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Tom Murray, Specificaon Director at Baxi Heang, looks at the opportunies ahead for the buildings services industry in decarbonising heat and examines the evoluon of the boiler to meet the requirements of immediate and future heang soluons


New Year, a new chapter. As we leave 2020 behind and make


resolutions for 2021, green is sure to top


the agenda for many businesses. The Government has set decarbonising heat in buildings at the heart of its ten-point plan for a green industrial green evolution, with heat pumps and hydrogen highlighted as being pivotal to achieving its ambitious goals.


While the focus to date has largely centred on the UK’s circa 28m homes, reducing demand in commercial buildings is also essential if we are to achieve our 2050 net zero target. Our role as


manufacturers is to deliver, through innovation and product evolution, the technologies and approaches that will support the building services industry in delivering the most appropriate solution for different applications.


So what are the feasible options? And does the boiler still have a role to play in heating our commercial buildings?


Hybrid solutions


Certainly, the merits of applying heat pumps are well established in new and well insulated commercial properties that are designed to require less heat. We view Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) as the most popular and cost-effective choice of heat pump and will soon be offering them as part of our portfolio of cleaner, greener commercial heating and hot water solutions. We also see hybrid or bivalent heating systems that include both a boiler and a heat pump as the natural next step to deliver an efficient and cost-effective heating system all year round – at least until heat pump technology evolves. At the same time, we cannot ignore the fact that 80% of today’s UK buildings are expected still to be in use by 2050. The nature of the structures and heating systems in these older, often thermally inefficient buildings may mean that retrofitting heat pumps is currently not an option for building operators. Yet we must not neglect any


Remeha’s nextgeneraon Gas 320620 Ace series has been designed to provide an adaptable project soluon


opportunity to reduce energy consumption, emissions and costs associated with heating and hot water generation in all our commercial building stock.


Evolving condensing boiler technology


We need to be pragmatic – without funding, the technically and economically viable solutions are currently constrained in our older building stock.


Given that many operators of older commercial buildings are likely to continue to use gas for heat for the next ten years or so, the focus must be on using this energy source as efficiently and effectively as possible. This is where condensing boilers continue to have a vital role to play in the immediate term. In the many buildings that rely on dated or inefficient heating plant, an upgrade to more energy-efficient condensing boilers can be transformational – even halving gas consumption and associated emissions in our experience.


However, evolving condensing boiler design to optimise adaptability and performance is key to meet the changing requirements and anticipated tighter regulations. Manufacturers are rising to the challenge. Remeha’s next- generation Gas 320/620 Ace series, for example, has been designed to provide an adaptable project solution with a high temperature differential (T) of 10°C to 40°C and wide operating range of 20°C to 80°C/90°C.


As such, this range provides the perfect heat source for heat interface units, low temperature heating and low carbon hybrid installations. But crucially it is equally well-suited to retrofit applications, while still paving the way for the addition of low carbon technology at a future date or when funds permit.


Efficiency is typically the first consideration when selecting boilers. Many condensing models are capable of achieving near maximum efficiency and should be engineered to minimise NOx emission levels. However, evolving boilers to have a low water content that allows for low to zero flow operation will enable them to respond rapidly to increasing or decreasing changes in load and so reduce running costs further. Ensuring that the latest boilers are supplied with enhanced boiler control, easy integration into the Building Management System and remote monitoring capability built in, will make it easier to optimise whole life operational performance. At the same time, ensuring ease of maintenance, servicing and part replacement will reduce total cost of ownership.


And beyond the boiler, the ability to tap into specialist manufacturer knowledge and have access to full technical design support – from a technical CAD and BIM library data to detailed drawings and schematics – will ensure optimal results.


14 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2021 The future of the boiler


But what does the future hold for the boiler? As we phase out carbon- intensive heating, repurposing the gas grid to transport hydrogen is seen as a low disruption, medium to long term solution in these hard to tackle buildings.


We at Baxi Heating and BDR Thermea have been working closely with UK Government to trial hydrogen in a number of projects. 20% hydrogen blends are being demonstrated using current boilers at the HyDeploy project at Keele University. We are also


demonstrating prototypes of 100% hydrogen boilers through the UK government Hy4Heat programme, with larger scale trial projects in development.


The government has committed £81m investment from 2021 to develop hydrogen generation capacity and to create the first hydrogen heated neighbourhood by 2023, the first village by 2025, then the first town by the end of the decade. So it isn’t far-fetched to envisage businesses heating their buildings with low carbon hydrogen boilers long before 2050. At Baxi Heating, we are


continuously evolving our heating products and expanding our portfolio to provide immediate, achievable opportunities for energy savings, while innovating with low carbon solutions. Whether it’s smaller strides or greater leaps, action is needed now to reduce demand from our buildings and heating systems. The buildings services industry will be instrumental in driving the heating revolution –we look forward to lending our support. Tom Murray is Specification Director at Baxi Heating.


BOILERS & HOT WATER Boiler evolution


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