new energyand water-efficient production line.

The high-speed bottling line fills 55,000 bottles an hour, enabling Lucozade Ribena Suntory to keep up with the demand for its drinks.

This new line forms part of Suntory’s global sustainability strategy by reducing the amount of water and energy used during the manufacturing process. Producing a bottle on the new line requires 40 per cent less energy and water than the previous line.

This is in part due to world-class innovation such as new dry aseptic technology, which uses heat and pressurised air instead of water to clean bottles before they are filled.

These efficiency improvements represent a 4.4 per cent reduction of energy and water consumption for the Coleford site as a whole.

The Royal Forest Factory is at the heart of Lucozade Ribena Suntory’s UK operations and is already one of the most efficient factories under the Suntory brand. This investment from parent company Suntory Beverage & Food is in recognition of the UK factory’s status and reflects the business’ ambition to reduce its impact on the environment.

ONLINE ENQUIRY 106

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EIBI_0320_041 Directory_EiBI Directory nov 10 2 04/03/2020 10:18 Page 41

DIRECTORY CONTACTS

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EMT resolve issues with meters and aM&T systems that have been badly fitted and are inappropriate or wrongly installed, systems that have never functioned properly and unsuitable or wrongly configured software.

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MARCH 2020 | ENERGY IN BUILDINGS & INDUSTRY | 41

TALKING HEADS Joel Stark

Joel Stark is managing director at Stark

Stirring up the data market Data will be key to the energy management sector in the coming years. Joel Stark wants to make sure that his company continues its philosophy of ensuring customers get the very best from all this information

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he UK energy market may have changed beyond recognition since Stark was formed in the early 1980s but the company’s mission remains the same.

“Since day one we have been passionate in helping energy professionals do their job better through analytics and data,” managing director Joel Stark, told EiBI. “The right data in an analytics platform. That’s how we built the business. It’s simple but it’s taken 40 years.”

Data will be key to the energy management sector in the coming years, believes Joel. “It’s now a highly competitive market. We’ve watched the energy data market explode and managed to light a few matches on the way. The quality of data has risen right across the board and the premium that customers put on that information has got broader. Consumers can’t understand why it is so hard to get hold of accurate data. It should be easy to provide information when and how much energy has been used.”

In its early days Stark focused on tariff analysis. “We only got into data because our customers would take our software and ask why they couldn’t take the settlement meter data. That led us to achieving accreditation to be a half hourly data collector and aggregator in 2001.”

Joel’s involvement in the business did not begin until after that date. Set up by his father, Howard, the business did not become his chosen career route for some years. “I took a different path after university, going into corporate development for big telecommunications and media businesses. When I started helping my father think about how he could retire from the business I realised that it held more interest and was more relevant to what I’d done in the past. I found there were many parallels.”

When Joel joined the business in the mid noughties “we were right at the beginning of creating the UK’s energy data network by putting in the next generation of metering,” he said. “And even now we are only halfway through the journey.

Stark: 'in the next few years we are going to move to a very data rich environment'

‘We are now just trying to bring a voice to the gas customer’ In the next few years we are going to move to a very data rich environment and we want to be part of enabling those smaller sites to take advantage of the technology.”

The development of the market is coming about on the back of the smart meter role out. However, Joel believes that the UK smart metering programme may be the wrong solution for businesses.

“They should be able to take advanced meters as they are the same price if not cheaper and they have control. Smart metering is built on old communications technology. In addition, it’s loaded with central costs and the suppliers will benefit from over 60 per cent of the savings. There’s no guarantee that that will get passed on to consumers.”

Take control of your own metering decisions Joel believes that the smart metering should not be cancelled but consumers must have the right to choose. “We are on a path to educate people. My advice is for any non-domestic organisation to take control of your own metering decisions. Find an independent, robust data platform for the next 15 years.”

Joel is determined to make the same impact on the gas metering market and making sure that consumers are at the heart of everything the company does. “Gas is much easier than

electricity,” he states. "You just have to find out whether heat is coming on too early or at times when it clearly shouldn’t. We can find ways for consumers to save very quickly. We want them to have the same data experience as electricity consumers.”

To break into the market Stark successfully became accredited to be a gas meter asset manager in 2018. Joel believes that Stark are beginning to “poke at” the sensitive and complex arrangements that exist between the new entry metering service providers and the suppliers that fail to offer a value for money service. “We’re just trying to bring a voice to the customer.

One of the most important things is that consumers are getting a raw deal and we are passionate about helping them.”

Stark is also expanding its influence into other related areas. The company has recently completed the takeover of Squire Energy, a gas connections specialist that has worked on many retail developments as well as flagship buildings in the City of London. “Squire’s involvement starts when the building is under construction,” say Joel. “And sometimes many years before it is built. So we can put metering in at the beginning of the journey which is something we have not had historically. We can go from that network connection right the way through the data and analytics to building operation and control.”

The emerging EV market is another area that Joel feels there is a role for Stark.

“However, it’s very uncertain that it is going to develop but we want to be part of the conversation. Metering is part of the equation. For example, customers will want to know that their battery operator has been paid the right amount."

Joel believes that energy management will play a crucial role in the green economy of the future. “The drumbeat around climate change is radically different. It is more relevant than ever to more people. Net zero is taking things to another level and I can’t see how energy management is not at the heart of that.

What Government should be doing is to let businesses innovate.” 

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