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Dachs Mini-CHP unit installed at regional centre of excellence for environmental sustainability

A Baxi Technologies’ DACHS mini-Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit has been installed at Solaris, a regional centre of excellence for environmental sustainability, based in Blackpool, Lancashire. By incorporating energy efficient and renewable technologies such as CHP, photovoltaics, wind turbines and rain water harvesting into the design of the building, the centre aims to communicate to the local community the importance of taking individual and collective responsibility for the environment.

Solaris, developed by Blackpool Borough Council, Lancaster University, Blackpool & Fylde College and organisations such as Lancashire Tourism and Blackpool Challenge Partnership, was officially opened in November 2004, marking the completion of a £1.85 million refurbishment of the Harrowside Solarium, a derelict 1938 art deco building located on Blackpool’s seafront. Solaris is Blackpool’s most sustainable and energy efficient building, and demonstrates Blackpool Council’s commitment to environmental sustainability and the regeneration of Blackpool.

CHP is an extremely efficient way of generating electricity and producing heat simultaneously at the point of use from a single fuel. This fuel could be natural gas, LPG, oil or some form of bio-fuel. In doing so CHP offers an economic and environmentally friendly alternative for meeting thermal and electrical demands in many applications.

In large conventional centralised electricity plants the heat produced in the generation process would normally be directed into cooling towers, discharged to the atmosphere and wasted, leading to low overall plant efficiencies.

The DACHS unit is one of the more recent CHP products commercially available in the UK following huge success in Europe by manufacturer, Baxi Group company SenerTec GmbH, which together with its partner network has now installed over 10,000 units – making the DACHS one of the most successful CHP products in Europe. Providing 12.5kWth of heat output and 5.5kWe of electricity, the natural gas fuelled DACHS unit can save up to around 5 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum when operating for approximately 6,000 hours per year. This is equivalent to around a 20 per cent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions when compared with the current mix of centralised power generation in the UK and gas fired heat only boiler plant. By utilising the available heat output, the DACHS can deliver overall fuel efficiencies of up to 92 per cent, reducing primary energy needs around 30 per cent.

The UK Government’s Energy White Paper emphasised that public sector organisations such as local authorities have a fundamental role to play in reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the principal greenhouse gas associated with climate change. A large proportion of both old and new buildings in the UK are considered environmentally inefficient, using excessive amounts of energy and water.

In order to achieve the UK’s carbon dioxide emission reduction targets associated with the Kyoto Protocol, the use of energy within public sector and commercial properties must be addressed. The principal aim of Solaris is to educate the local community about energy efficiency and sustainable development, and help demonstrate the commercial advantages of renewable and alternative technologies to local businesses in terms of both energy efficiency and the associated cost savings.

The building also includes an exhibition area for showcasing environmental projects and tourism information, office space, an educational resource room, training facilities and a café. The sustainable design of the Solaris building ensured it had a minimum carbon dioxide emission footprint, whilst attaining best practice performance.

The DACHS mini-CHP unit, solar photovoltaic panels and two wind turbines provide the site with a high degree of on-site electricity generation, whilst rain harvesting and other water conservation devices also help to ensure Solaris will be a ‘sub-zero’ energy building, incorporating a greater level of renewable and sustainable energy inputs than is actually required for energy consumption.

In periods of low demand the building exports electricity back to the national grid. Blackpool Council are also able to obtain Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) for the qualifying forms of embedded generation installed at Solaris, which can be traded with gas and electricity utilities. Baxi Technologies UK’s DACHS mini-CHP unit is installed in the roof space plant room at the Solaris site and is integrated with high efficiency condensing boilers, to significantly contribute towards the reduction of the scheme’s carbon dioxide emissions. Yan Evans, national sales and marketing manager of Baxi Technologies UK, said: “The environmental benefits offered by mini-CHP units such as the DACHS are a real plus point for the public sector and use of the technology is fully supported by the Government.

CHP can assist public sector property, energy and facilities managers to meet CO2 emission reduction targets, such as the Kyoto Protocol and Local Agenda 21. It can also help to achieve higher BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) ratings on new buildings by reducing carbon dioxide emissions. “The DACHS installation at Solaris will help to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of mini-CHP to organisations and individuals in the Lancashire area.

Baxi Technologies UK is pleased to be involved with this high profile project, which we believe will act as a springboard to the development of further mini-CHP schemes in the North West. Solaris has fully embraced environmental sustainability, and by utilising a number of renewable and alternative technologies the organisations behind the scheme have proved themselves to be environmental pioneers – and that carbon dioxide emission reductions and environmental sustainability are their priority.”

Councillor Fred Jackson, portfolio holder for the urban environment at Blackpool Council, said: “By combining renewable and efficient technologies such as photovoltaics, wind turbines and CHP we have created an extremely energy efficient building; in fact we class it as a ‘zero energy’ scheme. “Solaris sets an example for other organisations to follow and will be used as an education tool for individuals and companies. Of course, not every building will be able to adopt all of the measures we have, but local companies, organisations and individuals that are considering ways of reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and energy costs can visit the centre and receive advice on how they can best achieve environmental sustainability.”

Baxi Technologies UK’s DACHS mini-CHP unit is ideal for many types of applications where heating and hot water is provided from a centralised plant room. Examples include residential care homes, sheltered accommodation, social housing developments, extra care schemes and key worker accommodation, as well as defence establishments and prisons. These applications can all benefit from the energy cost savings and environmental benefits provided by mini-CHP. Funding may be available to support feasibility studies and the capital cost of implementing schemes within the public sector. DACHS units have already been installed successfully in a large number of properties in the UK, some of which have now been in operation for over two years, delivering financial and environmental benefits to variety of end users.

Email: yan.evans@baxitech.co.uk