HEATING SYSTEMS ENERGY EFFICIENCY
OF SUCCESS
The parlous state of the British economy is inspiring a more pragmatic approach to heating system design, according to experts. Ewen Rose reports
T
he heating industry must shift its focus from carbon saving to energy efficiency and affordability to meet new regulatory and economic targets,
according to speakers at the New Solutions for Heating System Design conference hosted by the IMechE. ‘Regulators have acknowledged that everything must be affordable – or it simply won’t happen,’ explained AECOM director Ant Wilson during his presentation on future changes to Part L of the Building Regulations. ‘The agenda is now dominated by energy
and security of supply,’ he added. ‘It is relatively easy to cut carbon by using lots of clean energy, but that is no longer acceptable as it dramatically pushes up costs.’ He explained that the planned revisions to
Part L, due to take effect in 2013, will move the sector away from zero carbon towards a more realistic target of low-energy buildings. The ‘recast’ European Energy
Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which has dictated the direction of Part L, now includes cost-optimisation criteria to avoid ‘doing things that cost a fortune to deliver zero carbon’. ‘The government says regulation should
give certainty to encourage businesses to develop greener products and services, but says it will also be effective and proportionate and implemented in a way that minimises the burden on businesses,’ he added. The affordability imperative means that the planned new Part L will now only set
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energy efficiency levels 10% higher than they are now. Overall, by 2019’s version we will have improved energy efficiency standards that are substantially lower than originally forecast. ‘We will be a long way from the original aim of zero carbon,’ said Wilson. The Green Deal is seen as key for the
government because it takes away the ‘financial burden’ from end users. However, the conference heard there were problems looming if we use computer software that was originally designed for compliance checking to calculate the potential energy savings under the Green Deal. ‘We need to improve SBEM and SAP,’
said Wilson. ‘We must have a more robust measurement methodology or people simply won’t trust it to produce the accurate data that is needed to set the right level of repayments for the bill payer.’ The growing need for practical and
cost-effective heating solutions prompted speakers to call for greater use of community heating schemes, combined heat and power (CHP) and thermal storage systems. Frank Mills of consultants Sinclair
Knight Merz said the country needed ‘to spend its money more wisely by not having renewables on buildings’. He proposed using off-site renewables
in conjunction with ‘private wire schemes’ serving multiple users. He also advocated the use of thermal storage to overcome the problem of managing intermittent energy from renewable sources.
February 2012 CIBSE Journal 31
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