Supporting the Low Carbon Heating Transition in Northumberland

Heat Decarbonisation for a Sustainable Future 

 Jenna Barnard

Heat decarbonisation plans for 15 buildings in Northumberland

Client: Northumberland County Council

 

 

 

 

 

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The Brief

Tomson Consulting Ltd recently collaborated with Northumberland County Council to develop heat decarbonisation plans for 15 buildings, including schools, fire stations, a leisure centre and a listed building to support an application to the Salix Low Carbon Skills Fund. The project aimed to identify suitable building fabric improvements, low carbon heating technologies, and renewable energy solutions for each site. 

 

 

Areas

Building decarbonisation in the UK

Key Stakeholders

Local Authority - Local Community

 

Opportunites

  • Identify potential to reduce energy consumption through improved controls. 
  • Improvements to building fabrics to reduce peak heat demand, leading to lower energy bills and increased comfort for occupants. 
  • Identify and appraise the most appropriate low carbon heating options for a range of sites, including rural and urban, old and new buildings. 
  • Identify opportunities to increase on-site renewable electricity generation and assess potential for electric vehicles. 
  • Provide support with funding applications to secure resources for implementation. 

Challenges

  • The weather! The historic levels of wind and rain almost prevented us from visiting the more rural sites, however our team persisted and managed to conduct a site visit of every building despite the stormy conditions. 
  • The usual challenges associated with implementing lower temperature heating systems in older buildings, for example the need to replace pipework and heat emitters and improve insulation and draught proofing.  
  • Meeting tight deadlines for applications to the Low Carbon Skills Fund required a quick turnaround. Our team completed all outputs to a high standard within 11 weeks of project kick off. 

 

 

Outcomes

 

Heat decarbonisation reports completed for 15 sites, within budget, on time, allowing the client to meet their tight deadline for the funding application.  

 

Important recommendations made that can be implemented quickly at a low cost, for example training site-based staff on efficient operation of heating systems and improving measuring and monitoring. 

 

Significant carbon savings identified through building fabric improvements and low carbon heating technologies.  

 

Identified and appraised retro-fit scenarios with positive payback times on heat pumps. 

 

 

 

 

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