Last Thursday around 100 people enjoyed a great Fit for the Future Network event at Plas Newydd. a wide range of members from Local Authorities, community action groups, universities and national NGO’s visited the National Trust property for a ‘warts and all’ tour of the marine source heat pump as it’s mid-installation.
The idea was to provide people with a realistic idea of what embarking on a marine source heat pump project actually involves, sharing best practice and lessons learnt so that next time round people don’t make the same mistakes. Having to fill in 17 time-consuming permits, the intricacies of designing a pump house which won’t float away and managing relationships with property staff as the ground is churned up and historical trees are chopped down just weeks before the busy visitor season begins, were all valuable insights.
As well as the heat pump, delegates also went on tours of the 50kW solar PV array and looked inside the mansion at the secondary glazing, radiators and specially designed LED lighting which are all helping to lower the properties overall energy consumption. I found the link between the historic heating system in the house and the reason for choosing a heat pump as opposed to another type of renewable fascinating; it had not occurred to me that the two were interlinked!
More than anything it was great to see so many people scribbling down notes, swapping numbers and networking – which is essentially what Fit for the Future is all about.
Head to the Fit4Future pages to join the Network.
