Sustainable Energy in Serviced Offices
28/10/09
Pure Offices has been pioneering the use of sustainable energy in its recently built Swindon and Leamington Spa serviced offices. The offices, which each comprise 68 self contained offices, let on monthly easy in – easy out licences, totalling about 23,000 ft2 have hybrid sustainable heating systems.
The company have installed air source heat pumps at both properties, and are using these as the primary source of heat. These are backed up by gas fired boilers, to cover the times when the heat pumps aren’t so efficient.
Nick Smith, MD of Pure Offices, admits that this novel approach was born out of the need to satisfy the governments renewable energy targets for new buildings, and was initially resisted. “ At first we saw this as a costly exercise pandering to officialdom, and were able to prove during the planning process that the costs were unviable. However, after we obtained planning consent, we decided to investigate further, and eventually decided to install a relatively small (28kw) heat pump, alongside our standard 90kw gas boiler”.
So far the experiment has proved successful. There are challenges, the main one being related to the operation and use of the building, which can be occupied by up to 50 different businesses. The building is naturally ventilated, and heat is provided via oversized radiators running at about 50 degrees. The ASHP is currently fulfilling most of the heating requirements, but because of the variable heat demand, it sometimes doesn’t cope, and that’s when the Gas boiler kicks in, boosting the temperature to meet demand.
The company installed a larger 38kw ASHP at Pure Offices Leamington Spa, which opened on 1st October 2009, in the expectation that the larger plant will provide most of the heating demand through the winter. This again is backed up by a gas boiler.
Currently the company doesn’t have any cost comparison data to establish just how efficient the ASHP’s are, but has installed check meters on the plant, and will publish some data after the winter.
For more information about Pure Offices visit www.pureoffices.co.uk
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