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New Blackmore Vale, 4th March 2022
blackmorevale.net
Sherborne Abbey: unique trailblazer By Lottie Hayton
Sherborne Abbey is embarking on an ambitious project to update its energy supply, while remaining true to the heritage of the 1,300-year-old building. On May 9 work will begin on Sherborne Abbey’s threepart update to their energy supply; an existing inefficient gas boiler will be replaced, the underfloor heating, out of use for 40 years, will be reactivated and air source heat pumps will be installed to supplement the gas boilers. The installation of this new system will save an estimated 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) a year. The cost of the £233k project is covered by the Friends of Sherborne Abbey and Low Carbon Dorset, a five-year funding programme hosted
by Dorset Council. Programme manager at Low Carbon Dorset, Heather Kiel said: “The Sherborne Abbey heat-pump project is an exemplar and shows that steps can be taken to reduce emissions even in the most challenging spaces.” Not without controversy… However, the age of the building and complexity of the programme has raised debate and it has taken nine months for the work to receive funding and approval from the Parochial Church Council Committee (PCC). The planned air source heat pumps (ASHPs), which will be sited on the roof of the Abbey and will take heat from the air around the building, are at the heart of this controversy. Mike Keatinge, chair of the fabric committee on the PCC, who voted against
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the project, cited the high costs and fact that ASHPs don’t run 100 per cent on sustainable energy as the reasons for his objections. Keatinge said: “If you look at the business of building up the supply of heat pumps we are the victim, putting money into it in order to get the system going. “It is an icon, it makes you look good but doesn’t
actually achieve anything.” However, proponents of the technology point out that ASHPs run more efficiently and are powered by the national electricity grid, driven by approximately 40 per cent renewables, meaning their sustainability still surpasses that of nonrenewably fuelled gas boilers. Rector of Sherborne Abbey,
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