Green GB Week: electric heating can be key to clean growth

As the government’s first Green GB Week– designed to highlight the opportunities that clean growth offers the United Kingdom, draws to a close, Shaun Hurworth from Glen Dimplex Heating & Ventilation believes the success of the initiative should be used as a catalyst to further promote the potential of modern electric heating systems.

Shaun said: “The government launched Green GB Week with the intention of highlighting the opportunities that clean growth offers the United Kingdom, and raising understanding of how businesses, entrepreneurs and the public can contribute to tackling climate change. And one thing is clear; electric heating is key to this long-term strategy.

“Data from the new SAP 10 methodology, which is the government’s recommended system for measuring the energy rating of dwellings, shows that the carbon factor of electric heating is now just 0.233 gCO2/kWh – down from 0.519 gCO2/kWh when SAP 2012 was introduced. This is thanks to continued investment in renewable generation technologies, which continues the transformation of our electricity grid into a carbon efficient energy network. This means that last year electric heating will have been more carbon efficient than gas heating after adjusting for system efficiency – a substantial shift which is reflective of the Government’s commitment to decarbonise energy supply through electrification.

“It means heat pumps and installed electric heating appliances will perform even better in SAP 10, offering a potentially cheaper, compliant HVAC solution when compared to other fuels such as gas. In SAP 2012, electric panel heaters combined with an electric hot water heat pump was an already attractive solution when gaining compliance. This will only increase under the new methodology.

“Green GB Week has been a big success with a wide range of events highlighting the need to curb climate change, as well as the solutions already in place that can help to do that – from heat pumps to electric vehicles. Now the heating industry must continue that momentum to showcase the potential of modern electric heating solutions, working towards achieving the Government’s target of electrification in order to reduce the significant carbon impact of heating and cooling our buildings.”

The first Green GB Week took place from 15 – 19 October 2018, offering the opportunity to learn about ‘how clean growth is helping to provide new job opportunities, grow our economy for the benefit of us all and help tackle climate change for a cleaner, green future’.