SPECIAL FEATURES WATER HEATERS, HEATING AND DATA CENTRES This month: Upgrading systems for heat pumps, dew point coolers, water heater rules Heat focus at symposium Sessions on the Future of Heat and heat networks will feature on first day Heating will be a key topic at the Technical Symposium taking place in London next month. The theme of the event, which will be held in person on 21-22 April, at London South Bank University (LSBU), will be Delivering a safe, healthy and sustainable built environment Buildings that perform. Among the programme of peer-reviewed presentations and papers, the first day features a session on the Future of Heat. Presentations include Electrification of heat generation for heat networks, by Tom Burton, of FairHeat; The generation gap! Are 5thgeneration district energy schemes better or just different?, by Graeme Maidment, from LSBU; and Application of a novel solar-assisted double sources heat pump system for building heating, by Yunhai Li, from the University of Hull. Modelling performance for future heat networks is the focus of another heatingrelated session on the first day. Key presentations include Carbon, costs and coefficient of performance new metrics for RACHP, by Catarina Marques, from LSBU; Impact of building-level heat load testing on heat network performance, by FairHeats James Gallimore; and Using heat pumps for heading towards net zero, by Lasath Lecamwasam, from ESBS Pty. Day two has a session on developments in building services for data centres. Other presentations include Aurecon Building integrated mini data centres, by Ross McCarthy, from Technological University Dublin; A super performance dew point cooler for data centres From lab to real-life application, by the University of Hulls Cheng Zeng; and A retrospective look at a retrofit application, by Cameron Steel, of Silver EMS. For the full programme, and to book tickets visit www.cibse.org/technical-symposium New 288m heat network fund opens Applications for the first round of the 288m Green Heat Network Fund (GHNF) opened last month. The fund will focus on supporting the integration of heat pumps, solar and geothermal energy into new and existing heat networks. The Triple Point Heat Networks Investment Management group has been appointed by the government to oversee the GHNF. It ran the previous Heat Network Investment Project and the group includes Gemserv, Aecom, Lux Nova Partners and Asteros Advisers. There will be quarterly rounds of applications until the fund closes in 2025. The government said applicants to GHNF must show what actions they can take to enable growth within the supply chain. For net zero targets to be achieved, it added, the heat network sectors supply chain capacity and capability would need to deliver an annual installation rate that is more than 10 times the current activity. Heating will be a key topic at the Technical Symposium Sales jump for heat pump water heaters Sales of heat pump water heaters increased by 27% last year, according to new analysis by the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA). Following a dip in the first year of the pandemic, the UK water heater market enjoyed improved sales in 2021, including more traditional electric and gas-driven systems, according to BSRIA. This included an 11% increase in sales volumes of dedicated renewable-powered water cylinders. BSRIA s research said that, while the water heater market is largely driven by like-for-like replacement, the generous incentives available to replace old boilers with heat pumps have boosted the refurbishment market. COMPLETE COMMERCIAL HEATING SOLUTIONS INNOVATION FOR HEATING STEEL PRO POWER Unique, prebuilt space saving plug and play cascade solutions Up to 1.3MW cascade solution Stainless steel HEX 5 year warranty FOC commissioning Comprehensive ueing capability Robust E commercial@vokera.co.uk W www.vokera.co.uk/commercial www.cibsejournal.com April 2022 47 CIBSE Apr 22 pp47 Specials News.indd 47 25/03/2022 17:39