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New Carrier variable air volume control system improves control of packaged air conditioning equipment at Oxford business park London 19 July 2006

On a recent business park refurbishment project Carrier Air Conditioning’s newest 3VTM variable air volume control system has enabled the managing agents for one of the largest units to cut their energy bills, control the office environment more precisely and timetable chiller replacement to suit their budgets.

The largest office block at the Oasis Business Park outside Oxford was completed in the late ‘eighties. This black glass and steel box was air conditioned, at the time, using Carrier’s packaged chillers supplying cooled air through ductwork to Carrier Moduline variable air volume terminals. These were controlled by the now superseded Carrier Gen II proprietary control system.

As part of a recent programme of refurbishment that has included, new flooring, ceilings, energy efficient occupant sensitive lighting and some cosmetic details, the managing agents wanted to ensure that the air conditioning operated as efficiently as possible to help reduce the energy bills. The rooftop packaged chillers operate with R22 and need replacing. These works are scheduled, but a letting void meant that the office refurbishment had to take place sooner. It was therefore essential that any changes to the air conditioning controls be compatible with the forthcoming replacement plant. The new Carrier 3V system is completely compatible with Carrier’s latest packaged chillers, and much other equipment besides. As it is an open protocol control system it can be integrated with other controls without the need for expensive and complex interfaces.

A further attraction of this networked control system is that it gives extended life to the existing air conditioning system. There is no need for the ductwork to be ripped out and the air conditioning system discarded immediately. The opportunity has been taken here to change the room sensors/controllers to the new ‘simple’ Carrier design, as the wiring loop for the new controls enables any of the units to act as master or slave. This makes the system much more flexible and enhances the letting opportunities for the space, as different air terminals can be controlled by different thermostats with just a small change of addressing.

The Carrier 3V system can be used as a control system for any airside air conditioning system with the addition of bypass dampers where necessary. However, it is ideal where a Carrier VVTâsystem already exists, as when this innovative technology was introduced in the nineteen-eighties it was revolutionary in its approach to air delivery and control, based on controlling dampers in the ductwork. To many it still seems like a technologically superior approach today. With the addition of 3V control, air volumes and temperatures can be controlled precisely to match demand, and the sophistication of CO2 sensitive Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV) can be added if required.

The Carrier 3V System Pilot, a wall-mounted display unit, is the ideal place to configure and operate the whole system. However, the system can be interrogated from any point on the network using a service engineer’s laptop and Carrier ComfortVIEWTM software.

The savings at this installation have not yet been recorded for long enough to compare accurately but it is already clear that there will be energy savings and it is hoped that Carrier will be able to publicise these in the future.

Existing tenants in other parts of the space, who include W S Atkins, and The Carbon Trust have suffered little inconvenience as the rewiring work has been undertaken at the weekends. And they are now benefiting from much greater control and improved temperature precision for their air conditioning.

Email: sarah@sarahpugh.co.uk