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Delabie set to deliver £30k+ annual cost savings at Birkbeck, University of London
A
recent trial to reduce water consumption
– following the
installation of Delabie’s Tempomatic 4 intelligent urinal control plate – demonstrated 99% in water cost savings at Birkbeck, University of London, and is set to transform not only how men’s urinals are managed going forward but also, men’s and female toilets across the estate. Birkbeck’s Building Services Manager, Spensa Wheeler,
responsible for technical
services contracts and facilities is constantly striving for improved sustainability and savings, doesn’t hold back: “It’s fair to say the results have been outstanding and exceeded our expectations.”
Birkbeck is a large estate of 18 separate buildings in central London, including a mix of Grade 2 listed town houses and eight- storey 20,000 ft2
more modern buildings,
where much of the learning is delivered during the evening, with its premises used during the day on a commercial basis. Fluctuations in attendance means there’s always a requirement to have buildings ready for an infl ux and full occupancy.
Gaining control
Spensa says it was during the pandemic things came to a head: “We became even more conscious of our water usage and in particular the urinals near constant water
fl ow, although functioning with no occupancy for extended periods. There would always be a trickle and then an automatic fl ush and we had no control systems to manage this. So, we started a conversation with Delabie to gain greater control over water usage in our urinals and investigate the potential for signifi cant savings.”
Outstanding results For one week’s test normal water consumption was 10.5 m3. After installation of Delabie’s new Tempomatic 4 urinal fl ush valve it was 0.102 m3. A 99% water saving. Representing a saving of £25.93 per week for just two urinal installations*. Spensa continues:
“The results were
signifi cantly better than we imagined and were beyond expectation. We were saving an eye watering amount of water and when we look at potentially rolling Tempomatic 4 across 18 buildings, likely millions of litres of water in a year, which translates to several thousands of pounds worth of cost savings in water consumption alone as can be seen here:
“These fi gures just refl ect the water
savings. In addition, we know there will be a reduction in on-going maintenance costs. We don’t expect to be having to react to leaks etc. Installation and maintenance are low. Plus, with a system that has no manual intervention it’s also more hygienic for users too.”
“In terms of payback, we are looking at 10 months for these two installations to have paid for themselves. Each system cost just a few hundred pounds to purchase, and we used our in-house labour. This means Tempomatic 4 is a really viable option. Our business case is going to the business panel with a recommendation to roll out installation across all 18 buildings, with a payback period of just six months, and a potential saving of over £30k per year. The trial has more than convinced us to progress with this, coupled with the ongoing support Delabie has provided throughout.”
The Tempomatic 4 – intelligent rinsing The Tempomatic 4 urinal control plate is an intelligent urinal valve that detects high- frequency periods and no activity, adapting its rinse accordingly. During peak periods only the urinal bowl is rinsed between two users. At the end of the busy period, an additional rinse takes place to clean the bowl
Spensa Wheeler and Alex Wishart from the technical services team sought greater control over water usage
A meter installed on the original installation allowed a pre- and post-installation comparison
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WWW.ARCHITECTSDATAFILE.CO.UK
04/05/2023 11:07 ADF MAY 2023
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