stakeholders. Building owners and FMs can start to save energy from day one, month one of the initial discussions. This approach improves cash flow, and the business case begins to write itself. Depending on the system and load profiles, total energy savings of up to 40% are possible via this approach.
Another important development of recent years is digital twinning, which can now bring the power of AI to HVAC design. FMs often think these technologies are way off in the future, but digital twinning is already delivering these benefits, and the tools are readily available and being used today in our projects. With digital twinning, engineers can rapidly receive a quantified report on the impact of introducing heat pumps, or replacing a specific pump model, with actual calculations of the resulting savings in energy consumption, energy costs and carbon reductions provided by the technology in minutes. Using these insights the simulation also calculates the payback period and return on investment. After installation of new or upgraded systems, the performance and resulting savings can be verified/proven using the same digital twinning technology. Leveraging cloud computing makes it possible to carry out calculations that were never possible using traditional computer simulations.
Avoiding unnecessary embodied carbon The practice of specifying full duty/standby pump installations is so widespread that it has not traditionally been questioned. On a day-to-day basis, one pump (sized for full duty) is operational while another of the same size is out of action, simply there to accommodate 100% redundancy in the event of routine maintenance or pump failure. This has a huge impact on embodied carbon and cost.
In installations such as hotels, offices and retail stores, or sites considered as having a low risk (such as schools and apartment blocks) there are far more sustainable, efficient and cost-effective ways of safeguarding pump operation than having pumps standing idle ‘just in case’.
Adopting a parallel pumping strategy (specifying two smaller pumps, each sized for 50% of the design flow) in preference to a 100% standby approach, can reduce first installed and lifecycle costs, free up space in the plant room or energy centre, and potentially halve the embodied carbon for the installation. The Armstrong Tango range of pump solutions, for example, incorporates two pumps into a single case and has built-in parallel sensorless pump control and embedded intelligence and connectivity for parallel pumping. These models can deliver energy savings of more than 30%, and can significantly improve lifecycle costs as well as space.
In addition, the bodies of some pumps, such as the Armstrong models, can be left in place, with just the controls and motor elements needing to be upgraded.
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This can save downtime and cost, minimise disruption, and have a major positive impact on embodied carbon performance.
Optimising operational
efficiency remotely Today’s generation of pumps can also perform important diagnostic tasks, constantly recording and feeding back information to the facility/maintenance manager. With this the user is not only given the information needed to maintain efficiency of the system, but is alerted if problems could be about to arise. An active performance management service such as Armstrong’s Pump Manager, for example, provides the user with real time data from the system and each pump individually, and utilises machine learning to eliminate energy drift, providing up to 30% savings.
With access to highly-detailed real-time data on performance of individual pumps, the specialist employed to oversee the performance of HVAC systems can manage any intervention at any site remotely, and provide advice on any actions that need to be taken by local engineers. This provides an additional safeguard that comfort conditions will not be compromised for building occupants. Vitally, Pump Manager provides not just active, but predictive diagnostic information. The application uses the data it receives, directly from the pumps, to detect the future possibilities of problems such as bearing failures and cavitation, reducing and mitigating equipment failure and realising around 50% savings in maintenance costs.
When overseeing a HVAC upgrade, there's nothing to lose in looking into the possibilities presented by today’s smart pumps. After all, if tomorrow's facilities manager could speak to today's, they'd definitely be all for futureproofing the system in any way possible.
https://armstrongfluidtechnology.com TOMORROW’S FM | 23
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