In the second of our Future Leaders In Depth profiles, Seb Berry talks to Vincent Bailey about his experience of taking part in the Future Leaders leadership programme and his current role at B.A. Hydro Solutions Ltd.
Can you tell us a little bit about your background and why you wanted to join B.A. Hydro Solutions Ltd?
Growing up I took an interest in science and physical geography which with the help of some summertime field trips, has resulted in me reading geology.
Throughout my degree, numerous lectures focused on the importance of recognising and measuring environmental and climatic changes that have happened throughout the history of the Earth. This enables us to understand when human activities affect and detriment our natural environment and why climate change is so fundamentally sensitive.
Outside of geological mapping I took a particular interest in water quality monitoring and when the opportunity to work at B.A Hydro Solutions in the water quality laboratory came up I went for it!
While working in the laboratory, I learnt the company consults on groundwater management and ground source heating which interested me in the responsibility and potential geology has in sustainably using our environment. I was then successful in obtaining a role as a graduate geologist at the firm.
What has been the most challenging aspect of your role to date?
As the UK heating network is decarbonised leading up to 2050 the number and size of ground source heating systems being designed and installed across the UK has grown and will continue to grow. Even in the time I’ve worked at B.A Hydro Solutions. This has meant I have quickly had to learn what factors will affect the resilience of ground source heating systems with regard to geological issues, heat pump functions and end-user demands.
Trying to help clients understand why these factors are important or change the scope of design when money, time and patience are of limited resource can be an uphill struggle. But I firmly believe with good working practice that is led by example and increased cohesion between designers and installers, we can make our space heating and cooling renewable and achieve a Net Zero 2050.
How much of a team player do you need to be in your role? Examples?
Like many jobs, I don’t think I could fulfil my role if I wasn’t able to work positively with my colleagues. Peer-reviewing our work is how we make sure our reports and designs are the best we can make them, using every piece of available information.
We can’t all be on site completing fieldwork, meeting with and talking to clients, writing a report, being in the laboratory or keeping track of and invoicing for services we provide. So, making sure I keep in touch with each of my colleagues and managers is essential.
Recently, as the funding for the Renewable Heating Incentive has come to close, it has been a push for my colleagues and I to quickly design a number of large ground source heating systems. One example that springs to mind is a shallow ground closed loop horizontal array that will provide heating for a large college in Kingston Maurward.
The design process involved my colleagues collecting and testing soil samples on site and before other team members continued the analysis in our soil laboratory over a period of weeks. Inputs from each colleague have undoubtably improved the design and help finish our work quickly. Other large projects using borehole arrays have similarly had to be designed pronto.
How has the COVID crisis impacted on your work?
As a team we have managed to adapt to working from home rather well in my opinion. Since lots of our work is desk based, we initially only worked from home and learnt to use Zoom and Teams like everyone else. When we could start going into the office we used available flow test kits, share the responsibility by going in 2-3 days a week and kept ourselves bubbled to only see the same few people – thankfully, no one has had COVID so far!
What has been your most satisfying multi-megawatt project in the UK to date, and what particular challenges did you have to overcome?
The first project that comes to mind is an ongoing closed loop borehole heating system we are designing for Hereford County Hospital; being able to provide a service for such a vital part of a community is very gratifying. The speed at which the site has had to be assessed, the system planned and the amount of data we initially had to look through made the workload seem like a mountain at times, but I have learnt a lot from the project.
In your first profile you said that there was a need to commercialise low and zero-carbon technologies. How do you see that process playing out? Which technologies have the most potential?
For similar reasons to why the heating system at Hereford County Hospital is a notable project to me, the use of ground source and air source heat pumps, combined heat and power (CHP) and solar thermal technologies all working together for a larger number of end-users can maximise the capability of a system. If every individual householder has to take the responsibility to decarbonise their heating systems, this process will take a long time and be very expensive – perhaps too long for 2050 and unaffordable to all.
Other community-based projects we have worked on that retrofit renewable district heating systems to replace boilers and those that aim to provide thermal recharge to the ground, as well as just extract heat from the ground, will be much more effective at reducing the carbon footprint of many people at once.
Councils, property developers and some individuals have key roles to play in building newer, greener homes and upgrading existing properties. The Environment Agency, local planning offices, utility providers and ground source heating consultants have a key role to play in ensuring the ambient warmth of the ground isn’t treated as an infinite resource.
In your experience, what are the main barriers to ground source heating uptake in the UK, and what can be done about them?
The cost of installation initially puts some homeowners and developers off from taking on a ground source heating project, particularly commercial heating networks which now have no funding mechanism.
With time the price for heat pumps and installations may decrease through competition but it would be most beneficial for communities and industries to take a joint approach to considering renewable heating. Of course, this assumes people have heard about ground source heating – a good BBC documentary would go a long way to informing many people about how ground source and other renewable heating systems work.
Do you have any ambitions to work internationally?
If I do not have to sacrifice any commitments, professional or personal, to provide a meaningful service that aids in reducing the fossil fuel emissions of a place or people, I will happily go where I can be of benefit.
In your first profile you mentioned the need for leaders to make a “positive movement.” Which leaders inspire you and why?
Without knowing I would find a job in the renewable heating field some of the best influences I have had come from my lecturers and University College London Earth Sciences department and my friends. The practice of learning to recognise what you don’t know and finding the answer is the best one-stop-shop answer to this question and I have tried to take this idea with me into my profession.
Since starting my job at BAHS, working for and with more like-minded people who reinforce this mantra to keep learning as an active part of a business and not just a geologist, really makes me feel like I’m part of a positive movement. My managers have played a great part in helping me grow my abilities and I thank them for it greatly.
Other people I don’t know in person, but I have seen talk or read about and find it fulfilling to know they studied geology and continued to accomplish important careers are Sir Andrew Mackenzie and Lee Rawlinson of the Environment Agency.
More personally, I will always feel an instilled sense to take my job seriously and I owe this to my family; they have worked hard to give me the best opportunity to do what I want to do, so this is a positive movement I want to take forward for my family.
If you could have 10 minutes with the Prime Minister, what would you tell him?
Focusing on ground source heating, I’d ask for national government to impose a priority for councils and property developers to install large scale renewable heating systems that will help people who can’t afford or are unaware they can install a heat pump to reduce their carbon footprint.
Please comb your hair more too.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years’ time and doing what?
Professionally, if ground source heating continues to play a major part in achieving Net Zero by 2050 (as I think it should), there should still be work to do in 10 years time, perhaps more focused on managing existing designs as much as continuing or finishing the first generation of installations. Otherwise, I hope to still learn and write about rocks and soil for the same or similar useful purposes. Within the next 5 years I want to complete a masters degree in hydrogeology so I can also consult on groundwater abstraction and injection.
Personally, stay close to my family and make a house a home with the right person.
