New heating system
Timescale: Completed autumn 2007
Project value: £7 million
Project manager: Martin Green / External project manager
This project provided the University with a new, modern and reliable heating system on campus. The sophisticated, energy-saving equipment replaced the original 1960s pipework and ageing boilers.
Over two years, seven kilometres of new heating pipes were installed underground across campus, involving extensive excavations and subsequent restoration.
The main boiler house was stripped of its old equipment and new boiler plant installed, along with a new combined heat and power unit. This produces about 20 percent of the electricity for the campus, as well as providing heating. A total of 49 plant rooms, located around campus, were also upgraded to enable them to work within the new network.
The University now has a heating system that will support the growth and renewal of the campus in the long term, as well as reducing heating costs and dramatically improving our carbon-emissions profile.