Green Solutions For The New Buildings Of The UAE

SAV Systems has opened for business in the United Arab Emirates. Based in Dubai, the company will introduce a range of field-proven, modular solutions for energy-efficient building services.

In time systems for instantaneous hot water and central plant optimisation will be phased in, together with a complete remote monitoring and control service.

First product range to be offered to UAE based consultants and contractors, however, will be the SAV FloCon range of Commissioning Modules.

Huge potential

Announcing the opening of the Dubai Office Jan Hansen (shown right), International Sales Director of SAV Systems, who will spearhead the operation, spoke of the huge potential for this new technology in the Middle East.

"There could hardly be a better time to bring our Commissioning Module solutions to this market," he said. "The construction industry is booming, but with a new "green" attitude to energy efficiency and environmental conservation as contained in the DEWA regulations.

In particular, application of US LEED Green Building Ratings for new buildings requires employment of a Commissioning Authority. This is a major development that highlights just how important a role commissioning plays in the creation of a system that performs to design.

Our systems are purpose designed for greater efficiency and to help achieve easier, more accurate commissioning.

It's the right product in the right place at the right time!"

A modular approach offers faster accurate commissioning and lower energy consumption

LEED Green Building Ratings Easier to Achieve

The Commissioning Modules concept has been developed to combine easy installation, fast accurate commissioning and energy saving performance. It’s a complete service that takes care of all the design detail. Solutions are carefully matched to the specific project with the components sized and selected to the system requirements. Each Module is then pre-tested before delivery to site, fully assembled and ready for installation.

The technology is now a standard solution in the UK where SAV Commissioning Modules have been used in some of the country’s most prestigious buildings.

It can play an even more crucial role in the Middle East, where climatic conditions make air conditioning a necessity. The Commissioning Module is perfect for multi-occupancy buildings – often with small individual office units – that have a high churn rate with as much as 10% of tenants changing in a single year.

SAV's modular concept has been purpose designed around smaller, self-contained A/C systems – with centralized valves and interconnected with flexible pipework.

It's so much easier to expand, reconfigure and even relocate terminals – without having to rebalance an entire floor of the building!  Meters can be integrated to collect energy data for efficiency monitoring and/or billing.   

Good valve authority

In a traditional approach large, expensive, flanged differential pressure control valves (DPCV’s) are used to compensate for changes in the main branch pressure caused by the closure of 2 port control valves, or variations in pump speed. Two-port control valves must be selected to control and shut off against the pressure controlled by the nearest upstream DPCV.

Where long distribution lines to fan coils etc are involved achieving good valve authority is almost impossible!

The Commissioning Module solution is to “modularise” the system in such a way that groups of terminal units (with a combined maximum output of 46kW heating or 25kW cooling per group) can share facilities. By utilising distribution manifolds with all necessary controls and using a flexible plastic-coated aluminium pipe such as “Alupex” for low pressure drop run-outs, all the design issues are resolved with no increase in overall system cost.

 

 

Six terminal units

SAV Commissioning Modules enable one compact DPCV to be shared by up to six terminal units with a maximum loading of 11.6kW heating and 6.3kW cooling per terminal – a highly cost efficient ratio. Moreover, because the DPCV’s are located close to the terminals, the pressures they control are relatively low – typically 0.2 – 0.5 bar. That crucial good valve authority can be achieved every time.

The key features of the Module include:

• A large bodied strainer to remove circulating system debris before it can cause blockages in terminal units, regulating valves or control valves
• Flexible, plastic-coated aluminium pipe, which can be installed in single lengths between the manifold and terminals with a 60% labour saving compared to rigid pipes.
• A central flushing by-pass and drain so that each terminal can be flushed and cleaned from a single location – no need for looping out.
• A central air vent so that the entire arrangement including terminals can be vented from a single point.
• A return manifold with balancing valves incorporated on each port.
• Optional 2-port control valves on flow manifold.
• A single DPCV to maintain a constant differential pressure between flow and return manifolds

Commissioning made easier

The huge range of SAV options can be used in conjunction with higher performing electronic balancing monitoring equipment to promote a far better understanding of how the system is actually performing.

With their help the commissioning engineer's work on site is made much easier and can be carried out far quicker. Using the latest balancing and monitoring equipment – which can take very accurate readings up to 250kPa – he can perform a range of tasks including balancing flow through each valve; measuring and adjusting the pressure drop across each DPCV; measuring the pressure drop on the flow and return mains and the losses through the actual terminals.

Now all the hydraulic parameters can be measured and recorded. Pump speed settings can be made in the light of this data and real energy saving can be achieved with no compromise to environmental conditions.