Boost for heat network training
BESA has launched an industry-wide training scheme for heat network engineers backed by government funding.
Opposite page: Nathan Wood, chair of BESA’s Indoor Air Quality group
Left: Dave Kieft, EFT Consult
said Kieft. “It is the FM team who are then left to try and pick up the pieces. “But we can change the argument by using
Asthma
He pointed out that the UK spends almost £1bn a year on asthma inhalers but thousands of suff erers continue to live in poorly ventilated, damp conditions that exacerbate their conditions. “Doctors can prescribe medicines that treat the symptoms, but they cannot address the root causes. There are massive implications for the NHS if engineers, facilities managers, and others improve the design and maintenance of indoor spaces including improving the ventilation.” He said meeting the requirements of the
standard would improve cognitive function and productivity among occupants while reducing fatigue and stress. Improving buildings to address well-being would also reduce running costs and carbon emissions because the level of control and automation needed to achieve better IEQ would also improve energy effi ciency. The evaluation contained in BS40102 gives building managers a benchmark score to help them identify areas of below par performance so they can plan improvements and include IEQ measures in any retrofi t and renovation work, including tackling the growing threat of over-heating. To meet the new standard, organisations
will need to tackle conditions that have a direct impact on human health including humidity, and excessive levels of CO2, CO, NO2, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), airborne particulates and mould. However, IAQ measures are often
sacrifi ced in the battle between upfront capital investment (capex) and ongoing operating costs (opex). “The curse of so-called value engineering – which is really devalue engineering – means that many of the measures crucial to better IEQ are removed before they can be installed,”
well-being as the driver. If we manage to get growing concern about the respiratory crisis up the agenda, the need to safeguard health and well-being can drive change. Also, if you lead with well-being, you get energy reduction and carbon saving benefi ts as well, but it doesn’t work the other way around,” he added.
Nathan Wood, chair of BESA’s Indoor Air Quality group, said the new standard was a huge step forward for improving building ventilation. “This new standard could not have come at a more important time,” he said. “While the industry has known about the problem for many years, we tended to work to diff erent standards and, often, people simply picked a benchmark they could achieve rather than a solution that would address the problem.”
Deadlines
The UK has also adopted ‘Awaab’s Law’ in response to the tragic death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak which was caused by the mould and damp conditions in his Rochdale fl at. It imposes strict deadlines on landlords to address damp and mould conditions as part of the Social Housing Regulations, and this will be refl ected in Part Two of BS40102 for residential buildings due to be drafted later this year. The insurance industry is also starting to
make its presence felt in this area following the signifi cant changes brought about by the Building Safety Act 2022. “Achieving higher standards of IEQ in the workplace to protect people’s health and well-being is now often included in insurance audits,” said Wood. “Clients will, therefore, be pushing their ventilation contractors harder to provide real evidence referenced to industry best practice that their indoor spaces are safe and healthy.” BESA will help to drive adoption of BS
40102 by collaborating with other industry bodies and working to raise levels of competence in the ventilation industry through new training courses and certifi cation aligned to the standard’s requirements.
www.theBESA.com
T
he course, which was developed in collaboration with the Manufacturers of Equipment for
Heat Networks Association (MEHNA) and the Thermal Insulation Contractors’ Association (TICA), is being delivered
through BESA’s Training Academy. The course content is aligned with the CIBSE code
of practice (CP1) for heat networks and the sector’s developing technical standards. The programme includes a one-hour introductory foundation course and an installation and maintenance course consisting of nine modules. The latter concludes with a practical session delivered by manufacturers Worcester Bosch and Baxi at one of four training centres in Dartford, Wakefi eld, Warrington and Worcester.
The associations said the courses were being made
available at a key moment for the heat network industry. The Energy Act 2023 and the proposed Future Homes and Buildings Standards are expected to lead to a major expansion in the use of this technology. Just 2% of the country’s heat is currently distributed by networks, also known as district heating or district energy systems, but the government aims to grow that to 18% by 2050 in line with its net zero commitments. New homes and commercial buildings will be able to
comply with the Standards, which are due to come into force next year, if they are connected to heat networks that use low carbon technologies or reclaimed waste heat.
Reliability
However, some of the 14,000 systems already installed in the UK have suff ered from technical issues and disappointing performance prompting the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) to look for ways to raise design and installation standards. This includes providing funding for the new training courses
which allows BESA to off er 800 fully funded places on the introductory course, which is aimed at built environment professionals interested in growing their low carbon skills, and a further 100 on the installer course designed to upskill existing building services engineers. There are also plans for a quality assurance framework to
improve reliability and guarantee levels of performance – all of which will increase demand for a larger workforce of well- trained heat network engineers. “This is a great opportunity for anyone considering
diversifying into heat networks,” said BESA’s director of training and skills Helen Yeulet. “This technology will play an increasingly important role in the transition to Net Zero, so it is vital that the country has enough trained installers who can help networks meet their full energy and cost saving potential.”
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February 2024
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