Radiant heating sets the pace at 2012 training centre

Potential stars of the 2012 Olympic Games in London, along with university students and local school children, are already taking advantage of the flagship £7 million indoor sports facility at Brunel University. Their performance is matched by the Nor-Ray-Vac continuous radiant-tube heating systems from Ambi-Rad. The indoor athletics centre and adjacent netball hall at Brunel’s Uxbridge campus are jointly funded by the university, UK Athletics, Sport England and the National Lottery. Designed by David Morley Associates, the building has an eye-catching curved roof. The 1370 m2 athletics hall has a 6-lane sprint and hurdles straight, long- and triple-jump pits, areas for pole vault and high jump and throws practice nets. The netball hall offers full-court netball and four badminton and basketball courts. It is now the training base of the England netball team. Continuous radiant tube heating is said to be ideal in sports halls. It can take account of the different comfort needs of active sports participants and spectators to ensure that both are pleasantly warm without overheating. Also, because radiant heating can operate 2 to 3 K lower than convention heaters, there are long-term reductions in energy usage and carbon emissions. The Nor-Ray-Vac heaters are about 6 m above the floor. Controlled centrally from the university’s BMS, they maintain a constant temperature of 14 to 16°C.

Related links:

• www.ambirad.co.uk/