Decarbonising Heating Systems for a Net-zero Campus: Case of University of Aberdeen Hillhead Halls

This paper focuses on the options for replacing the heating system at Hillhead Halls at the University of Aberdeen with the goal of providing adequate heat load whilst enabling carbon emissions reduction in line with University and Government carbon emission goals. Hillhead primarily uses gas-fired boilers to heat a local heat network. These gas boilers are now at the end of their design life and a near-term replacement is required. The study focuses on improving the current heat network and reviewing options to replace the existing gas boilers with low-carbon heat technologies. This study concludes that the pipework for the network should be upgraded as this would allow the heat network to move from the current 3G District Network (high temperature) to a 4G District Network (lower temperature). This reduces carbon emissions but also enables the use of low-carbon technology. It also concludes that heat pumps, biomass, and extension of other nearby heat networks are heat technologies that meet the main objective of reducing carbon emissions and which could be a practical solution at Hillhead given further study.