Remeha Quinta Pro boilers are providing energy-saving heating as part of an ambitious renovation project at 13th Century Hexham Abbey in Northumberland.
Hexham Abbey, Northumberland’s 13th Century Grade 1-listed monastery, has reunited its monastic complex for the first time in 500 years. The Abbey’s medieval former monastery buildings and Hexham’s former Magistrates’ Court were removed by Henry VIII during the Reformation and it was not until 2012 that these came back into the possession of the Abbey.
The former monastic buildings, which were almost derelict when the Abbey reclaimed them, have been transformed through a sensitive £3m restoration project. Included in the medieval complex is a major visitor exhibition, function rooms, community meeting spaces and a visitors’ café.
Providing energy-efficient, 21st Century heating for visitors and staff throughout the monastic buildings was a key part of the refurbishment as Garry Norton, M&E Consultant at TGA Consulting Engineers, explained. “The project demanded a high efficiency and reliable thermal energy source to ensure that energy cost is reduced and that the services which Hexham Abbey provide to the local and wider community are met without disruption.”
Careful consideration of a number of factors was required before specification could be made for the heating system. Reliability was high on the list of concerns due to the need to keep the space heating in the heritage centre at a fixed, constant temperature in order to protect and preserve the rare, cultural artefacts in the exhibition. Added to this was the nature of the monastic complex with its listed status, its medieval fabric, its four-foot thick walls and its irregular-shaped rooms.
TGA Consulting Engineers met all these requirements in a heating system that has at its heart three ErP compliant Remeha Quinta Pro 90 gas condensing boilers on a free-standing, in-line cascade system with low loss header. The cascade system combines compact condensing boilers offering a high maximum gross efficiency of 99 per cent and low NOx emissions of 29mg/kWh with smart gas and water connection technology in a pre-assembled wheeled unit. The boilers fully modulate, enabling them to match the heat demand more accurately, and are sequenced to switch on and off as the heat demand increases and decreases. This means that high levels of efficiency can be achieved all year round, even when the heat demand is low, thereby reducing energy consumption and associated greenhouse gas emissions. Greater reliability is also achieved by spreading the total required heat output over several boilers, meeting the requirement for a constant temperature.
The compact configuration of the cascade enabled M&E Contractors Vaughan Engineering to overcome the potential constraints of the small plant room and meet the heat demand in a fraction of the space. “The irregular features of this historic building required a flexible and compact heating solution that would allow the installation to be customised to suit the tight space constraints of the plant room,” said Luke Ellwood, lead contractor at Vaughan Engineering. “The cascade system with low loss header provided us with numerous different installation options which resulted in a neat and functional system, whilst also ensuring that the maintenance requirements of the unit were achieved.”
Zoned heating has been introduced into the refurbished monastic complex, supplementing the additional standard close controls and thermostatic valves, to provide accurate controlling across the buildings and deliver maximum energy and carbon savings. This is particularly relevant for the Abbey given that some of the function rooms may not require constant heating. Installing the equipment presented an interesting challenge for the contractors, Vaughan Engineering, due to the requirement to protect the medieval fabric and the thickness of the historic walls. “The Abbey has a protected listed status, but, regardless, it would have been a sheer impossibility to drill through the walls,” recalled Luke Ellwood. “Instead we installed wireless temperature sensors in the roof vault which connect with a network of transmitters installed in the roof vault and send the required data on the various zones.”
With the medieval monastic complex fully open to the public for six months, the heating system is fulfilling the reliable and energy-efficient criteria set out in the original brief. Toni Bush, Education Officer at Hexham Abbey said: “We are very pleased with the new Remeha boilers installed in our new Priory Buildings, which are efficient and extremely effective. Heating such a large and complex building, which dates back to medieval times, is no mean feat but the building has been consistently warm, essential when you are welcoming the general public into your buildings.”
The Hexham Abbey Project was funded by a £1.8m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and supplemented by additional funds raised by the congregation, the community and grant-making trusts. The architect was Purcell Miller Tritton, with specialist restoration, conservation and refurbishment company William Anelay Ltd the main contractors on the project. The M&E Consultant was TGA Consulting Engineers (Durham); the M&E Contractor was Vaughan Engineering (Newcastle Office) led by Luke Ellwood.
www.remeha.co.uk, email boilers@remeha.co.uk or call 0118 978 3434
