Modern Building Services

FEATURE HEATING 14 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES NOVEMBER 2022 T he drive to reduce heat-related energy consumption and emissions in commercial buildings continues apace. But providing an efficient, modern heating and hot water system can be far from straightforward in certain buildings. Constrained existing plant room space, increasingly tight project schedules, access restrictions, skills shortages and, more recently, product availability challenges, are some of the frequent obstacles building services professionals experience on refurbishment projects. One effective and efficient solution is to use offsite fabrication. Whether planning a complete plant room installation, a heating system refurbishment or a boiler replacement, prefabrication makes everything simpler. For specifiers and contractors, it offers compelling benefits including easier installation, reduced onsite time and labour, improved health and safety and enhanced quality assurance. The opportunity for off-site fabrication exists for the full range of applications, from the largest containerised plant rooms to single boiler systems within existing buildings. Plan ahead How does the process work? Each prefabricated module is typically designed using BIM tools and 3D computer-aided design (CAD) modelling. This enables revisions to be made collectively while supporting best practice design, installation, operation, and maintenance. The key is to plan ahead. Bringing key stakeholders together at the outset enables the project requirements and any limitations to be addressed in the design, along with any future plans. For example, if air source heat pumps are to be integrated into the next phase, this is the opportune moment to consider a prefabricated interface unit between the technologies or the exact siting of the heat pump. The planning process that is central to the success of offsite fabrication will also smooth the subsequent phases of the refurbishment programme. Once the final design has been approved, production takes place in a quality-controlled factory environment. Thanks to the use of specialist machinery, improved control procedures and comprehensive end-of-line testing, the highest build quality can be achieved. Sustainability is a major driver for the building services industry and building operators alike, so it’s worth noting that offsite fabrication also has the potential to reduce waste, leading to a lower environmental impact. Design flexibility How is the offsite technique applied? Prefabricated and preassembled modules can be purpose designed to provide a quality plug and play solution that delivers valuable time and space savings. Take boiler installation projects. Bespoke boiler rig modules can be designed to make the best use of available space, whether within a small or hard-to-access basement plant room, in an energy centre or in a full roof-top packaged plant room. Manufactured offsite, the boilers are delivered to the site on a wheeled rig unit or in smaller modules, if required, for simple re-connection into a single frame inside the plant room. Driving efficiency through offsite solutions Use of off-site fabrication is on the rise, providing specifiers, contractors and building operators with efficient, quality solutions to tackle common refurbishment restraints and meet tighter performance targets for heating and hot water provision. TomMurray , Head of Specification at Baxi Commercial Solutions, outlines the benefits.