Renewable energy delivers a megawatt of cooling for office development
Heat-pump contractor Econic has completed the management of the installation of the well equipment and heat exchangers for the £1.9 million cooling and heating installation for Segro’s Winnersh Triangle Phase 1 office development near Reading. The £100 million scheme includes four office buildings totally 35 800 m2, a 168-bedroom hotel with leisure and conference facilities and 1840 m2 of retail and restaurant space.
Developers Segro want to make this development one of the most sustainable in the Thames Valley, and the various features include a ground-source system that can provide up to 1 MW of cooling for the offices.
The open-loop system comprises two pairs of boreholes for abstracting water from the ground and re-injecting it. Water from the ground is at a fairly steady 14°C and provides cooling via a large heat exchanger (over 2 m high) serving each pair of wells. The flow rate is up to 20 l/s.
When direct cooling is insufficient a rooftop chiller is called on, which rejects heat to the ground water.
Murray Treece, managing director of Econic, says, ‘There aren’t many companies with the necessary skill and experience to take on large, complex open-loop projects like this one. If renewable-energy systems are to truly deliver on their promise, it’s vital that installations are carried out by well qualified contractors like Econic.
