$3.6 Million AC Upgrade For Washington Mall
Individual tenants will be able to control the temperature of their shops and offices once work on a multi-million-dollar replacement of an ageing air conditioning system at Washington Mall is complete.
Owners, Washington Properties [Bermuda] Ltd said they are “investing $3.6 million in the upgrade, which is part of an $8 million revamp of the entire property.”
Work will involve replacing the aging chiller plant and air handlers and installing a state of the art VRV system [Variable Refrigerant Volume] which will provide finer control of individual tenant spaces and increase efficiency.
According to Paul Slaughter, Washington Properties’ Director and General Manager, the current A/C system is more than 20 years old.
“At the moment there are several air handlers around the building and each does a group of tenants, so if a tenant works later it has to be on for the entire group, which is inefficient.
“It also means that one tenant has to have the same temperature as other tenants, which might not suit them,” said Mr Slaughter.
“The new system will mean that each tenant will have greater individual control over the operating hours of the air conditioning, with obvious implications for cost control.”
The upgrade is being managed by AirCare and is expected to last between 12 to 18 months. The work will be done in stages, said Mr. Slaughter, starting on the ground floor of the Reid Street entrance.
“There will be some disruption and we do apologise for that, but we believe the much improved, much more efficient end result will be very worthwhile, both for our retail and offices tenants as well as those who use the Mall for shopping,” added Mr. Slaughter.
Brendan Stones, AirCare’s General Manager said: “We are really pleased to be working with Washington Properties on this project. Not only will the tenants have more autonomy on managing their environment, they should experience significant financial savings.
“Environmentally, this is a win-win scenario as well. There will be significantly lower electricity consumption and the refrigerant used in Daikin VRV systems has Zero Ozone Depletion potential.”
As well as the new AC system, Washington Properties has also invested in a new solar electric system which is now up-and-running.
It is also replacing shop fronts, coloured ceramic floor tiles, in the older sections of the Mall, will be replaced with Travertine tile to match the newer section of the Mall and some older elevators will be upgraded with new controls, machine rooms and other hardware.
That is a lot of money to spend on cooler air.
I suspect a large portion of the costs would be from all the outdoor air/ventilation duct work running to each individual unit and the control system that interlocks the dampers to the units. Great day to be in the sheet metal shop business!
This system uses piped refrigerant in place of large ductwork. It’s the commercial equivalent of a residential split system.
Well aware how a VRf system works but you Need to by code provide a direct out door air connection. If you have no duct then you have no outdoor air and therefore you do not meet code
Fresh Air Requirements
One of the most challenging aspects of designing VRF sys- tems is the need to provide a separate outside air supply to each unit to comply with ANSI/ASHRAEStandard62.1,Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, and building codes. Most manufacturers offer an outside air kit, for connecting to outside air ductwork. A separate outside air fan and control system is generally required for larger buildings. In humid climates, providing preconditioned outside air to each indoor unit ensures good indoor air quality.
lol..back to the drawing board
It’s a majority ductless system.
A lot of money initially. But in the long term it will be worthwhile.
The payback will be lower energy costs.
Great idea – a no=-brainer really. Well done Washington Properties for having the vision to go ahead with the project and congratulations to AirCare for landing the contract
Be nice if they spent a few $ upgrading the staff