First UK installation of Sanyo co-generation VRF system
The first UK installation of Sanyo’s gas-powered VRF air-conditioning system that also generates its own electricity is at Suffolk One, a learning centre in Ipswich for 16 to 19-year olds. Sanyo’s G-Power co-generation unit generates electricity, as well as using the gas engine to drive the air-conditioning compressor. It is also the largest site in the UK using Sanyo’s gas-powered heat-pump VRF air conditioning.
The £65 million building will accommodate 2000 students when it opens in September 2010. The £11 million M&E installation is being managed by Inviron. The air-conditioning equipment has a total cooling capacity of 1.2 MW. It was supplied by Sanyo distributor ESS and is being installed by Adcock Refrigeration & Air Conditioning.
There will be 19 GHP VRF air-conditioning systems and 16 high-efficiency split systems. Most of the units are on the roof, in groups serving five clusters that connect and surround the core of the building.
The building will use 310 fan-coil units, mainly ducted types concealed in ceiling voids. There will also be a small number of ceiling cassettes. All equipment uses R410A.
The VRF systems include 2-pipe and 3-pipe technology — the latter for recovering significant quantities of heat from within glass-clad parts of the building to transfer it to areas requiring heating.
Adrian Bonfield, manger of Adcock’s Norwich branch, says, ‘It was the first GHP installation we had undertaken. However, the backup and support from ESS has been excellent. The project is going without a hitch, and there is total trust on all sides’.
