The university campus is supplied via centralised heating plant rooms and a distributed heating network. The existing system is supplied via gas boilers, with the current network strategy optimised to operate at elevated temperatures. Changing to an ASHP-led system would require the system to run at lower temperatures, with knock-on effects on network pump settings and emitter outputs, both within the buildings themselves and within centralised hot water generating equipment and air handling systems.

Our work involved a comprehensive survey of the existing distributed heat network, hot water generation equipment and air handling equipment to identify measures which could be considered to modify the existing equipment, pipework, and interfaces within each building. JGC compared the performance of the current network with the proposed lower-temperature ASHP alternative to evaluate the impact of the proposed changeover on a building-by-building basis.

Working alongside SSE Energy Solutions, we used the survey results and our analysis to report the impacts of the proposed change on the university. This allowed the client to focus on targeted projects and short-term modifications that could enable a transition to a heat pump-led, lower-temperature network in the long term.