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
Aug 11, 2022
News
Harnessing the Benefits of Process Patents
WPL has been granted a patent for its cutting-edge WPL Hybrid-SAFTM process technology. The patented technology employs a submerged moving-bed, fixed-film reactor which can treat wastewater with greater energy efficiency compared to traditional submerged aerated filters (SAFs), in a tighter …
Aug 11, 2022
News
‘Water quality as-a-service’ about more than throwing tech into networks
Awarded more than £700,000 from the Water Breakthrough Challenge Catalyst Stream, Treatment-to-Tap seeks an industry watershed by supplementing a tech rollout with collaborative data analysis and behavioural science to build trust in tap water.
Aug 10, 2022
News
MWH Treatment Wins Severn Trent Framework Contracts
Water sector specialist MWH Treatment has been awarded a place on Severn Trent’s AMP7 (regulatory asset management period 2020-25) framework for both design-and-build and build-only water and wastewater treatment projects. The agreement extends an existing 20-year relationship and MWH Treatment …
Aug 09, 2022
News
Reliable Pipeline Protection with DENSO: New Laying Method in Water
For the rehabilitation of a drinking water pipeline in the district of Aalen, 200 km north-east of Munich, Germany, the DENSO Group Germany protects weld seams from corrosion very quickly and efficiently using a new laying method that floats in …
Aug 08, 2022
News
VARIOKIT Tunnel Formwork Solution Deep in the Heart of the Golden City
With construction work being carried out in depths up to 30 metres in the centre of the city famous for the Golden Gate Bridge, an enormous building structure is being realised. When completed, the Chinatown Subway Station will form the …
Aug 04, 2022
News
The Construction Site Determines the Installation Technology: Light, Steam, Hot Water or Ambient Temperature
Which curing method should ideally be used in the context of rehabilitation projects in building and site drainage? The market for the rehabilitation of building and property drainage is currently developing dynamically. The complexity of construction sites in particular places …
Aug 03, 2022
News
100 Years Lifetime of Polyethylene Pressure Pipe Systems Buried in the Ground for Water and Natural Gas Supply
TEPPFA and PE100+ Association have identified the need for explaining the difference between the design point at 20 degree/50 years and the expected life-time of PE80 and PE100 pressure pipe systems. Research, extrapolation studies and reports on dig-up pipes in …
Aug 02, 2022
News
World's Biggest 'Listening Project' Will Help Save Water
United Utilities is rolling out the biggest “listening” project of its kind in the world in a bid to tackle water leakage. The North West water company is installing around 100,000 ‘acoustic’ loggers over the next two years on its …
Aug 01, 2022
News
Always Moving Forward in Pipeline Technology
A dense pipeline network spanning over three million kilometers is the global backbone of industry and commerce. To keep supply stable, innovative pipeline companies are constantly expanding the network and making it denser even in sparsely populated places. In the …
Jul 27, 2022
News
WPL Wins Holiday Park Wastewater Contract
Wastewater treatment specialist WPL has won a contract to provide onsite wastewater treatment at a holiday park in Cornwall. The underground installation at Juliots Well in North Cornwall will replace the existing septic tank and includes a WPL HiPAF (high …
Jul 26, 2022
News
Auckland’s biggest water project finishes construction
Auckland’s biggest-ever water project – a $400 m water transmission pipeline from Manukau to Khyber Pass – has been completed after more than a decade in construction.
Contact
TEPPFA
Kortenberglaan 71
BE-1000 Brussels
Belgium
Phone:
+32-488 920 145