Customs and Excise building
Customs House VRV II Gives Comfort On All Levels For Venerable Customs and Excise Building
The 50 year old Customs and Excise building in Glasgow, known as Portcullis House, has been air conditioned using Daikin VRV II. This will provide cooling and primary heating. Previously the building had only been heated using a hot water peripheral system.
Located at Charing Cross, Glasgow, Portcullis House is an eight storey, 10,800m² building occupied by Customs and Excise in the midst of its first overhaul since its construction in the 1950s. Having grown outdated over the passage of time and ill-equipped to cope with the demands of a modern business environment, a complete refurbishment and modernisation of all facilities was required to bring the building up to modern standards.
Part of the refurbishment process – which encompassed everything from replacing the glazing, the roofing, the cladding, heating, lighting, all the ceilings and carpets and the installation of new wiring and telecommunications network – was the installation of an air conditioning system throughout the entire building.
The main challenge of the project was to provide unprecedented comfort levels for staff throughout the building through the specification and installation of a low energy air conditioning system, minimising any disruption to their work or inhibiting their productivity and efficiency while refurbishment activity was in progress.
The solution
An energy efficient and environmentally friendly air conditioning solution for the entire building would be installed from scratch. The perimeter low pressure hot water heating system would be replaced by a heat pump air conditioning system .
Installation company KB Refrigeration specified 30 off Daikin VRV II R410A (3 pipe) heat recovery air conditioning outdoor units for the project. Each floor was conditioned with four separate systems to service its requirements. VAM units were fitted to take care of outside air requirements. As they are up to 70% efficient reclaiming both sensible and latent heat transfer the loss of energy is minimal.
As the most environmentally friendly, up-do-date and cost-efficient air conditioning system available, the Daikin VRV-II’s using the latest DC inverter compressors and fan motors uses less energy than conventional systems. This results in a significant reduction of CO2 emission at the power station.
Using refrigerant R410A also means a significant reduction in the quantity of refrigerant, smaller pipe sizes, reduced footprint and operating weight and lower energy use . This is translated into lower costs for the end user.
The use of a heat recovery VRV system means that each area can be conditioned independently whilst cooling and heating operates simultaneously if needed. Heat rejected from an area being cooled can be saved and transferred to any area, on the same system, that is calling for it. The entire AC system for the building is controlled by a sophisticated computerised Building Management System which links into the Daikin control.
In a complex and intricate phased operation, the Daikin VRV units, in tandem with all the other aspects of the refurbishment programme, are being installed on a floor by floor basis that requires the displacement of all employees from their particular floor. VRV, being a modular system lends itself easily to this mode of operation. These phases last for a duration of eight or nine weeks while the building is stripped back to a shell and then wholly refurbished.
