LOW CARBON ENERGY DISTRICT HEATING SYSTEMS
RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS MONITORING
POWER SHORTAGE
The boom in renewables will be short-lived if systems fail to generate green energy. Proper monitoring is essential to identify failing systems and ensure renewables don’t become a byword for profl igacy, argues Tony Day
T
he deployment of renewable energy systems in buildings is on the increase. Government incentive schemes, planning requirements and
building regulations are driving the uptake in technologies such as solar photovoltaics (PV), heat pumps and biomass boilers. The installations have the potential to
achieve signifi cant energy savings, but only if they are metered properly to ensure they are performing properly. While metering of these systems is mentioned in building regulations, there is no requirement for proving that the systems actually save energy or carbon. Systems installed for planning purposes may never actually be put into use, which is a signifi cant waste of investment. To be eligible for the Feed-in Tariffs (FiT) scheme and Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) there must be a report on energy generated, but this doesn’t mean system owners have to check whether the systems are delivering real value for money. Renewables must be monitored or
www.cibsejournal.com August 2012 CIBSE Journal 39
government risks wasting taxpayers’ money on installations that do not work. Monitoring and targeting (M&T) systems will help ensure systems perform according to original expectations and will identify system failure and deterioration of performance. M&T systems can be adapted for renewable energy systems and can provide a holistic picture of building energy and carbon performance. This integration of reporting will ensure that renewables are not merely an expensive bolt-on solution for carbon reduction. As renewables become included in
Energy Performance Certifi cates (EPCs), it is important that measurement and verifi cation (M&V) regimes transparently demonstrate real performance for both contractor and client. In many cases, this requires careful consideration of how M&T systems need to be designed and set up, and an awareness of what could go wrong. Renewable energy technologies are installed with the aim of saving carbon
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