Brief: precision rather than spare capacity
Most of the building consists of open-plan spaces that can be adapted to different tenants without completely rebuilding the building services. This required flexible layouts without adding unnecessary capacity ‘just in case’.
We analysed occupancy, solar gains, equipment heat gains, losses through the building fabric, ventilation loads and actual operating patterns. The design capacity for each zone was determined without excessive spare capacity.
The best engineering system is not the one with the greatest spare capacity, but the one in which every installed kilowatt serves a purpose.
Modular DX system
Instead of a central chiller, approximately 20 independent DX modules were used. Each module provides independent cooling and heating for its part of the complex.
The system provides cooling in summer, heat pump heating in winter, high seasonal efficiency and simpler servicing. Its modular design also reduces the building’s dependence on a single central source.
Precise sizing
Equipment capacity is based on calculations rather than a standard allowance for spare capacity.
Modularity
Independent DX circuits allow zones to be serviced and operated separately.
Heat pump
One system provides cooling in summer and efficient heating in winter.
Flexibility
The building services can be adapted to new tenants without major refurbishment.
Ventilation, heat recovery and free cooling
Supply and extract ventilation with heat recovery operates in coordination with the air conditioning system. The controls compare indoor and outdoor conditions and select an energy-efficient operating mode.
When outdoor air is suitable for natural cooling, the system opens the heat recovery bypass and switches to free cooling. Cool night air reduces the load on the compressors before the refrigeration equipment starts.
Result
The complex has been in operation for over 10 years. During this time, the system has demonstrated the accuracy of the calculations, the reliability of heat pump heating and the effectiveness of automatic free cooling.
The client achieved the required indoor conditions without paying for surplus equipment, with lower capital and operating costs and the flexibility to adapt open-plan areas to new uses.
Precise calculations made it possible to create a cost-effective system in which installed capacity does useful work rather than simply remaining an expensive reserve.