Scheme switches from gas to heat pump to meet GLA rules

A regeneration scheme in Barnet has won planning approval after an engineering consultant changed the energy strategy to meet new carbon factors adopted by the Greater London Authority (GLA).

Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) technology, adopted by the GLA in January 2019 are based on the SAP 10 calculations that will be used in the next revision of Building Regulations.

Permission for the development was refused by the local council in 2018. Plans were later changed and resubmitted, but the redesign had to take account of the new carbon factors.

The new design will be ASHP-led and will either be a communal ASHP with individual top-up electrical immersion heaters for hot water, or a communal ASHP with individual air-to-water heat pumps.

The two strategies offer a 53% and 62% reduction in carbon emissions respectively when compared with the 2013 national building emission rate.