HEATING, VENTILATION & AIR CONDITIONING


The search for Net Zero heats up


At Broomfield College fossil fuel boilers were replaced with a Thermal System combining both air and water


sourced heat pumps, reducing energy consumption by 790,000 kWh and 160 tons of CO2 emissions, annually


Could Heat-as-a-Service be a solution to financing our transition to Net Zero? Erik van Oossanen, portfolio leader Applied Heat Pumps and Chillers EMEA ANZ at Trane Technologies, comments


A


s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addressed other world leaders in Egypt during COP27, his


remarks nodded to the dilemma being faced by the world. “I know that for many, finances are tough right now,” he said, referring to commitments to ease the transition to lower- carbon energy and infrastructures in the developing world. Even as he travelled to Egypt, however, some UK observers have become more vocal in asking whether the country can afford to pay for the transition at home. Innovations to decarbonise buildings have


brought the goal of Net Zero within reach. To achieve it, industry and government must work together to implement them. The government should therefore embrace the opportunities in the coming months to accelerate the transition by enabling the public sector to lead the way.


SAVING ENERGY According to the Climate Change Committee, nearly 20% of all UK greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. Most of this is derived from the burning of fossil fuel to keep those buildings warm, including the 1.9 million manufacturing facilities, offices, schools, hospitals, leisure centres, and other public buildings. However, the technology to


move away from fossil fuels to warm and cool buildings exists today. Moving from separate systems to achieve that can


36 Erik van Oossanen ENERGY & SUSTAINABILITY SOLUTIONS - Winter 22/23


not only reduce emissions, but is more efficient. Much in the same way that you wouldn’t step on the brake and accelerator in a car to improve its efficiency, separate systems for heating and cooling don’t improve the efficiency of buildings. In the same way that increasingly we are


making the move to electric vehicles that use braking to recover energy that can be used later for acceleration, heat pumps save energy in the switches between heating and cooling that in a larger building can occur several times a day. Instead of venting that energy to the atmosphere, it is recycled. While a gas boiler has maximum potential efficiency of 100%, heat pumps are able to achieve even greater than 100%, since boilers convert chemical energy into heating energy whilst heat pumps transfer energy from the source to the target temperature level. An example is at Broomfield


College in Derby. The project replaced the college’s existing fossil fuel boilers with a Thermal System combining both Air and Water Sourced Heat pumps, reducing energy consumption by 790,000kWh


and 160 tons of CO2 emissions, annually. The project earned a People’s Choice Award from the European Heat Pump Association earlier this year. Broomfield College is just one


of many organisations, public and private, that is making the transition, even in the absence


of an incentive scheme similar to the one government offers to residential property owners. But extending the scheme to non- residential buildings is something government should consider to achieve Net Zero targets across the built environment. Some aggressive targets have been set. By 2037,


for example, government has set the target of reducing emissions from public buildings by 75%. Before the Prime Minister left for Egypt, media reports revealed an estimate of up to £30 billion to decarbonise public buildings would be required between now and 2037 to meet those targets. So what solutions exist to finance this move?


HEAT-AS-A-SERVICE So-called ‘heat-as-a-service’ (HaaS) is a novel method of reducing the up-front investment required from the customer to install an entirely new heating and cooling system, and smooths out the cost over time. It works in much the same way as leasing, rather than buying, a car. Using HaaS, an organisation agrees to a long-


term contract with an energy services company to install and maintain low-carbon heating and cooling systems. Rather than having to absorb the capital cost of the equipment, the costs to the customer are classed as operating expenditure over the lifetime of the equipment. At a time when public and private balance sheets


are under pressure, HaaS represents a way to leverage financial solutions that enable us to maintain momentum toward Net Zero while also freeing up needed capital for other needs. Public sector organisations have an opportunity


to lead the way. HaaS is a relatively new concept and its uptake has significant room for growth. But greater adoption will enable us to continue making progress toward Net Zero.


Trane Technologies www.tranetechnologies.com/en


www.essmag.co.uk


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