Renewables Commissioning
> ‘bling’ – such as massive solar PV arrays, green roofs or grid, and planners responsible for approving district
wind turbines, rather than focusing on the building’s heating and cooling schemes.
energy demands. Says Malina: ‘We are starting to Wilson agrees that thinking on a large scale in terms
see more and more practices such as sticking a of the grid is more cost effective in the long run. As he
wind turbine on the side of the building as a fashion says: ‘If you are a building owner, you don’t want to
statement. worry about the maintenance of, say, a wind turbine
‘The payback for a £1,600 domestic or small on your building. You are better off leaving that with
commercial aero-turbine could be hundreds of years the people who should know what they are doing – the
because, in an urban area, you have “wind shadow”, power generators. Your responsibility as the building
but people don’t think in these terms. You can’t see owner is to make sure you are not demanding too
insulation because it’s inside the building, whereas a much energy.’
wind turbine or PV is a visual representation of your And reducing energy demand needs to be at the
environmental credentials even though it is often no forefront of the consultant’s mind too. Wilson concludes:
more than a very expensive ornament.’ ‘I think we have lost sight of the environmental point.
James Thonger, associate director at consultancy We think we can throw renewables at the problem
Arup, believes the answer lies in the bigger picture: because they are high tech and the trendy thing to
‘I think we are now into the second generation of do, but we have not done enough to get the demand
renewable technology and there is a much more right down in the first place. The words in Building
responsible understanding of what constitutes a good Regulations Part L are to use no more fuel and power
system. We are at a point now where we are producing than are reasonable in the circumstances. We seem to
more than we are wasting, and I think we are at the have lost that thought.’ l
stage of fine tuning; I can’t see any major leaps from
the current range of options we have.
The words in Part L are to use
no more fuel and power than is
reasonable in the circumstances.
We seem to have lost that
thought – Ant Wilson
‘The question is now going to become that of
government policy on renewables, and I suppose the
UK government has been thinking along the lines that
individuals should pay for this. My particular view is
that if we consider security of energy supply in the
UK as a whole, we really should be tackling this on a
national basis, not on an individual basis.’
This implies big investment in large-scale
renewable projects such as wind farms and hydro
projects as well as low-carbon technologies such as co-
and tri-generation, and district heating schemes. And
it will inevitably involve the commitment of power
generators responsible for supplying the national
Biomass: facing up to air-quality concerns
When European directive 2008/50/EC, Ambient Air Quality and Hoval says it has addressed this situation by producing its CF
Cleaner Air for Europe, comes into force in June 2010 it could create ceramic filter, claimed to be capable of removing 96 per cent of
a difficult situation for biomass boilers. particulate emissions down to PM2.5. Designed for use with any
This is because the directive seeks to create a control framework make of new or existing biomass boiler, the ceramic filter contains
for particulate emissions down to 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5), a matrix of porous ceramic tubes which are closed at the lower end,
and the current cyclone and multi-cyclone technologies remove Hoval says.
particles only down to 10 microns (PM10), according to boiler As flue gases are drawn through the filter by an inline fan, the
maker Hoval. gases are able to pass through the walls of the ceramic tubes, while
‘Potentially, this could severely curtail the use of biomass in the particles are trapped. At regular intervals (timed and/or in response
UK, and some local authorities are already considering a ban,’ the to a pressure drop across the filter) a pulse of air is used to dislodge
company says. the particles, which fall into a collection bin.
46 CIBSE Journal January 2010 www.cibsejournal.com
CIBSEjan10 pp42-44,46 Renewables.indd 46 17/12/09 16:07:37
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