Futures for Somerset Decarbonisation Scheme

F P Hurley recently completed eight decarbonisation projects for Somerset County Council to a value of £2.2 million. Working under Futures for Somerset, the works combined renewables such as photovoltaics and heat pumps with energy reduction measures such as fabric insulation. The eight projects were delivered at the following locations:

• Beech Trees Children’s Home, Wellington
• Frome Library
• The Key Centre, Frome
• Burnham on Sea Library
• Glastonbury Library
• Highbridge Children’s Centre
• Sydenham Children’s Centre
• Yeovil Library

The projects were funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation scheme (PSDS) for carbon reduction. To maximise the performance of the systems, the team ensured that stakeholders were engaged throughout the design and installation stages.

The project had a challenging route through planning in terms of the heat pump installation, as the existing pipework was generally retained with only larger radiators replacing existing ones to counter the lower flow temperatures of a heat pump system. Finding a suitable location for new or larger radiators was a key factor in the success of the design.

Therefore, we carried out detailed measured early-stage survey work at each location prior to sizing new radiators. Acoustics was also considered and each site was carefully assessed and heat pumps were sited to prevent noise ingress to the building or impact on neighbouring properties.

In addition to the heating changes the ventilation was modified to incorporate several low carbon strategies, such as heat recovery units, larger ductwork, inverters and reconfiguring the system to reduce ventilation requirements. The challenges to achieve this were mostly spatial so accurate drawings and survey work were used to provide a coordinated design.

Where domestic hot water was removed from gas-based generation it was replaced with either heat pumps or point of use water heaters. This involved power supply changes and incorporating pipework changes to suit the revised system format.

Photovoltaics was installed across the sites to provide the yield to meet the PSDS requirements and appropriate batteries were installed to maximise the building usage. The main challenges were maintaining safe access for annual maintenance and locating cabling routes in a suitable location.

A summary of four projects under the scheme is below: