Air quality monitoring specialist Douglas Booker added that indoor air pollution
can often be 3.5 times worse than what is outside the building. “Government advice about bringing in ‘fresh’ air ignores the fact that outdoor air is often far from fresh,” said Booker, who is CEO of National Air Quality Testing Services (NAQTS). “Covid is the catalyst that will change things for people who have been working
in this fi eld for years because ventilation has never been more visible. “We have many mechanical solutions that are already readily available and are
not expensive. The government’s intervention in this area will hopefully lead to far better health outcomes for people in the years to come.” BESA said building designers should also consider practical measures like
allowing enough space in ceiling voids to add or improve mechanical ventilation systems. Enabling access for maintenance purposes, cleaning ventilation ductwork and fi tting or renewing air fi lters were other crucial factors often overlooked.
One of the best attended sessions at the BESA Conference was a presentation
by Ella Clark, mechanical engineer at the consultancy AECOM, who emphasised how Covid-19 had raised awareness of ventilation as a key aspect of indoor health. She pointed out that the link between health and ventilation in offi ces had been
understood for many decades, with Sick Building Syndrome being recorded as a problem way back in the 1970s. “Now, we know that doubling the rate of ventilation reduces the spread of Covid-
19 by around half and that the World Health Organisation recommends ventilation as the fi rst-line strategy for getting people back to the offi ce.” However, achieving higher levels of ventilation must be balanced against the
need for energy effi ciency, particularly with the growing spotlight on the carbon footprint of the built environment. Finding that balanc can be a challenge for engineers.
Clark noted that the British Council for Offi ces (BCO) recommended fresh air
rates of 12 l/s per person with an extra 10% allowance in high density spaces. “An additional 0.28ls/ per person could result in an increase of 0.6kWh/m2 per year for an offi ce building.” Natural ventilation is an option, but it is not appropriate for many UK buildings particularly where air pollution is a big problem. “You could introduce NOx, PM10 and PM2.5 into a building,” said Clark. “IAQ in some London buildings is almost as bad as outside air.”
Pressure
Mechanical ventilation off ers a more controllable approach that can also make use of fi ltration to reduce the ingress of pollutants into occupied spaces. “We want to ensure that we are fi ltering down to PM2.5. There are HEPA fi lters and ULPA fi lters which are typically used in clean rooms in hospitals. You get a higher pressure drop across these fi lters and they do also have to be maintained,” Clark told the BESA Conference. She also raised the importance of humidity control. Recommended relative humidity (RH) is between 40% and 60%, but the average in UK offi ces is 38% which can cause physical problems such as eye irritation, and dryness of nose and throat. And at 23% humidity, 70% of fl u particles can cause infection an hour after they are introduced into the air. But at 43% humidity that drops to 14%. “Humidity is often disregarded in the UK and adding humidifi ers to our systems would increase energy demand. They can also be diffi cult to retrofi t,” Clark said. She suggested that one approach might be to consider evaporative cooling, which can achieve energy savings of 28% before additional fan power is required.
ViewPoint T
A look back over an eventful year by Neil Hope, head of technical services at NIBE Energy Systems
he last couple of years will certainly be remembered by the industry for the obstacles they have presented to our
normal operations and supply chains. 2021, however, was also fi lled with key milestones and new policies that will assist the roll-out of renewable technologies in the years to come. Cop26 in Glasgow has been described as a turning point in the history of climate action, where world leaders came together to set key ambitions regarding tackling global warming and climate change. Whilst there was some criticism that these ambitions didn’t go far enough, there were many positive steps forward in promoting renewable heating measures. One of the headline announcements from the closing stages of the conference was the agreement of a 190-strong coalition of countries to phase down coal. Likewise, over 80 countries pledged to cut methane emissions by at least 30% by 2030, and 100 nations agreed to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. The long-awaited Heat & Buildings Strategy also gave us all some hope that we are one step closer to achieving Net Zero. The industry collectively welcomed the announcement of the phase out of new natural gas boiler installations from 2035. The promotion of heat pumps in relation to this target was noteworthy, and it was good to see that the Government expressed its intention to support manufacturers and suppliers in achieving an effi cient roll-out of the technology. There were clear goals set to reduce the cost of installing a heat pump some 25-50% by 2025, and to ensure heat pumps are no more expensive to buy and run than gas boilers by 2030. The announcement of the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS), which will replace the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in April 2022, will help to achieve this ambition through monetary grants to homeowners. The Heat Pump Association, which NIBE is an executive member of, also launched their heat pump installer training course in anticipation of the demand for heat pumps in the coming decades. With backing from the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, over 40,000 installers can be trained each year within the scheme across 38 UK centres, including ours in Chesterfi eld. This year has also been successful for us here at NIBE, despite the
obvious obstacles brought about by the pandemic. For example, we launched our new range of smart home products and solar PV, which will help more households partake in a greener, more connected way of living. So, what is next for NIBE in 2022? Our partnership scheme NIBE Pro,
through which installers can receive quality training to install low carbon technologies, is undergoing some changes. A new E-learning portal is being introduced to help installers develop both skills and knowledge. Our new web shop is also being launched, where you can spend your points accumulated throughout the scheme. If you are a heating installer interested in joining the energy revolution
by installing low carbon heat pumps, you can fi nd out more about NIBE Pro on our website,
https://www.nibe.eu/en-gb/nibe-pro-installers/why-join- nibe-pro.
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January 2022
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