The UK’s retrofitting activity has gone into overdrive as buildings from offices to universities and hospitals are updated to meet requirements on carbon reduction and energy performance. HVAC systems are often at the core of these upgrades, particularly where building owners are switching away from fossil fuel systems to modern, efficient heat pump technology.
M&E contractors take a key role in delivering these updates. This means tackling projects that are often complex and challenging, with restricted space in existing plantrooms and tight deadlines just two of the main issues they face.
Mitsubishi Electric has been working closely across the property and construction sectors to help our customers meet the retrofit challenge. Our approach includes adoption of lower-GWP refrigerants to reduce embodied carbon and the application of heat pump technology to provide a range of energy efficient, reduced-carbon applications from heat pump chillers to ambient heat loops.
Projects we’ve been involved with include Reading’s Royal Berkshire Hospital, where two ageing chillers on its maternity block were replaced. By using three of our e-Series chillers we were able to reduce the retrofit time (against a like-for-like replacement) by supplying the equipment quickly from our UK warehouse. The e-Series chillers also took up less room than the older units, making the replacement project more straightforward for the installation team.
We have also worked with The Gym Group, the UK’s first carbon neutral gym chain, to help them meet their high hot water requirements with heat pumps, rather than gas boilers. By using our Ecodan QAHV at its Leyland gym in Lancashire instead of a gas boiler, this client saved around 75% potential carbon emissions. In addition, the heat pumps cost 18% less each day to operate than a gas boiler.
Mitsubishi Electric has also been involved with organisations such as the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) on their Commercial Retrofit Task Force. It was an honour to be asked to contribute our technical know-how to their report on building the case for net zero retrofit of office buildings. Sharing knowledge and experience is vital if we are to meet the UK’s carbon reduction target for our built environment.
Retrofit and refurbishment is a growing opportunity for M&E Contractors, and it’s driving change in how things are done. BESA’s Top 30 M&E Contractors report (May 2024) highlights that: ”Building engineering services (will) become increasingly sophisticated and technology-driven to meet net zero targets and because of the growing trend towards refurbishment and retrofit versus new build.”
It's vital to stay ahead of these trends and Mitsubishi Electric has produced a series of guides and case studies to help M&E Contractors understand the issues. Our most recent publication is Considerations for Commercial Building HVAC Retrofit: Setting the Stage for Efficiency and Sustainability (LINK WHEN ONLINE). But our CPD library also provides useful background on areas such as embodied carbon, using the new family of low-GWP refrigerants and applying heat pump technologies as effectively as possible.
I’d like to thank my colleagues across the business for their work on these guides, and the information contained in this pack, including the Mitsubishi Electric Sustainability Team.
