I recently held a Trending Now webinar with my colleague Dr Samira Saravi and below is a summary of my opening piece on how businesses can reduce carbon emissions from their buildings.
According to government statistics, the UK’s 'non-domestic' or 'commercial' built environment consists of around two million buildings, and an estimated 54% of these are more than 50 years old.
It’s also clear that we cannot build our way to net zero, so around 80% of these buildings will still be in use by 2050 and must be brought up to net zero standards.
When you consider that around 21% of the UK’s total carbon emissions come from buildings, it’s clear that we need to find ways of reducing emissions from existing buildings if we are ever to get to net zero.
How we heat these buildings can really make a difference.
This makes the case for heat pumps even stronger!
Chris Newman Net Zero Design Manager
Gas is still king
At the moment, the fact is that most commercial buildings still use gas … with heat pumps only accounting for around 5% of the commercial heating market
Data from the UK Government’s annual Non-Domestic National Energy Efficiency Data Framework (ND-NEED) shows that some sectors have made significant reductions, such as offices which have reduced consumption by around 25%
Overall consumption of fossil fuel gas across non-domestic buildings though has only decreased by around 8% over the last 12 years.
So, there’s significant work to do to move buildings off gas and on to alternative fuels, but shifting away from gas means electrifying buildings, which is why we need to look at what’s been happening to the electricity supply in the UK.
Greening the grid
Looking at the average amount of carbon dioxide released to the atmosphere for every kWh of electricity consumed from the National Grid (known as the grid emission factor), we can see that since 2020, electricity has produced lower carbon than gas.
All predictions now believe that this trend will only continue, with the gap ever widening between gas and electricity. In fact, the Labour Government has challenged itself to achieve a zero carbon clean electricity grid by as early as 2030.
With the recent news that 90% of Denmark’s electricity is generated from renewables, and other countries with similar ambitions, the race towards an electric economy is gathering pace around the world.
Here at home, there is also significant work happening in the background to help reduce the cost of electricity by removing various levies and charges to further encourage electrification of the UK
So, what happens when you use this clean electricity to power a highly efficient technology like a heat pump?
Efficiency comparison
Looking at the “minimum” allowable efficiency of a gas boiler and a heat pump (in the latest version Part L of the UK building regulations), along with the current grid emission factors of gas and electricity, we can see how much carbon would be emitted to the atmosphere if you were to produce 1kWh of heat from a gas boiler vs 1kWh from a heat pump
If we take the efficiency of the heating system and divide that by the 1kWh of heat we are looking for, we can see how many kWh of fuel that heating system needs to produce that 1kWh of heat.
For a modern gas boiler with 91% efficiency, that is just over 1kWh of gas therefore the carbon emission is 230g/CO2/kWh of heat delivered.
Because heat pumps are incredibly efficient, less than half of 1kWh of electricity is needed to produce 1kWh of heat resulting in a Carbon saving of over 76%.
This is one of the reasons that heat pumps are “the” preferred option for reducing carbon emissions from heating and hot water systems.
It is also worth noting that the new Future Building Standard has mandated all new non-domestic construction buildings must use a fuel source with a Carbon emissions factor of 0.086Kg/CO2/kWh (86 grams) or lower.
This is the new grid emissions factor that will be used for electricity in the Future Building Standard (it is already being used in the new Future Homes Standard).
This essentially means you must use electricity as the fuel source for your heating system, although there are some exemptions for emergency back up and if you are connecting to heat networks.
This makes the case for heat pumps even stronger!
It’s time for Gen Z
At Mitsubishi Electric, we have long advocated for HVAC systems that increase efficiency and reduce carbon emissions through innovation that helps tackle these challenges and provide future proof solutions to decarbonise buildings using heat pump technology.
In commercial heating this has seen over 400MW of heating from our popular and market-leading Ecodan CAHV monobloc air source heat pump, which has been available since 2012 and has an impeccable reliability record.
… And now, we are launching the R290 Ecodan CAHV-Z, a scalable, sustainable and reliable monobloc heat pump solution which is available to specify now.
It includes a 3-year parts and labour warranty as standard, which can be extended up to 5 years if commissioned by Mitsubishi Electric.
R290 has a GWP of just 0.02, giving the CAHV-Z excellent energy efficiency levels, low noise and high heating capacity in cold climates.
The CAHV has always been associated with providing high outlet temperatures, and the CAHV-Z will take this to another level by offering 75°C outlet temperatures down to -15°C ambient temperatures to deliver year-round continuous heating.
In other words, these systems can be installed in place of existing boilers without requiring major changes to the overall heating setup, making it ideal for retrofit.
So, we believe we have the products ready for the heating challenges of the future.
Samira and I discuss a lot in the full webinar and if you would like to know more, which included a look at Part L of the Building Regulations, MEES, the new UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard (UKNZCBS), BS EN378 and F-Gas, then click on this link to view a recording of the complete webinar.
Chris Newman is Net Zero Design Manager
