03 October 2023
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AquaCIAT air-cooled chillers
CIAT chillers and heat pumps have been installed as part of a project in Norfolk designed to help shape the construction of future NHS hospitals.
The team at James Paget University Hospital is using the £15m modular ward as a case study for the wider NHS Trust to trial various design principles and investigate outcomes for patients, infection control and impact on staff.
Two AquaCIAT LD chillers with air source heat pumps are used for heating and two AquaCIAT Caleo heat pumps deliver hot water for the 28-bed concept decant ward. The project was carried out to Health Technical Memorandum (HTM) guidelines, which include detailed requirements on the design, maintenance and operation of ventilation in healthcare premises. The ward provides a new environment for patients while ongoing remedial work takes place, ahead of a planned new hospital on the site scheduled for 2030.
“Infection control is vital in any healthcare environment,” said Laurie Moulding, Technical Manager with Health Spaces, the design consultant for the James Paget University Hospital project. “One hundred percent fresh tempered air needs to be delivered to each ward and isolation area at up to 15 changes an hour. This creates a constant cooling or heating demand depending on the season, which the CIAT chillers and heat pumps successfully deliver. The energy efficiency of heat pumps is also a considerable benefit for hospitals – they are extremely energy-efficient and classified as renewable energy.”
The chillers are based on quiet-running scroll compressors, which deliver on the ward’s need for decibel levels to be kept low for patients to rest. The heat pumps and chillers, running on a low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant, will help the NHS meet its 2040 net zero goal. The units have a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) excellent rating.
