Decarbonising Blaen Y Pant Care Home in Newport

Sector:

Introduction

Blaen Y Pant Care Home, located off Malpas Road near Bettws in Newport, provides essential residential and respite care for up to 31 people. The home supports individuals with complex needs, with the majority of residents living with dementia and some subject to Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards (DoLS). Blaen Y Pant plays a vital role within Newport City Council’s adult social care provision and was most recently inspected in December 2024 by Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW), receiving a very good report highlighting areas of excellence.

As part of Newport City Council’s wider commitment to decarbonising its public building estate and improving long term energy sustainability, Blaen Y Pant Care Home was identified as a priority site for heating system refurbishment. The project balanced the council’s carbon reduction ambitions with the need to safeguard comfort, reliability, and operational resilience in a live care environment.

Project Objectives

The primary objective of the project was to replace the existing heating system with a modern, low carbon solution that supports Newport City Council’s decarbonisation strategy while ensuring continuity of service for residents and staff.

Key objectives included:

Replacing ageing heating infrastructure with a low carbon system aligned to council sustainability targets
Maintaining consistent, reliable space heating and hot water provision
Minimising disruption within a fully operational care home
Delivering the project within tight programme constraints, particularly around equipment delivery and installation
Providing a future ready heating solution capable of improving long term efficiency and reducing emissions

Successful delivery required close coordination between Newport City Council, Sustainable Energy as consultant, Cyson Cymru as the in house delivery team, and installing contractor Gibson STS.

Solution

To meet these objectives, Lochinvar provided a high efficiency air source heat pump solution tailored for retrofit applications in sensitive and continuously occupied environments such as care homes.

The installed system comprised:

• Three Lochinvar Amicus Altus R290 Air Source Heat Pumps

• One 2,000 litre thermal store (LBT2000)

The Amicus Altus R290 units were selected for their high seasonal performance, use of a low GWP natural refrigerant (R290), and proven suitability for replacing traditional fossil fuel heating systems. The inclusion of the 2,000 litre thermal store provides thermal buffering and system resilience, helping to maintain stable heat delivery during periods of peak demand and improving overall system efficiency.

Despite challenging delivery and installation timescales, strong collaboration across the project team ensured the new system was installed efficiently with minimal disruption to residents and daily care operations.

The completed system is expected to achieve a Seasonal Coefficient of Performance (SCOP) of approximately 2.9, delivering a significant improvement in energy efficiency. This translates to estimated annual carbon savings of around 30 tonnes of CO₂e, making a substantial contribution to Newport City Council’s decarbonisation targets.

The upgraded heating solution now provides resilient, low carbon heat and hot water while maintaining high standards of comfort and safety for residents and staff. The project demonstrates how existing care facilities can be successfully decarbonised without compromising service delivery and sets a strong precedent for future heating upgrades across the council’s adult social care estate.

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