A project that uses waste heat from a mini data centre to warm a public swimming pool in Devon hit the headlines last month. Molly Tooher-Rudd talks to the company behind the technology and hears about its ambitious plans to deploy ‘digital boilers’ in every sector
Category: Technical
Ventilating the new normal: balancing IAQ with energy efficiency
An investigation by John Smyth into sustainable ventilation in commercial building environments for the ‘new normal’ at Arup’s Cork office led to the implementation of new measures to create a better indoor environment
Taking the waters: recovering heat from the Roman Baths
Heat from Bath’s hot springs is being used to warm surrounding buildings including the new Clore Learning Centre. Andy Pearson finds out how Buro Happold extracting heat from the mineral-rich waters of the Roman Baths
Targeting net zero ventilation for schools
The Monodraught HVR Zero ventilation unit won a product of the year award at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards because it targets both embodied and operational energy use. Schools are one sector benefiting from the costs savings that the heat recovery unit brings
Designing net zero for pupil wellbeing
Cundall has created new premises for Beormund Primary School that not only meet net zero aspirations, but also cater for the social, emotional and mental health needs of the school’s pupils. Andy Pearson reports
Accelerating change: digital tools and innovation
The use of emerging technology will speed the delivery of net zero buildings, according to CIBSE President-elect Adrian Catchpole, who was one of the speakers in a CIBSE seminar at the ASHRAE Winter Conference in Atlanta. Tim Dwyer reports
Imperfect harmony: ultra-low harmonic drives
Ultra-low harmonic drives ensure disturbance-free electrical power, as well as better efficiency and reliability, says ABB
Efficient lifting: improving chiller performance
Reducing the ‘lift’ in a refrigeration cycle can cut a chiller’s operational energy use significantly, according to Trent Hunt, in a presentation at last month’s ASHRAE Conference in Atlanta. Tim Dwyer summarises the paper
Switching to propane: reducing charge in a propane heat pump
Propane’s low GWP is making it an increasingly attractive alternative to refrigerants restricted by the F-gas Regulations. Tim Dwyer tracks the growth of propane and looks at the L150 initiative in Germany that is aiming to reduce the charge in a propane refrigerant circuit
Healthy buildings standards: how to comply with them
What solutions you can deploy that are recommended by healthy building standards for improving indoor air quality.