Delays to crucial legislation that is set to have an enormous impact on the renewables sector is particularly frustrating to Vokèra's Robert Lockhart, as Ian Vallely explains.
A flood of new legislation and green Government initiatives are creating waves in the UK hvac sector, according to Robert Lockhart, commercial and renewables sales manager at heating manufacturer Vokèra.

New laws are driving the renewables agenda, but are - by their nature - 'broad brush' and, as Mr Lockhart points out: 'In new build, [renewable technology] can be built into the design, but there has to be a lot more thought applied to retrofit, refurbishments and upgrades because it won't be a question of one design fitting all.'

However, although legislation may be the driving force behind building services design, for Mr Lockhart some of it is moving rather too slowly.

He has one piece of legislation in particular in mind: '[Our big focus] is the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

Bones but no meat

'When the Government closed the Low Carbon Buildings Programme and funding was withdrawn, those of us concerned with solar thermal and other types of renewable technology were left treading water because there was no definite programme. There are bones there, but there is no meat on them.'

The delay in introducing the RHI is breeding uncertainty in the industry, according to an exasperated Mr Lockhart: 'What are we going to get and when are we going to get it? It is very frustrating for us because we want to press on. We want to start informing the installers and consultants and the trade about what's coming up and how they can benefit from it.'


Indeed, the RHI is set to have a huge impact on the industry: 'When the RHI is finally up and running, we feel it will have the same impact as the feed in tariff has with the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. PV is flying off the shelves; RHI will be as big for solar thermal and heat pumps.'

Vokèra is currently involved in projects with installers for solar thermal in swimming pools and public buildings, but many customers are holding back and projects are sitting on shelves.

For Mr Lockhart, the uncertainty could spring from a lack of joined-up thinking: 'I believe there are no long-term plans - we jump around with whatever is popular at the time.'

He identifies the Energy Using Products Directive (EuP) - now the Energy Related Products Directive or (ErP) - as another crucial piece of legislation.

The ErP, which reflects the concentration on systems rather than individual components, is part of the reason Vokèra operates a presales department.

Systems are what really matter

Says Mr Lockhart: 'We are not simply interested in supplying, say, a boiler. It is the entire plant room - and, indeed, the entire building design - that matters. You can create a 'model' and calculate how you think it might work, but that is not necessarily how it will work in use.'

Indeed, how the building is to be used has a clear impact on the design; the trouble is that buildings are often designed without people in them. Mr Lockhart has a means of overcoming the problems associated with this: 'We design a system that can be centrally managed rather than individually controlled. All our light commercial products can be tied into building management systems.

'We also have a process where we will have several documents, depending on the project. So, for example, we will have one document for the heating, another for the hot water usage, the times it is used, and when it is most used in day-to-day figures as well as weekly and monthly figures. This is done in the design process.'

Best fit for the application

In this way, Vokèra is able to obtain enough information to suggest the best fit for any given application. Mr Lockhart again: 'For example, take a swimming pool in a sheltered housing complex where there is a demand for a lot of heat all of the time - the big issue is how we can make best use of that and design something that will be cost-effective.'

He emphasises the importance of considering the project rather than the technology first. 'It should be design rather than product-led...

'In the designs we are involved in, we will typically provide three scenarios to the consulting engineer, installer and/or local authority housing representatives - a straight like-for-like replacement, a percentage of solar thermal equipment [integrated into a more traditional design], and a 'best practice' solar thermal system with refurbishment..'

Although this helps designers specify the right system for the application, they still need all the help they can get to design effective renewable-based systems and this places training at the top of the agenda.

Designers don't know what they don't know and therefore find it difficult to frame appropriate questions. Courses such as those run by Vokèra, says Mr Lockhart, can help set the scene and enable designers to gain a clear grasp of the renewable technology available and its appropriate applications.

Vokèra in a nutshell

Founded in 1972 by Claudio Guglielmucci, Vokèra was a pioneer in the design and introduction of combination boilers in the UK and says it was the first to introduce a dedicated system boiler.

The Vokèra name comes from two words in the phrase 'Evoking a new era'. Its product portfolio includes domestic gas boilers, light commercial gas boilers, water cylinders, water heaters, solar thermal collectors and air-source heat pumps.
The UK operation employs around 120 people and more than 1.5 million Vokèra boilers are installed in the UK and Ireland. The company demonstrates a strong local commitment with four regional centres in Glasgow, Bradford, London and Callan, Ireland.

Vokèra puts a great deal of emphasis on back-up and support, operating, as it does, a dedicated internal customer care centre, technical support team, technical training and engineering team. The company also runs a support and reward programme called 'Affinity' and has a Vokèra-approved installer programme.

The Riello group acquired Vokèra in 2000; now, Vokèra is Riello's most important foreign subsidiary, representing more than 20 per cent of Riello's foreign companies' turnover. The company is ISO 9001 approved, supports the 'benchmark' initiative, and is a member of the Heating and Hot Water Industry Council, the Society of British Gas Industries and Gas Safe as well as being an affiliate member of the HVCA.