Atamate Blog

Cutting domestic carbon emissions is essential to achieving net-zero by 2050. Current policy is to renovate existing buildings to energy performance certificate (EPC) band C. However, that does not measure carbon emissions so every building could achieve band C and still leave the sector far short of net-zero. Here’s...

Heat pumps are a possible way to close the gap between low-cost, high-carbon gas power and high-cost, low-carbon electricity in heating the British domestic sector. Energy Systems Catapult’s recent project tested the feasibility of installing them across the many home types and ages that comprise the British housing...

Energy Systems Catapult has declared its Electrification of Heat (EoH) project successful in installing heat pumps in all types and ages of British homes. However, their published reports suggest that installation may not be possible in many older, low-income homes where the high cost of electricity will be most felt.

The client

A developer building new homes for social housing and for private sale.

There are many innovations transforming building services driven mainly by the huge challenge of achieving Net Zero targets. In a series of articles, we look at these innovations specifically where they are appropriate for apartment blocks.

In this final article in the series, we look at using direct electric space...

Air-source heat pumps (ASHPs) are widely promoted as a source of low-cost, low-carbon space and water heating. However, a model of ASHP-powered heating in London shows that they compare unfavourably to heating derived directly from mains electricity, especially when compared to real-world data from flats using direct...

Given the recent rise in gas prices and the UK government’s stated aim of making all newly built homes ‘zero-carbon ready’ by 2025, the need to move away from using gas to heat and produce hot water for domestic properties has been brought into focus.

One of the technologies that is seen as an alternative to a gas...

Yesterday, the government announced a £450 million boiler upgrade scheme, offering £5,000 grants for households replacing gas-boilers with low-carbon heating systems. The scheme does not specify what low-carbon system should be used although it repeatedly refers to air-source heat pumps.

District heating schemes use a single powerplant to provide heating and hot water to many buildings. They have been promoted as important in decarbonising the British economy but their dependence on gas limits their carbon efficiency and heat is lost as it is distributed which causes internal gains.