COMMERCIAL SUPPLEMENT


BOILER


State of the


e


indus ystry T


whole building s


here can be no doubt that the COVID-19 crisis has put a severe strain on the services industry,


presenting challenges at every level frommanufactu of products thro installation and


maintenance. ugh specification to re and distribution


The impact on the commercial heating sector exemplifies these challenges, aswell as highlighting the importance of this sector towider communities and the economy as a whole. Certain ly, the commercial heating sectorwas hit very hard,with some companies virtually shutting down completely and most having to furlough a large percentage of staff to minimise overheads. Thankfully,many members have staff returning towork although a large working from ho


e percentage are still ome.


At the same time, this sector did a sterling job ofmaintaining supplies to key locations such as hospitals, schools, prisons, care homes, food processing plants andmany other organisations that needed to keepworking.Thiswas despite considerable problemswith access to sites – aswell as the logistics issues imposed by so many appliances being built outside the UK.


Inmany cases, themanufacturers and distributors were working closely with contractors and end-customers’ maintenance teams to make it all work.


The benefits of tea collaboration have r beenmore apparen than in those


lockdown months.


Suppo Throughout


the lockdo ort own,


ICOMmembers – comprising


manufacturers and


distributors of commercial heating and commercialwater treatment systems - have continued to receive our support. In fact, rather surprisingly, ICOMhas been busier than usual during this period.For example, in continuing to represent its members onBEIS (Business,Energy and Environmental Strategy) working groups ICOM has been able to keep members up to date wi th ever-changing information, often before itwas publishedmore widely.


We have also seen an increase in the level of consultations, all ofwhich have required a swift response.


Lookin ng ahead


Aswe come through the firstwave of COVID-19


9 (and desperately hope there


won’t be a second one) the industry has a great deal to do to help itself, andwill also play an important role in


mwork and a t


see some upturn in business, commercial heating sector ar As the lockdown eas


helping its customer ormal


s m s return to


far as the ’.


eatingmarket mercial


s c


wil e


t’s inevitable oncerned,


that recovery l be slow.


vertheless, there


clear signs that rk


et is picking up, , tatistics showing


an improvement month on month. Current predictions estimate that the marketwill be down by around 15%by the end of this year – though further lockdowns and the restrictions that go with themwill clearly have a negative impact on these figures.


As themarket picks up, heating


companies, specifiers and contractors can also be of considerable assistance to end users. For example,many businesses have seen the benefits of sta


aff working from home and their


concerns about suchworking practices have been largely assuaged. This will inevitably result in considerable changes toworkplaces, froma


traditional office-based culture tomore ag


pe bu to


rformance of heating systems – as ilding usage and optimising changes in occupancy patterns, Such a changewill, in turn, lead ile ways of working.


ses, companies in the g sector are beginning to business, albeit slow. Ross


o Anderson of ICOM p rovides an overview


well as specificmeasures tominimise the risk of cross-infection. For instance, there is evidence that v can be spread around a building by recirculating ventilation systems so best practice guidance is heading towards turning off recirculation and introducing more fresh air.


g


During thewintermonths the need to temper higher volumes of incoming fresh airwill increase heating loads – at a timewhenmany organisations are also looking to reduce their carbon emissions. Arguably, thiswill lead to increased demand for more effic


cient


heating systems, potentiallywithwider use of low carbon heat sources. Also, aswinter approaches the


resilience of heating systemswill be increasingly important tomaintain healthy indoor environments. Ag ain, thismay encourage upgrading of older plant and optimised control of existing plant andwill certainly highlight need for carefulmaintenance of heating systems.


the the


Summary


Given the unique circumstanceswe nowface it is impossible to predict what will happen in the coming m However,we need to continueworking collaboratively and that associations such as ICOMwill play a key role in supporting their members.


months. viruses


SPONSORED BY


!"


September 2020


www.heatingandv


heatingandventilatin


ng.net


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