ENERGY NETWORK | BANKSIDE YARDS GENERATION GAINS Bankside Yards is set to become the UKs first major mixed-use regeneration project with zero emissions in operation. Phil Lattimore looks at the fifth-generation ambient energy network at the heart of the design strategy GLOSSARY: NEXT GENERATIONS Third generation: Heat distributed at 90/70C flow/return usually fuelled by a combined heat and power energy centre. Fourth generation: Temperatures are below 55/25C flow/return, which leads to greater efficiencies, especially if using heat pumps or energy from waste. Onsite renewable generation can be integrated. Fifth generation: An ambient temperature energy network (which will run below 25/20C at Bankside Yards) has a wider range of lower-grade heat sources, and accepts simultaneous cooling heat rejection, along with heat supply. S et in a prominent 5.5-acre site between Blackfriars Bridge and the Tate Modern, Bankside Yards redevelopment is a major 2.5bn mixed-use regeneration project that aims to be fossilfuel free and the first of its kind in the UK. The development by an international consortium comprising Native Land, Temasek, HPL and Amcorp Properties will feature a mix of apartments, offices, retail and cultural facilities. Core to the sustainability strategy of this 1.4million ft2 (130,000m2) development scheme is the installation of a lowtemperature, all-electric fifth generation energy network, which the developer says will be the biggest in the UK. The energy network is an ambient loop system, which is designed to balance thermal energy requirements across all the sites eight new buildings, providing cooling and heating where needed through energy sharing between the adjacent buildings. The loop temperature will be 20C to 25C supply, depending on the season, and between 15C and 20C return. It will also serve the thermal needs of the 14 repurposed Victorian railway arches that will house shops, restaurants and performance spaces, all intended to create a new village high street focal point. Engineering consultancy Sweco is providing building services, vertical transportation (lifts and escalators) and the sustainability consultancy for the whole of the Bankside Yards development, including the arches. This covers the key design and implementation of the fifth-generation energy network. Strategy As part of the heating and cooling strategy, each building on the Bankside Yards development will extract or reject energy via an energy network running through the development. Heat pumps within the buildings will exchange ambient thermal energy via bidirectional heating and cooling loops. In addition, air source heat pumps (ASHPs) on the roofs of the buildings supplement heating and cooling energy Optimised faades and high-efficiency building services systems are part of the strategy to minimise energy use balance across the site where necessary. All electricity required for the site will be provided through supply contracts with renewable energy providers (although there will also be a modest number of solar photovoltaic panels on site to meet Greater London Authority planning requirements). The fifth-generation thermal energy system linking the buildings can be connected to an external district heat network infrastructure in the future. Optimised faades and high-efficiency building services systems are also part of the strategy to minimise energy use. Kartik Amrania is head of building sustainability at Sweco UK. He explains that the central urban location of the development is particularly beneficial to the deployment of a fifth-generation 66 December 2022 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE Dec 22 pp66-68 Bankside Yards.indd 66 25/11/2022 16:23