your comfort. our world.
The Range, Warrington
Total HVAC Solution
The Range is a nationally operating chain of stores offering a variety of mid-priced
goods for the modern home, including do-it-yourself, homeware, furniture, lighting,
arts and crafts and garden products.
Founded in 1980, initially as a market stall, by entrepreneur
Chris Dawson, who opened his first superstore in Plymouth in
1989, the chain of stores now spans the UK.
The latest store on a retail park in Winwick Road, Warrington,
which opened at Easter 2013, was formerly a fitness centre.
This 7800m2 store required extensive refurbishment to turn it
into the high quality retail space required by the company.
This included the filling in of four old swimming pools to
provide a retail floor, and the removal of a 400 metre running
track which had been housed on a mezzanine level.
Project Overview
Heating was previously provided by a 12-year old gas boiler.
However, when the building changed use to a retail outlet,
there were new requirements for heating and cooling. CDS
Group Services, which has a longstanding partnership with
The Range, required a solution to provide the right levels of
climate control, balanced with energy efficiency.
The Solution
A highly energy efficient integrated solution has been installed
at the new Warrington store for The Range. The Daikin
solution provides heating and cooling for customers and staff.
The installation covers back of house areas’ and across the
shop floor.
VRV III Heat Recovery was installed at the back of the shop
connected to a Low Temperature hydrobox, a 200 litre hot
water tank and VRV fan coil units serving the offices. A heat
recovery unit (VAM) was also installed supplying fresh air to
the back of house.
VRV IV Heat Pump was installed to serve the shop floors along
with Self Cleaning Roundflow Cassettes. The lift motor room
was fitted with a Daikin Sky Air Seasonal Smart condenser
to provide high levels of seasonal efficiency. This system
was chosen as long piping lengths can be accommodated.
Evaporating and condensing temperatures can also be altered
to further enhance energy efficiency levels.
A total of seven twin module VRV IV heat pump condensing
units were fitted internally to the shop floor with 71 self
cleaning cassettes. Whilst air conditioning is often set to a
nominal 21 degrees, the VRV IV heat pump is set to operate
within a set temperature band to save energy. Heating is also
uninterrupted during defrost to ensure continuous comfort.
The Self Cleaning Roundflow Cassettes provide either
heating or cooling with a 360º air discharge for uniform air
flow and temperature distribution. Maintenance is simplified
and energy efficiencies increased with automatic daily filter
cleaning. Twice a year vacuum cleaning is recommended
which can be carried out without opening the unit. The units
are discretely inset within the ceiling incorporating simple
decorative panels for aesthetic purposes.
A Daikin RTD intelligent retail control system sets the
temperature parameters for system operation and thermostat
cut off. The temperature band can be widened to save even
more energy.
The building’s
systems are
controlled by
the i-Touch
Manager which
provides detailed
monitoring and
easy system
operation with
accessibility to current and historical energy consumption
performance data. This can be monitored remotely across the
internet with adjustments to system operation possible. The
energy efficiency and
prevent energy waste.
Therefore it is ideal in
a retail environment
where different zones
may be occupied at
different times.
VRV varies the
refrigerant volume
within the system to
match the building’s
precise requirements
at any moment, so that
only the minimum level
of energy is required to
ensure that each area
maintains its set temperature, thus saving energy costs and
reducing carbon emissions. Indeed, the very latest generation
of VRV heat pumps incorporates variable refrigerant
temperature control, which automatically adapts the system
to the individual building and climate requirements, for even
greater energy efficiencies.
Heat pumps can work alongside other sustainable measures
including solar thermal and ventilation technologies to
maximise indoor comfort levels and to provide optimum
energy efficiency levels.
The team behind the project
CDS Group Services, a commercial interiors specialist and
manufacturer has enjoyed a long standing partnership with
The Range and has been responsible for their new stores
since 2005, together with refurbishments of existing stores
across the UK. Their in-house mechanical teams at CDS have
completed a bespoke training course run by Daikin UK to
enable them to specify and fit the heat recovery system.
Brad Hurter representing the CDS Group, commented:
i-Touch Manager has also been set up to control the lighting
and extractor fans enabling multi instrument control via one
unit for simplification of building services.
VRV technology
VRV systems are designed as a holistic building solution for
heating, air conditioning and hot water requirements.
Because of VRV’s modularity, systems can be introduced zone
by zone and tailored to the client’s requirements. Each floor,
or even each room can be individually controlled to maximise
“We were very happy to work with Daikin UK
to incorporate one of the latest fully integrated
renewable systems that would provide heating, hot
water, and air conditioning allowing The Range at
Warrington to have a fully controllable system with
operation flexibility according to requirements.”
Conclusion
The Daikin VRV heat recovery system met the needs for
heating and cooling with a combination of fully integrated
systems provided to meet client requirements. The Daikin
system installed at The Range in Warrington offered a
complete solution for climate control including the provision
of fresh air ventilation and heat recovery.
The inclusion of the VRV IV heat pump provided a highly
efficient system, with a 28% increase in efficiency compared
with the VRV III heat pump model, as the Variable Refrigerant
Temperature technology allows continuous adjustment of
the refrigerant temperature to the actual temperature and
capacity needed, thus providing optimal seasonal efficiency
at all times. From June 2013 VRV IV has qualified for ECA
approval.
The system can be further enhanced at a later stage if
customer requirements change. For instance, air curtains could
be added to the doorways.
Projected Cost Savings
Estimated savings have been simulated, based on previous installations. Energy use of the Daikin VRV IV heat pump system
has been compared with the previous Daikin VRV III model.
The following assumptions are based on the installation at The Range, in Warrington for the VRV IV system with 71 Self
Cleaning Roundflow Cassettes and controlled by the RTD-20 (retail economiser). From June 2013 RTD-20 has qualified for
ECA approval.
Criteria
VRV III (with
standard cassettes)
VRV IV (with selfcleaning cassettes
and RTD control)
Savings made by using
VRV IV with self-cleaning
cassettes & RTD control
Running costs of VRV III & VRV IV over one year,
based on 10p per kW
£67,421.28
£35,776.22
£31,645.06
Running costs of VRV III & VRV IV (if costs increase
by 1p per kW)
£74,163.41
£39,353.85
£34,809.56
Running costs of VRV III & VRV IV over 5 years (if
prices static)
£337,106.40
£178,881.10
£158,225.30
Running costs of VRV III & VRV IV over 5 years (if
prices increase by 1p per year)
£404,527.68
£214,657.34
£189,870.34
For more information visit www.daikin.co.uk
Copyright 2013 Daikin