Baxi and Bellway Homes join forces for solar installation

Date:

12/06/2008

Baxi has helped Bellway Homes comply with a late amendment to planning permission for a site of 286 apartments in Fenney Stratford, Buckinghamshire.  It required that 10 per cent of the energy demand came from a renewable source. 

Baxi is already one of Bellway Homes' longstanding preferred boiler suppliers, and as an authoritative solar system supplier, it made sense to develop an already well established relationship and work together on the site.  In addition, all Bellway Homes use Megaflo cylinders from Heatrae Sadia, which is also part of Baxi Group, so there would be a seamless transition into solar installation.

At the start of the project an integrated team was formed with representatives from each discipline, including representatives from Bellway Homes, Baxi's specification and renewables teams, Baxi's New Design department, architects, structural engineers and the plumbing and heating contractors, M & N Heating. 

This meant that everyone had the opportunity to have input into this major project and, by working together from the start, communications were maintained between all parties and a greater understanding of the objectives was achieved.

Time was a major issue, because the calculations, necessary to prove the 10 per cent energy reduction, had to be accepted by Milton Keynes Council before work could start on site, and the piling rigs had already been booked for the preliminary works.  If they had to be cancelled, the whole project would have been set back by three to six months.

Simon Jeffery, Architectural Manager at Bellway Homes, explained: "By working in partnership with Baxi, we now understand solar and will be able to specify it confidently on other sites.  With the Government's carbon reducing targets and the introduction of the Code for Sustainable Homes, the inclusion of renewable technologies will feature more and more in the properties we build in the future."

Baxi's Renewables Manager, Charlie Lamb, added: "We have learned valuable lessons through our close partnership with Bellway Homes that will stand us in good stead for future projects.  These include openness and communication, as well as the obvious technical issues."

Each apartment has its own Baxi Solarflo flat plate solar collector panel, either incorporated into the tiled roof or on an A frame on an area of flat roof.  It also has a Heatrae Sadia Megatech twin coil water storage cylinder along with its own solar controller.  Supplementary heating and hot water is provided by a Potterton Promax SL heat; with a SEDBUK efficiency of 91.3 per cent, this slim line boiler is one of the most efficient heat only boilers available on the market.

Baxi Solarflo will provide up to 100 per cent of the household's hot water requirement in the summer, and 50-60 per cent annually.  In addition, significant savings can be made on fuel bills, and carbon dioxide emissions reduced by up to half a tonne. 

For more information on Baxi Solarflo visit our product pages.