Howe Dell School IHT Demo

Completed

Renewable Energy Sources(Solar Energy, Solar heating and cooling (including daylighting))

Applied Research and Development
Final stage Development and Demonstration

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

Not Cross-cutting

Mr R Watson
Hertfordshire County Council

3

Carbon Trust

01 March 2004

30 May 2006

26 months

£244,325

East of England

Mr R Watson, Hertfordshire County Council

Project Contact, Fulcrum Consulting
Project Contact, Flowsolve Ltd
Project Contact, Icax Limited

To demonstrate that buildings can be heated and cooled without burning any carbon fuel by capturing surplus (noncarbon) freely available heat in the summer and retrieving the heat on demand in winter. Cooling is by storing energy in the ground for use on demand. Specifically, the objectives are: to prove that hard play/traffic surfaces can be used as efficient large-scale solar collectors; to show that interseasonal heat transfer (IHT) can be achieved by surface treatment of the ground and shallow ground thermal storage without construction of expensive contained heat stores; to provide an exemplar for active solar heating and interseasonal cooling of buildings capable of widespread replication.

The project includes the design, installation and monitoring of a heating and cooling system for a new Exemplar Sustainable Primary School using IHT. IHT is a process by which heat energy is collected and balanced between periods of supply and demand. Heat energy from the sun is collected during the summer and stored for use in the winter. Energy for cooling is collected during the winter and stored for summertime use. This significant new technology is able to meet major energy demands without further depleting carbon fuels or causing environmental damage. Computer modelling is being undertaken in parallel with system monitoring. This will be refined and checked against sensors in the installation and the system will be refined using results of the modelling. This combination of modelling and monitoring ensures that the demonstration is thoroughly checked and verified and can therefore be a reliable and impressive platform for bringing IHT to wider attention and ensuring successful replicatio

01/01/07