Renewable Technologies, a BSRIA illustrated guide

In January 2022, BSRIA announced the publication of The Illustrated Guide to Renewable Technologies (BG 34/2021). The guide is intended to benefit construction professionals who do not need to be experts on the topic but need to communicate with those who are.

It introduces the following renewable energy sources, along with an explanation of the different system types for each energy source, where to use them in buildings, and application considerations:

• Photovoltaics.
• Solar thermal.
• Biomass.
• Combined heat and power.
• Heat pumps.

The publication also considers other technologies, such as solar cooling, wind power, and allied technologies such as absorption cooling, fuel cells, energy storage systems and district heating and cooling. The guide also looks at grid-scale renewable energy technologies such as wind farms, solar farms and hydroelectricity.

With the ever increasing focus on the reduction in energy consumption and CO2 production necessary to meet the target of net zero carbon by 2050, it has become attractive for businesses to consider more deeply the use of renewable sources of energy.

Renewable energy technologies are subject to a variety of legislation concerning their design and installation. There are also incentives which encourage them to be adopted, such as the Climate Change Act 2008, the Renewable Heat Incentive, Feed-in Tariffs, the Future Homes Standard and the Microgeneration Certification Scheme. Not to mention that Building Regulations require new buildings, and certain works to existing buildings, to achieve certain levels of energy efficiency.

As the world moves towards an increasingly present sense of environmental responsibility, publications like the BSRIA Illustrated Guide to Renewable Technologies can help built environment engineers remain at the vanguard of this movement. The guide is part of BSRIA’s “Illustrated Guide to…” series which includes:

• BG 31/2017 The Illustrated Guide to Mechanical Building Services.
• BG 32/2014 Illustrated Guide to Electrical Building Services.
• BG 33/2014 Illustrated Guide to Hot and Cold Water Services.

This article originally appeared on the BSRIA website. It was published in January 2022.

--BSRIA

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