Listed buildings
Protecting our past
Listing celebrates a building's special architectural and historic interest and protects it for future use and generations. But bringing these buildings under the consideration of the planning system – a process that often involves a number of different stakeholders – can make refurbishment more challenging.
A Heating efficiency
Last month, the Committee on Climate Change proposed a new, bolder climate change target of ‘net-zero’ by 2050. If we are to come anywhere near meeting this goal, we must address the energy efficiency of our historically inefficient listed buildings. One practical opportunity for improved efficiency lies with the heating and hot water systems. Aside from the financial and environmental
drivers, ensuring that the heating system is effective and efficient is key to generating optimum comfort levels for users. Furthermore, achieving stable, consistent-temperature heating can be critical to protecting and conserving both the fabric of the building and the valuable contents that many contain. How, then, do we achieve this without harming the fabric or heritage values? Commercial boilers still supply heat in many of the UK’s heritage buildings. As we move towards full decarbonisation of heat, replacing any ageing, inefficient non-condensing boilers with high- efficiency condensing boilers remains one of the most cost-effective, non-disruptive solutions to rapid energy and emission savings. Indeed, in certain buildings it may at present be the only viable option.
Compact footprint
So which boiler features will facilitate good quality installation? Due to the nature of these buildings and their heating systems, a high heat output will typically be required, making floor-standing boilers the solutions of choice. However, space constraints are a common
36 June 2019
ccording to Historic England, there are around 500,000 listed buildings on the National Heritage List for England alone.
A CASE IN POINT...
installation of five Remeha Gas 220 Ace floor-standing condensing boilers on a space and time-saving, off- site fabricated cascade system. Consultant Geoff Beaven, previously of the Brodie
Q
Partnership, specified installing five Remeha Gas 220 Ace boilers with a plate heat exchanger (PHE) on an off-site fabricated cascade system to meet the heat output demand in an exceptionally compact footprint. “The nature of the listed school building meant that
floor-standing boilers were required to meet the high 1,250kW heat demand,” explained Geoff Beaven. “But we were also working to a tight schedule, as the whole project needed to be completed within the fixed summer holiday period. We selected the Gas 220 Ace boilers for their high efficiencies and reliability, and also for the Remeha off-site fabricated cascade options that would enable a faster, smoother installation.” Working with Geoff Beaven and project contractors Hewer FM, Remeha prepared 3D drawings of the boiler cascade arrangement to the specified layout and integrated a PHE into the design. Once the equipment was delivered to site, Hewer FM
bolted together the boilers and connected them to the existing system. John Cowdery at Hewer FM said: “The off-site cascade was a good solution. Space was tight in the plant room, but as the cascade had been designed specifically for this project, it fitted in well and connected together very easily.” Geoff Beaven added: “The off-site cascade
arrangement with PHE worked brilliantly. It was just what we needed, meeting all the project requirements and ensuring a speedy installation.” At QEH, the new Remeha boilers have been serving the whole of the main building, as well as eight science labs, additional classroom blocks and the music and art buildings since the autumn. In that time, not only have comfort levels risen within the five floors of the school building, but initial data is already pointing to significant gas savings due to the higher efficiencies of the fully modulating plant.
ueen Elizabeth’s Hospital (QEH) School in Bristol, has successfully improved the reliability and efficiency of its heating provision with the
www.heatingandventilating.net
The off-site cascade arrangement for the Gas 220 Ace boilers with PHE worked succesfully at QEH
Heating offers a practical opportunity to improve the energy performance of the UK’s historic and listed buildings, says Paul Arnold, Remeha’s product manager. And boiler replacement is the practical starting point
challenge in older, historic properties, where the plant room will often be a cramped, low-ceilinged space situated in the basement of the building. Where space and access are restricted, opting
for more compact floor-standing models will increase ease of installation. Potential obstacles such as narrow stairways, doorways or corridors can be easily surmounted by selecting boilers that can be dismantled into parts, for later reassembly in the plant room. Boilers with integrated castor wheels will also improve manoeuvrability into and around the plant room. The small footprint of advanced floor-standing
condensing boilers also enables back-to-back or side-to-side modular configurations, providing increased flexibility in floor planning design. Operating a series of fully-modulating boilers in a modular arrangement ensures both more reliable heating provision and easier future servicing and maintenance.
From floor to wall
On projects requiring lower heat outputs, wall- hung boilers are a popular choice due to their extremely compact, lightweight design which makes them easier to handle and transport. A key advantage of wall-hung boilers is their ability to be installed on a site-assembled manufacturer cascade system. Typically, manufacturers will provide linear and back-to- back cascade options for installing two to 10 wall-hung boilers. And the wide selection of boilers from 30kW to 160kW enables designers and installers to match the required heat output more accurately, avoiding energy waste.
Bespoke solution
Where space constraints present a greater obstacle, forward-thinking manufacturers will also offer the option to use off-site fabricated cascade or rig solutions, designed bespoke to project and site requirements. Remeha’s cascade arrangement for the Gas
220 Ace floor-standing boiler range, for example, is available for up to eight boilers. With an individual boiler output of up to 300kW, a high heat output can be installed in an exceptionally
www.heatingandventilating.net
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