BSEE


With fossil fuel heang systems to be banned in new houses from 2025, Whitecode Design Associates looks at the implicaons of this push towards greater energy eciency and how new technologies will need to be incorporated to drive down emissions.


efficiency, the UK has come a long way over the past few decades; back then, gas and coal generated more than 70 per cent of the UK’s electricity. Fast-forward to now and it is encouraging to see that so many renewable energy sources are being used instead, with biomass, solar, and wind power the largest producers of non-fossil fuel energy.


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By Alex Hill, managing director, Whitecode Design Associates


Whilst the UK has made notable strides in reducing its dependency on fossil fuels, there is an aspect which is throwing a spanner in the works: gas boilers. Heating accounts for up to 40 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption, with 85 per cent of UK households using fossil fuel-based natural gas to generate heat that powers the nation’s boilers. Even though the government’s 2025 ban will go some way to combatting the use of fossil fuel heating in new homes, what about the current building stock in which 65% of the total expected amount in 2060 is already built today? Moreover, will the government apply similar measures to the purchase of gas boilers? To tackle this issue, it is important for the UK government to consider existing buildings equally as it does new homes, setting targets and encouraging the installation of non-fossil fuel technologies for each.


The first solution: Heat pumps


The drive for air and water source heat pumps is gaining momentum. The more common out of the two are air source heat pumps, a low- carbon producer of heat which has been widely tried-and-tested in the likes of Scandinavia and the Netherlands. For the UK, heat pumps can be put on the electric grid, which is being decarbonised through the adoption of wind power as opposed to coal. Any sceptics should take comfort in the fact that heat pumps can perform, generating three to four units of heating for one unit of energy.


n terms of energy


ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS The end of fossil fuel heating


This is something that can’t be said for electric panel heaters, which only produce a single unit.


Whilst heat pumps are a worthy option, it is important to remember that the industry en masse is not necessarily prepared for a huge rollout of these solutions. To install a gas boiler for instance, all engineers have to be Gas Safe registered. To install a heat pump however, engineers must be F-Gas registered; a different qualification which enables air conditioning and refrigeration engineers to meet legal requirements required to work with fluorinated greenhouse gases, known as F-Gases.


As the government has mandated that it will stop the installation of gas boilers in new homes by 2025, a potential avenue would be to upskill the Gas Safe registered installers to be F-Gas qualified. This approach


would not only satisfy the industry’s growing skills shortage, it would enable the government to meet its rather ambitious 300,000 new homes a year target and increase the amount of legitimate heat pump installers.


What are the costs?


Even though the benefits of air source heat pumps are numerous they do come at a cost. A gas boiler will come at around £600-1000 with another £1000 to install, whereas a heat pump can be anything from £5,000. Installation costs can crank the amount up to £8,000. Dare I ask, how can consumers be energy efficient when the gas boiler substitutes are so expensive? Thankfully the UK government has created a Green Homes grant whereby homeowners and both private and social-rented residential landlords can improve the energy efficiency of the dwellings they own. This will go some way to ensuring the present housing stock can lower their dependence on fossil fuel heating. Depending on eligibility and income criteria, recipients can obtain a grant of up to £10,000, with the government covering 100% of the cost for extremely low-income households. This scheme and the level of support it offers will certainly play a role in encouraging consumers to be make their homes more energy efficient.


But another hidden cost here is the amount of noise which heat pumps generate. For building managers and homeowners, it might prove challenging to mediate the buzzing sounds that the pump produces – harsher acoustics may compromise residents’ wellbeing. Here, there needs to be greater attention on where and how the heat pumps are installed so that noise pollution is kept to an absolute minimum.


8 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER DECEMBER 2020


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Dare I ask, how can consumers be energy ecient when the gas boiler substutes are so expensive?


’ A hydrogen alternative?


There are studies however, which argue that gas boilers and distribution could be substituted for hydrogen technology. A huge focus at the moment is creating a non- fossil fuel gas that can be used throughout the gas network. A few decades ago, the UK switched from coal (also known as town gas) to the material that fuels our current boilers: natural gas. A transition such as this – from natural gas to hydrogen – could be on the cards. It will, however, take further research and government intervention to ensure this infrastructural change pays off. By 2025 fossil fuel heating as we know it will be banned in new homes. Although this mandate will contribute to reducing the UK’s dependency on natural gas, currently the measures do not go far enough. The majority of the UK’s current housing stock will still be standing in 2050, which means the government still has its work cut out to decrease the number of gas boilers in older homes. Without considering either heat pumps or a material substitute to natural gas, UK homes’ energy efficiency will be an idea not a reality.


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