Using Plastic Pipes for Heating and Cooling Brings Energy Efficiency Gains
Jul 29, 2022
Surface heating and cooling using plastic pipes is being highlighted at the moment as it is helping facilitate a greater uptake of renewable heat sources and is proving highly energy-efficient in our increasingly energy-aware climate.
It makes economic sense to use the same pipes to heat a building as to cool it, and benefits not only include being able to maintain comfortable year-round temperatures, even in large buildings, but also maximising floor space through avoiding radiators and other forms of heating and cooling, as well as minimising ongoing energy use.
Ludo Debever of TEPPFA explained the rise in popularity of this type of heating and cooling system: “By being able to use lower temperatures to run these systems, a pleasant ambient temperature is maintained whatever the weather. Plastic pipes have proven to be ideal components for such systems and significant long-term energy savings can also be made.”
In embedded heating systems, whether underfloor or within walls or ceilings, low operating temperatures are generally sufficient (35/28°C), which are perfect for heat transfer using condensing boilers, heat pumps and solar thermal systems. The lower the heating system temperature, the higher its efficiency will be. This will deliver potentially large energy savings. Installing a low-temperature surface heating and cooling system can also trigger a change towards compatible low-temperature – and ideally renewable – heat generators.
Using embedded heating systems is particularly beneficial in combination with newer technologies like heat pumps, which provide high efficiencies with lower temperatures, and which can be driven by electricity from a range of renewable sources.
Other benefits of surface heating and cooling include its versatility – it can fit almost any building or heating system, it delivers energy-saving benefits for consumers, provides a long operating lifetime, creates space-saving benefits through its integration into floors, walls or ceilings, and maximises the thermal comfort of consumers, which of course includes its cooling abilities in summer as well as its heating efficiencies.
By using a smart control system, individual heating profiles can be created for every room, tailoring comfort levels perfectly to the needs of residents and users. Thermal comfort needs can be fully covered all year round using high-performing plastic pipe systems. Noiseless in operation with minimal air circulation, dust and draughts are minimised, a benefit to allergy sufferers.
TEPPFA has identified that several European countries have the potential for significant growth in the use of these types of embedded heating and cooling systems, including Spain, Portugal, Romania, Ireland and the UK. With more extreme temperatures likely to become common, finding a system that operates efficiently and economically during all extremes will become much more desirable.
As Ludo Debever concluded: “Water’s energy-transport capacity is significantly higher than that of air, so running water through pipes as a primary method of heating and cooling a building makes absolute sense. Older buildings can be retro-fitted too, as an increasing variety of surface heating systems using plastic pipes becomes available. We should all be aiming to make our buildings more energy-efficient, whatever their age.”
The European heating industry already has the developed technologies available; for example, efficient and renewable heat generators, the use of smart controls, and efficient heat emitters.
Practical examples include thermally active building systems with proven reduced life cycle costs, low exergy-low energy systems within the passivhaus concept, sustainable cooling in commercial construction, underfloor cooling in nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB), underfloor heating in homes and offices and district heat networks with centrally positioned heating through insulated pipe networks. All these types of systems are growing in popularity over traditional forms of heating and cooling as the world’s more extreme weather conditions continue.
About TEPPFA
TEPPFA is The European Plastic Pipe and Fittings Association founded in 1991 with headquarters in Brussels. TEPPFA’s 12 multinational company members and 15 national associations across Europe represent 350 companies that manufacture plastic pipes and fittings. TEPPFA’s members have an annual production volume of 3 million tonnes directly employing 40,000 people with € 12 billion combined annual sales.
More News and Articles
Jul 24, 2024
News
UK utilities place multiple orders for settlement tank technology
Northumbrian Water, Southern Water, and Dŵr Cymru upgrading wastewater sites
Three UK water utilities have agreed orders for the installation of a total of six conical settlement …
Jul 22, 2024
Article
Reusing wastewater, rethinking water: Maharashtra's roadmap
How Maharashtra turns wastewater into a resource
Water resource management is a critical issue globally, and in India, the state of Maharashtra is pioneering efforts to regulate and …
Jul 19, 2024
News
Kansas City advances fire hydrant leak detection technology
An acoustic fixed-base pipe monitoring technology that uses fire hydrants to host multi-sensor devices, has already found more than 30 leaks for Kansas City Water, says Lou Rossetti …
Jul 17, 2024
News
When two bores right a wrong
The Edge Underground team is adamant: there is always a risk of things going wrong on a trenchless project, even for the most prepared contractor.
Experience and having the right equipment can be the difference between …
Jul 15, 2024
News
Adapting to a region’s growing water and wastewater needs
Gippsland Water has completed two major projects to provide local communities with water security. Trenchless Australasia takes a look at the two projects helping increase water supply …
Jul 12, 2024
News
Connections made in Glastonbury
Difficult ground conditions called for a specialist solution when new PE pipes for potable water services had to be installed underneath two, 10-metre road crossings in the grounds of the UK’s ultimate music festival …
Jul 10, 2024
Article
The Water-Energy Nexus: Interdependence and Challenges
Niclas Andersson, CEO of AirWater2All, explains the connection between water and energy. The importance of this connection and the areas in which it needs to be considered are explained …
Jul 08, 2024
News
Minimising cultural impacts with trenchless technology
Yarra Valley Water is leveraging the benefits of trenchless technology to lessen impacts on the Upper Darebin Creek branch sewer project.
The project consists of building a 2.7km sewer pipe …
Jul 05, 2024
News
SprayWall: Reinforcing Underground Infrastructure with Unmatched Strength
In the trenchless technology industry, finding a rehabilitation solution that offers ease of installation and exceptional structural integrity is paramount.
For three decades, …
Jul 01, 2024
News
“Don’t let stereotypes hold you back”
Trenchless Australasia sat down with Rob Carr project manager Marie Piette to discuss her career and work at the microtunnelling contracting company.
From Norway to Cambodia and now Perth, Western Australia, …
Jun 28, 2024
News
Transforming Wastewater: Towards Climate-Neutral Sewage Treatment
Baden-Württemberg’s Minister President Winfried Kretschmann recently toured the Büsnau Training and Research Sewage Treatment Plant, where a pioneering project led by researchers …
Jun 26, 2024
News
Bothar advances with significant new contracts
Having commenced work on the Fitzroy to Gladstone Pipeline earlier this year, Bothar Boring and Tunnelling has announced the award of further contracts as part of its ongoing collaboration with …
Contact
TEPPFA
Kortenberglaan 71
BE-1000 Brussels
Belgium
Phone:
+32-488 920 145