Commercial water heating with its inherent complexity due to specific legislative demands, variety of geographic locations and building design has meant application design has traditionally followed a more bespoke route. This is especially true when refurbishing older properties which makes modularity a challenge when it comes to swapping out or upgrading system elements, which can include primary heat source such as gas or electric water heaters and boilers, indirect cylinders and buffer vessels or preheat systems like solar thermal and most recently heat pumps. Such adaptability is crucial in a modular system and potentially invaluable for commercial settings, where systems must balance efficiency, sustainability, and long-term costs.
Consequently modularity has lent itself to new build projects where identical commercial demands can drive core similarity in architectural design and building services provisioning. However, new water heating technology, is opening doors to introduce greater modularity into existing systems, especially in the provision of system preheat.
Adveco, as a specialist in system design for commercial grade hot water systems, has been developing products that support a more modular-style approach to applications design for new build and refurbishment challenges.
Early iterations include the option to design systems in cascade, a feature well understood in the provision of gas water heaters and boilers. Such functionality is enabled by the inclusion of onboard controls and the capability to easily link units to the building management system (BMS). Such control and communication is critical to modular functionality and is one of the company’s specialities. There has also been a concerted effort to move design from bespoke to a more off-the-shelf format, again a critical element in delivering modularity. This is best exemplified through the creation of the award-winning FUSION system, derived from our work on packaged plant rooms, which while focussing on smaller DHW demands, has paved the way for understanding system integration with multiple technologies including electric boilers, cylinders, heat pumps, immersions and controls.
Adveco’s experience in solar thermal arrays has also fed into this understanding, with system sizing for collector arrays as well as upgrading existing hot water systems to new collector with drain back-based systems. Modernising and future proofing an application without requiring a complete system change is the goal, enhancing what exists to meet decarbonisation and operational cost saving without large scale capital reinvestment. Such renewables, providing pre- or mid-heat to a system are a prime opportunity to add modularity to a DHW system. This is particularly true of heat pumps.
provides a range of commercial grade monobloc air source heat pumps (ASHP), which, like water heaters support integration in cascade. This is best exemplified by the ADV65-110W range of heat pumps. The monobloc design means the majority of system components are factory fitted, which makes for easier installation and more regular form factor. That is important as it better enables the siting of units, especially on roof tops where space can be at a premium. Each unit is capable of being connected with up to 15 other units with the built in controller, so there is an immediate modularity, enabling a system to easily accept additional heat pumps should demand increase. Furthermore, 16 controllers can then operate in cascade to deliver truly large scale applications. The BMS enables full system control, or to be more granular down to individual units. This give the option to switch units on or off, or remove/replace, with ease should there be future system alteration, or maintenance demands. This versatility is one of the key advantages of the modular approach, and what enables the current and future generations of DHW system to adapt to the accelerating demands of net zero, whether national networks evolve to more electric, green gas, such as hydrogen, or the expected mix of environmentally friendly energy supplies.
While still evolving, investing in modular systems is ultimately about taking a proactive approach to the long-term needs of commercial buildings. By choosing adaptable, upgradable water heating, businesses can confidently navigate a future where efficiency, sustainability, and regulatory compliance are increasingly critical.
With modular design, the commercial sector has greater opportunity to control costs, improve energy performance, and embrace sustainable practices that safeguard both their infrastructure and the environment.
www.adveco.co