The government's drive towards carbon neutral new home construction by 2016 will heighten the profile of emerging renewable technologies within new build domestic developments.

To help satisfy the higher levels of the Code for Sustainable Homes, housing builders and developers are becoming increasingly more aware of the use of ground source heat pumps as a renewable heating system in housing developments across the country.

As the UK’s only manufacturer of a full range of ground source heat pumps, Kensa Engineering has established an unrivalled reputation for providing first class technical support and advice to help clients easily integrate the technology into private and social residential schemes.

Kensa's latest development, the Shoebox Heat Pump, creates a new category of ground source heat pump which will encourage the mainstream adoption of ground source heat pumps as the chosen heating system in residential housing schemes.

The Shoebox Heat Pump which was launched into the market place earlier this month, is a small, extremely quiet, MCS-accredited and British-made ground source heat pump specifically designed to provide both space heating and domestic hot water in new build and retrofit properties where the peak heating load is no greater than 3.5kW.

The unique Shoebox concept ensures a very competitively priced heating and hot water system which allows property developments to be marketed under a ‘green banner’, offering ultra low running costs and minimal carbon emissions for the purchasers or tenants.

In addition, Shoebox installations qualify for significant financial support via Phase One Funding of the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

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The RHI is the world’s first financial incentive scheme designed to increase the uptake of renewable heat technologies and reduce the UK’s carbon emissions. In brief, the scheme provides a subsidy for each kilowatt hour of eligible renewable heat generated from accredited installations, payable on a quarterly basis for a period of 20 years. This is guaranteed and will be inflation linked.

Phase One, primarily intended to support commercial installations but also covering district heating systems in the residential sector, has been launched and is open for business, paying 4.7p per kilowatt hour for ground source heat pump installations (up to 100Kw). Ofgem, the RHI administers, has confirmed that installations featuring communal ground arrays, such as Kensa’s Shoebox Heat Pump, will be deemed district heating systems and therefore eligible for Phase One Funding.

The Shoebox Heat Pump, is a unique product which can be configured into a system architecture that qualifies for Phase One RHI Funding as a district scheme by virtue of the communal ground array.

The use of a communal ground array is a novel means of delivering the ground heat exchanger in a fashion that not only meets the definition of a district heating scheme, but it also permits the use of a slightly smaller and less expensive overall ground array thanks to the concept of diversification.

Diversification simply means it is not necessary to assume that every apartment is simultaneously applying a peak load on the energy source so the ground array can be slightly smaller. In addition, the design risk is mitigated because exceptional demand from an individual apartment is balanced by another apartment imposing a lower demand. It is a very smart concept to help lower associated project costs.

The RHI payments are made to the owners of the equipment, rather than the users of the renewable heat. Of course, it would be preferable for the individual apartment owners to receive their own payment but RHI rules dictate that a district heating scheme merits just a single payment to the deemed system owner. For this reason, the management company is likely to be the recipient in most cases. Kensa Heat Pumps would expect management companies to pass on the RHI payments via reduced service charges which, in turn, should make the properties more appealing to purchasers.

If the Shoebox heat pump provides both space heating and domestic hot water, the RHI payment is likely to be around £270 per annum for a typical 2-bed apartment, payable for 20 years to either the registered social landlord or to the developer. This equates to £5,400 of renewable heat incentive payments throughout the 20 year period per property.

The Shoebox heat pump is the only domestic heating solution which can gain funding from the RHI Phase One thanks to the unique system architecture featuring an individual appliance in each dwelling linked to a communal ground array.

For the homeowner, the Shoebox is reliable and durable and performs in an ultra-efficient manner resulting in extremely modest running costs, increasing the appeal of any property.

To find out more about the Shoebox Heat Pump, and to watch the short but informative film providing a visit www.kensaengineering.com/shoebox or call 0845 680 4329.