Walter Meier (Climate UK) has launched a comprehensive service to help building operators identify the most appropriate and cost effective solution to the challenge of the imminent HCFC phase out in line with EC Regulation 2037/2000.
“Owners of chillers using HCFC refrigerants such as R22 or R123 will need to decide very soon whether they are going to replace those chillers or retrofit an alternative refrigerant,” notes Walter Meier Operations Director Tony Gibbins. “This is a complex area that will depend on many parameters – and will benefit from our specialist knowledge of supplying, upgrading and maintaining chillers.”
Use of virgin HCFCs will be banned from the 1 st January 2010 and this ban will be extended to recycled HCFCs by 2015. There are concerns that there may be a shortage of recycled HCFCs during this period.
If building operators leave this decision too long they are in danger of making a hasty, and possibly inappropriate, decision that doesn’t deliver best value to their organisation and could lead to unplanned capital expenditure. Consequently we are urging end users with HCFC chillers to contact us now for a no-obligation assessment of their chiller plant, which will address the immediate phase out concerns and their ongoing obligations under the F-Gas Regulations.
Cooler fitness thanks to Walter Meier
The Service & After Sales division of Walter Meier (Climate UK) has recently completed installation of a Hitachi VRF air conditioning system at the University of Sheffield’s S10health fitness centre. As well as meeting increased cooling demands, the new system is expected to achieve significant energy savings compared to the previous system.
S10health is a state-of-the-art fitness centre with 150 pieces of equipment over two floors. Increasing use of electrical equipment in recent years, combined with the growing popularity of the centre and a consequent rise in occupancy, meant that the existing VRF system was no longer able to meet cooling demands, while noise levels were also proving to be a nuisance to users.
“It was clear that we needed to renew the system and, having identified the Hitachi VRF system as the most suitable for our needs, we produced a very detailed specification that was then put out to tender,” explained the University’s Barry Whittles. “Walter Meier’s proposals stood out from the rest for their attention to detail, which gave us the confidence they would meet our requirements,” he added.
The new 2-pipe Set Free system provides up to 80kW of cooling, controlled precisely to match heat loads. The refurbishment also included addition of a recuperator to the air handling system so that extract air can be used to pre-cool incoming air.
“We anticipate this combination of a more efficient air conditioning system and recuperation from extract air will deliver energy savings of around 15%, while also improving comfort levels for users. We received an excellent service from Walter Meier throughout the project and the company continues to maintain the system,” Barry Whittles concluded.
Maintec Exhibition
Walter Meier exhibited at this years Maintec exhibition where their focus was aimed at the Air Conditioning Service & Maintenance Division. This proved to be a platform to meet leading British maintenance and facility management professionals. They were able to explain about the options available, such as preventative and reactive maintenance contracts, refurbishment and replacement of air conditioning systems. It was also a good venue to give advice on the impending refrigerant phase out and the implications of the F-Gas regulations.
With our new Service & Maintenance brochure giving more details of all the services we provide, we will be happy to send you a copy.
Please email us uk.climate@waltermeier.com and we will post you one out immediately.