Our “Warmest” Welcome to begin this Northern Winter 2024-2025 with our:

Introductory Message from The Academy !

From our small group of academics & professional engineers we want to entrust to you our Legacy from our Zero Emissions Struggle across 50 years of varied Solar & Heat Pump designs and deployment, in many contrasting climatic conditions and from our Client’s demanding “bespoke” System Application ”retrofits” to shut-down their fossil fuel (F.F.) Boiler(s).

Our Academy is NO advocate for any Brand of Solar Thermal FPC, nor PV Panel, nor Manufacturer, nor Heat Pump Brand, but where any particular ancillary fittings or methods may be occasionally mentioned, we shall transparently identify all conflicts of interest.

Our niche expertise originates from our decades’ long Systems Design Energy Analysis that combines & integrates both Passive & Active Solar Thermal + Electrical PV Solar energies with all concepts for (vapor-compression) Heat Pump deployment. These are our F.F. Boiler shut-down projects to  Zero Emissions across Oceania; E. Asia; USA; Australia; & Mid-East including high-rise buildings >90 Floors. This includes both government & non-government buildings as Hospitals; Schools; MOD Buildings; Prestige Hotels, Elite Residences & quite a few Heritage Homes of Royalty & Celebrity.

To give context to those early decades, the “business driver” by the Client had always been “$$$ Savings” with a simple R.O.I. on the up-front Capital Expenses (CAPEX) plus the Facility Owner’s burnishing of Green Credentials. After the mid ‘70’s tripling of fossil fuel prices by the OPEC hike in oil prices (and the fear of more to come!) this was maybe sufficient to justify the replacement of an “Aged” Boiler (fully depreciated, close to zero  NAV) that had troublesome maintenance costs. Other motivations from sophisticated COP Climate Conferences & demands for a NET-ZERO time-line had not then been developed.

The severe challenge of those years was to shut-down & replace an F.F. Boiler with a Zero Emissions System that could be proven to give full-payback on “installed cost” within 3 years plus some additional tangible facility benefits (e.g. dehumidification; deodorizing of trash areas; elevator shaft cooling etc. etc.) for the Facility Operator. Additionally, we were required to meet the imperative for all high-value component risks to be covered by a Manufacturer’s Warranty (for replacement assurance in any “worst case scenario” of a major component breakdown failure). It always helped us, that never in those years, did a Client require us to remove & dispose of their aged Boiler. The latent, lingering doubt & uncertainty of the reliability & resilience of our installed Solar/H.P. Systems had them holding onto their Boiler for many extra months until they were self-reassured……allowing us to eliminate all Boiler removal costs from our first-cost payback calculations!

Always, our every Zero Emissions Design required many multiple iterations + repeated site visits for re-validation on the specification & operating settings of numerous ancillary M.E.P vintage items (and never an availability of “As Built” drawings). In those days of NIL mobile photos and NIL digital cameras this often required expensive Polaroid prints.

Perhaps the most difficult, was “closing” for a Zero Emissions Project alongside the local Electrical Utility company who was in dire competition with the Gas Utility also trying to win-over the Client, but to install a Gas Boiler. In the several liaisons we had, of this kind, it always ended in tears. There was too much skullduggery within the to/fro grey area of hidden Client subsidy incentives twixt both Utilities that ended in squeezing the Project to a loss-loss both for ourselves & our Clients.

Another, equal disappointment, was our naïve discovery that no matter, the precision of our Analysis & drawings, site-meetings, & detailed preparatory instruction……….working a “Retrofit” always involved :  “what could go wrong, would go wrong” Murphy’s Law…….especially when our backs were turned! It was ALWAYS critical to have a skilled engineer with previous vintage Boiler & M.E.P. expertise to supervise every step of the process. Working our Zero Emission Projects from Saigon, to Okinawa, to Korean Islands to Saipan to Sydney to Singapore to Abu Dhabi across the Mediterranean & Caribbean Islands to the N. West Islands of Scotland, the twists & turns of “The Journey” through local extortion, sabotage, bare-knuckle disputes & the sheer Bad Luck of events is worthy of a mystery thriller podcast.

We have now digressed enough into historical context. Maybe it sets-the-scene for our next Posting, and some hand-me-down guidance to motivate young apprentices for our passion to continue “The Struggle” to decarbonise & future-proof existing aged properties by F.F. Boiler shut-downs (and removal !) in the challenging Northern Latitudes of UK; EU; N. America & Canada….…..but more on this in our future Tech. Thoughts Messages !

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