introduction
Wexham Park is a 520 bed Hospital, which has been in operation since 1968. It contains a large A&E Department, 10 Operating Theatres and a new Sterile Services Department, which are served by a total of 10 central chiller units providing chilled water to 27 air handling units and 32 fan coil unit systems around the site. The HVAC System at Wexham Park Hospital is between 6 and 25 years old. Also present are a number of DX split systems,with varying ages and refrigerant types.
Following work we did to produce Display Energy Certificates for the site, the Hospital also requested an EPBD compliant air conditioning system inspection to meet their legal obligations.
challenge
Air conditioning systems can account for up to 50% of the energy consumed by a building and are therefore specifically targeted in Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) legislation. There is now a legal requirement to carry out regular inspections of air conditioning systems.
The implementation deadline for the inspection of systems providing over 250kW of cooling capacity was 4th January 2009. Therefore it was important to ensure that the site was inspected and the report produced in the shortest possible timeframes, to enable the Hospital to discharge its legal duties without risk of penalty.
It was agreed that the works would be completed over a two day site survey, a significant logistical challenge given the size and complexity of systems to be surveyed.
Due to the sensitive nature of the Hospital, it was important for the surveyors to be conscious of respecting patient privacy. Certain areas of plant were also inaccessible for the purposes of inspection; therefore a carefully selected representative sample of equipment was identified to ensure that an accurate report was produced.
solution
We used a co-ordinated team of qualified & accredited air conditioning system assessors in order to survey the buildings within the given time frame.
Regular communication with the site contact was necessary to safely and sensitively collect and analyse the data and produce accurate inspection reports, with meaningful recommendations for improvement.
outcome
The assessment confirmed that the overall condition of the air conditioning system within the Hospital was good, and there were no major issues with the equipment.
Recommendations for improvement to the efficiency and control of the systems were identified, such as the installation of sub-metering and inverter drives. Alternative solutions to air conditioning - whilst still maintaining comfortable internal environment conditions - were also highlighted. Energy and carbon savings of up to 50% were identified for certain equipment.
Wexham Park Hospital can now be confident that the efficiency of their systems has been verified by an independent third party, and can work towards increasing effectiveness in future scheduled maintenance programmes.
"I am very pleased that Sustain were able to assist the Hospital in producing all required documentation for compliance with the EPBD. The inspection reports have highlighted some interesting areas for analysis, and we are now discussing the possibility of future carbon management works to deliver further energy savings."
Richard Andrews, Head of Estates Infrastructure, Wexham Park Hospital
