Almost every modern building has a space heating system and even the best of these heating systems are energy intensive. Pipe insulation is one of the best available technologies for reducing this energy waste and reducing your Carbon footprint.
Complying with the latest British and European design standards for pipe insulation could save businesses across the UK millions each year.
Since humankind first harnessed the power of fire our homes and places of work have been warmer. Modern central heating systems are more sophisticated than simply burning wood or coal on an open fire, utilising pipework to distribute heated water around a building, but two things have remained constant – the need for fuel and the inevitability of waste.
Climate challenge
The modern scarcity of fuel wouldn’t have been a surprise to our ancient ancestors – some of the latest heating systems have even gone full circle and rely on burning wood once again – but whilst increasing pressures on fuel supply impact price there is no actual shortage imminent.
It’s the impact of fuel consumption and Carbon emissions on the global climate that have fundamentally changed our understanding of the importance of minimising energy use and waste. Today saving energy isn’t just a financial concern but a social one due to the devastating impacts of climate change.
The question isn’t whether reducing the energy use of heating systems is important – the question is how it’s achieved.
Four walls and a roof
Keeping heat inside a building is the most effective way of reducing the need to use a heating system. Buildings with very high levels of wall and roof insulation need next to no mechanical heating at all – which is why today’s building regulations require greater thicknesses of wall and roof insulation than ever before.
This is, however, only one part of the energy saving puzzle.
Mechanical heating systems now represent the single biggest area of energy use in housing and offices. Any energy that’s lost from the pipework between the boiler and the radiators is potentially wasted.
Insulate pipework according to BS EN 12828
Pipe insulation is an important tool in helping to minimise energy waste from pipework but should never be seen as a purely remedial measure for a badly designed heating system (although the importance of good pipe insulation is much greater when the heating system is badly implemented). BS EN 12828 is the European standard that defines best practice for water based heating systems and this standard also covers design requirements for pipe insulation thicknesses.
What BS EN 12828 achieves for the first time is to bring pipe insulation design into consideration at the system design phase. Seeing pipe insulation as part of a well-designed heating system is by far the best way to minimise energy use.
Source: Kaimann UK · Copyright image: shutterstock
