Energy-Saving Equipment 27 Home, home on the range
A total HVAC solution was installed at the new Warrington store for The Range, as Martin Passingham, product manager, DX at Daikin UK, explains.
HEAT RECOVERY IS becoming increasingly important in building management – not least because of next year’s tightening of Part L of the Building Regulations, which will demand an uplift in efficiency standards of 9% for non- domestic buildings. Additionally, the continuation of the Government’s carbon reduction commitment scheme provides an extra imperative for building managers to improve energy efficiency, as the cost of carbon ‘allowances’ is rising by 33% for 2014-15.
As a result, businesses are looking at fully integrated VRV heat recovery systems to improve energy efficiencies. This is because VRV heat recovery solutions can dramatically reduce the cost of providing heating and hot water elsewhere, resulting
in lower CO2 emissions and driving savings on energy bills and surrendered carbon allowances.
In Franklin + Andrews’ ‘Little Black Book’ on property, which provides cost benchmarking for the construction industry, the running costs of two and four- pipe fan coil systems are listed as £8.75/ m2 and £10.75/m2 of gross floor area respectively. By comparison, running costs for VRV heat recovery systems are listed at only £6.25/m2 of gross floor area. VRV systems are suitable for any size of building, particularly medium to large commercial spaces, and are regularly installed in offices, hotels, restaurants and bars, leisure centres, health care environments, shops and public buildings. The system is modular, which means it can be scaled up or down depending on the size of building and can be installed floor-by-floor as part of a retrofit project, minimising disruption to businesses and their staff.
The Range
An example of where this technology has been used to achieve unprecedented energy efficiencies is at The Range, part of a national chain of homeware stores, in Warrington. Formerly a fitness centre, this 7,800m2 store required extensive refurbishment to turn it into the high quality retail space required by the company. Refurbishment included the filling in of four swimming pools to provide a retail floor, and the removal of a 400m running track on a mezzanine level. Heating had been provided by a 12-year- old gas boiler. However, contractor CDS Group Services, which has a long-standing partnership with The Range, required a solution to provide the right levels of
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climate control, balanced with energy efficiency. A Daikin solution was chosen to provide heating and cooling for both the back of house areas and across the shop floor. For the office and warehouse areas, a VRV III Heat Recovery system was installed and connected to a low temperature hydrobox, a 200-litre hot water tank and VRV fan coil units. A heat recovery ventilation unit (VAM) was also installed, supplying fresh air to these areas.
The equipment
A VRV IV heat pump was installed to serve the shop floors along with Daikin’s self-cleaning roundflow cassettes. The lift motor room was fitted with a Daikin Sky Air Seasonal Smart condenser to provide high levels of seasonal efficiency. This system was chosen as long piping lengths were required. Evaporating and condensing temperatures can also be altered to further enhance energy efficiency levels.
A total of seven, twin module VRV IV heat pump condensing units were fitted internally to the shop floor with 69 self- cleaning cassettes.
While air conditioning is often set to a nominal 21°C, the VRV IV heat pump is set to operate within a set temperature band to save energy. Heating is also uninterrupted during defrost to ensure continuous comfort.
The self-cleaning roundflow cassettes provide either heating or cooling with a 360º air discharge for uniform air flow and temperature distribution. Maintenance is simplified and energy efficiencies increased with automatic daily filter cleaning.
A Daikin RTD intelligent retail control system sets the temperature parameters for system operation and thermostat cut off. The temperature band can be widened to
save even more energy.
The building’s systems are controlled by Daikin’s iTouch manager, which provides detailed monitoring and easy system operation with accessibility to current and historical energy consumption performance data. The system can be monitored and adjusted remotely through the internet.
The integration
Brad Hurter of the CDS Group says: “We were very happy to work with Daikin UK to incorporate one of the latest fully integrated renewable systems that would provide heating, hot water, and air conditioning allowing The Range at Warrington to have a fully controllable system with operation flexibility according to requirements.”
The inclusion of the VRV IV heat pump provided a highly efficient system, with a 28% increase in seasonal efficiency compared with the VRV III heat pump model, as new variable refrigerant temperature technology now allows continuous adjustment of the refrigerant temperature to the actual temperature and capacity needed, thus providing optimal seasonal efficiency.
Simulations have demonstrated that over five years, the VRV IV heat pump system installed at The Range in Warrington could produce savings of almost £190,000, compared with installing the previous generation of VRV.
Combined with the additional savings in both energy consumption and costs through the VRV III heat recovery system in the rest of the building, this project demonstrates how these systems can go a long way to increasing energy efficiencies in the retail sector and to help meet increasingly stringent legislative standards.
ACR News January 2014
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