Energy survey of visitor centre

High heating costs in energy-efficient building

The energy survey of this visitor centre in Staffordshire revealed that both electrical and thermal energy consumption were some way off the good-practice figures provided in CIBSE Guide F. This came as a surprise, as the building had been designed in 2001 specifically with energy efficiency in mind.

The building is heated with a wood pellet boiler. Inspection of the heating system revealed that some unfortunate choices had been made in its design. Most significant of these are the incorrect sizing of the accumulator tank and the poor design and configuration of the control system. These two items alone are responsible for a fuel consumption which is an estimated 38% higher than necessary. In addition, the unnecessary running of circulation pumps leads to higher electricity costs. Unfortunately, as so often, the cost of retrospectively correcting mistakes made at the design stage are very high!

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