Renewable myths?
17/06/10
This is more an observation than a news item.
Here at Pure Offices we tried to embrace renewable technology when we built Swindon and Leamington. Apart from using intelligent switching to reduce consumption, our most radical approach was installing Air Source Heat Pumps to use renewable technology to heat the buildings.
ASHP technology uses an electrically driven compressor and heat exchanger to draw heat out of the air and convert it into heat for the radiator system.
The theory is fine, but in practice the ASHP never seems to give the right type of heat at the right time.
So in practice over the last winter we ended up using the gas boiler to provide our heat.
To run a commercial building economically (and so by definition sustainably), the heat source needs to fire up quickly on demand and provide instant heat.
The ASHP works much more effectively if left on 24/7, providing a lower temperature heat source. Unfortunately 24/7 heat costs 24/7 which rather defeats the object, especially as 1 KWh of electricity costs three times 1KWh of gas.
So its back to the drawing board for us.
We want to be as sustainable as possible, our occupiers like being associated with a sustainable building and strategy, but understandably nobody wants to compromise when it comes to their comfort.
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