Retrofit drives save energy for hospitals in Bradford
Energy savings of over £26 000 a year are expected at hospital sites in Bradford following the installation of ABB standard drives for HVAC to 28 air-handling units at Bradford Royal Infirmary and St Luke’s Hospital. The drives are installed in critical areas such as theatres and infection-controlled zones where airflow is controlled to promote safety and comfort. The load on the AHUs varies with outside temperature, but the biggest difference is between day and night, with fans typically running at half speed at night.
The new drives are rated from 750 W to 30 kW and are expected to save more than 200 MWh a year.
The drives were installed and commissioned by Halcyon Drives, a members of the ABB drives alliance.
Installation and commissioning had to be carried out without disrupting critical air-handling operations, which was possible because of the redundancy already built into the hospital’s systems.
Each drive is connected to the wider building-management system via the BACnet protocol that is native to ABB HVAC drives.
The project was part of a wider initiative by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust to save energy as part of its preparations for the introduction of the CRC Energy efficiency Scheme. The draft policy includes specifying the application of variable-speed drives on all future motors.
