Modern Building Services

24 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES MAY 2022 FEATURE HEATING I n April 2021, the UK government set out its aggressive goals to reduce carbon emissions 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. COP26 was considered the most significant climate talks since the 2015 Paris agreement and the focus is now firmly on governments and businesses reaching these targets to help fight climate change. The role of heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) is often overlooked and it’s easy to disregard its importance to meeting carbon efficiency goals. This is especially true when 40% of total UK carbon emissions come from the heating and cooling of buildings. The UK has a heavy reliance on Fossil fuel gas boilers for heating. However, things are starting to change. The current state of HVAC By 2050, it’s expected 80% of our buildings will still be standing. The UK will need to make a rapid transition from gas to low carbon heating solutions to meet emissions targets. These challenges are quickly solved in new buildings, under newly introduced regulations will need to produce nearly a third less carbon than previously required. The challenge isn’t getting new buildings to bemore energy efficient; it’s about ensuring our current building systems are updated to work in the sameway. But formost companies, eachHVAC component is likely to remain in place for years – if not decades – before being replaced. HVAC systems have a long life expectancy of around 20 years and while newer technologies can help usmove to amore energy efficient world, if somethings not broken, why would you fix it? Building owners and facility managers (FMs) are conflicted between sustainability goals and operating expenses. As the energy crisis and rise of the cost of living continues to take precedence, short- term cuts on spending are likely to have a negative impact on any energy efficiency progress. Business leaders, owners, and FMs must come together to make the right choices that benefit the company, the planet, and the occupants of a building to ensure everyone is safe, happy, and healthy. Taking a holistic approach To take the first step on any energy efficiency journey, wemust first understand what energy is being used and how. With the ability to bring data fromdifferent sources throughout a building into a common platform, building owners and FMs can see where inefficiencies lie andmake contextualised decisions based on the insights. HVAC systems are complex, with lots of individual components needing to work together effectively to ensure reliable and energy efficient system performance. Just one component poorly designed, maintained or incorrectly controlled can have a negative impact on the overall system performance. We now have an increased amount of accessible data from all types of building systems such as HVAC, security, fire, lighting, and IT. Each of these systems produces a huge amount of data and when used in combination with each other can make buildings safer, more comfortable, and more efficient. If we then connect all these areas with intelligent systems, you can make real-time, informed decisions to reduce emissions, improve on sustainability, and increase occupant comfort. By Michael Anderton , General Manager UK&I of HVAC Building Solutions at Johnson Controls Retrofitting HVAC: A gateway to meet our carbon emissions goals HVAC TECHNOLOGIES AND TECHNIQUES