District heating in place at Edinburgh council housing development

Located on Greendykes Road, Craigmillar, the development is being constructed on behalf of the City of Edinburgh Council comprising 75 affordable homes and is set to be complete in early 2019.The project is an important part of the ongoing regeneration of the wider Craigmillar area and represents over £9 million of investment by the council, with support from the Scottish Government.The district heating network is being installed by mechanical and electrical services provider Arc-Tech (Scotland) Ltd as part of the authority’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan, which aims to reduce carbon emissions by 42% by 2020, and for the new carbon and energy targets set by Scottish Government.The heating network serves the development from an onsite Energy Centre which houses a gas-fired Combined Heat and Power (CHP) unit and energy efficient gas-fired boilers.Designed by Hawthorne Boyle, the network naturally functions at a lower temperature than standard systems which reduces heat wastage and minimises heat loss. The use of more efficient heat will provide a range of benefits ensuring long term energy savings for future occupants with open protocol smart meters installed to every property to monitor usage.