Currie & Brown

The University of Sussex - District Heating Reconfiguration & Extension

Executive Summary

To assist the University of Sussex in lowering their carbon emissions, Currie & Brown contracted us to reroute their existing district heating network.

  • stats-numerical
    £600k contract value
  • calendar
    1 month ahead of schedule
  • energy-distribution
    1.4km district heating pipework

Project Overview

The University of Sussex is situated amongst the South Downs National Park. They are currently updating and expanding their energy infrastructure to reduce CO2 emissions by 44% by 2020. They have been constructing new buildings to BREEAM standards, replacing old energy inefficient buildings and improving the energy use and insulation of existing buildings to reduce their carbon footprint.

Our Solution

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Currie & Brown selected us to reroute the existing district heating network along the east slope of the campus by installing 1.4km of pipework along a 700m trench loop, connecting to the existing system. This included 700m of pipe carrying hot water away from the energy centre, and 700m of pipe returning water to the energy centre.

The completed network will supply a variety of campus buildings, including the future science hub and student residences, which will eventually be home to around 600 students.

Solution detail

The project had extremely tight timescales and through good communication, management and teamwork, Vital Energi reduced the delivery by over a month. The welding teams work was quite special and of excellent quality and the band-muffers work was also of high quality, especially in the conditions they were working in. The process was well thought through and Vital Energi’s Project Manager co-ordinated the teams of welders and band-muffers providing a seamless delivery.

Richard Battey , Divisional Director, Currie & Brown

Key Benefits

University of Sussex

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