HEATING, VENTILATION & SERVICES 59 Commercial cool comfort
Steve Molloy from Daikin explores how well-designed HVAC systems can contribute to thermally resilient commercial buildings as the Earth continues to warm.
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ith four of the UK’s hottest years on record occurring between 2022 and 2025, the conversation around climate control in the built environment has become increasingly urgent. Indeed, according to a report published by the Climate Change Committee in May, the UK is ‘built for a climate that no longer exists’ and current heat mitigation policies are unlikely to be suffi cient in the face of rising temperatures. The landmark report advocates for greater use of mechanical cooling in public buildings, particularly in those intended for vulnerable populations such as care homes and schools, and calls for the Government to set a maximum temperature for work environments. For architects working in commercial
spaces, the report is another clear signal of the direction of travel: overheating is no longer an operational issue to be managed but a key design priority that must be considered in the earliest stages of a project. Decisions made at RIBA Stage 1 and 2 about building orientation, glazing strategy and structural thermal mass will either ease or compound the demands placed on any mechanical system. Getting the building envelope right is vital, of course, but the mechanical strategy should be given equal consideration and as the mercury continues to rise, it should be equally ambitious. After all, a carefully planned HVAC system must perform against a wide breadth of criteria. It must deliver thermal comfort year-round, contribute meaningfully to carbon reduction targets and remain capable of performing reliably in ambient conditions signifi cantly warmer than today’s. Crucially, decarbonising the heating and cooling of commercial buildings is inextricably linked to the question of thermal resilience. A design that solves the overheating problem through energy- intensive cooling, powered by the grid without regard for carbon content, is only a partial solution.
Heat pumps are the most credible ADF JULY/AUGUST 2026
pathway to low-carbon heating and cooling in commercial buildings, and the technology has matured. Air-source heat pumps (ASHP) extract heat from ambient air and remain the dominant choice in the UK market, where a suitable water source or appropriate geology for ground or water source alternatives is not always available. Ground and water source systems offer more consistent year-round performance given the stability of ground and water temperatures relative to air and are worth investigating where site conditions permit. A key design advantage of heat pumps is that the refrigerant cycle can be reversed for cooling, making a single technology capable of addressing the full thermal comfort range. For buildings with complex or mixed requirements, four-pipe multipurpose confi gurations can deliver heating and cooling simultaneously to different zones, capturing and redistributing heat rather than rejecting it; particularly effi cient during seasons when some spaces require warming and others need cooling. Achieving domestic hot water
The UK is ‘built for a climate that no longer exists’ – Climate Change Committee, May 2026
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