Sitting in the shadow of Wembley Stadium’s famous arch is Grand Felda House, a combined student accommodation and leisure centre campus. Built over two tower blocks, Grand Felda House is home to more than 800 students, and includes a games room, cinema room and study area. The site also includes Wembley Leisure Centre, which is open 24 hours a day and contains a 25 metre swimming pool and 100 station gym.

Formerly known as Dexion House, the site was earmarked for renovation in 2010 and consisted of a single nine story tower block. Extremely dated and unable to cope with student housing demands, a decision to upscale the site was made.

With 40% of the development a refurbishment and 60% new build, this represented a unique challenge for the developers when sizing the heating system. Lead contractor and installer on the project, Red Electric, opted for a low carbon solution to achieve strict emission targets set by the London Assembley Environment Committee. With this in mind, combined heat and power was chosen as the lead heat source, with gas boiler back-up, due to the long hours of demand from the accommodation and leisure centre.

Viessmann was chosen to provide a Vitobloc 200 combined heat and power unit, delivering 207 kW of thermal energy and 140 kW of electrical power. Specifically designed for use when there is a continuous need for electricity and heat, the Vitobloc 200 offers enormous savings potential as energy prices rise. It has an electrical modulation capability of up to 50%, meaning it can scale up or down to suit demand and can be operated with either a heat or power bias.

The combined heat and power technology is supported by three Vitocrossal 300 floorstanding gas condensing boilers, each at 787 kW and 98% efficiency. This highly effective heat transfer through stainless steel components, leads to clean combustion and high operational reliability and a long service life. The Viessmann heating system supplies five 6,000 litre buffer vessels, ensuring residents at Grand Felda House and Wembley Leisure Centre users are catered for 24 hours a day, seven day a week.

Project details

Since its completion in August 2016, more than 2.5 MW of heating in combination with 140 kW electrical power generation has resulted in a 20% carbon reduction on site and a significant saving on energy bills.

Project year: August 2016
Equipment: 1 x Vitobloc 200 EM140
3 x Vitocrossal 300 CR3B
Rated output: Combined heat and power 207 kW th / 140 kW el
Gas condensing boilers 2.3 MW
Location: Wembley, London