Priority Federation of Academies Trust, Lincoln

Installation: 5 x Remeha Air Source Heat Pumps 88kW; 2 x Remeha Air Source Heat Pumps 88kW; 2 x Remeha Air Source Heat Pumps 88kW

Remeha Air Source Heat Pumps Support Academy Trust Decarbonisation Programme

The Priory Federation of Academies Trust has embarked on an impressive decarbonisation programme to save an estimated total of 227.5 tonnes of CO2 annually from three of its Lincoln academies with the support of Oakes Energy Services and nine Remeha Air Source Heat Pumps.

Leading renewable energy installer Oakes Energy Services has collaborated with heating and hot water solutions expert Baxi to assist the Priory Federation of Academies Trust with its ambitious sustainability initiative to decarbonise the sports centres at a series of Lincoln academies.

Sports facilities, particularly those with swimming pools, have high energy demand. The decarbonisation programme currently encompasses three of the Trust’s academies: Lincoln Academy, Witham Academy and LSST Academy, where gas boilers were previously heating the water in the pool and Air Handling Units. 

Keen to cut its carbon footprint, the Trust approached Oakes Energy Services to help develop proposals to decarbonise the sports centres at the three schools. 

The designs, which illustrate the expected carbon savings, were then used to securing funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme operated by Salix. In total, the design of the entire scheme is expected to save 227.5 tonnes of CO2 a year, equivalent to planting 7,000 trees.

The proposal for each academy was designed bespoke to the individual requirements in each building, but all involved retrofitting Remeha air source heat pumps (ASHPs). Remeha is part of Baxi.

At Witham and LSST Academies, two Remeha ASHPs now supply all the heat demand in the building, feeding underfloor heating and radiators, and providing hot water for the changing rooms and the swimming pool plant. 

At Lincoln Academy, which has a larger 25-metre swimming pool, five Remeha ASHPs supply heat to calorifiers for the hot water system as well as to the swimming pool heat exchanger in what is the first phase of the decarbonisation programme. 

Director Nik Smith at Oakes Energy Services said: “We are very familiar with the Remeha brand – the products are fantastic, the design support and service from the Baxi sales and specification team is great, and the technical back up they offer is simply unrivalled.”

A further advantage for the Oakes Energy Services team was the ready availability of the air source heat pumps, as Nik explained:

“As with all school projects, we were working to a tight, fixed deadline. Having the Remeha heat pumps in stock was a big selling point as we had more time to complete the project ahead of the start of the new term.

“In addition to on-site technical support during the installation stage, Baxi also provided pre-commissioning support and commissioning to meet the handover date. All in all, a great service from the Baxi team,” he added.

Rob Erwood, Sales and Specification Director at Baxi said:

“The focus on low carbon design is now critical for all public sector buildings in line with ambitious government decarbonisation targets. We are proud to play a part in this major decarbonisation programme, collaborating with Oakes Energy Services to help the Trust achieve its carbon reduction ambitions with our Remeha air source heat pumps.”

Remeha ASHPs are available in multiple outputs for single or cascade options, providing flexible solutions for all commercial applications. 

Specially designed for Northern Europe climate conditions, the Remeha ASHP range achieves a high supply temperature of up to 65°C flow temperature, making them suitable for use on new build and retrofit projects.