Adveco considers the value of a more modular approach to heating water for commercial buildings because change is inevitable and accelerating.
The approach to, and the technology options which support water heating have undergone a fundamental shift in recent years. The demand for sustainable, low-carbon applications, alongside evolving energy regulations, means that commercial buildings must now plan for the future without compromising present performance. It’s a challenge at the heart of transitioning business operations to be net zero compliant by 2050 in the UK. The transition away from fossil-based fuels to truly green renewable alternatives is, at a national scale, complex and costly. It will also take time, with many technologies deemed necessary to achieve net zero still in the nascent stages of development.
This means organisations which are required or wish to adopt new approaches now, face complex choices which need assurance that decisions today will continue to pay dividends long-term. This necessitates considerations on future-proofing new or remedial works to commercial properties to ensure capital investment is maximised and long-term operational costs are optimised.
A modular approach to water heating system design is one way of gaining a practical answer to this need, enabling businesses to adapt, scale, and upgrade as demands and technology shift over time.
The potential of true modular design
Modular systems support the transition to energy-efficient operations in several ways:
Modular water heating systems can expand or contract to match changing requirements providing scalability to meet demand. For instance, if a hotel or hospital adds new facilities, additional modules can be integrated without overhauling the system. This flexibility can be both cost-effective and minimises downtime, enabling businesses to keep operations running smoothly as they grow.
The frequency of innovation in water heating technology is accelerating and modular systems offer an easier route to upgrade or replace components. A modular system provides the potential for easier integration of new technology, like high-efficiency heat pumps or solar thermal collectors, while retaining compatible components. As components age, businesses can replace them individually, avoiding the cost and disruption of a full system replacement.
In conventional systems, replacing one part often means substantial reconfiguration of connected components, which can be costly and time-consuming. Modular systems mitigate this problem, allowing for a staggered approach to maintenance and replacement, especially valuable when dealing with very large or complex systems. Such an approach can also help to extend the overall system lifespan, helping businesses avoid frequent, large-scale investments for a more manageable service regime. It should also help reduce equipment waste.
By enabling the integration of energy-efficient components, modular systems help further reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions, aligning with potential government incentives for sustainable commercial practices.
Sustainability regulations continue to evolve concerning the built environment, and modular design offers a means of allowing businesses to keep up with such changes. As policies tighten around carbon emissions and energy efficiency, modular water heating systems offer a more easily adaptable route to meet new requirements. The goal is to achieve a modular system with adaptable components able to evolve with future standards, such as integrating additional renewable sources like solar or switching to lower-carbon electric systems without a complete system overhaul.
Perhaps the most important advantage of the modular approach is the ability to future-proof systems against rising energy prices and potential carbon penalties, which are likely to impact commercial buildings that lag in sustainable infrastructure. Building in this adaptability not only ensures compliance but also positions companies to benefit from future energy and operational cost savings.
What is modular design in commercial water heating?
Modular design in water heating involves creating systems from individual, interlocking components that can be scaled or replaced without disrupting the whole. This structure allows businesses to customise and enhance their water heating systems to meet specific needs today while accommodating future upgrades.
Commercial water heating, due to its inherent complexity from specific legislative demands and physical variety of location and building design has meant application design has traditionally followed a more bespoke route, especially when refurbishing older properties which makes modularity a challenge when it comes to swapping out or upgrading system elements, whether primary heat source such as gas or electric water heater, boilers, cylinders and buffer vessels or preheat systems like solar thermal and most recently heat pumps. Such adaptability is crucial in a modular system and potentially invaluable for commercial settings, where systems must balance efficiency, sustainability, and long-term costs.
Modularity inherently lends itself to new build projects where identical commercial demands can drive core similarity in architectural design and building services provisioning. However, new water heating technology is opening doors to introduce greater modularity into existing systems, especially in the provision of system preheating.
Preparing for a Future of Sustainable Hot Water
Adveco, as a specialist in system design for commercial-grade hot water systems, has been developing products that support a more modular-style approach to applications design for new build and refurbishment challenges.
Early iterations include the option to design systems in cascade, a feature well understood in the provision of gas water heaters and boilers. Such functionality is enabled by the inclusion of onboard controls and the capability to easily link units to the building management system (BMS). Such control and communication is critical to modular functionality and is one of the company’s specialities. There has also been a concerted effort to move design from bespoke to a more off-the-shelf format, again a critical element in delivering modularity. This is best exemplified through the creation of the FUSION system, derived from our work on packaged plant rooms, which while focussing on smaller DHW demands, has paved the way for understanding system integration with multiple technologies including electric boilers, cylinders, heat pumps, immersions and controls.
Adveco’s experience in solar thermal arrays has also fed into this understanding, with system sizing for collector arrays as well as upgrading existing hot water systems to new collectors with drain back-based systems. Modernising and future-proofing an application without requiring a complete system change, but rather enhancing what exists to meet decarbonisation and operational cost-saving goals without large-scale capital reinvestment. Such renewables, providing pre- or mid-heat to a system are a prime opportunity to add modularity to a DHW system. This is particularly true of heat pumps.
Adveco provides a range of commercial-grade monobloc air source heat pumps (ASHP), which, like water heaters support integration in cascade. This is best exemplified by the ADV65-110W range of heat pumps. The monobloc design means the majority of system components are factory-fitted, which makes for easier installation and a more regular form factor. That is important as it better enables the siting of units, especially on rooftops where space can be at a premium. Each unit is capable of being connected with up to 15 other units with the built-in controller, so there is an immediate modularity, enabling a system to easily accept additional heat pumps should demand increase. Furthermore, 16 controllers can then operate in cascade to deliver truly large-scale applications. The BMS enables full system control, or be more granular down to individual units. This gives the option to switch units on or off, or remove/replace them with ease should there be future system alteration or maintenance demands. This versatility is one of the key advantages of the modular approach, and what enables the current and future generations of DHW systems to adapt to the accelerating demands of net zero, whether national networks evolve to more electric, green gas, such as hydrogen, or the expected mix of environmentally friendly energy supplies.
While still evolving, investing in modular systems is ultimately about taking a proactive approach to the long-term needs of commercial buildings. By choosing adaptable, upgradable water heating, businesses can confidently navigate a future where efficiency, sustainability, and regulatory compliance are increasingly critical.
With modular design, the commercial sector has a greater opportunity to control costs, improve energy performance, and embrace sustainable practices that safeguard both their infrastructure and the environment.
