Data-Driven Insight For Decarbonisation
Live Metering Assessment For Data-Driven Insights When Transitioning From Gas To Electric Water Heating
- Electric replacement of gas-fired water heating is a focus for LFB decarbonisation strategy
- Adveco live metering employed for accurate system modelling to avoid oversizing
- Data helps reduce capital investment, defines carbon reductions and informs new running costs
Planning For Decarbonisation
Data-driven insight is Helping London Fire Brigade (LFB), one of the largest firefighting and rescue organisations in the world, to lead the net zero charge. Despite a variety of buildings all have an operational need for 24/7 hot water (DHW) to support the shift-based crews. Taking a leadership role, the Brigade has undertaken a major project of station refurbishment to decarbonise its operations. To enable this the Brigade took the decision to replace existing gas-fired systems with lower-carbon electric systems.
Adveco has worked closely with London Fire Brigade for many years, providing bespoke applications for stations across the capital. Challenged with supporting the gas replacement programme Adveco initiated a project to live meter hot water demands of the existing systems to enable accurate replacements to be designed that would balance the ratio of available electric power and hot water storage required for each building. The process enables Adveco to provide the most feasible system design that demonstrates predicted carbon reductions, optimises capital investment and allows for accurate calculation of future operational costs.
Adveco initially provided live metering to two fire stations operating 24 hours a day with dorms and general office use to seek data-driven insight on the properties’ hot water usage. Typical hot water demands encompass morning showers, meal times, washing and cleaning, including the potential wash down in the morning of the fire appliances. Expectations of peak usage were therefore believed to be for a period from 7 am to 10 am, and then repeating between 7 & 8 pm.
Data-driven insight would be critical for avoiding unnecessary implementation costs which could rapidly lead to the cancellation of a project
Site 1
The first site currently operates a single 60kW output gas fired water heater. Live metering indicated that the site exhibited an average daily usage of 1193 litres with a maximum average of 1354 litres. The peak demands were clearly defined actually running between 7am and 10am, trailing to 11am. With the maximum peak between 8am and 9am. This gave a theoretical design day hot water consumption of 1827 litres with a single peak, which incorporates a planned 20% extra allowance to cover any possible unusual demands.
The system requirements can be met by 12 kW, with 250 litres storage. This would store water from a 5°C cold feed at 63°C and supply at 60°C. The recommendation for the first site would therefore be to replace the 60 kW gas water heater with a 12kW electric boiler, such as the Adveco ARDENT, which would be able to provide 200 litres of hot water (raised 50°C) per hour. With an intensive 60-minute peak of 560 litres, the design calls for a 500-cylinder to provide sufficient storage to accommodate the peak loads and ensure consistent water temperature as the system recovers. This can either be a standalone system with the boiler into a bottom coil, or it can be supplemented with an air source heat pump.
If using an air source heat pump, such as the Adveco FPi32, the hot store will cover 250L of the 360L and the additional input from the 12kW (nominal) heat pump will ensure the demand is met. In this scenario, the boiler will go into the top coil of the 500L cylinder and the heat pump into the bottom coil.
With an estimated annual consumption of 436,020 litres the estimated thermal energy demand for the year is 29,504 kWh with reduced carbon emissions of 4013 kg (compared to gasv of 6884 kg).
Site 2
The second site to be metered operates two 50kW output gas-fired water heaters and a pair of 140 kW boilers. Plans for this station included replacing the gas-fired units with an indirect cylinder and two electric boilers and a heat pump to heat the building. The DHW cold feed is to be preheated by the air source heat pump and topped up by the electric boilers from 40C to 60C.
Live metering indicated that the station exhibited an average daily usage of 1793 litres with a maximum daily recorded usage of 2407 litres, averaging out to 2003 litres. The peak demands were again spread between 7 am and 10 am. The long, low morning peak means energy input is critical. This gives a theoretical design day hot water consumption of 2789 litres with a single peak.
On this basis, with a 20% uprate added to ensure the worst-case scenario is accommodated in the system design, requirements can be met by a 24kW system with 250-litre storage. This assumes the 40°C preheat feed, 63°C storage and supply at 60°C. The data-driven insight led to a recommendation for site 2 for a 500L twin coil cylinder, such as Adveco’s GLT 500, ATST 500, or SST 500, with the bottom half preheated by a heat pump and the top half heated by a 24kW electric boiler, such as Adveco’s ARDENT. The storage cylinder is derated by 50% as only the top half is guaranteed to store water at a usable 60°C. A smaller boiler could be specified and would cope as well, but without the ASHP preheat the full 24kW would be required ramping up operational costs.
The new system will have an estimated annual consumption of 616,564 litres giving a 16,544 kWh thermal energy demand for the year. Carbon emissions fall from 8340 kg for an equivalent gas-fired system to 3250 kg for the new heat pump and electrically heated system for a total carbon reduction of 5100 kg per annum.
Replacing gas-fired water heating with an electric system has a number of cost implications. Correct sizing with live data-driven insight can be clearly shown to reduce the system requirements seen in oversizing, saving considerably on the cost of purchasing and installing new hardware. This potential saving can number in the tens of thousands of pounds depending on the scale and complexity of the DHW application. Critically the replacement system design will operate within the electrical supply that exists to the building, exceeding this amperage would drastically inflate the project cost as new electrical demands would require re-cabling the fire stations’ connections to the local grid.
Operational costs do however climb and will continue to do so while grid electric prices remain much higher than those of gas grid supplies. The application of renewables including heat pumps and solar thermal can reduce, but not completely offset those direct electric costs.
The advantage is clearly defined in the reduction of carbon emissions, and, as work continues to decarbonise the electricity grid, the emission reduction figures supplied in the new system design should improve considerably, adding further environmental value to the system over the course of its operational lifespan.
Discover more about Adveco Live Metering or talk to our sales team about booking a Live Metering session for your project.
Looks Matter
19th century grade II listed building
First Response
London Fire Brigade
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
Hot Water For Showers
Pandemic Hot Water Demands For Healthcare
Hot Water Demands For Covid-19 Testing & Care
The importance of addressing pandemic hot water demands was apparent from the earliest days of the Covid-19 outbreak. The need for improved hygiene was reiterated over and over again through campaigns to encourage handwashing as well as the thorough cleaning of working environments. As specialists in the provision of commercial hot water, Adveco was approached across a range of commercial sectors to help improve the provision of business-critical hot water supplies. Projects across the healthcare sector, especially within the NHS, were typified by the need for high levels of redundancy to guarantee services as well as accelerated timeframes for project delivery.
Test & Trace
Faced with more than one million COVID-19 tests a week, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) demanded new laboratories facilities to enable faster processing for Test and Trace. One of the first of these was Newport Lighthouse Laboratory, South Wales.
For Newport’s new Covid laboratory gas-fired water heaters were specified alongside heating controls and flueing to meet the pandemic hot water demands. Based on the initial specification for domestic hot water (DHW) for the general accommodations, laboratory hand basins and white areas. However, it rapidly became apparent the demands placed on the laboratory were increasing, leading to a doubling of the number of washbasins in the facility from the initial specification. With an increased system demand to address Adveco upgraded the application design to incorporate a BFC120, which would extend the system’s storage capabilities from the initial 368-litre capacity to 480.
Application design was needed immediately and changed rapidly as the scale of response required grew as Covid-19 spread and evolved
The BFC is a down-firing, high efficiency, gas-fired fully condensing storage water heater incorporating a high-grade carbon steel vessel, protected with A.O Smith’s unique patented glass lining. Installed into the mezzanine plant room, the system was supplied by Adveco with a sized expansion vessel, unvented kit, temperature and pressure gauges and flue kit.
In line with the specification for heater controls, the BFC120 provides a high degree of security and control and remote status indication.
With a highly efficient (92%) modulating premix burner, the BFC more than meets ecodesign specifications and, in the case of the laboratory, emissions were a concern, especially for nitrogen dioxide (NOx) with 37 mg/kWh GCV set as a maximum. The system based around the BFC120 met all the specification requirements and today continues to deliver the daily pandemic hot water demands for the laboratory.
Covid Care
Despite the efforts to track and trace the spread Covid-19 also required specialised treatment spaces in hospitals. The Covid ward at University Hospital in Cardiff was one such project that demanded both high dependency and longevity from the DHW system.
The ward was required to cater for the hygiene of both staff and patients, with a specification that incorporated nine staff showers and a further 57 for patients, 175 basins and 31 sinks. With the scale of implementation, a life expectancy of the system was set at a minimum of 15 to 20 years to warrant the investment. The specification also demanded short recovery times to ensure availability and a thorough level of redundancy.
With the system sizing carried out by Adveco’s inhouse application design team, the optimal choice would be based around a packaged plate semi-storage heat exchanger system and stainless steel buffer with the option of electric immersion heating.
Including staff showering, the system would require a minimum input (with redundancy) from the packaged plate semi-storage heat exchanger of 244kw. Adveco’s PPS300, with a transfer duty of 300 kW each, provides 81% of load each. The PPS 300s is a storage ready, packaged system that comes with a gasketed stainless steel plate heat exchanger, controls, circulating pump, valves and pipework pre-assembled on a steel skid base.
Two were specified along with a pair of extremely resilient stainless steel SSB1000 DHW buffers. Together these meet any peak load demands with the required redundancy in place. At full load, these large buffers provide a recovery time of just 11 minutes. Based on the final specification, the addition of electric immersions was deemed unnecessary.
Adveco’s field engineers commissioned the appliances ensuring installation was completed in adherence to manufacturing guidelines. With built-in system redundancy and the addition of labour warranty for the project, Heath Park Hospital is assured Adveco’s service engineers are prioritised for the length of the parts warranty period, ensuring the system will exhibit no downtime throughout its maintained lifespan which should see the ward’s continued use long after the threat from Covid-19 has diminished.
Looks Matter
19th century grade II listed building
First Response
London Fire Brigade
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
Hot Water For Showers
100 Bishopsgate
100 Bishopsgate – The New Benchmark In Sustainable Building
100 Bishopsgate is the latest prestige construction project in the financial district of the City of London. Operated by Brookfield Properties, the development is a stunning all-glazed tower offering 37 floors of mixed-use that has been designed and constructed to meet the highest standard of efficiency, achieving an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating to maximise sustainability and reduce the carbon footprint over the lifetime of the building.
To achieve this, environmentally conscious systems and materials have been used within the building’s design, construction and ongoing maintenance. Everything from building materials, to occupation sensors and biodiversity, have been addressed to deliver the building’s outstanding sustainability.
Whilst the majority of the building’s heating demands are achieved through the use of photovoltaic panels to generate energy and the large-scale application of heat exchangers to recover any waste energy, there was an additional demand for the provision of domestic hot water (DHW) for the tenants and staff.
As part of this process, Adveco worked with design authority Hilson Moran and consultants Michael J Lonsdale on the provision of the building’s hot water. Adveco’s application design team was tasked with meeting the separate needs of Brookfield Properties and its tenants, with plant facilities that would be built around A.O. Smith BFC high-efficiency gas water heaters. In addition, a roof-top site would allow for the installation of a solar preheat system with dedicated water heaters.
Through close partnership, a blend of sustainable and practical applications were designed.
The solar preheat system consists of four roof-mounted solar collectors with integrated drain back for overheat protection. The collectors feed a 500 litre IT indirect water heater. Here the solar energy is accumulated, with the IT acting as a dedicated solar store providing preheat which then feeds a pair of BFC80 fully room-sealed condensing high-efficiency (97% gross) gas-fired water heaters.
Smart controls and system management not only help ensure the solar thermal application remains operational, but ensures the efficiency needed to meet the sustainability targets of the building.
The solar system uses a smart differential temperature controller to manage the solar station pump. This controller activates the pump when the solar collector sensor temperature is higher than that of the solar preheat sensor, transferring heat from the collector to the preheat tank coil until the tank reaches its set-point reading, or if the solar intensity drops and the collector cools to the Preheat temperature.
Smart solar control also enables the exchange pump to be used to transfer heat from the solar preheat to the water heater in periods of low DHW usage. This balancing is critical if the solar thermal system is to operate efficiently without wasting generated energy. The solar control will sense if the preheat tank reaches 70°C and, if the monitored after-heater temperature is less (60-65°C), the exchange pump will be activated forcing preheated water to the BFCs. The pump turns off once the pre-heat temperature drops to 60°C. This ensures that the solar energy is used most advantageously, effectively turning the IT tank into a combined solar preheat, extending the pre-heat volume and allowing efficient use of solar energy. Without this balancing, the thermal losses could be equivalent to turning off half of the building’s solar thermal collectors.
As well as the smart controls, the solar thermal system offers ongoing monitoring for improved management with a volt free alarm contact on the BFCs for general fault indication on the BMS. Each roof-mounted solar collector bank is also dedicated to one solar coil to allow uninterrupted drain back for stagnation protection. Should demand for DHW drop, solar thermal collectors can, unless drained, be prone to stagnation where the solar fluid overheats and takes on the consistency of tar within the collector. This requires a lengthy cleaning process and can cause considerable damage requiring costly repairs. At 100 Bishopsgate, when the preheat tank reaches 70°C, the solar pump stops, and the natural head of solar fluid flows in reverse back into the coil port and fills the drain back tank, emptying and protecting the solar collector.
At 181 metres in height, available roof space for solar thermal is ultimately limited in comparison to the total square footage of the building and the number of people occupying the building. To address periods of high DHW demand, where solar thermal cannot meet all the building’s requirements, Adveco designed, supplied and commissioned an application based on a series of A.O. Smith BFC Cyclone condensing gas water heaters.
Fully room-sealed, and with versatile flue options that allow this water heater to be placed almost anywhere, the BFCs were sited in plant rooms located on the building’s lower floors. A logical choice for the provision of large scale, near-instantaneous hot water demands, the BFCs are fitted with an automatic gas/air premix burning system including burner modulation, which enables the BFC to be highly efficient (97% gross). Despite using natural gas, this level of efficiency helps support the buildings BREEM rating. With the BFCs connected into the BMS, the building management team can monitor almost 50 parameters from temperatures in the appliance to burning hours, allowing for greater control and a more cost-effective option for delivering peak hour demands for hot water when compared to electrical energy.
100 Bishopsgate today stands as a benchmark for what can be achieved by embracing the advantages of a sustainable approach to construction and operation. Its greatest success is that it does so without forgetting that, first and foremost, its role is to provide an exceptionally modern, comfortable working environment for its tenants.
Looks Matter
19th century grade II listed building
First Response
London Fire Brigade
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
Hot water for showers
Five Guys
Five Guys restaurant
Five Guys, named after the five Murrell brothers, is the highly recognisable burger restaurant chain that launched in Arlington, Virginia in 1986. Since then the brand has successfully expanded to the UK. Beginning a roll-out of branches in 2013, today, Five Guys has more than 100 sites across the UK and Northern Ireland.
Five Guys differentiates itself in the market by preparing and cooking food on-site to ensure maximum freshness. The restaurants pride themselves on not having freezers on site. As a result, Five Guy’s restaurants have a large hot water demand, peaking prior to 11 am for food preparation and then again at the end of the day as each restaurant receives a thorough flooding and wash down to ensure hygiene throughout the premises.
Adveco has worked closely with Five Guys to reassess DHW demands.
Having successfully implemented commercial water heaters from A.O. Smith in its US restaurants, Five Guys initially approached long-term A.O. Smith supplier Adveco for its UK sites. That partnership has grown, and today Adveco not only exclusively supplies Five Guys with A.O. Smith water heaters, but also works in close partnership to advise, generate system designs, commission appliances and provide full manufacturer quality planned maintenance and servicing. Adveco currently supports more than 80 restaurants across the chain’s portfolio which continues to grow, with new sites recently opening in Manchester, Camden, Braintree, Peterborough and on London’s Portobello Road.
As Five Guys locates all new restaurants in existing premises the domestic hot water (DHW) systems will be defined by supply (gas or electric) and square footage. Sites will typically see the installation of either an A.O. Smith BFC 50H Cyclone, a fully ducted stainless-steel condensing gas-fired water heater or a DRE 120/35 electric water heater. With a 54kW rating, 200 – 300 litres capacity and electric elements independently controlled via their own control thermostat (adjustable: 49 – 82°C) the DRE ensures steady and responsive heating for Five Guys’ applications. These appliances will be supported with an unvented kit, temperature and pressure gauge and commissioning to ensure installation has been completed correctly.
As part of a drive to deliver best-fit systems that are more cost-effective to purchase and operate, Adveco has worked closely with Five Guys to reassess DHW demands. Original sizing of the system requirements established in the US were deemed to over-compensate, especially when compared to the needs of typical UK sites. Apart from early and late in day peaks, hot water demand during the day is relatively limited in terms of kitchen and supply to the public washrooms. On the advice of Adveco, Five Guys has now begun trials at the Camden Parkway and Portobello Road restaurants with the A.O. Smith IR Innovo, a fully room-sealed condensing gas-fired water heater.
With a maximum temperature setting of 85°C, which exceeds the typical 60°C requirement within the restaurants, Innovo presents a highly efficient answer to the need for hot water. Low NOₓ emissions means it easily complies with the strictest European guidelines and the versatile flue option allows installations to be placed almost anywhere. Critically, construction of the heat exchangers limits the effect of scaling, which remains an ongoing issue in hard water areas. Typically, Adveco will service the hot water system at each restaurant once a year, with engineers onsite by 6 a.m. This ensures all work is complete by 10 a.m. so as not to disturb a restaurant’s daily operation. In hard water areas, such services can be required every six months.
As a provider of bespoke commercial hot systems for 50 years, Adveco recognises and understands that the provision of hot water is often a critical function of a customer’s business. This is certainly the case with Five Guys. To ensure service consistency, Adveco engineers provide a full planned maintenance service which can often include overnight descales, as well as remedial and flue work to preempt emergency call outs.
Adveco is committed to assuring that hot water is kept flowing so that Five Guys can keep serving customers across the length & breadth of UK, from Aberdeen to Exeter, London to Belfast and everywhere in between
Looks Matter
19th century grade II listed building
First Response
London Fire Brigade
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
Hot Water For Showers
Looks Matter
19th century grade II listed building
A 19th century grade II listed building in South London required 24/7 hot water and heating for a small staff.
Having good previous experience with an existing A.O. Smith BFC50 from commercial hot water and heating specialist Adveco, which has supplied A.O. Smith product for almost 50 years in the UK, the customer had expressed interest in upgrading the second boiler room with a high-efficiency A.O. Smith UB condensing gas boiler.
With the site surveyed, however, it rapidly became apparent that the building presented a number of limitations. Height clearance in the second plant room was restrictive and would prevent the installation of a wall or frame-mounted UB boiler system. In addition, the age and state of the chimneys was a concern, and planning would not allow for the run up the outside of the listed building of a flue to the roofline.
As a fully room-sealed condensing high-efficiency water heater, the BFC50 offers versatile flue options which enable this water heater to be placed almost anywhere
To address the requirements for refurbishing heating in the property Adveco was contracted to supply and commission two Adveco MD boilers. A high capacity, floor-standing fully condensing gas boiler, the MD was created expressly to address the need for highly efficient commercial heating in locations where space would limit or prevent the use of wall or frame-mounted boilers. Containing patented titanium-stabilised stainless steel heat exchangers within the floor standing cabinet, the MD provides a durable, corrosion-resistant boiler. The intelligent system control ensures optimal operation and self-maintenance checking, useful with such a low level of staffing on the site.
The MD70 also has the advantage of low flue gas flow rates and temperature, with flow at 115 kg/h and temperature as low as 30°C. This not only allows for low-cost B23 approved PP flues but meant that the flue could be cleared to plume into a low-level external light well resolving the issues created by the building’s listed status. The MD’s efficient pre-mix burner achieves ideal combustion so emissions of harmful carbon (19ppm) and NOₓ (34 mg/kWh) are extremely low, satisfying the Energy-related Products (ErP) directive.
Two MD70 appliances were supplied with the expectation of running singly due to the low staff presence, with a 200kW low loss header and boiler pipework. The BFC50, continues to supply the domestic hot water. As a fully room-sealed condensing high-efficiency water heater, the BFC50 offers versatile flue options which enable this water heater to be placed almost anywhere, which proved useful for the extremely tight space afforded by the first plant room. Highly efficient (91%) and low maintenance, the BFC when commissioned by Adveco has the added advantage of carrying an extended two-year warranty on all parts and labour.
Due to the extreme durability of the MD70 boilers, Adveco was also able to provide the organisation with seven-year parts and labour warranty on the appliances which started from the commissioning date. This warranty was further extended to 10 years on the MD70’s burner and heat exchanger with Adveco ensuring a manufacturer-approved level of warranty maintenance to give the customer real peace of mind over their investment in the new heating and hot water system.
Five Guys
Five Guys Restuarant
First Response
London Fire Brigade
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
Hot Water For Showers
First Response
London Fire Brigade
London Fire Brigade is one of the largest firefighting and rescue organisations in the world, it is also the busiest of all the fire services in the United Kingdom. Since its formal existence began in 1866, its work has grown exponentially, receiving more than 170,000 emergency calls each year, approximately 20,000 of which relate to fires across the Greater London region.
In addition to the role of firefighting, the Brigade provides home fire safety visits and responds to a range of emergency scenarios from flooding, road traffic accidents and major incidents, and animal rescues. It is also a statutory consultee as part of the building regulations process for fire safety design.
Requiring a bespoke approach to each and every site, Adveco works closely with London Fire Brigade
To support these and many other activities, the Brigade employs more than 5,000 operational firefighters based out of more than 100 stations. Those stations range from new, modern, purpose-built sites to listed buildings constructed more than a century ago. Despite the variety of buildings all have an operational need for 24/7 hot water and heating to support the shift-based crews. London Fire Brigade, therefore, needs access to a range of products and services to support varied legacy systems as well as new projects throughout Greater London.
Requiring a bespoke approach to each and every site, Adveco works closely with London Fire Brigade, providing initial site review and system design, which can incorporate A.O. Smith water heaters, or appliances from its own range of boilers for heating. Projects in the past five years have seen new installations completed in more than 50 stations and the work continues today.
Adveco is very proud to be able to continue to support the capital’s firefighters by helping to create comfortable, efficient, functional, safe and sustainable stations through the design, supply, commissioning and service of business-critical hot water and heating.
Bromsgrove Leisure Centre
7,000 CHP run hours per year
Alexandra House Care Home
Estimated annual savings of £7,500
Packaged Plant Room
Boilers
