PIPES AND DUCTWORK
Ducting:
friend or foe? G
Joe Flanagan of Ingenious Air takes a look at the pitfalls of a poorly maintained system.
etting the ducting part of any project takes both design time and site organisation. Ducts can get re-routed because of issues on-site and this can affect how the HVAC system performs.
Performance is usually the main focus once the project is finished, despite any site alterations during installation, and this is understandable. The primary function of the system is to cool/heat/ventilate as per regulations and requirements.
But what about the longer term? What impact does the ducting have on the building that it is
38 April 2018 meant to serve?
Up until now, the ducting in HVAC has been either neutral – that is, it simply does the job of supplying the designed HVAC air as it is meant to do – or causing harm to the area, and people, it serves.
if we assume that there are no issues with, cold/hot spots, stratification or draughts from the system, what else can cause harm? With the increased awareness of the impact of indoor air quality (IAQ) on building occupants, there is a growing recognition of the part played by the unseen part of the duct – the inside.
We are breathing in three to four litres of air per minute, which is approximately 15kgs per day. The importance of keeping this air as healthy as possible seems obvious, yet this aspect of our industry seems to play only a minor role. There are regulations already in place for keeping ducts clean. The BESA (Building Engineering Services Association) website has a book on the TR19 regulation. This can also lead on to BSEN15780: cleanliness of ventilation systems, excluding kitchen extracts – and the Workplace (Health, Safety & Welfare) Regulations 1992. In addition, the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007 refers to fire (and fire spread) from dirty ducting. For microbiological issues there is TM26.2000 – information available from CIBSE – to give the client and contractor guides on how to test
www.acr-news.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72
