Maximizing Efficiency: Heat Pumps for Commercial Buildings

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Discover how heat pumps can transform commercial buildings, enhancing energy efficiency and reducing costs. Find out how to maximize your operational potential!

First, a definition. By commercial, we mean heat pumps in commercial properties, rather than residential / domestic premises.  Commercial systems generally start at about 50 kW output, and go up to multi-megawatt scale. Larger systems by their nature are more complicated and need a lot more feasibility work before the design and consenting stages can begin. Note that we work with water-source and ground-source heat pump systems, and not air-source heat pumps. The former have higher Coefficients of Performance (overall efficiency), lower long-term running costs, lower ‘whole life’ CO2 emissions and are less susceptible to icing-up during very cold periods, whereas air-source heat pumps are generally cheaper and easier to install.

Renewables First normally designs and supplies the heat collection system (closed or open-loop water source or ground-source), the heat collection manifold and primary pipework which carries the primary flow and return brine to the heat pump, and the heat pump(s) themselves. We do not supply the heat distribution system (basically everything that connects to the heat delivery side of the heat pump) – this would be done by your existing heating engineering company or plumber. The reason we do it this way is because there are lots of regionally-based heating engineering companies that are more than capable of designing and installing the heat delivery system, whereas the much more specialist heat collection and heat pump system design is better suited to our specialist knowledge and experience. If you already have a heating engineering contractor appointed and they are happy to supply and install the heat pumps, that is fine, and we would happily work with them to specify, design and install the heat collection system.

Steps to develop a heat pump project

The normal process for a commercial heat pump system is:

• Complete Online Enquiry Form

Tell us all about your project. One of our engineers will perform some initial assessments before contacting you to discuss the project further.

1. Feasibility study
   This is a paid-for piece of work and answers the fundamental questions of what heat pump size is required, heat potential of local resources (water or ground), outline system design, consent requirements, budget costing, distribution system recommendations, and next steps.
2. Design
   The design stage takes the specification from the feasibility work and turns this into a design in sufficient detail to order the materials and build it.
3. Consenting
   The number of consents required for a heat pump installation varies from project to project. We will identify and apply for the consents required for your project, considering: water consents, planning/listed building consent and distribution network operator (DNO) approval.
4. Installation & Commissioning
   Our team of experienced engineers will oversee the installation and commissioning of your system.

So, would you be interested in finding out how much CO₂ a heat pump will save you and also the potential cost savings? Commercial heat pump projects always start at the feasibility study stage, so tell us about your project by getting in touch using our online Enquiry Form.

A wall-mounted 3-panel assembly being installed (part of a larger system)