NEWS In brief
GOVERNMENT URGED TO EXCLUDE LATE PAYERS The government and councils should not award contracts to fi rms that fail to pay their suppliers within 30 days, according to the National Specialist Contractors’ Council (NSCC). Chief executive Suzannah
Nichol has written to business minister Michael Fallon urging him to take fi rmer action over late payment in the construction industry. She also asked him to toughen up the voluntary Prompt Payment Code so that fi rms with payment terms longer than 60 days are not eligible to join.
EXTENDED RHPP SOFTENS IMPACT OF RHI DELAY The government says it is still committed to introducing the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) for households, despite another delay to the scheme. The industry reacted with
dismay when the domestic RHI was delayed until spring 2014 – making it at least three years late. Air-to-water heat pumps are also still excluded from the scheme and will not be fast-tracked in, according to a Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) spokesman. The government said it
would extend Renewable Heat Premium Payments (RHPP) to encourage residential users to invest in solar thermal, biomass and heat pump systems ahead of the full RHI. The Micropower Council
said the RHPP grants ‘softened the blow’, but called for the RHI to be implemented ‘as quickly as possible’.
Poor standards threaten heat pump market
RHI changes welcomed, but questions remain
The heat pump market is in danger of being set back by a decade or more because of inappropriate specifi cations, according to the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES).
The association fears heat pumps are in danger of going the same way as the underfl oor heating industry, where poor understanding of the technology, untrained installers and mis-selling damaged the market.
The government wants to see 6.8 million heat pumps installed by 2030, which will require a huge leap from the current 20,000 a year to 600,000. However, the association is concerned such an ambitious target could encourage
M&S SEES THE LIGHT i0522-56 Condair GS Gas-Fired AW_CIBSE Magazine 190x66 14/02/2013 11:44 Page 1
Marks & Spencer plans to cut energy use by 35% per square foot by 2015 across its estate. It has begun by replacing ribbon wall light fi ttings with low energy LED lighting in more than 170 stores. The work was undertaken by Balfour Beatty Engineering Services (BBES) and lighting manufacturer Phillips. BBES is also working with M&S to improve energy metering, and on remote management of in-store lighting, heating and ventilation equipment and food refrigeration systems, to reduce energy use and maintenance costs.
inappropriate specifi cations. David Frise, B&ES head of sustainability, said some electric heat pumps were being installed in properties that have gas supplies, which would make ‘absolutely no sense in terms of carbon or cost’ until the grid was decarbonised. He also questioned installation
quality, insisting: ‘Some of the work is well below acceptable standards, overly complex and, in some cases, unsuitable for homes.’
Some developers and housing associations are choosing heat pumps just to get a ‘tick in the box’ for planning reasons or to meet the requirements of the Code for Sustainable Homes, said Frise. Mike Malina, director of Energy Solutions Associates, said the supply chain was ‘malfunctioning’ and called on manufacturers to ‘take the bull by the horns’ and sort
out communication problems with contractors and end users. In surveys of three domestic heat pump installations, Malina’s fi rm uncovered repeated problems with handover, commissioning and end- user operation.
Many heat pumps are supplied through merchants and this means manufacturers lose track of their products and have no idea if they are being correctly or appropriately specifi ed, according to Malina. He said end users are confused about how the systems work and their poor perception of the technology is being exaggerated by over- estimated electricity bills. B&ES warned that poor experiences could easily turn consumers against the technology. One housing association ignored recommendations to improve communication with occupants and re-commission the systems and ‘ended up ripping out 69 perfectly good heat pumps’. ‘This is a minefi eld and is as much political as technical,’ added Malina.
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8 CIBSE Journal May 2013
www.cibsejournal.com
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