Heat Pumps Today

22 Authored by Stuart Wood, Product Manager – Sustainable Heating, at Polypipe Building Products. District heating networks: The heat is on for social housing providers June | July 2023 D I S T R I C T H E A T I N G Reducing the carbon emissions produced by heating our homes will be critical to achieving net zero. In fact, according to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), the heating sector in the UK accounts for almost one- third of the UK’s annual carbon footprint. What’s more, 17% of the emissions caused by heating buildings come from homes, meaning that heating our homes produces carbon emissions equivalent to the use of all petrol and diesel cars. To counter this, last year, Part L of the Building Regulations was updated with new guidance which aims to reduce carbon emissions in homes and buildings by 31%. Since then, many in the industry have looked to replace fossil fuelled heating systems with renewables, especially heat pumps. Whilst this is a positive step in the right direction as heat pumps are an ideal solution when it comes to complying with new regulations and reducing carbon emissions, they can be expensive for residents to run. So, in the midst of an energy crisis, specifiers should explore other solutions, such as district heating networks which can not only lead to a reduction in carbon emissions but will also help to decrease energy bills for residents. The drive for district heating District heating networks are not a new invention and have been used in the UK since the 1960’s. However, they have not been adopted on a large enough scale. As a country, we are lagging far behind the rest of Europe where heat networks meet about 12% of the EU's heat demand. District heating is commonplace in the Nordic and Baltic regions, and Copenhagen has the world's most extensive district heating system, servicing over an incredible 98% of buildings which is far ahead of any city in the UK. Despite the lack of district heat network adoption in the UK currently, the government has made it clear that it wants to see a wider uptake of these networks