Memorandum submitted by Beama Ltd
1. ABOUT BEAMA
1.1 Beama Ltd. represents over 300 manufacturing
companies primarily from the electrical industry. The range of
manufacturing activities includes high voltage equipment (transmission
and distribution), low voltage building services equipment (heating,
ventilation and lighting) and installation equipment (switches,
sockets and cable management products).
1.2 The comments in this memorandum relate
primarily to the heating and ventilation, controls and metering
sectors.
2. INTRODUCTION
2.1 Beama welcomes this enquiry into the
reduction of carbon emissions from the existing UK housing stock
and agree that this is a critical area for Government to address.
We also welcome the opportunity that this provides for industry
to work closely with Government to develop and instigate practical
solutions.
2.2 While the move to zero carbon homes
in new build might considerably change the nature of how such
homes are heated, it is important to recognise that millions of
existing homes will continue to utilise conventional heating systems
with boilers and radiators far beyond 2016.
2.3 Beama is keen to ensure that Advanced
Controls and Smart Metering are recognised as important elements
in reducing the climate change impact of existing homes. They
can deliver energy savings in their own right, but they also make
possible a three-way interaction between householders, the energy
using systems and appliances in their homes, and the supply of
that energy by utilities or local generation. It is this interaction
that will allow householders to make the most efficient use of
energy in their homes.
3. CONTEXTUAL
FACTORS
3.1 We have identified three key contextual
factors that will need to be fully considered within strategic
approaches to improve the efficiency of existing homes:
3.1.1 Existing homes with uninsulated lofts
and unfilled cavity walls should generally have these insulated
first as these will usually provide significant and cost-effective
carbon savings. From a strategic perspective though, it should
be expected that CERT will largely tackle these measures[44],
and greater efforts are therefore required to identify and support
other technologies that can achieve cost effective carbon savings.
Beama strongly believe that there is untapped potential for heating
controls to provide significant carbon savings as discretionary
measures for occupiers of existing homes. Also there is good evidence
that smart metering leads to significant reductions in energy
usage.
3.1.2 Even when insulated, most existing
homes will still have a substantial energy demand that is unlikely
to be largely met through renewable technologies in the foreseeable
future. While it is likely that there will be an increasing range
of technologies available to reduce the carbon emissions of these
homes, we fully expect that the key need will be to integrate
these technologies with the main heating, hot water and energy
supply systems and therefore to optimise the savings that they
deliver. For example:
— A new condensing boiler
that is fitted into a radiator and pipework system that was designed
to heat the property when it was less well-insulated, and is therefore
over-sized for the current heating load.
— A solar thermal system
that has to work with the existing hot water system.
— Electricity supplied by
a community wind turbine that has to merge with the existing electricity
supply of individual houses.
In order for the impact of these, and other,
technologies to be optimised it will be essential to ensure that
there is an adequate focus on the role and development of advanced
controls and smart metering.
3.1.3 There is an increasing focus from Government
on the role that citizens need to play in combating climate change[45].
A low carbon economy will require "environmental citizens"
who choose to use energy in a sustainable manner, and who may
have personal carbon allowances to use at their discretion. It
will be reasonable to expect that citizens will not only have
an important part to play in specifying low carbon technologies
for their homes, but will also expect to be able to get information
from and interact with those technologies. These needs can be
met through the development of advanced controls and smart metering,
and this must be given emphasis in the forward planning for other
customer engagement mechanisms such as Energy Performance Certificates
so that householders can see the consistency between information
on paper, on the web, and in their homes.
4. ADVANCED CONTROLS
4.1 More than 80% of home energy use is
for heating and hot water[46],
but many existing homes only have basic controls, and the vast
majority of these do not meet the standards defined in the current
building regulations. (It is also questionable whether new boilers
installed in existing properties are currently receiving the upgrade
in controls that the 2005 building regulations require. Any issues
of compliance should also be a high priority within a strategy
for existing homes.)
4.2 The implication of basic controls is
that the heating and hot water system will not operate efficiently
and the occupants will not have the flexibility to improve that
efficiency even if they want to. Even where modern, more inherently
efficient boilers are installed their energy use can be compromised
by the control system. In addition, further efficiency improvements
in heating and hot water systems are unlikely to come from improvements
in boiler technology but from improvements in controls.
4.3 The definition of advanced controls
covers current control technologies that are rarely applied by
installers (eg zone control, weather compensation), as well as
emerging technologies such as chrono-proportional electronic thermostats
that can provide much closer control of room temperatures and
that interact with modern boilers to improve their operating efficiency.
5. SMART METERS
5.1 Smart metering is designed to provide
utility customers information on a real time basis about their
domestic energy consumption. This information includes data on
how much gas and electricity they are consuming, how much it is
costing them and what impact their consumption is having on greenhouse
gas emissions.
5.2 Long term testing has shown that the
installation of a smart meter can lead to a reduction in energy
use of 5-10% through behavioural changes. However, they also have
the potential to motivate (or confirm) improvements through better
billing information and also to manage the electricity demand
from homes in response to supply conditions, for example by getting
customers to reduce their consumption at critical times or in
response to market prices. All of these will be key elements in
reducing energy use within existing homes.
5.3 The 2007 Energy White Paper made it
a requirement for new meters to come with a real-time display
from 2008, with Government expecting everyone to have a smart
meter within 10 years. In determining overall policy for existing
homes it is important that this opportunity is fully accounted
for.
6. THE ROLE
THAT BEAMA
CAN PLAY
6.1 The membership of Beama covers manufacturers
of metering and controls, as well as the producers of a range
of network solutions and domestic energy using equipment including
lighting, ventilation and heat pumps. We also have strong links
with other trade bodies involved in the domestic sector such as
boiler and appliance manufacturers.
6.2 Not only are we working to support the
development and integration of smart metering and advanced controls,
we are also actively developing, with members and other key players,
a vision of the future for housing. This will look in depth at
the technologies required to achieve a more energy efficient housing
stock and the part that industry can play to make this happen.
This is a proactive step to support Government initiatives in
this respect and demonstrates that industry can play a key positive
role in reducing UK carbon emissions.
6.3 We would also be willing to help facilitate
the development of a simpler and more transparent communications
framework between Government and industry to input into policy
and regulatory developments. Our experience at the moment is that
there is a wide range of groups with similar agendas and overlapping
membership, and that a re-evaluation of these groups and their
remit could provide a quicker and more effective path to robust
solutions.
7. SUPPORT FROM
GOVERNMENT
7.1 Our members are not resistant to change,
and see the benefits to them of the increasing focus on the efficient
use of energy. But in common with all industry they do dislike
uncertainty, and their willingness to embrace this agenda will
be enhanced where Government defines long-term strategies with
clear signals of changes that will be made in the policy and regulatory
framework.
7.2 Beama would like to see Part L of the
Building Regulations utilised and enforced effectively within
existing homes to ensure that all new and replacement heating
systems installed work to maximum efficiency. This would include:
— Specification of advanced control
systems for all boilers installed into existing properties.
— A requirement for chemical water
treatment when new boilers are installed, particularly into existing
pipework systems. The use of "domestic central heating cleaners"
are currently considered "good practice" but given that
independent testing has shown a 6.4% reduction in boiler efficiency
without chemical treatment in only three weeks of operation, there
is a clear impact on carbon emissions.
7.3 Support for companies willing to invest
in new technologies, or for consumers to stimulate market transformation
are also welcome interventions. In addition, we believe that a
large-scale research programme looking at the actual behaviour
of people in existing homes would be of great value to quantify
the case for prioritising savings through improved control systems.
At present, estimates of savings achievable assume that customers
behave in a rational manner in the operation of their heating
and hot water, whereas small scale studies and anecdotal evidence
suggests that periods of use, and settings for "comfort"
temperatures are far in excess of those assumptions. We believe
that such a study would not only provide invaluable data for the
development and communication of advanced controls, but may also
accelerate the need to focus on improving heating controls by
highlighting an even greater potential for carbon savings than
is currently assumed.
44 For example, CERT is targeting three million cavity
wall insulation measures between 2008 and 2011 which is assessed
to be the limit of potential capacity within the supply chain.
It estimates that the total practical potential for cavity wall
insulation in 2008 will be just over five million. Increasingly,
efforts in this area will need to address customers who are hard
to reach or properties that are hard to treat thus reducing the
cost effectiveness as a policy approach. Back
45
For example "Climate Change: the `citizen's agenda'"
by the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee. Back
46
Source www.directgov.co.uk. Back
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