WHY, IN LIGHT OF RISING ENERGY COSTS, UK BUSINESSES NEED TO [HEAT] PUMP IT UP

The way that commercial buildings operate and fulfil their sustainability obligations is undergoing an upheaval. Rethinking the built environment around us is more important than ever because buildings account for at least 40% of emissions. However, efforts to increase energy efficiency, sustainability, and healthy buildings run a real risk of falling further down the business agenda as many companies struggle just to keep the lights on amid rising costs.

Recently, the government announced a six-month emergency energy price cap to assist UK businesses in lowering their energy costs as costs continue to rise. While this is encouraging news, organisations cannot rely solely on government assistance or hold out hope that oil and gas prices will drop significantly soon.

One practical solution is to cut operating expenses and improve where it counts. In both residential and commercial buildings, heating and cooling account for nearly 50% of the energy used by the structure. Our buildings would naturally seem to be a good place to start if we wanted to reduce energy use and costs.

A decarbonised future cannot be achieved without heat pumps. The Carbon Trust discovered that heat pumps have the potential to save up to 65% of CO2 compared to an A-rated gas boiler and up to 70% compared to conventional electric heating. However, how do companies know what’s best for them and where to make investments that will actually yield a return on investment (ROI)?

The growing momentum towards net zero carbon emissions by 2050 is likely to accelerate the replacement of fossil fuelled boilers with Heat Pumps (HPs). Europe, which is leading the move to be carbon neutral by 2050, has already committed to at least 40% cuts in greenhouse gas emissions (from

1990 levels) by 2030 and is proposing to increase this ambition to 55% under the European Green Deal (EGD). More recently, it has also put climate change and the energy transition at the heart of its economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, providing economic incentives for the implementation of low-carbon technologies and energy efficiency. HPs are an important part of the equation.

The switch to HPs is gaining traction in the UK. However, we are still lagging behind many other European countries when it comes to HP installations. The availability of gas, price relatives between fuels, and policy frameworks from governments are affecting a wide uptake in heat pumps in the region. Waitrose recently announced it is replacing its gas boilers with electric heat pumps in all its supermarkets to tackle energy costs and bring forward net-zero plans.

Part L of the Building Regulations states that non-domestic buildings should be moving to low-carbon heat sources. The government has already set a target of 600,000 heat pump installations per year by 2030, and the Committee on Climate Change estimate that 19 million heat pumps will need to be installed by 2050 to achieve the net zero goals globally.

The electrification of heat through HPs, where the electricity to drive the HPs comes from renewable sources, is a key technology in cutting costs and carbon emissions. HPs can be used as a primary source of generation, replacing fossil fuel boilers in the generation of heat. They can now work at higher temperatures, meaning they are a great option for spaces like hotels, hospitals, and leisure centres where there is a high demand for hot water at peak times –removing the need to use a gas boiler.

Choosing which HP model is right for a business, however, is not a straightforward decision. The decision is driven by the overall economic case, operator needs, health, safety and environmental (HSE) requirements and external factors, such as weather. There might be a need for the redesign of mechanical building services to enable lower supply temperatures, as well as investments into training to develop the skills needed to deliver installation commissioning, and maintenance. Ultimately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to choosing which heat pump is right for a business, as it relies on an organisation’s individual requirements and operating pain points.

To tackle the issues at hand, businesses need to work with a partner that can deliver the most efficient solution based on these factors. The best partners will design and install solutions based on the business and building needs. The best solution is the one that provides the highest value in terms of cost and efficiency or return on investment (ROI), which any good solutions provider can calculate and advise a business on.

When external temperatures vary so much, ‘wasted’ energy can be reused in a building by integrating both heat pumps and chiller systems. By utilising hybrid systems, when there is a demand for heating or hot water, and cooling at the same time, the heat rejected from the cooling process can be extracted and reused for the heating process resulting in additional energy savings. Hybrid designs are especially useful for buildings that lack the space to install large scale heat pump and chiller systems.

As is with any new technological equipment, there are many complicated configurations that are sometimes difficult to optimise. When you have a very complex building with a complex set of data that needs to be connected and analysed at every level, you need to dig deeper. This is where Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) come in.

Using model predictive control, AI and ML can take every possible scenario of a building’s data set to build an understanding of the actual energy conversion rate for each element of the building. This in turn helps us to understand how to run the system as a whole, rather than in siloes. New data that comes in is automatically added as a scenario and the AI learns from this to create better recommendations for optimisation. It is also able to add in any constraints or anomalies, which means we can accurately use the data from the platform to preview optimum operating point. Thus, enabling us to understand what we need to implement into the system to deliver the energy in the most efficient way.

To forge a path forward and adapt their operations for the future, the UK needs new tactics and approaches. The way we operate systems is essential to reducing energy, as the push towards net zero needs to be accelerated urgently. Businesses can increase productivity, reduce costs, and stay on track for carbon neutrality by implementing heat pumps. However, we must keep in mind that adding these new systems increases complexity, so in order to improve energy efficiency, we must move toward better models, deployments, and set points.

We don’t have to make the switch on our own, which is good news. Collaboration is at the core of any effort to overcome obstacles, reduce expenses, and integrate improvements throughout an entire operation. Businesses can implement systems across a wide range of different buildings with different needs, including university campuses and hospitals, by selecting a reputable partner to work with. Despite the difficulties, it is our urgent duty to use people, technology, and processes to establish a new standard. Let’s make sure we don’t lose the opportunity. www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk