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arrying out refurbishments to heating systems serving social housing developments can be challenging if disruption to residents


is to be kept to a minimum. So how to resolve this? An increasingly popular option is to use offsite fabricated heating solutions which can be designed bespoke to specific project requirements. It’s an approach that Wakefield and District Housing (WDH), one of the UK’s largest social housing providers, found highly effective when improving the efficiency and reliability of the heating and hot water services at its Smirthwaite Estate in Normanton.


Heating and hot water are critical services for


residents, so ensuring that the system operates reliably is a top priority for the WDH inhouse technical services team. In line with its wider sustainability commitments, WDH also works to mitigate rising energy costs wherever possible for its tenants. Previously at the Smirthwaite Estate, three


25-year-old boilers had served two district heating circuits that in turn feed heat interface units to provide heating and hot water within the individual dwellings – 192 two-bedroom maisonettes, 70 three-bedroom houses and 14 one-bedroom bungalows.


When the old boilers came to the end of their


serviceable life, WDH was keen to explore the use of renewable technologies, either as a replacement or to assist new condensing boilers. Their inhouse technical services team installed temporary plant to maintain the service while they brought in consultant Rob Wilson at Building Services Solutions to carry out an appraisal of the feasible low carbon options. The findings of the report ruled out air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps and biomass as practical alternatives at the estate. “For a number of reasons – including space constraints, insufficient power supply, noise, the existing distribution system and operating temperatures – these technologies had to be disregarded as viable options,” Rob explained. His recommendation was to install modular,


energy-efficient replacement boilers with a Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE). “This was the most practical, cost-effective and reliable approach to meet WDH’s requirements for a more energy-efficient heating and hot water service, minimal disruption and easy future maintenance,” he said. Rob specified installing eight Remeha Gas 220


Ace 300 in a back-to-back arrangement using a Remeha off-site fabricated cascade system with a Plate Heat Exchanger. Remeha is part of Baxi Commercial Solutions. Working with Rob and WDH, the Baxi Commercial Solutions team prepared CAD and 3D drawings of the boiler cascade arrangement bespoke to the design parameters. In addition to the boilers, specially sized and integrated pump sets and PHE, the packaged solution included a pressurisation unit, a dosing pot and an expansion vessel. The detailed CAD and 3D drawings provided early visualisation of the layout. Through subsequent collaborative discussions with the group, revisions


Social housing


Meeting all project goals with offsite


heating solution


Rob Erwood, sales & specification director at Baxi Commercial Solutions, looks at how an offsite fabricated solution overcame complex heating refurbishment challenges for one housing association


Rob Erwood, sales & specification director at Baxi Commercial Solutions


were considered and implemented to reach a final design that met all the site constraints and requirements. Production then took place in a factory environment, with comprehensive end-of- line testing.


The equipment was delivered to site in clearly


numbered pallets with a reference drawing for guidance, ready for the WDH technical services team to bolt together the boilers and connect them to the existing system. “It is very unusual for an inhouse team to be able


to carry out a project of this scale,” said Stephen Dumbrell, WDH’s assistant mechanical services manager.


“One of the many benefits of using the rig was that it provided a good structure for our engineers,” he explained. “It avoided the need to size all the individual components and, as no welding was required, saved a significant amount of installation time.”


The switch to the new boilers took around four


hours, allowing WDH to achieve their key goal for minimal downtime and disruption. “We now have a very well organised plant room


that makes the best use of space and provides good accessibility to all the boilers for future maintenance to optimise efficiency and reliability,” Stephen added. Martyn Shaw, executive director of technical


services at WDH, said: “The simple fact that the residents at Smirthwaite saw little or no disruption during the transition to the new system, is a testament to the in-house talent we have at WDH. The system will help us to achieve our aim of creating better, more sustainable places to live.”


The benefits of offsite fabrication


¡ Enables easier installation and future maintenance


¡ Reduces onsite time ¡ Reduces number of onsite workers and skills ¡ Reduces onsite hot works ¡ Provides added quality assurance through end-of-line testing


¡ One-stop-shop solution with one point of contact


¡ Reduces overall carbon footprin


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