The undertaking of an ACI (Air Conditioning Inspection) is a legal requirement according to article 9 of the Energy Performance Building Directive in England and Wales (EPBD). Air Conditioning Inspections are mandatory for all buildings with installed systems with rated cooling output greater than 12kW. The air conditioning inspection consisted of site inspections and the production of the Air Conditioning Inspection reports, which presents the site inspections findings and the recommendations for improving the system’s energy efficiency in order to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

The BP Castrol buildings lie under the packaged cooling systems assessment since they are air conditioned by a number of VRV systems and single DX split systems installed. Each of the VRV systems consisted of a VRV outdoor unit and indoor fan coil units. The VRV systems inspected provide heating and cooling. Some of the buildings are installed with VRV systems that incorporate heat recovery as well.

Syntegra consulting has managed to identify areas of improving the energy efficiency further of the building’s air conditioning system. Recommendations were made in upgrading AC equipment and control methodology. In addition, Syntegra investigated in improving the AC system’s efficiency further by recommending the use of LED lighting. LED lighting is the most energy efficient lighting technology compared to conventional technologies. Furthermore, LED lighting generates minimum heat, which helps reducing a building’s cooling load from lighting. Therefore, LEDs not only reduce the lighting electricity cost, but also the AC (air conditioning) cost of electricity due to reduced heat gains (cooling load).

For more information on Air Conditioning Inspections and FREE LED Lighting Feasibility Studies, please contact Syntegra Consulting on T: 08450 091625 and Email: mail@syntegra-epc.co.uk

The recommendations given took into account lighting design, investment costs and payback periods. The LED feasibility presented total energy and carbon savings of 67%. In essence, a conversion from fluorescent lamps to LED lamps would generate energy savings of 68,000 kWh per year and cabon savings of 37 tonnes per year. The feasibility study clearly shows the savings of LED Vs Fluorescent and LED Vs HID lights. The feasibility study was concluded with a proposal recommending new LED lamps or LED fitting retrofits, together with detailed investment and installation costs, as well as the payback period estimated at 3.5 years with LEDs Lifetime of 15 years

Syntegra Consulting is an independent energy consultancy and can source products from major LED lighting manufacturers.  The company will specify the optimum light sources for its clients for any specific project.  For more information on the Free LED Feasibility Survey, contact Syntegra Consulting Ltd

The technology proposed is a combination of Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP) and Photo-Voltaic (PV) arrays independantly controlled for each of the three buildings.