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March 18th 2009

Call for architects to think ahead on renewable energy

 

Architects should plan for renewable heating systems much earlier in their building projects, experts said yesterday, and stop seeing renewable energy as a retrofit add-on.

A debate on the state of the fledgling wood fuel industry in the UK last week saw forecasts of "massive growth" in the use of renewable heating systems in the nation's buildings.

This growth is expected to be driven by zero-carbon requirements in the Building Regulations, as well as the cost savings anticipated under the government's Renewable Heat Incentive set to begin in April 2011.

But despite growing interest among architects and developers, speakers at the Ignition 09 exhibition in Gateshead said too many failing to think ahead regarding use of biomass boilers.

Used to designing buildings around oil or gas boilers, architects who then decide to fit biomass boiler systems have found their plans provide too little space for the boilers, and often insufficient access for wood fuel deliveries.

Sam Whatmore, managing director of Devon-based woodchip supply company Forest Fuels Ltd, said wood fuel could mean up to nine times the volume of oil for the same energy content.

He said: "With oil and gas you can think about that later - you can pipe them around corners, but the same cannot be said for wood fuel. We've seen buildings where there's no access for fuel suppliers, the boiler is put far away from the car park, for example," Mr Whatmore added.

The Forestry Commission, which is currently working to unlock a potential two million tonne annual supply chain for wood fuel in the UK, said the issue was a "common problem".

"We are currently working with the trade associations for architects on this," said Angela Duignan, head of wood fuel implementation for the Forestry Commission.

She urged architects and building developers: "You should be thinking about renewable energy from day one - certainly not when you are pouring the concrete, as we have found people are doing."

Supply

Yesterday's debate saw biomass boiler firm Econergy suggesting that if the government set its Renewable Heat Incentive at around 3p to 5p per kWh, it could create a £500 million turnover biomass boiler installation industry.

It would also create a £400 million-a-year servicing industry and a £900 million-a-year wood fuel industry, according to the Bedfordshire company's managing director Chris Miles.

He added that such an industry would mean a supply chain of 11 million tonnes of wood fuel a year.

The debate saw a general acceptance that the only way to ensure such potential in the wood fuel sector was to take the "hassle" out of deploying and using biomass heat systems.

Mr Whatmore called on the government to help ensure the "substantial capital investment" needed in the UK wood fuel infrastructure is in place ahead of expected demand for fuel.

"Otherwise we will be falling over ourselves and unable to deal with the enquiries," he said. "The surety of supply needs to be one step ahead of customer demand, not one step behind."

news item from: New Energy Focus