Toshiba strikes the right tone
A major project to upgrade and replace air conditioning at communications specialist Multitone
Electronics was made possible by a creative phased installation of a high efficiency Toshiba system.
The Basingstoke-based electronics company asked the HVAC and maintenance contractor, Comfort Building Services, to replace its existing air conditioning system. The old system operated as independent split systems installed on an ad hoc basis, and was proving unreliable and expensive to run.
The client was attracted to the efficiency and performance benefits of the Toshiba heat recovery-based variable refrigerant flow (VRF) whole-building solution. However, full replacement in a single one-off project would have been beyond the company’s budget.
Adopting a creative approach, Comfort Building Services split the project proposal into three-phases, enabling progressive replacement of existing systems with a state-of-the-art Toshiba Super Heat Recovery Multi-e (SHRMe) VRF system over a two-year period.
Kris Carter, service manager at Comfort Building Services, says: “It was the first time we had used Toshiba equipment, and we were very impressed by its innovative features and ease of installation. We also found the company’s DesignAirs system extremely useful as a design tool. It is very flexible and enabled us to plan the replacement system in phases, structured to address the end user’s priorities, with the first phase focused on R&D and customer-facing areas, and then working through back office and production areas. It enabled us to keep costs within budget at each stage, while delivering a total building solution, with all the efficiency and comfort benefits this provides.
Indoor units included a combination of ceiling cassettes, floor-mounted and high-wall units, with hard-wired wall-mounted controllers in each area. Phases one and two of the project have been completed, and the final phase is scheduled to commence in the coming months.
Equipment selection and routing of interconnecting services were carefully planned using Toshiba’s DesignAirs tool, to ensure each stage dovetailed perfectly with future phases and allowed for the final completed system to work without compromise.
Cater adds: “Many contractors are reluctant to work in this phased way, as it requires detailed planning to ensure everything works as a single combined system when completed. However, Toshiba’s DesignAirs is a great tool and makes this approach pretty straightforward. We will continue to use this approach in the future, as we think it has great potential to win new business.”
