In a first for the UK, Veolia is using the latest carbon lining pipe technology for maintaining the integrity of the heat distribution system serving the buildings and homes connected to the 44km long Sheffield District Energy Network.  

Pete Mills, Commercial Technical Operations Manager at Bosch Commercial and Industrial, discusses heat networks place on the road to net-zero.

This latest win follows a run of awards for the company's products over the last decade. 

Energy bills for most organisations will rise following further big increases in Climate Change Levy (CCL) rates on natural gas, says Hugh Richmond, CEO of Edina.

To support its code of practice for heat networks in the UK, CIBSE has devised a series of checklists to help improve the delivery of heat networks — as Matt Snowden explains.

With many heat networks benefiting from low return temperatures, the control and commissioning of radiator circuits served by the network is crucial. Chris Parsloe of Parsloe Consulting examines the issues.

With large heat exchangers being essential components of heat networks, Christer Frennfelt of SWEP International examines the benefits of brazed plate heat exchangers.

Heat interface units (HIUs) have a key role to play in the efficiency and effectiveness of heat networks and users on the network. Mike Shaw of Evinox Energy shares his experiences.

SAV Systems has welcomed the announcement of a new regime for testing heat interface units (HIUs), noting its potential to significantly improve the performance of heat networks.

Dr Andy Pearson, group managing director of Star Refrigeration has received an award for project excellence at ASHRAE’s recent winter meeting in Las Vegas. The award acknowledges the high-temperature district-heating and cooling system at Drammen (pictured) in Norway, which has a population of 65 000.

Guru Systems’ Pinpoint web-based monitoring platform for heat networks has been validated by the DECC (Department of Energy & Climate Change) to achieve major improvements in performance and reductions in energy consumption — winning for it a CIBSE Building Performance Award for energy-saving product or innovation of the year last month (February 2017).

Flexenergy is the sole distributor in the UK and Ireland of Flexalen pre-insulated pipe technology manufactured by Thermaflex. This low-carbon pipe delivers significant heat-loss benefits and energy-efficiency gains to district-heating schemes and sustainable-energy projects such as biomass, CHP, geothermal and heat-recovery networks.

Debris in the primary circuits of communal- and district-heating systems can lead to users not receiving enough heat and hot water. Helen Gibbons of Giacomini goes behind the scenes to explain why.

Switch2 Energy, which specialises in smart metering for community heating has won the Association for Decentralised Energy’s customer-engagement award for its smart-metering partnership with Sheffield City Council. The company’s smart-metering technology is helping to dramatically cut customer bills across over 6000 homes connected to the districting heat network.

Bosch Commercial & Industrial has added more features to its heat interface units. They include an ErP-compliant modulating space-heating pump and internal system filters on district, central-heating and hot water circuits. These units can be supplied with or without a heat meter.

Frese’s Aquaheat range of HIUs are electronically controlled and feature a programmable Modbus and OpenTherm controller for remote monitoring and control, self learning and fast-acting PICVs, and an advanced anti-legionella capability for safe and energy-efficient protection.

Stokvis Energy Systems has responded to the popularity of communal- and district-heating systems by offering its H-Series Econoplate heat interface units (HIUs). There is a choice of single- and twin-plate units to provide heating and hot-water services in dwellings.

A new energy centre for the heating, cooling and electricity networks of the University of Edinburgh’s Easter Bush Veterinary Campus will incorporate trigeneration. This £9 million project by Vital Energi will include a 1.5 MW(e) CHP engine and a 600 kW absorption chiller. There are also two 4 MW boilers and a 1.5 MW vapour-compression chiller. The heating and cooling systems will both have a 100 m3 thermal store.