Stokvis provides support for renewable energy in London refurbishment project
Supporting a number of sources of renewable energy in the refurbishment of Camden Council’s Bidborough House office building are Stokvis boilers and plate heaters. The £10 million refurbishment by the London region of Crispin & Borst (now part of Vinci Construction UK) includes solar panels and ground-source heat pumps to provide heating and cooling. M&E consultant RMR Associates and contractor Airedale M&E also required the Stokvis boilers and plate heat exchangers to top up the solar hot-water services and provide heating in case of heat-pump failure.
This 1960s office building was gutted and completely refurbished for the housing department of Camden Council. Ron Ramsook of RMR Associates says, ‘The building services accounted for £5.5 million of the £10 million total. This building in an inner-city location really called for a design for sustainable air-conditioned offices. We opted for a GSHP system with 120 m-deep boreholes to supply water at around 12°C, Summer or Winter.
‘The Stokvis Econoflame modulating gas boiler provides hot water for heating in the case of a failure of the GSHP systems and tops up the solar DHW system without compromising on efficiency. The modulating output of the Econoflame is crucial for this type of application.’
RMR also specified Stokvis evacuated-tube solar collectors and a Stokvis stainless-steel single-coil solar cylinder as the preheat vessel.
Heating and cooling from the GSHP system is delivered via active chilled beams in the ceilings. The GHSP returns cool water to the ground in the Winter and draws cool water from the ground in Summer, with an overall balance being achieved.
