To make a lasting positive impact on climate change, we need to think more radically about how we design and specify heating equipment. In part, that involves accurately measuring how green the equipment really is, says Remeha Commercial's boss Mark Northcott. Ian Vallely reports.
Everybody is frantically clambering aboard the renewables bandwagon, but few seem to know where it's heading. As a result, some mistakenly misrepresent the green credentials of the heating products they supply.

Although they don't always do so knowingly, says Mark Northcott, managing director of boiler manufacturer Remeha Commercial, this can make it difficult for consultants to specify the most environmentally-friendly heating solution for a given project.

However, he has an answer: 'An excellent way to determine how green heating equipment is is to examine its 'primary energy ratio'. To my mind, this is the ecological yardstick against which all products should be measured.'

Primary energy ratio (PER) is essentially the relationship between the amount of primary energy (for example, fuel) used and the amount of energy delivered to the end user - in a boiler's case, as hot water. Mr Northcott explains it this way:

'Say you come across a piece of primary energy just lying on the ground; this is 100 per cent efficient. However, you need to deduct from this the energy it takes to get it from where it is to where it can be used.

'In reality, that might include drilling down to get at the coal, oil or gas to fuel the power station that generates the electricity.

Putting the energy into a power station (where you are burning energy to create energy) means subtracting more efficiency. Electricity is then transmitted down power lines so you must deduct yet another percentage to account for transmission losses along the line. All this means you end up with significantly less than the 100 per cent efficient energy that started the journey.'

He offers the real-life example of a heat pump powered by electricity generated by a fossil-fuelled power station (which is typical in the UK):

'Heat pump suppliers typically claim a coefficient of performance of 3.5 or higher. In financial terms, that is a fair statement - you pay a penny for the electricity and you get, say, 1.4p worth of electricity out of it.

'However, the environmental case is not so strong because you start off with the power station fuel - let's say it's gas - effectively being 100 per cent efficient. By the time you deliver it to the power station you have probably lost about 10 per cent (just finding the gas and moving it).

'Next, even if we give them the benefit of the doubt, power stations themselves are only around 40 per cent efficient. Then you put the energy down the wires and you lose another 20 per cent or so. So, by the time the power reaches the socket in the form of electricity, you have already lost around 70 per cent of the efficiency.

'Of course, the argument is completely different if they are nuclear or hydro power stations, but that is not the typical condition in the UK.'

Mr Northcott insists that this is not an argument against heat pumps or in favour of gas: 'What it is is a debate that I believe we should be having to decide the best solution for a given application. There are too many panacea-type proposals out there.'

He believes the energy efficiency equation is far more complex than many perceive and this is exacerbated by the issue of embedded carbon: 'For example, when you look at equipment where the PER is 100 per cent and free, such as solar panels, you then have to consider paying back the embedded carbon that it took to manufacture, deliver and service those panels.

'A solar panel may be carbon free at the point of use, but it didn't come from nowhere. Of course, this applies to everything, including boilers. It isn't an argument for or against any particular product type; it is a rationale... There is no free lunch here.'

Nonetheless, although the lunch is not free, it won't necessarily cost as much as you think. Mr Northcott again:

'In the past, I employed the argument in presentations that said: 'I used to leave the house every day as a salesman. I now leave as saviour of the planet. The more we spend, the more we care, the more virtuous we are'.

'This no longer always the case. Sometimes, you can save more carbon with less expensive solutions. For example, you could arguably reduce the carbon in 10 buildings with condensing technology and, maybe, only one with renewables.'

Renewables are not in a position to take over completely from fossil fuels, says Mr Northcott, 'unless we become committed to a nuclear future (which is unlikely since the recent events in Japan). People say we don't get tsunamis in the UK, but some historians now believe the south coast of Wales was devastated by a tsunami just a few hundred years ago.

'So we are inevitably going to continue to burn fossil fuels for the foreseeable future. Our duty to ourselves and future generations is to burn it as efficiently and as cleanly as possible.

'My plea is simple - first, let's have some proper, rational debate about energy efficiency and low / zero carbon systems and, secondly, let's stop pretending that we are anything but commercial organisations.'

So what is the role of contractors and consultants in all this? Mr Northcott's answer is succinct: 'To my mind, the responsibility of contractors and consultants is to be educated and aware of the choices that they are facing so that they are informed choices and not salesman-led.

'This is a health warning about some salesmen!'

The lowdown on Remeha

· 1935 - Remeha is founded in Holland by Gerard Van Reekum who sees a market for central heating boilers
· 1939 - Remeha develops a boiler programme for oil, gas and solid fuels
· 1946 - Broag is established in the UK as a manufacturer of oil burners and general engineering services
· 1980 - Following the energy crisis of the 1970s, Remeha plays a pioneering role in developing efficiency-led condensing boiler technology
· 1983 - Broag introduces the UK's first commercial condensing boiler into Watson House, the British Gas testing centre. The boiler is supplied and manufactured by Remeha
· 1984 - Broag installs Remeha condensing boilers within the London Borough of Merton
· 1984 - Remeha buys Broag
· 1994 - Remeha introduces the first wall hung commercial condensing boiler with its aluminium heat exchanger. This introduces condensing technology on a wider scale, allowing the decentralisation of plant as the move from floor standing models increased.
· 2004 - Remeha buys French heating products manufacturer De Dietrich Thermique and forms De Dietrich-Remeha Group
· 2009 - De Dietrich-Remeha Group joins forces with Baxi Group to create BDR Thermea, a new manufacturer and distributor of heating, hot water systems and services.
· 2011 - Brian Price, managing director of 21 years, steps down to be replaced by Mark Northcott.

The cost of saving the planet

We are often told that we can't save the planet and save money at the same time. Mr Northcott strongly disagrees: 'This attitude displays a real ignorance and is just plain wrong.'

He offers the example of the heating for 500 schools in the UK.

Using condensing boilers, he says, would reduce the environmental impact by:

· NOx levels: 68.99 x 500 = 34,495 kg/year, a 90 per cent saving on site
· CO2 levels: 12.04 x 500 = 6,020 ton/year, a 26 per cent saving on site
· Gas savings: £1,686 x 500 = £843,000/year (4,194,500 cu m/year saved)
· Electrical savings: £351 x 500 = 175,500/year (351,999kWh/year saved)

'All these figures compare old pressure jet boilers to condensing boilers; the savings would be around 25 per cent higher if the comparison was made against old atmospheric boilers.'

Mr Northcott concludes: 'Bear in mind also that the NOx saving is just the saving in on-site combustion emissions. Besides, the mains electricity (351,999kWh) required to power pressure jet boilers is probably generated at just 30-33 per cent efficiency.

'This means we could be talking about a generating saving before grid losses of 1,000,000kWh a year. Think of the carbon and NOx reductions produced by not burning 1,000,000kWh of electricity a year.'