Before the distribution network and the thermal store/electrode boiler could be sized it was necessary to estimate the peak heating demand (for a design winter day) from each of the buildings that would require heating. This involves calculating the heat loss expected from each of the buildings considering the area and thickness of the materials used. From this and the equations previously mentioned in the key principles section of the website, a peak heating load for the district heating scheme could be established.

The first scenario includes the two council buildings:

• Council Headquarters
• Papdale Primary School

COUNCIL HEADQUARTERS

The council offices mainly consist of Victorian buildings. The external walls are made of sandstone and there are pitched roofs. Its overall floor area is approximately 2966 m2. A combination of CAD drawings and Google Maps Street View was used to calculate the external surface areas.

PAPDALE PRIMARY SCHOOL

The school is split in two loads. The main part was constructed in the 1960's. The linking building was added in 1990's and another expansion was made in 2008. Its overall floor area is 7755 m2.

CALCULATION RESULTS

A summary of the heating loads can be found in the following table below:

ADDITIONAL BUILDINGS

The second scenario also included 14 local residences, each much smaller than the council headquarters and primary school. To estimate the peak heating demand from each of these buildings data was taken from the average UK domestic household. The second scenario also included a planned future council building. From the data available a peak heating load of 60kW was estimated for the building.