A rating scheme for the seasonal efficiency of chillers

MIKE DUGGAN reports on the completion of a project for rating the seasonal efficiency of chillers.he DTI sponsored project on seasonal efficiency ratings for non-domestic HVAC plant has just been completed. The final report for the project has now been published and the intention is for it to be widely disseminated to the results of the research work. The HEVAC Air Conditioning Group provided a good deal of the input into the project and commends the use of the report to all chiller companies. The report brings together the thinking behind the project, the development of the rating systems and the description of the schemes. The report will be used by the project team to publicise the rating schemes to a wider audience, thereby promoting their adoption. In addition to producing a method for deriving a seasonal efficiency, the project has proposed a labelling-rating scheme that interprets this data into bands of seasonal efficiency that can be used to rate and compare chillers. It is intended to take this forward in the context of the market transformation programme. The seasonal efficiency will also enable a better evaluation of the energy performance of a building under the requirements of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and, therefore, within the context of Part L2 of the UK Building Regulations. A PDF of the report can be found on the FETA website. www.feta.co.uk/feta05e.htm Mike Duggan is the technical manager of the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA), 2 Waltham Court, Milley Lane, Hare Hatch, Reading RG10 9TH. www.feta.co.uk