Arup and Ordnance Survey (OS) have hit a major milestone in the roll-out of national heat networks in England with a major update to the national heat zoning model.

The model will support at least ten English towns and cities to begin establishing their heat network zones later this year, with further zones to follow.

Arup, a global engineering and sustainability development consultancy and OS, as consultants, were first appointed by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) in 2024 under the Heat Network Zoning Consultancy Framework to provide technical and consulting services to help identify and develop heat network zones in England.

As part of the framework, they have been working on the design and management of the national heat zoning model, which helps decide where large, low-carbon heat networks should be built across England.

The model is underpinned by OS building and address data, which provides the core inputs for assessing heat network development costs, alongside OS roads and rivers data. Accurate building classification data is critical to the model, as it informs heat demand assumptions and improves the reliability of outputs. The potential use of the OS National Geographic Database (OS NGD) is also being evaluated, with potential value in new building attribution and more comprehensive site-level data.