HEA
AT PUMP GUIDE
Tim e for ins tallers to upskill
With the Future Homes Standard mandating the end of fossil-fuel heating systems in all new build homes in just five year s, Dr Matthew Trewhella of Kensa Contracting says heating engineers have a significant opportunity to utilise their experience and knowledge and upskill to embrace the heat pump upsur
ace the heat pump upsurge T
he Government’s new National Design Guide and imminent Future Homes Standard endorse heat pumps as sustainable heating alternatives to fossil fuels. In light of this, the number of ground source heat pump installations in existing and new build housing is accelerating. In the last year heat pump installed capacity increased by 61% for large scale installations, and 175% since the first year of the RHI. Here the market drivers for ground source heat pumps and why heating engineer
y heating engineers, architects and
specifiers should be looking to make the switch this year is explained.
The business case
The Future Homes Standard sets out what we can expect from our buildings from 2025. How we are going to get there is notably the ‘transitional arrangements’ in the proposed Future Homes
Standard, which could see an almost overnight ban on oil, LPG and electric as soon as mid 2020s. Under the Standard gas will get much harder and heat pumps many times easier to introduce into new-build homes. The proposed new SAP calculation is intended to allow assessment of the effects of the Future Homes Consultation proposed options. One of SAP 10.1’s headline grabbing proposals is the carbon factor for electricity at 0.136 – this will mean ground source heat pumps have carbon factors of 0.030 - 0.045 compared to a gas boiler at 0.23; a saving of more than 80% in carbon emissions just by switching the heating to ground source heat pumps.
With numerous councils across the country declaring climate emergencies, many committing to carbon neutral targets ahead of the UK’s 2050 ambition, a
42 April 2020
growing number of new build developments are already embracing the low-carbon approach.
The push by local planning authorities to place energy efficiency and carbon saving requirements on buildings that go beyond the requirements of the national building regulations is resulting in some ground-breaking ultra-low carbon, energy efficient developments. Two notable examples are:
1. Bristol City Council require developers to reduce CO2 emissions by 20% and to follow a heat hierarchy
that encourages renewable and low carbon heating.
2.The Greater London Authority requires developers to reduce CO2 emissions for new developments by 35% (10% must be from fabric improvements) compared to current building regulations.
In adherence to the Committee for Climate
Change’s recommendation that homes should make use of low-carbon sources of heating, in particular electrically-powered heat pumps; and the National Design Guide, which singles out ground source heat pumps and district heating systems as recommended heating technology, Bristol is witness to a number of new build schemes utilising this ultra-low carbon, non-air polluting and low-cost heating solution to support its 2030 carbon neutral pledge.
A total of 133 new homes at Ashton Rise are being built by Bristol City Council using the high efficiency Sig iHouse solution, and heated by individual Kensa ground source heat pumps connected to a shared ground loop array of boreholes. The installation would see each home making lifetime carbon savings of 30 tonnes compared to individual gas boilers, whilst also removing all local NOx emissions, ensuring local air quality is not impacted by the choice of heating system. Across the city
y,, at Shaldon Road, a further 50
affordable homes are being constructed to PassivHaus standards by United Living in partnership with United Communities and the Bristol Community Land
Trust.The ener gy efficient ‘self-finish’ properties will each featur e a Kensa Shoebox ground source heat pump connected to an ambient shared ground loop array. Complementing the low-carbon ground source heat pumps will be a MVHR system, making the homes even more energy efficient and further lowering fuel bills for the
residents.The homes will be constructed using a single skin Porotherm block, cutting construction time and delivering improved thermal properties over traditional construction. Solar PV
PV V panels further reduce costs,
whilst supporting a green transport plan which features electric car charging points, a car share scheme and improved pedestrian and cycle access.
The business plan
The transition from a gas heating installer to a ground source heat pump installer is straightforward and could reduce risk, cost and time. Unlike a gas boiler system, a ground source heat pump has no flue or ventilation requirements, no condense pipe to fit, no more landlord gas safety checks and servicing is simple and clean. Training courses covering the Microgeneration
Installation Standard MIS3005 are available across the UK. These include the requirements for contractors undertaking the supply, design, installation, set to run, commissioning and handover of microgeneration heat pump systems. In addition to these standards, Kensa’s installer training courses offer a number of additional topics including peak heat load, ground array design, preferred system architecture, flow temperature and heat emitter calculations.
www.heatingandventilating.net
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