NEWS | HEATING Academies decarbonise with ASHPs Air source heat pumps (ASHPs) have been installed at three academies in Lincoln, in a bid to reduce annual CO2 emissions by 227.5 tonnes. The Priory Federation of Academies Trust partnered with Oakes Energy Services, which commissioned and installed Rehema ASHPs. These will decarbonise the sports centres, which previously used gas boilers to heat their swimming pools. The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, operated by Salix, funded the scheme. At Witham and LSST academies, two ASHPs supply heat to underfloor heating, radiators, changing rooms, and swimming pool plants. In the first phase of the decarbonisation programme at Lincoln Academy, five ASHPs provide heat for calorifiers and the pool heat exchanger. Rob Erwood, commercial sales and specification director at Baxi, said: The focus on low carbon design is now critical for all public sector buildings, in line with ambitious government decarbonisation targets. Peak performance blended with cost-efficiency A new ventilation system with heat recovery is aiming to provide superior performance and significant cost savings in the commercial sector. Gilberts Blackpool claims the MFS-HR hybrid ventilation product achieves a 75% heat recovery rate. It complies with industry standards such as BB101 and DFE Output Specification, prevents overheating (TM52 comfort compliant), and maintains a quiet environment (BB93 guidelines), says Gilberts. MFS-HR operates as a standalone system, using natural air movement and a low energy fan to control temperature and indoor air quality. During colder months, it extracts heat from exhaust air and transfers it to incoming air through an exchanger. Separate chambers eliminate the risk of cross-contamination, ensuring Covid-safe ventilation. MFS-HR provides both heating and cooling, with the option to integrate a low pressure hot water coil. Prefab solutions service launched by Elta Fans Elta Fans new prefabricated solutions service is suitable for commercial projects of any size, and is set to help cut installation costs and speed up building projects. Fans and ancillaries such as acoustic equipment, mounts, panels, flexible connections, and fan controls can be assembled off site and delivered as a compliant assembly, ready for crane lifting, for a quick, efficient installation. 32 November 2023 www.cibsejournal.com CIBSE to verify embodied carbon calculations Institutions third-party programme aims to boost trust in the data CIBSE is to launch a third-party verification programme for embodied carbon calculations in building services components made using the CIBSE TM65 Digital Tool. Carl Collins, head of digital at CIBSE, said the Institution will be a headquarters for third-party verifiers, who will verify the calculations to an agreed methodology. When we soft-launched the TM65 digital tool, many in the industry asked if there was a method to ensure people werent gaming the system, Collins said. At the same time we were approached by a third-party verification company, asking if wed like to develop a verification system with them. I said brilliant, we would love to. CIBSE will make sure the verifiers have done their work properly, added Collins, and will issue the verified data in a form that cant be edited. The verification process will depend on the complexity of the product and the type of analysis that has been done. In TM65, the analysis is defined as being basic or mid-level. If the manufacturer has done the mid-level analysis, the verifier will also look at the factory energy data and the parts-replacement strategy during the lifetime of the product. If, for example, its a fan coil unit that comes with filters that need replacing and the supplier hasnt mentioned it it will be questioned by the verifier. If claims fall outside what is considered normal by the verifiers, CIBSE will ask for more documentation to support the claim. Once a product has been verified, a manufacturer can say CIBSE has looked at this, which means there will be more trust in the data, said Collins. I think its really important for the market, because a lot of people are distrustful of unverified data. The verification programme is expected to be launched in 2024. Operational and embodied carbon targeted in latest Journal podcast The challenges of decarbonising cooling across the lifetime of a building was the subject of CIBSE Journals latest podcast, sponsored by Daikin. Four experts discussed the challenges, focusing on reducing operational and embodied carbon. They talked about the importance of training in handling different refrigerants, the need for third-party verification of embodied carbon calculations, and the role of digital twins in managing building data. The discussion concluded that there was a need to consider occupant comfort and flexibility in building design to reduce the requirement for cooling. Space cooling accounted for nearly 16% of the global building sectors electricity consumption in 2020, and is expected to triple by 2050. The guests on the podcast were: Carl Collins, head of digital engineering at CIBSE; Matteo DallOmbra, product manager, commercial, at Daikin; Clara Bagenal George, associate, sustainability, at Introba; and Andy Mitchell, sustainability operations director at Mace. Listen to the CIBSE Journal podcast on Apple, Spotify and SoundCloud.