BSEE


As more and more people are choosing to have smart technology in their homes, and we’re all becoming more conscious of energy eciency, why is it that some of the poorest products are sll being included on housing development specificaons? Are we really taking technology in housebuilding seriously enough? Bill Bates, director of Energy Billing, takes a look.


M


any District Heating


schemes in


existence today are not working efficiently


enough. There are many reasons for this, and sometimes it may seem as if starting again would be the best solution to the problem. However, replacing equipment is all too often prohibitively expensive. I know of one place in the Midlands that is replacing all of the lateral primary network, but in most cases we have no choice but to work with what we’ve got; whatever it may be.


Small Changes


Whereas you may feel deflated by systems in place that appear to have multiple issues, I’ve found that by just doing some rudimentary measurements and control, improvements in efficiency have been achieved between 10% and 20%. As Lord Kelvin once wisely said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” It seems so obvious, so


why is it that this small task isn’t effectively executed in our industry? As a basic example, by correctly controlling flow and return temperatures, and balancing this against actual and predicted demand with some simple statistical monitoring and intelligent learning, we can make a big difference. They’re small tasks in reality, yet by not doing them we’re holding ourselves back. As an industry, we need to pull ourselves forward.


“Dumb” Systems


On new installations, in my opinion, designers and specifiers should stop putting in “dumb” Heat Interface Units (HIUs) that can’t be monitored, maintained or adjusted for the appropriate heating requirements.


It seems to me as logical as having a gearbox in a car. If you could only run in first gear, how would you expect to achieve any kind of fuel efficiency? It would be madness. We have gears to properly control the car, yet such simple measures seem to be missing from our heating products.


Isolated Thinking


I see how we got here. Traditionally, the boiler manufacturers, the pipework installers and the HIU manufacturers have worked independently from one another to maximise their gains. It’s business, it’s quite understandable. But by doing


this, we aren’t physically able to provide the best solution to our customers. It’s just not possible. If we carry on in this manner, we’ll undermine our own position as an industry. Instead, we need to show leadership, deliver best practice and reinforce good engineering principles. We need to work together and strive for the best we can be.


FOCUS: SMART BUILDINGS


The Unnecessary Costs of Inefficient Technology in Housebuilding


34 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER SEPTEMBER 2020


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