BSEE T


Gasfired technologies will connue to play a key role in the heang and hot water market far into the future despite the government’s plans to achieve a net zero carbon economy by 2050, according to Liam Elmore, sales director of Lochinvar


here have already been heated debates about how much decarbonising our economy will cost with the Treasury


calculating the final bill at more than £1trn. The 2050 net zero target has also been dismissed by many


commentators because they think it will not be possible without future technology breakthroughs that cannot be guaranteed. However, the journey towards a net zero carbon future will involve a range of solutions – many of which are already with us.


The clue is in the word ‘net’. The priority is to reduce carbon emissions, it does not matter whether we use renewables, low carbon ‘conventional’ technologies or a combination of both because the aim is to get emissions to a low enough level where any remainder can be offset by other means – and to do it in an affordable way. The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) confirmed that in its advice to government when it said that the technologies and approaches that will deliver net-zero “are now understood and available to be implemented”. It added that the current cost of key technologies “enables a net-zero target to be met within the very same cost limits that were accepted by Parliament when it passed the Climate Change Act in 2008” when the target was only an 80% reduction in emissions.


Transition It did not advocate the


abandonment of well-established methods for lowering carbon and advised that the transition to a lower and, eventually, net zero carbon future will depend on increasingly efficient gas-fired technologies. In our sector, these technologies also represent the most realistic, affordable and practical approach to achieving low carbon targets without depriving end users of their everyday requirement for heating and hot water.


The heating and hot water sector has been lowering carbon for many years and we have the scope to go further and faster with the technologies our clients already specify and trust. Renewables will play an increasingly important role, but gas-fired heating and hot water products will be equally, if not more, important.


This is because a wholesale switch to renewables and/or nuclear would be very expensive and is possibly why the Treasury’s estimate is so high. Even more significantly, it would not achieve the country’s goals. Not all renewables are low carbon so switching to fully renewable solutions will not deliver our 2050 zero carbon target. Gas-fired systems also provide security of supply because they are not weather dependent like many renewables and, although we have continued to use a lot of gas-fired technology, the UK’s total gas consumption has fallen by a hugely impressive 20% since 2000. A range of factors has contributed, but improvements to heating and hot water technologies have been significant.


Our sector has made huge strides by refining the design of individual products and by using more ‘hybrid’ solutions. These involve a


combination of high efficiency gas- fired products with renewables in order to further reduce carbon while providing the necessary capacity to meet a building’s comfort and hot water needs. Being able to take this kind of flexible, integrated approach will be crucial to hitting our 2050 goal…and all the others in between. Mike Foster, chief executive of the Energy & Utilities Alliance, recently pointed out that any strategy for decarbonising heating would have to focus on peak demand periods. Gas-fired heating provides the flexibility to satisfy demand during the coldest winter months, but can be switched off during warmer periods. It is, therefore, perfectly possible to minimise our impact on the environment without having to ask clients to make sacrifices either in price or performance.


Integrated heating and hot water solutions can achieve emissions targets, but at a far lower capital cost than stand-alone renewables, and more people are now using the hybrid approach to achieve their target BREEAM ratings.


Hybrids also reduce running costs and extend the operating life of the equipment by only using the gas- fired products in back-up mode. This is another key to reducing carbon. If you have to replace products on a regular basis, you will increase your overall carbon footprint significantly.


Conventional


The hybrid approach is also the only realistic way to address the most significant challenge facing our sector, which is how to minimise emissions from existing buildings. 80% of the buildings that will be with us when we arrive at our 2050 destination are already built and many would require enormous sums to retrofit to renewable only or all- electric heating and hot water. Therefore, the ability to upgrade


12 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2020


BOILERS & HOTWATER Gas will be crucial in push for net zero


conventional systems to low carbon equivalents will be a major step towards the net zero goal. The replacement of gas-fired boilers with heat pumps in a care home for example, is likely to mean a complete system redesign as existing radiators would not be suitable for the low-grade heat produced by the likes of heat pumps. Heat pumps are significantly more expensive than gas-fired boilers and such a system redesign would involve a further substantial increase in capital cost, not to mention the considerable disruption to the residents and management. Buildings such as hotels have peak demand periods for hot water; gas- fired water heaters can satisfy these demands as they are designed on the principles of low storage with fast recovery of hot water.


The low grade heat provided by heat pumps cannot provide such rapid response, which would mean a substantial increase in the amount of hot water storage required. Higher storage capacity usually equals higher storage losses and means that additional plant room space would be required. This will represent a major practical challenge as space is often restricted in commercial plant rooms.


All of this means that at Lochinvar, we continue to see high levels of demand for gas-fired boilers and water heaters. We have also seen a significant increase in orders for heat pumps, but in the vast majority of


projects, boilers and water heaters are being specified as well. That is why we recently brought to market a brand new gas-fired boiler. The EFB range represents another step forward for condensing technology, which is now close to the limit of what is physically possible in terms of energy efficiency. However, the challenge with condensing boilers has always been to find ways of making sure the efficiencies they achieve under test conditions can be replicated once they are installed and throughout their operating life. This is achievable with the EFB thanks to its on-board controls. Combining EFB boilers with heat pumps will also help to further reduce gas consumption, fuel costs and carbon emissions. This approach also addresses another serious challenge for building services engineers – the need to minimise air pollutants. NOx emissions from the EFB range are lower than 24mg/kWh, which we believe to be the lowest level produced by any commercial wall hung boiler currently available on the UK market. As a result, all EFB models qualify for the maximum two credits awarded for air quality on BREEAM-rated projects. Our industry will continue to innovate and refine gas-fired products this way for some time to come because they clearly have a long-term future.


www.lochinvar.ltd.uk Read the latest at: www.bsee.co.uk


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42