Summary
How can higher education hot water systems be better designed and used in order to unlock greater value when modernising the UK's struggling university and college estates? Adveco discusses high-efficiency, intelligent gas through to hybrid approaches leveraging heat pumps and solar thermal to reduce primary energy demand and make significant reductions in carbon emissions. We also consider how offsite construction of plant rooms can help address the growing need to ‘right-size’ properties as higher education struggles to address the underuse of buildings and increasingly punishing costs of maintaining ageing premises.
How can higher education hot water systems be better designed and used to unlock greater value when modernising the UK’s struggling university and college estates? Adveco discusses high-efficiency, intelligent gas through to hybrid approaches leveraging heat pumps and solar thermal to reduce primary energy demand and make significant reductions in carbon emissions. We also consider how off-site construction of plant rooms can help address the growing need to ‘right-size’ properties as higher education struggles to address the underuse of buildings and increasingly punishing costs of maintaining ageing premises.
The UK higher education estate is currently characterised by a massive footprint of an estimated 18,000 – 20,000 buildings and a growing maintenance backlog. Faced with financial pressures and changing student demographics, the estate is undergoing a period of significant change, with anywhere between 10% and 40% of university space currently under-utilised and inefficient for continued operation.
The condition of the estate, however, is also a growing concern for university governors, with a visible shift from “excellent” to “poor” ratings as operational costs rise sharply, driven by energy prices and the often specialised nature of research facilities. Most of the legacy campus buildings, dating from the 1960s and 70s, are deemed operational but still require major repairs. Of greater worry has been the recent 3.4% increase in buildings described as poor/inoperable.
The cost to upgrade the estate to a functional Grade B standard is estimated in the billions, with many institutions struggling to keep pace with inflation in construction and repair costs. In 2023/4 the capital expenditure exceeded £3.5 billion for the first time and continues to climb.
Much of the impetus for change is also tied to the drive for greater sustainability. Most universities joined this national charge, achieving in the region of a 50% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions since the 2005 baseline. As decarbonisation programmes continue, however, those savings become more incremental, unlike early large-scale wins, as complexity increases. This is especially true of research-intensive institutions, which consume significantly more energy per m² due to laboratories and 24/7 high-performance computing facilities. The 2050, or earlier, Net Zero targets also remain a major challenge for the large number of older buildings.
All of this is driving a shift from new build expansion to renewal and refurbishment, with universities increasingly looking to repurpose older academic blocks into flexible, hybrid-learning spaces. These new and refurbished spaces will rely on consistent access to hot water as much as laboratories, sports facilities, catering outlets, healthcare spaces, and student accommodations already do. Such systems can generate some of the highest daily energy demands seen in buildings. However, if this domestic hot water (DHW) system were to fail to meet demands, the impact is felt immediately by both staff and students. As such, hot water becomes a critical demand and a critical challenge, and that must be overcome if better utilisation of space is to be achieved and spiralling maintenance costs curtailed as buildings are modernised and shift toward more sustainable operations.
As a result, higher education hot water systems must be designed with reliability, compliance, and efficiency in mind, yet still be cost-effective and increasingly able to meet ever-evolving sustainability goals.
How can higher education facilities better manage complex hot water demands?
One of the biggest challenges when designing higher education hot water systems is understanding how demand fluctuates across different buildings.
Student accommodation blocks are typically the largest contributors to peak hot water demand. Morning and evening routines can lead to hundreds of showers being used within a short time window. Without sufficient storage capacity and recovery capability, systems can struggle to keep up.
Because demand can vary so significantly, modern higher education hot water systems benefit from accurate monitoring and demand modelling. By analysing real usage patterns, facilities teams can ensure systems are correctly sized and operating efficiently.
Water safety is another critical consideration for higher education hot water systems. Universities are responsible for managing the risk of legionella bacteria within their water networks under UK health and safety legislation and the guidance outlined in ACOP L8 and HSG274.
Temperature control plays a key role in reducing this risk. In commercial DHW systems serving higher education facilities, hot water should be stored at 60°C minimum and reach outlets at approximately 50°C within one minute of use. Cold water should remain below 20°C.
Maintaining these temperatures across large campuses can be challenging, particularly during holiday periods when buildings may experience reduced occupancy. Effective higher education hot water systems, therefore, require good circulation design, appropriate storage capacity, and accessible monitoring points to support ongoing compliance.
How can DHW design help meet decarbonisation goals for Higher Education?
Higher education hot water systems are increasingly being reviewed as part of wider carbon reduction strategies.
Existing gas-fired water heating is gradually being replaced with the latest generation of intelligent, high-efficiency gas appliances that can also be supplemented with lower carbon technologies such as air source heat pumps, or especially solar thermal systems. These technologies can provide low-carbon or renewable energy input, offsetting primary energy demands whilst assuring operational temperatures and a reliable hot water supply year-round. This enables systems to reduce energy demands by as much as 30% and cut ongoing operational costs.
In both retrofit and especially new build situations, hybrid solutions offer the most practical approach. By combining renewable technologies with high-efficiency electric boilers, higher education hot water systems can reduce carbon emissions by as much as 70% compared to gas-fired equivalents without compromising performance during peak demand.
Can DHW help with the rightsizing of older campus buildings?
Improved utilisation of existing space has, as we have seen, become a core goal across higher education estates. Packaged plant rooms are becoming increasingly common in these situations. By integrating heaters, storage vessels, pumps, and controls into a compact system, project timeframes are reduced and installation simplified. More importantly, the new plant room can be placed in unused or wasted space, from the rooftop, to alleyways and even car parks, which can see less use as eco-travel is promoted to and across campus. For estates teams managing multiple refurbishment projects, this approach helps modernise higher education hot water systems more efficiently across the estate whilst supporting ‘rightsizing’ goals.
By combining careful system design, accurate demand modelling, and lower carbon technologies, universities can ensure their hot water infrastructure continues to meet operational needs while supporting long-term sustainability goals.
