News


NEWS IN BRIEF Firms hail changes to non-domestic RHI Daikin Emura wins award


Daikin Emura has won the prestigious 2014 red dot award for product design in the air conditioning category. http://ow.ly/y5ms3


Climate Center: new website Climate Center has launched a new transactional website that gives customers unprecedented access to stock and pricing in- formation and the ability to order products online. http://ow.ly/y5n8P


CIBSE new publication CIBSE (Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers) has launched a new publica- tion called Building for extreme environments: Arid. http://ow.ly/y5pnR


Future low carbon buildings A new Centre for Doctoral Train- ing (CDT) in Decarbonisation of the Built Environment at the University of Bath was launched on 29 May by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). http://ow.ly/y5q3S


TICA joins NSCC


The Thermal Insulation Contrac- tors Association (TICA) has joined the National Specialist Contrac- tors Council (NSCC) this month. http://ow.ly/y5qOw


New strategy for Fujitsu Fujitsu is implementing a raft of new initiatives aimed at develop- ing the VRF sector with major end users, growing its market share and directing more business through its nationwide network of independent distributors. http://ow.ly/y5rdy


Baxi relaunches website Baxi Commercial has revamped its website to make it fully responsive. http://ow.ly/y5rJl


Unregistered gas fitter caught Following an investigation by the HSE, an unregistered gas fitter has been given a suspended prison sentence. http://ow.ly/y5sta


ICOM reveals award winner Thomas Thomson from Cochran Ltd is the winner of the first ever ICOM Apprentice of the Year award. http://ow.ly/y5tGU


8 | July 2014 | HVR


Changes to the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) have now taken effect after parliamentary approval. Following a long period of consulta- tion with the industry, DECC has con- firmed that air to water heat pumps will finally be included in the scheme, which provides guaranteed payments over a 20 year period for eligible installations for renewable heat generated by organisa- tions in the commercial sector. Under the changes, air to water heat pumps will now be included with tariff of 2.5p/kWh and the tariffs for renew- able heat generated by ground source heat pumps have increased with split tariffs of 8.7p/kWh for the first 1,314 hours of operation and 2.6p/kWh for any operation over 1,314 hours. Solar thermal technology is also set to benefit from an increased tariff, up from 9.2p/ kWh to 10p/kWh. Clyde MacVeigh, marketing direc- tor at Dimplex Renewables, said: “The non-domestic phase of the scheme has suffered from the glaring omission of air source heat pumps since it was first introduced in 2011. It was a bewildering omission of a proven technology which is well suited to commercial retrofit pro- jects, particularly in off-gas areas in place of oil or LPG.” He continued: “With the domestic


scheme now finally under way, we are expecting a knock-on effect in the com- mercial sector as overall awareness of renewable heat technologies and their cost-saving capabilities increases. DECC has listened to the industry and these changes, together with improved tariffs


for other technologies including solar thermal, will only give added incentive for organisations to invest.” Nancy Jonsson, product manager heating and renewables at Daikin UK, said: “We have long called for air-to- water heat pumps to be included in the ndRHI scheme and this announcement is very welcome. These changes will not only give customers more choice but will also open up the ndRHI to more applications, providing a real boost to industry.”


ICOM (Industrial & Commercial


Energy Association) has also welcomed the changes to the non-domestic RHI. Director Ross Anderson said: “In par- ticular it is good news for large biomass above 1MW, which sees the tariff dou- bling to 2p/kWh, ground source heat pumps have a change to the structure but also have increased tariffs and solar thermal sees a modest increase in the tariff. The addition of air source heat pumps, solid biomass CHP and Biogas is also a positive step for the industry.” For Jaga Heating Products, the fact that this second phase of the non- domestic scheme now includes air source heat pumps (ASHPs), as well as significantly increasing financial support for eligible GSHP systems, will increase and accelerate demand for these tech- nologies.


Phil Marris, Jaga managing director,


said: “This is the news that the renewa- bles industry has been waiting for. Our experience to date is that GSHPs have been preferred for off-gas areas and large country houses, while the benefits


of installing an ASHP have been more universally accessible for both non- domestic and domestic properties alike. We are now anticipating significantly increased demand for our range of proven solutions as a result of the Phase 2 Extension announcement.” Jonathan Tedstone business project


manager at Baxi Commercial said: “It’s great to see that the Government has initiated some changes to the non- domestic RHI and at a time when the media is brimming with content about the launch of the domestic one. Any increase in the tariffs is a positive move for the government to make, ensuring the market is able to support low carbon technologies and alternative heating and hot water solutions.” Kensa Heat Pumps has also wel- comed the tariff increases for ground source heat pumps. Commercial director Chris Davis said: ‘The uplift to the non- domestic RHI ground source heat pump tariffs will undoubtedly kick start the market for a technology which up until now has seen very low uptake under the RHI.


“Ground source heat pumps are a


well-established technology, with proven energy cost and carbon saving creden- tials, so the enhanced tariffs will level the playing field in the market compared with other renewable heat technologies and ensure ground source heat pumps can be considered a viable and financial- ly attractive proposition for businesses, public sector organisations, care homes, schools and many other non-domestic applications.’


Industry responds to the Queen’s speech


Following the Government’s proposed legislative programme set out in the Queen’s Speech on 4 June, James Parkinson, commercial director and group marketing director of Ideal Boilers has welcomed the measures aimed at stimulating the housing/con- struction and manufacturing sectors. He said: “We hope these new pro-


posals, including continued support for the ‘Help to Buy’ and ‘Right to Buy’ schemes; the reforms to the planning system to enable new garden cities; the sale of high-value government land to encourage development and increased support of small house-building firms, will combine to stimulate the renewal of the housing construction industry and ongoing development of a strong sup- porting manufacturing sector.” Mr Parkinson continued: “We are


now investigating the impact these measures will have on our industry and what they mean for our installers, partic-


ularly the measures to enhance the UK’s energy independence and security; the creation of a scheme to enable construc- tion firms to offset carbon emissions of new homes after they have been built to meet zero carbon standards due from 2016, and the increase in apprenticeship places to two million by the end of the Parliament.” Meanwhile, chief executive of the UK Green Building Council, Paul King, said: “The Coalition will laud their green credentials by claiming to have delivered on the promise for all new homes to be zero carbon from 2016. This has undoubtedly been hard-won by the Lib Dems, but unfortunately they are at risk of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory by letting small developments – a large chunk of the housebuilding mar- ket – off the hook. Zero carbon homes save a fortune for households in energy costs and are better for the environment. “However, the policy of allowing


developers to pay into a fund to offset emissions they cannot reduce is a sound idea in principle, despite its lukewarm reception this week. If implemented properly, this could lead to investment in local, community energy schemes and drive innovation in clean technology. “On the other hand, a weak scheme,


that generates little investment that has no connection to the housebuilding which is taking place, would be a deeply disappointing outcome.” Chief executive of the Renewable


Energy Association (REA), Dr Nina Skorupska, said: “The UK needs houses, but policy should benefit the people who will buy and live in them as well as the people that build them. She added: “A strong emphasis on


Allowable Solutions will see homeown- ers incur the costs of this new tax rather than the benefits of efficient homes with on-site renewables and greatly reduced energy bills.”


Daily news update at www.heatingandventilating.net


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