Heating innovation at Robinson College

Robinson College have turned to their local water course, Bin Brook, to heat their buildings. Heating will be generated using a Water Source Heat Pump.

Water Source Heat Pumps work by extracting heat from a body of water and converting it into useful energy to heat a building. They use a series of submerged pipes to extract the heat from a river, lake, large pond or borehole and compress the water to increase the temperature.

Working closely with the appointed company, ICAX and their principal contractors (Modus property services) the College embarked on installing the 3.5 tonne Water Source Heat Pump. A specialist machinery movement company was employed for this part of the works, which also required the help of a large group of contractors working with Robinson’s in-house maintenance team to squeeze the pump through the doors and to install within the main boiler house.

Water Source Heat Pumps require a steady volume of water to work and the early part of the works proved a real challenge as water levels were high and difficult to control.

The contractor was able to install a weir once levels had dropped sufficiently for them to safely work. The weir, which is constructed across the brook, allows water to be circulated from the weir to the heat pump and back to the brook. This is the first weir to be given consent for construction by the Environment Agency in a decade. The Agency was particularly impressed by the design which facilitates the passage of eels up Bin Brook: it is hoped that this will make a valuable contribution to the recovery of eel numbers in the Cam waterway network.

Though the delivery of the system had some delays and teething problems, the system should help Robinson College to drastically reduce their carbon emissions. The system is currently working and providing support to the College’s main boiler systems, giving heating and hot water to the main College buildings. The goal is that this system will reduce the gas requirement of these buildings by 50%.