www.heatingandventilating.net
Water heating
Getting to grips with clean growth
Dan Martindale, sales director at Andrews Water Heaters
The government plans to help businesses to improve their energy productivity by at least 20% by 2030, but what does this mean for the water heating industry? Dan Martindale, sales director at Andrews Water Heaters, discusses the impact of the Clean Growth Strategy on the sector
G
overnment initiatives to improve the way we heat our homes and businesses and to minimise our environmental impact are no doubt a positive step forward. However, it is understandable that uncertainty over
what this means in reality can cast doubt in the mind of contractors over which heating solutions will remain compliant, at least for the foreseeable future. In October 2017, the government published its Clean Growth Strategy, setting out the actions it will take to reduce emissions, increase efficiency and lower the amount that consumers and businesses spend on energy. Putting clean growth at the centre of a modern industrial strategy, it hopes to create new low carbon opportunities, whilst meeting national and international commitments to tackle climate change.
Staying informed
A recent survey of UK-based energy efficiency professionals found that almost two-thirds of respondents felt the government’s target to improve energy efficiency in commercial buildings could be more ambitious. However, when the strategy was announced, it was accompanied with few details. The initial proposals are likely to turn into more concrete changes over the next few months, and contractors need to make sure they stay informed. Certainly, there’s a role for the heating industry as a whole to work closely with government to ensure that clean growth targets are realistic and achievable. Some of the key proposals for improving the energy efficiency of commercial and industrial buildings include consulting on improvements to Building Regulations to promote low carbon hot water solutions, ventilation and air conditioning systems in new commercial buildings. There’s also an objective to provide more advice to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to encourage uptake of energy efficiency. Another proposal is to expand on the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
(ESOS), which is a mandatory energy assessment scheme for large scale organisations that employ over 250 people in the UK. Organisations that qualify for ESOS must carry out ESOS assessments every four years. These assessments are audits of the energy used by their buildings, industrial processes and transport to identify cost-effective energy saving measures.
Assessing the impact
So, where does all this leave the water heating industry? One of the stated aims is to nurture low carbon technologies, processes and systems. The good news is manufacturers such as Andrews Water Heaters are continuously identifying ways to make their products more efficient in an effort to future-proof heating solutions.
www.heatingandventilating.net These changes have to be considered in the context of the Eco-design of
Energy-related Products (ErP) Directive, a EU regulation implemented by the UK Government in September 2015 to cover all new domestic and commercial heating and hot water products. The third tier of the ErP regulations are due to come into force on 26th September 2018. These will include mandatory limits on NOx emissions for gas, LPG and oil-fired water heaters. For gas/LPG fired products the maximum NOx emissions will be 56mg/kWh and for oil-fired products 120mg/kWh. Manufacturers are already focused on compliance, testing water heaters to the latest standard to ensure all legal requirements are met, and in many cases, exceeded. Investment in quality testing equipment means we can get the most accurate results for every product. These efforts ensure we are always prepared for future changes to legislation and can supply contractors with the right products to remain compliant.
Considering the options
In the drive towards energy efficiency, the answer for many organisations may lie with a reconfiguration of their hot water systems. While heavy commercial users of water, such as hotels and leisure centres, utilise water heaters to meet high demand, other commercial systems tend to employ a boiler, which generates space heating and heats a calorifier to produce hot water. However, better levels of insulation in modern buildings such as offices means that central heating can run at lower temperatures, leading to unnecessary waste if a boiler system is oversized. One solution is to install a separate, dedicated water heater to cater to the hot water demand without wasting excess energy on heating. This can provide lower running costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions because the hot water energy load can be more suitably matched to the water heater output. Furthermore, since water is heated from a low mains temperature (at a supply
temperature of around 10 to 60 degrees Celsius), high levels of condensing can be achieved, contributing to further savings. And because heating system boilers can be switched off in the warm summer months, the electrical consumption of boilers, primary and secondary pumps can be reduced – which is good news for buildings looking to hit new efficiency targets. The Clean Growth Strategy is a huge step in the right direction for Britain’s
carbon neutral future. However, as the government itself admits, it is not the end of the process, it’s just the start.
Expect to see details on new initiatives and consultations to emerge during the
course of the 2018. But one thing is for sure, we’re ready to work with government and consultants alike to make these proposals a reality.
April 2018
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