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ROUND TABLE REVIEW
to install but “most importantly how to commission them,” and warranties should be dependent on such certifi cates. This was a point echoed by Greg Jones of Hoare Lea, who added that there might be “a different solution altogether” for urban high-rises. There was extended discussion of training approaches for installers, including Jaydeep Bhadra of CIBSE who said the Building Safety have recently formed a working group on heating and heating controls, which has the aim of “developing a training course which every institute can follow.” He said CIBSE and the Heat Pump Association were collaborating with the Regulator to “streamline this training and get it accredited.” Dan Jestico of Savills said there was “probably a huge amount we could learn [from countries like Germany who have widely embraced heat pumps], in terms of installers and commissioning, and persistent problems and things to look out for.” He added: “The knowledge exists.”
HOT OFF THE PRESS: REVIEWING THE STANDARD’S IMPACT (Left to right), round table Chair & ADF Editor, James Parker; Abigail Woolf, Senior Energy and Carbon Advisor, UKGBC; Dr Jaydeep Bhadra, Domestic Sector Technical Manager, CIBSE; Mike Jones, National Specifi cation Manager, Garo Electric (event sponsor), Greg Jones, Residential Sector Lead, Hoare Lea
recently adopted it on ground fl oors in many of its developments, following testing at Energy House 2.0 in Salford. A report from the Energy House chamber test countered ideas that lower water temperatures necessitated oversized radiators upstairs (the UFH increased the temperature on the level above too). Jonathan Cheng of Dandara offered the potential hiccup for mainstream adoption, that people still “view underfl oor heating as a premium product.” He added: “In one sense that’s a good thing for the housebuilder, because the homeowner expects to pay more for it, but the cost to the house builder has become more comparable.” Ronny Reeves said the cost of UFH was coming down as volume of spec increases, while asserting that the cost of radiators was increasing. He asserted the cost was offset by “added benefi ts for the housebuilder in terms of saving time on installation, and reduced maintenance,” citing particular relevance for housing associations. Cheng said that there was still general “reluctance in the sector
to say, ‘let’s go in this direction,” fuelled by worries about “a lot of aftercare.” Mike Leonard cited a positive case study by Keepmoat of heat pumps plus UFH at Gedling Green, saying customers were happy based on overall comfort, and lack of radiators.
Air source heat pumps Nathan Tranter of Panasonic framed his question simply around the need to educate installers: “How can we help educate our existing network of installers onsite to now install new technologies such as ASHPs when they have only been focused on gas boilers? Tranter pointed out that with a “lot of new technology coming online for new homes, electricians haven’t really fully looked into how to install them.” He wondered whether a “whole certifi cate matrix was needed for installers,” so they fully understood how
The debate around heat pumps also ventured into the potential to run at lower temperatures than the common 55°C, which would not only reap carbon savings for developments but better EPC scores for homeowners. Our delegates emphasised it would not harm performance for end users either (the average shower temperature is between 37°C and 41°C). Nathan Tranter commented that on new builds, Panasonic was generally designing at 45°C, but said “the lower, the better.” He said the UK would do well to follow Europe on designing for lower water temperatures for higher pump effi ciencies. He admitted that radiator size “has always been a barrier, but cited initiatives Panasonic had been pursuing using standard 15 mm pipe connected to fan coils: “I can drop to 35°C and the radiator’s smaller than it would be for a gas boiler.” The panel also looked at the potential for heat pumps to work in reverse in future, overheating will “become dominant in future,” said Lubo Jankovich, and using heat pumps for cooling with light fan coils was the preference rather than “larger and larger radiators.”
Waste water heat recovery
Ellis Maginn of Recoup Energy Solutions reviewed the uptake of the simple method for recovering heat from showers, given that heating water is set to become the biggest source of emissions in new homes. He asked whether the FHS plus the move towards electrifi cation “prioritised hot water demand reduction suffi ciently? And, does the current policy pathway allow for innovation in hot water production and demand reduction?”
He said manufacturers were launching sophisticated ‘modulating’ electric showers, but Recoup’s new product had been languishing in the Appendix Q process with DESNZ for around 18 months, with “no defi nitive end date.” On the plus side, he confi rmed that WWHR was being adopted by housebuilders large and small, from Bellway Homes to Greencore (present at the debate).
Ventilation
Larry Soper of Envirovent asked the pertinent question, in the light of our warming environment and increasingly air tight dwellings: “How will the Future Homes Standard change how we ventilate dwellings?” He said robust ventilation strategy remained the
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