Whitley Bay High School
The original Whitley Bay High School building was constructed in 1963. Although it underwent several refurbishments between 2003 and 2008, by 2020 the facility had reached the end of its practical service life. A decision was made to construct a brand-new school on the same site, with construction taking place in 2022 and the new buildings completed later that year.
The new school campus comprises two buildings. Building One is a three-storey block housing teaching spaces and administrative offices, while Building Two accommodates a sports hall and additional teaching areas arranged across two floors. As with most modern developments, achieving compliance with current building regulations required significant reductions in both energy consumption and carbon emissions. This meant that a low-carbon heating solution was essential for supplying hot water to the building's heat emitters.
BAM Design was appointed by North Tyneside Council to design the mechanical and electrical services for the project. After assessing a range of heating technologies, BAM Design concluded that a commercial-scale heat pump system offered the most effective solution to meet the project's stringent environmental targets.
For technical support and product selection, BAM Design partnered with ICG Heat Pumps, a specialist importer and distributor of commercial heat pump systems. Following detailed discussions with ICG Heat Pumps, BAM Design specified three York AMICHI YMPA0160PE heat pump units, each delivering 117 kW of heating capacity.
The York AMICHI heat pumps were selected for their high efficiency and low noise characteristics, as well as their use of the low-GWP refrigerant R454B. With a global warming potential (GWP) of 466, this refrigerant significantly reduces the embodied carbon impact of the system, providing a major advantage when undertaking CIBSE TM65 embodied carbon calculations.
To maximise efficiency, the heating system was designed to operate at lower water temperatures. Underfloor heating and fresh-air heating coils were therefore selected, requiring a maximum flow temperature of just 50°C. At this operating condition, the York AMICHI YMPA0160PE heat pumps achieve a seasonal coefficient of performance (SCOP) of 3.5. This performance delivers substantial energy and carbon savings compared with the benchmark set by the theoretical notional building defined within UK building regulations.
The heat pump system has been successfully implemented, delivering a significant reduction in carbon emissions for the new school campus. The three York AMICHI units provide a total heating capacity of 351 kW, efficiently meeting the heating and hot water demands across both buildings. The low operating temperature design (50°C) combined with the high SCOP of 3.5 ensures energy efficiency and operational cost savings that will benefit the school throughout its lifecycle. The project demonstrates the effectiveness of heat pump technology in meeting modern building regulations and environmental compliance requirements for educational facilities.
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