ACR Journal

CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai CMYK / .ai acrjournal.uk 23 CHILLED BEAMS The flexibility and diversity of chilled beams can make them an ideal solution for integrated building design Different Down Under We enjoy a great sporting rivalry with Australia, as demonstrated by the thrilling 2019 Ashes series. The series was tied, but away from sport, when it comes to energy eciency in buildings, our Aussie friends are some way ahead of us. Their ‘NABERS’ (National Australian Built Environment Rating System) introduced and implemented over the turn of the 21st century, is a performance-based rating system for buildings. A NABERS rating for a building is based on a methodical assessment of the actual environmental impact of operating it and has allowed buildings and workplaces in Australia to achieve impressive environmental savings that we should be examining and learning from. In particular, Australia’s method of incorporating the simulation of HVAC systems and controls at the design stage of a building is something that would really help our drive towards lower heating emissions. It is always worth reminding ourselves that around 40% of global energy consumption is attributed to buildings, with cooling and heating alone contributing a significant portion of that. We can change that by adopting greater scrutiny of the HVAC system, which we currently lack a basic rating system for in the UK, where we have, for too long, designed our buildings to comply with regulations. This results in the performance gap between original design intent and the reality of how the building performs. In contrast, under the NABERS system, both landlords and tenants as well as other invested parties can use a base building rating to factor in-use energy performance into their decision making. For commercial premises in the UK, landlords will generally provide a central HVAC service to their building, but the occupiers’ own HVAC systems are then more likely to be outsourced to the tenants themselves, who will also have control of their own building management system. With each tenant having their own HVAC system and facilities management team it is very dicult for the landlord to maintain any real control over their building’s eciency as they are required to keep the central heating system operating constantly. In Australia, while tenants manage the fit-out of their own HVAC systems, the landlord maintains oversight over the design and is able to refuse approval of the system if it is likely to negatively a•ect their building’s base rating. Beams of efficiency The diversity and flexibility of chilled beams make them an ideal HVAC solution for a more integrated approach to building design and function. Picking the cheapest system without taking running costs into account could end up proving extremely costly in the long-term. A key attribute of chilled beam technology is an inherent eciency that can help building operators to slash energy bills, delivering significant savings over an extended time period. Occupant comfort and energy eciency do not have to be mutually exclusive, the choice of HVAC system should therefore play a more prominent role in the design stage of a whole building, instead of being considered separately. Modern commercial buildings require a modern approach to cooling, heating and ventilation, and multiservice chilled beams (MSCBs) are capable of providing a full range of services to meet specific user requirements. Also, chilled beams can work well alongside other energy ecient technologies such as heat pumps to o•er a practical long-term heating and cooling solution.