TWITTER.COM/RACONTEURMEDIA RACONTEUR 13

COMMERCIAL FEATURE

TWITTER.COM/RACONTEURMEDIA RACONTEUR 13

in our current built environment, heat-

ing and cooling are two of the larg-

est sources of energy consumption,

with quite separate systems for space

and hot water heating, air condition-

ing and refrigeration often operating

in different areas within one building,

typically generating a huge amount

of energy that simply goes to waste.

the retail sector alone is responsible

for around 3 per cent of total electrical

energy consumption and some 21 mil-

lion tonnes of co2 emissions per year,

according to the carbon trust, which

estimates that heating and hot water

account for 60 per cent of a retailer’s

energy bills, with refrigeration also

making a major contribution.

but all of this has to change if we are

to meet the government’s stringent

carbon targets for 2050. the pathways

to 2050 - Key results Final report,

which was produced on behalf of the

Department for energy and climate

change (Decc), recognises that over

the next 40 years, the residential sec-

tor will have to cut emissions to 40 per

cent of its 2010 level, while the services

sector faces a similarly steep challenge

which will mean having to reduce its

carbon emissions to 45 per cent of its

2010 level.

the first steps on this journey are

already placing significant demands

on businesses, with smart metering

display due to be introduced in both

non-domestic and domestic buildings

by 2014, and all new non-domestic

buildings designed to be zero-car-

bon by 2019 - all of which will shine a

brighter light on energy performance

in buildings.

the pathways to 2050 report also

identified heat pumps as being criti-

cal to achieving these carbon targets.

in the residential sector, almost all new

installations of heating systems from

2020 to 2035 would need to be heat

pumps to achieve those targets, which

would lead to the phase out of fossil

fuel boilers over the next few decades.

as a recognised renewable heat

technology, heat pumps have a sig-

nificant role to play in the commercial

sector too. indeed, when a heat pump

is configured to deliver a heat recov-

ery solution, it can run an integrated

heating and cooling system operating

in balanced mode, which is capable of

delivering efficiencies of over 1,000 per

cent – that is, for every unit of electric-

ity that it uses, it delivers ten times that

amount of heat energy. compared with

the typical efficiencies achieved by

conventional heating and cooling sys-

tems – less than 100 per cent for fossil

fuel systems or up to 400 per cent for

typical heat pump systems – such effi-

ciencies have the potential to be truly

game changing.

take a hotel, for example. here air

conditioning is required for spa areas,

restaurants, kitchens and meeting

rooms, while refrigeration is used

for food preparation and bar areas.

these cooling functions generate

masses of waste heat that can be

reused elsewhere in the building, for

example to heat and ventilate recep-

tion areas and bedrooms or to pro-

vide hot water in wash rooms. this

free heat can also be used to produce

hot water or warm air at entrances

requiring air curtains, delivering

energy consumption savings of up to

67 per cent compared with a typical

electrically heated air curtain.

such highly energy efficient solutions

can be developed for a wide variety of

settings – whether on a major scale for

airports, shopping centres and stadia;

for complex environments such as hos-

pitals, leisure centres and civic build-

ings; or for small-to-medium applica-

tions like schools, shops and hotels.

at Daikin uK, we focus on integrating

the very latest technological innova-

tions and intelligent controls to create a

whole building solution that maximises

energy efficiency.

by designing the building system

so that areas requiring heating can

use surplus energy from areas being

cooled, it is possible to cut energy

use by 80 per cent. this holistic

approach aims for the ultimate goal of

zero waste heat: an achievement that

could go a long way towards helping

meet tomorrow’s all-important carbon

reduction targets.

Efficiencies that could change the world...Environmental control solutions that harness the power of renewable heat coupled with heat recovery are capable of delivering up to ten times more energy than they use. Such solutions have the potential to be truly game changing as we set out on the pathway to cutting carbon emissions by 2050.