air conditioning
The future of air conditioning and ventilation
Despite ‘environmentalists’ cries for a natural alternative, the con- tinued growth of mechanical Air Conditioning, particularly in the workplace, cannot logically or economically be stemmed, such is public and industry demand for improved standards of indoor air comfort and quality, whatev- er the season or time of day. Mike Nankivell, Marketing and Business Development Director for the Guildford based Daikin distributor - Space Aircondition- ing plc, explains:
Properly defined, air conditioning is a system or process for control- ling the entire indoor climate including temperature (cooling and heating), ventilation, humidity and through filtration, the air quality. These are year-round requirements not simply limited to extremes of weather. Some 60 per cent of mod- ern, commercial air conditioning systems are based on heat pump
Tony Cull from Monodraught considers the plus side.
Today’s natural ventilation systems are making a vital contribution to replacing ener- gy-hungry air conditioning and reducing the carbon emissions produced by burning fossil fu-
technology and provide heating as the primary requirement. The same systems can recover
and re-direct waste heat energy and cool spaces at the same time. There is something ‘natural’ about it as the process transfers more free ‘re- newable’ energy than the electricity it consumes, so it is extraordinarily efficient! Unfortunately there are some who continually argue that air conditioning (on the basis of their definition) is an unnecessary luxury, given the UK climate. This is mis- guided, misleading and overlooks a number of very important facts and considerations.
The fact is that if we are not comfortable we can neither work efficiently nor relax. There is a distinct relationship between temperature and accidents, dexterity, temperament, mental agility, comfort and physical performance. It is also well publicised that good indoor
els. They are also widely recog- nised as the most effective means of harnessing the wind’s potential as a renewable energy source by using wind pressure to effectively cleanse and venti- late buildings using night time cooling techniques.
Roof mounted and designed to operate with virtually no moving parts, natural ventilation systems use established principles to bring fresh air into buildings. Two forces are used to drive airflow: the ac- tion of the wind and the buoyancy of hot air. Firstly, air is supplied to a room under the ac- tion of positive wind pressure on a natural ventilation unit, while hot stale air is simultaneously ex- tracted from leeward openings under the action of negative wind pressure. Secondly, the movement of hot air towards the top of a building encourages the flow of air into the building at low level. Natural ventilation systems can
be controlled individually or via central controls with seasonal
Steady growth for Coolair
Coolair Equipment Ltd celebrated its 30th anniversary on 13th February and is looking to continue its success story so far by expanding into new fields. Although Coolair remains a multi-distributor, it is now Mitsubishi Electric’s largest customer with around 70 per cent of its air condi- tioning sales involving equipment from this manufacturer. Coolair also became a Mitsubishi Electric Business Solutions Provider in 2005 and this enables the company to offer cus- tomers up to five years warranty on Mitsubishi Electric equipment. Since its origins in a small office in a ter-
24 Architects Choice
raced house in Manchester, Coolair has grown into a nationwide company with two large divisions dealing with the design and installation of air con- ditioning systems and, since 1997, the service and maintenance of systems with Coolair Services Limited. Coolair sales were £170,000 in its first year and overall turnover is now averaging £25m per annum, with the company proud of its position as the strongest, most well-regarded air conditioning installation company in the UK.
sales@coolair.co.uk.
switching, which can also provide night time cooling during summer months. At other times of the year units can be set to provide trickle ventilation without the problems of cold draughts. Solar driven units are also available to introduce a 260 l/s energy-free boost to the air- flow, and can be set to extract stale air. Effectively, this means that as the power of the sun increases, the volume of fresh air flowing into the building also increases. All without any energy cost. Controllable natu- ral ventilation has never been more important as increasingly sophisti- cated end-users seek to control the indoor environment.
For further information, visit Monodraught at www.monodraught.com
air quality is fundamental to our general health wellbeing. Obviously our indoor environment is subject to many influences but in order for any building to operate ef- ficiently, due attention must be paid to climate control and mechanical air conditioning has a critical part to
play in many instances, whether ‘environmentalists’ like it or not”. Natural ventilation is available and enjoys a degree of success in many applications but this is a far cry from ‘natural air conditioning’ something that has yet to be suc- cessfully achieved.
marketing@spaceair.co.uk or visit www.spaceair.co.uk
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