Towards low flow temperatures: Making buildings ready for heat pumps and modern district heating

Authors: Martin Pehnt, Julia Lawrenz, Peter Mellwig, Sem Oxenaar, Louise Sunderland

The benefits of focusing on buildings’ LT readiness are well established. Lowering the flow temperatures of heating systems is important for heating efficiency, whatever the heat source. It is particularly important for clean heat, leading to a decarbonised, climate friendly heat supply: lower flow temperatures enable heat pumps to operate more efficiently and enable a more diverse range of clean heat sources to be integrated into the heating mix. For building owners and occupiers, ensuring heat can be provided at low flow temperatures is a key safeguard for affordable heating. Enabling lower-flow-temperature heating is thus a no-regrets option. The concept of an LT ready building brings a new perspective to the design of polices and strategies for building decarbonisation, namely one that focuses on the interactions between the building fabric, the heat distribution system and performance of the heat source. Understanding this interaction is important for decisions on best-placed investments. The concept, therefore, fills a gap in the European buildings and heating policy framework, and in most national frameworks.