The development of sustainable heating networks must accelerate. That is the opinion of Techniek Nederland and Energie-Nederland. The chairmen of these trade organizations, Doekle Terpstra and Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, have therefore signed an agreement ‘Working together on the quality of sustainable heating networks’. The aim of the agreement is for more installation companies to become involved in installing delivery sets in homes that are connected to a heating network. With the InstallQ recognition scheme for heat exchangers as a new standard, Techniek Nederland and Energie-Nederland also want to guarantee the quality of the installation work. Terpstra and Van Nieuwenhuizen signed the agreement during the VSK 2024 installation trade fair.
Heat exchangers If a home is connected to a heating network (also known as ‘district heating’), a heat exchanger is required to provide the residents with heat for central heating and tap water. Specific expertise is required to install a delivery set. InstallQ has developed a ‘Heat Exchanger’ accreditation scheme for this purpose, in addition to the ‘Heat delivery systems of building-related heating installations’ accreditation. Installers can obtain the ‘Heat Exchanger’ recognition with the e-learning district heating installations.
Half a million new connections by 2030 The number of connections to heating networks is not growing fast enough. According to the Climate Agreement, half a million homes must be connected by 2030. Now there are only a few tens of thousands per year. The agreement ‘Working together on the quality of sustainable heating networks’ should contribute to a significant growth in the number of connections. Chairman Doekle Terpstra of Techniek Nederland: ‘Installers play a crucial role in the energy transition. This also applies to heating networks. We want to increase awareness of the work and the Heat Exchanger recognition scheme. If more installers become active in this market, this will accelerate the development of sustainable heating networks. Cora van Nieuwenhuizen, chairman of Energie-Nederland: ‘The cooperation agreement with Techniek Nederland states that heating companies prefer to work with recognized installers and will request this in their orders. In this way we encourage craftsmanship, fewer disruptions occur and installers also contribute to a faster heat transition.
Agreements in the heating networks cooperation agreement In the agreement ‘Working together on the quality of sustainable heating networks’, Techniek Nederland and Energie-Nederland have made a number of agreements about the work on heating networks:
- A joint quality framework will be created for the installation, connection and management of distribution installations connected to heating networks. This is important for clear quality and recognizability to customers.
- The InstallQ ‘Heat Exchanger’ accreditation scheme will become the standard in the rollout of sustainable heating networks.
- Techniek Nederland and Energie-Nederland will actively bring the recognition scheme ‘Heat Exchanger’ and the underlying recognition ‘Heat delivery systems of building-related heating installations’ to the attention of members.
- Techniek Nederland and Energie-Nederland advise heating companies to choose recognized installation companies when awarding contracts for district heating networks.
Read the letter of intent here – ‘Working together on the quality of sustainable heating networks’: Heat and installation companies work together on the quality of sustainable heating networks
