The answer was the installation of two Mitsubishi Electric QAHV CO2 air source heat pumps which provide the domestic hot water for the showering facilities, toilets and kitchen. In addition to these, twin split air conditioning is providing heating and cooling in the social area and bar, and a dedicated wall mounted air conditioning unit also cools the kitchen area.
Gas fired water heating would have produced 4 times as much carbon as the heat pump solution - 9.25kg CO2e for gas boiler hot water compared with 2.325kg for the heat pump system. Gas fired water heating would have cost 18% more each day than the heat pump solution. The QAHV monobloc heat pump is specifically designed for commercial sanitary hot water applications, producing water up to 90°C. The heat pump uses R744 or CO2 as a refrigerant, which has a global warming potential (GWP) of 1. This makes it the ideal low carbon solution for leisure centres, hospitals, hotels, student accommodation and other applications where renewable, high-temperature water is required.
