Plymouth High School for Girls
Energy Saving Boiler Upgrade – Project Case Study Founded in 1874, Plymouth High School for Girls is a grammar school with a long tradition of excellence, and provides a wide range of education facilities for 800+ students from year 7 to year 13. Located near to the centre of the historic city of Plymouth, the original listed building now forms the centrepiece of a mix of older and more modern facilities, developed and extended over the years. This eclectic mix of older and modern facilities will be familiar to many school pupils and teachers around the country, along with the difficulty in maintaining compliant comfort levels at different times of the year. Such buildings are notoriously difficult to heat efficiently. Paul Renyard, Business Development Manager at Plymouth High, explains: “We faced a real problem in trying to keep all areas of the school at a comfortable temperature. And our fuel bills were unnecessarily high”. The school heating and hot water system is served by a number of separate plant rooms. The main building and annexe wing of the school were equipped with large inefficient oil fired boilers. These boilers would deliver heat to a circuit of traditional cast iron radiators in the various classrooms, offices and corridors. Hot water was catered for using either traditional calorifiers in the plantrooms, or by the use of small satellite gas boilers or electric instantaneous outlets. Problem areas such as basement level classrooms and communal areas were further supported by the use of a bank of electric convector heaters which were used almost constantly during the colder periods. The school investigated a number of options to improve the efficiency of the system, and decided the best approach was the replacement of the older, unreliable oil fired boilers with high efficiency gas fired heat servers that utilised Flue Gas Heat Recovery (FGHR) technology. “We considered different renewable technologies, including solar, heat pumps and biomass” said Paul Renyard, “But the reality is that for a school like ours the financial, logistical and environmental case just didn’t stack up”. He contacted FGHR experts Blades LCS in nearby Launceston, and asked them to design an efficient gas fired solution that would integrate with existing pipework and fittings in order to minimise disruption and cost. Blades Low Carbon Systems Ltd.
01566 770799
info@bladeslcs.co.uk
www.bladeslcs.co.uk
Zenex, the Zenex logo and GasSaver are trademarks of Zenex Technologies Ltd. Copyright Blades LCS Ltd. 2012
BLCS-CS-PHSG-120514
Peter Greenwood, Technical Director at Blades LCS visited the site and suggested a phased installation using modular, pre-configured Blade Heating Severs with integrated FGHR. The modular nature of the heating servers would provide efficient and fault tolerant operation with minimal plantroom disruption and downtime. In addition, Blades LCS advised on heating circuit options that would take advantage of the heat recovery technology. This would eliminate the uneven heat delivery in key parts of the buildings, while still retaining the majority of existing circuit hardware and radiators. The recovered energy from FGHR systems can be used in various ways, either for heating or for hot water applications, allowing the system to be configured for maximum client benefit. As the school’s hot water demand is fairly low it was agreed to optimise the use of the recovered energy by heating certain classrooms and communal areas for free. The results are outstanding. Fuel bills have been cut by 60%, making a significant difference to the schools operating budget. Problem areas have been resolved and pupil and staff comfort in all areas has been substantially improved. “The cost savings are very significant”, said Paul. “Improved comfort levels and the higher efficiency of the Blade systems over standard boilers means that our carbon emissions are as low as can be achieved and our energy costs reduced. I don’t believe we could have chosen a more effective solution”
About Flue Gas Heat Recovery Although modern condensing gas boilers are designed to be much more efficient than traditional gas or oil fired boilers, they are typically unable to operate at their maximum efficiency in real-world commercial working environments. This drop in efficiency means that valuable energy is lost in the flue gases that are expelled into the atmosphere. The Blade servers use Zenex Flue Gas Heat Recovery technology to capture normally wasted energy and put it to good use, such as running additional low surface temperature radiators, or pre-heating the
PHSG Fuel Bill and Carbon Savings
cold water main supply to domestic hot
(First full year)
water systems.
60% reduction in fuel bills Carbon footprint reduced by 19.6 tons CO 2 Useful energy (comfort) increased by 24%
The result is reduced waste, greater operating efficiency, and lower fuel bills for schools and colleges.
The Blade LCS Heating Servers The heating servers installed at PHSG are a self contained, high efficiency gas fired heating and hot water solution for schools, colleges, sports clubs, leisure centres and many types of public and private buildings. Developed by Blades LCS in Cornwall, the systems incorporate class leading FGHR technology from Zenex Technologies, widely recognised as the leader in FGHR and associated energy saving solutions. The high quality servers are designed as self contained, preconfigured scalable units to minimise installation downtime and client disruption. The units will fit through a standard doorway, and can be easily manoeuvred into existing plantroom locations without the need for cranes or heavy lifting equipment. The Zenex Flue Gas Heat Recovery system form an integrated part of the Blade Heating Servers installed at Plymouth High For more information on the Blades LCS Heating Servers, call 01566 770799 Blades Low Carbon Systems Ltd.
01566 770799
info@bladeslcs.co.uk
www.bladeslcs.co.uk
Zenex, the Zenex logo and GasSaver are trademarks of Zenex Technologies Ltd. Copyright Blades LCS Ltd. 2012
BLCS-CS-PHSG-120514