Range of Projects
ICAX is currently working on a range of projects for clients in different commercial sectors. The selection below illustrates the sectors that ICAX is serving.
Southwark decarbonises district heating plantrooms
The London Borough of Southwark is decarbonising three of its housing estates by installing water source heat pumps in its plantrooms.
The five high temperature heat pumps installed in three plant rooms will draw heat from the London Chalk Aquifer to provide heating via Fourth Generation district heat networks in conjunction with the gas-fired boilers which are currently being used. The existing heat distribution systems within the estates will not need to be refurbished.
This retrofit water source heat pump upgrade will take place over the winter of 2020/21 without interuption of heating to the residents.
Two of the three Southwark housing estates are projected to save well over 25,000 tonnes of CO2e over the first 25 years of use, and the third is predicted to save 16,240 tonnes.
Shoreham Harbour Marine Source Heat Pump
An ICAX marine source heat pump will be installed in Maritime House at the east end of Shoreham Harbour to provide heating in place of the oil boilers which are currently being used.
ICAX has designed an abstraction and rejection system to cope with the corrosive potential of salt water and biological growth and potential fouling from molluscs and other maritime debris.
The heat pump is designed to provide a high temperature flow to the building so that the existing heat distribution system within Maritime House will not need to be refurbished. This will save time and avoid disruption so that the retrofit can proceed with minimum interruption to the work that goes on in the building.
This 300kW heat pump, like all other heat pumps, will emit no carbon dioxide on site. Because heat pumps avoid the need for combustion it will also issue no nitrogen dioxide, nor sulfur dioxide or any other gas or particulate matter in Shoreham.
Robinson College, Cambridge
Following an initial feasibility study and successful applications to the Environment Agency for the appropriate permissions, Robinson College has asked ICAX to install a water source heat pump to meet the base load of its heating and hot water requirements by heat exchange with Bin Brook which runs through the college grounds.
The surface water heat pump at Robinson College transfers heat from Bin Brook to heat the college in winter and provide hot water all year round. ICAX is using heat pumps and seasonal thermal energy storage with a sophisticated energy management system to provide a totally automated system that balances the temperature in the building by heat exchange with the temperature of the water in the brook that runs through the college gardens.
Balanced Energy Networks, London South Bank University
Innovate UK has awarded ??2.9m towards a ??4m ICAX led consortium to build a Balanced Energy Network at London South Bank University to demonstrate innovations in integrated energy supply chains.
The Balanced Energy Network incorporates a heat sharing network which is designed to provide a more cost effective, flexible, and scalable alternative to conventional district heating network technology. Heat sharing networks transfer warmth via piping circuits between buildings at near ground temperature and extract it via heat pumps in each building (or reject heat if the building needs cooling).
Cambridge Terrace, Regent's Park
Half of Cambridge Terrace has been acquired and is being refurbished as a single dwelling – the largest residence in London after Buckingham Palace.
Interseasonal Heat Transfer has been chosen by Bouygues, the main contractor, for this Grade 1 listed Nash terrace to provide renewable heating and renewable cooling. Cambridge Terrace will be cooled in summer by transferring surplus heat down to a Thermalbank in the ground. When heat is required in winter, heat will be recycled back to the building from the ThermalBank to maintain a comfortable temperature in the building all year round.
Cambridge Terrace is a short walk from Marylebone Road in central London where some of the highest levels of air pollution are recorded in England - three times higher than EU legal safety limit for nitrogen dioxide. The heating and cooling installation at Cambridge Terrace will emit no gases into the atmosphere and will play its part in improving the Urban Air Quality in London.
Solar Powered District Heating, Bristol
A Solar Powered District Heating Project in Bristol uses PV powered heat pumps to charge the ground with summer heat for easier extraction of heat in winter: Solar Powered District Heating.
The CHOICES consortium decarbonises heating by using green electricity in summer to charge an interseasonal heat store. Ground source heat pumps are used in winter to transfer heat into community buildings without burning fossil fuels. Grid balancing systems are employed to ensure that electricity is not demanded from the grid at times of peak use.
The consortium has created a district heating system which can be scaled up to serve additional buildings and can be readily employed in other locations.
UTP Factory, Hampshire
UTP is a precision engineering company, specialising in low to medium volume production, prototype and pre-production precision engineering projects for the aerospace and oil & gas industries.
Interseasonal Heat Transfer has been chosen by UTP for its new factory to provide renewable heating and renewable cooling. The new UTP Factory will be cooled in summer by transferring surplus heat down to a Thermalbank in the ground. When heat is required in winter, heat will be recycled back to the building from the ThermalBank to maintain a comfortable temperature in the building all year round.
Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre, Shropshire
ICAX worked extensively with Telford & Wrekin Council's in-house architects and M&E consultants in a joint design on the Wellington Civic & Leisure Centre before redevelopment work started on site in March 2010. The Wellington Civic Centre reopened on 12 March 2012.
Telford & Wrekin Council is investing £8.5 million to create an enhanced civic centre in Wellington. The scheme includes a new reception area with a café which leads to a new state-of-the-art library and registry office, improvements to the Wellington Leisure Centre, swimming pool, gym and new offices for up to 200 people.
The modern development is designed to complement the historic market town of Wellington which sits beneath The Wrekin on Watling Street. A new public square will be created near the town centre with 40 new homes for older people being incorporated into the plan.
Tesco Greenfield Supermarket, Saddleworth, Oldham
Tesco, which has ambitious plans to reduce the carbon footprint of its new stores, has chosen Interseasonal Heat Transfer for its new store at Greenfield. Groundworks started on-site to create a Thermalbank at Greenfield Supermarket in August 2010 and the store opened on 6 December 2010: the first supermarket in the world to be heated and cooled with Interseasonal Heat Transfer: 41% less carbon emissions than if it were using gas boilers for heating and electric chillers for cooling.
ICAX has adapted the design of IHT for Tesco to meet the special circumstances of food retailing.
Suffolk One, Sixth Form College, Ipswich
Suffolk County Council has chosen Interseasonal Heat Transfer to achieve renewable heating for its new £65 million Suffolk One Sixth Form College, Ipswich, which was completed in September 2010. It incorporates the largest concrete solar thermal collector in the world with 14 kilometres of piping.
Suffolk One is the first Sixth Form College to benefit from Interseasonal Heat Transfer and demonstrates Suffolk County Council's commitment to renewable energy and education for sustainable development.
A wide range of energy efficient mechanical and electrical systems has being installed at Suffolk One with the aim of achieving a targeted BREAM rating of "very good". As well as Interseasonal Heat Transfer, rainwater harvesting, Windcatcher and Sunpipe systems are being employed to provide natural ventilation and light.
Merton's Acacia Intergenerational Centre IGC, Mitcham
Merton Council is using Interseasonal Heat Transfer as the most practical way to achieve more than 40% on site renewable energy for its new Acacia Intergenerational Centre which opened in February 2010. This the first building to benefit from Intrabuilding Heat Transfer as well as Interseasonal Heat Transfer.
The architects decided to go for the "elegant" solution in which one integrated system from ICAX could provide both heating in winter and cooling in summer (as well as hot water all year round and the freedom not to have to organise, feed and manage a biomass boiler).
HM Garth Prison, Lancashire
ICAX were approached by Mike Phillips of Home Office Custodial Property who had spotted a potential use for IHT technology in the prison sector. Following a careful feasibility study, it was decided to test it out in a new development at HM Garth Prison which was completed in September 2007.
ICAX completed the installation of its innovative sustainable technology at Garth Prison in Lancashire. This is potentially the first step for a new generation of on-site renewable prison houseblocks, heralding a significant advance in public sector sustainable thinking.
This was overseen by Interserve Engineering, with Mechanical and Electrical consultancy from the Leeds office of Hoare Lea.
Hiroshima
Misawa constructed a demonstration road in Hiroshima under licence from ICAX Ltd and confirmed that the Solar Road System worked well in Japan in clearing ice and snow from a trial road.
Misawa, who have extensive experience of using geothermal energy to clear ice and snow from roads in Japan, were interested to construct an IHT system under licence from ICAX Ltd to confirm that the Solar Road System worked well in Japan without going to the expensive of drilling boreholes down to the depths where geothermal energy can be reached.
Howe Dell School, Hatfield
Howe Dell School in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was the first building in the world to benefit from Interseasonal Heat Transfer in an installation part funded by The Carbon Trust.
Howe Dell School, a 4,000 square metre building, has been developed with an ICAX IHT™ system that integrates an playground solar collector, a ThermalBank beneath the building as a hot store and a separate cold store. The scheme also uses the playground solar collector to pre-heat hot water for the school.
The IHT™ sustainable heating system complements a building design strategy for very low energy use to provide heating and cooling for the school.
The IHT™ installation has been commissioned by the Carbon Trust, as part of the Government’s drive for implementing renewable energy technology. The school is commissioned by Hertfordshire County Council as an exemplar Eco School using Renewable Energy.
Toddington Demonstration for the Highways Agency
The Toddington Demonstration was the first Interseasonal Heat Transfer installation. This was completed for the Highways Agency to demonstrate that heat could be collected from roads in summer and stored in ThermalBanks until needed to keep the same road free from ice in winter. It also demonstrated the capacity to collect heat in summer for space heating in winter, and the use of IHT for providing cooling to buildings in summer. The demonstration was independently assessed by the Transport Research Laboratory who reported on the successful results of this two year test in April 2008 and verified the heat transfer computer modelling work previously carried out by ICAX.
See Independent Report on IHT by Transport Research Laboratory.
See Banking on IHT
See Renewable Heat | Renewable Cooling
See Renewable Heat Incentive | Feed-In Tariffs
See Building Schools
See Solar Runways maintain surfaces above freezing
