Issues of energy efficiency are increasingly forced upon all sectors of construction and building management from consultants right through to the Facilities Manager. The cost effectiveness of a system is predominantly analysed through initial capital costs and additional annual savings. This therefore promotes the most efficient systems as those which are most adaptable, sustainable, and operable.

A full air conditioning system can increase the running costs of a building by up to 50%. However in spite of lifecycle costing becoming increasingly paramount to clients, it is initial costs that continue to dominate among many decision makers. With increases in use of Information Technologies and fast-paced working environments, air conditioning has become a necessity in the last decade. The primary objective is to identify how to save energy in the construction, operation and maintenance of a building without this being detrimental to the comfort and health of the occupants.

Optimising this objective involves a holistic approach towards design, production and procurement processes to create a fully integrated system. Traditional HVAC systems such as VAV and Fan Coil have lead the field of air conditioning, but increasingly consultants, facilities managers, developers and investors are recognising the environmental and economic benefits of having a more flexible approach. Work place environments today have become more demanding on their mechanical and electrical services with changing operational hours, increased out of hours demand, and increasingly, multi-tenancies. The volume of mechanical and electrical services creates a knock-on effect of problems from cable management to accessibility for maintenance.

The Flexible Space System is an alternative HVAC system which can offer advantages to all those involved in the construction process right through to the end user, by providing a fully flexible and functional environment with optimum levels of indoor air quality and comfort. By utilising the plenum under a raised access floor as a duct in itself, the Flexible Space System is able to be relocated with minimum cost and disruption. In addition all other services and cable management can be integrated within the floor plenum making maintenance and cleaning easily accessible, thereby contributing to reduced operation costs and meeting the highest health and safety requirements.

The building is divided into a number of zones depending on the potential use and occupancy density of the area. Each zone is supplied by a CAM; conditioned air module, whilst the underfloor void is divided into supply and return air channels using relocatable airtight baffles. Supply air is drawn up into the occupied space by fan assisted terminal units (FTU450), which are recessed into the floor and plug into an underfloor power source. The fan file units have individual controls to provide variable speed and temperature adjusted for maximum user comfort. They are easily interchangeable with floor panels as they are not restricted by duct or pipe connections. Linking to the central CAM by data cable provides added intelligence.

This optimised use of the floor area offers a number of benefits. Ceiling voids and in some cases the ceilings themselves can be made completely redundant facilitating and reducing costs of maintenance. Eliminating the need for a ceiling void can reduce the height of new structures by as much as 10% - 15%, thus saving costs on matenals and programme time. This is also ideal for refurbishment projects where there is insufficient floor to ceiling height to accommodate conventional systems, and where original architectural features need to be preserved.

The Flexible Space System has proved its benefits on a number of projects worldwide. The Rover Group's Design and Engineering Centre at Gaydon recently won the Office of the Year and Innovation Award from the British Institute of Facilities Management. Other installations include BAA Lynton developments at Gatwick and Stansted Airports, where the use of Flexible Space enabled a reduction in programme time of 25%, (30 weeks instead of 40 weeks), initial capital cost savings of £200,000 and an estimated 10% further cost saving over an identical development at Heathrow Airport. Further research at Digital in Nice has demonstrated a reduction of 30% in facilities-related operating costs, and Panasonic in Paris have quoted savings in the cost of churn of up to $150 per sq/m compared to a Fan Coil System they had in their previous building.

Flexibility is essentially the key to energy efficiency. By having the potential to adapt to future changes in the work place, and having a high level of individual environmental control, as well as an effective zoning system to combat costly and inefficient out of hours operation or partially let space. The Flexible Space System has an almost limitless range of benefits and applications it can provide. Applications include: call centres; airports; media and TV; electronics; motor industry; refurbishment projects; finance and dealing rooms; retail and multiple tenancy office developments. Users include: BBC, World Bank, Glaxo, Bloomberg, Rover, Prudential, Marks and Spencer, Panasonic, Motorola, British Telecom, Ericson, Unilever, Malaysia Telecom ...

 
For further information contact:
Glan Blake Thomas at AET on
Tel: 01883 744860 Fax: 01883 741 866
Web Site: www.FlexibleSpace.com
Email: AET@FlexibleSpace.com