Commercial building | Hitachi VRF project in Lyon, France

VRF

The place: multi-tenant building from the end of 19th century faces HVAC challenges

 

Located in the center of Lyon, a city abundant with historical architecture, this 8-storey building was built at the end of the 19th century. Today it houses a multi-tenant operation — home to several offices and retail outlets.

 

The previous HVAC system in this building consisted of a hydraulic system which was heated by a gas boiler in winter and cooled by chiller units, located on the roof, in summer. Not only did this system disrupt the urban architectural landscape, it was also aging, facing significant water leakage and resulting in high maintenance costs.

 

During autumn and spring, tenants’ cooling and heating needs were conflicting. Due to the nature of their different businesses and varying exposures to sunlight in the building, some tenants required cooling while others desired heating to achieve comfort.

When came the time of replacing the old system, the owner wanted to completely update the HVAC system to save energy and improve building operations. One specific requirement was to finally be able to fairly split the energy costs between tenants based on their actual consumption.

 

But due to the building’s being registered in the local registry of historical architecture, many restrictions applied.

  • Local Urban Authorities required equipment to be installed indoors, as outdoor installations are prohibited for classified historical monuments.
  • Additionally, it was specified that the air conditioning was to add no more than 3dB to the pre-existing ambient noise level in the neighborhood.
  • The HVAC System Designer wished to install the outdoor equipment in the attic, which was previously unused, converting it into a technical room and providing easy access to an ambient air source. However, this space was extremely narrow and slanted.

The solution: Hitachi VRF is the only compact enough solution to fit it the attic

 

After analysis of the building constraints and requirements, SET FREE Σ was found to be the only suitable system available on the market.

 

Compact Floor Footprint — The small width of the 18HP and 24HP outdoor units (1,219mm and 1,609mm) made SET FREE Σ the only solution on the market small enough to fit within the limited floor space in the building attic. Without SET FREE Σ outdoor units, this whole retrofit project would not have been possible. Outdoor equipment was no longer installed outside as it was previously, instead it was cleverly concealed within the attic.

 

Reduction to Outdoor Noise — To prevent noise pollution in the surrounding historical neighborhood, as requires by the local regulation, acoustic specialists integrated noise reduction equipment with the louvers of the ambient air inlets and outlets. This created a new challenge, affecting access to outdoor air. To solve this, the external static of the SET FREE Σ outdoor units was set up at 80Pa. This solution allowed for sufficient heat exchange and preserved performance.

 

Flexible Piping — Due to the building’s layout, a distance of 50m between the first multi-branch kit and the furthest indoor unit was required. SET FREE Σ could easily accommodate this, with a capability of up to 90m distance between the two.

 

Back-up Operation — In case of failure in one module of an outdoor unit, SET FREE Σ has a back-up system which automatically kicks in to operate the remaining modules, giving building owners reassurance.

 

Centralized Monitoring — Through the use of CS-Net Web, the building owner is able to monitor the entire SET FREE Σ installation from a remote computer. The building owner can also visualize each tenant’s total energy consumption, enabling accurate invoicing. Each tenant now receives individualized and accurate billing, reflecting their actual usage of the air conditioning.

 

DOWNLOAD

 

  1. Commercial building - Case Study (PDF)
  2. Commercial building - Project Sheet (PDF)
  3. Projects Reference Catalog (PDF)

Location

Lyon, France

Project

Retrofit

Date of installation

2018

Total System Capacity

106HP

Outdoor Units

SET FREE Σ FSXNSE Series Heat Recovery Type • Floors 1, 2, 3: 54HP – 3x18HP • Floors 4, 5: 24HP – 1x24HP • Floors 6, 7: 28HP – 1x16HP 1x12HP CH-box Single-port + multi-ports

Indoor Units

Office Area: 79 x Ducted units - 1st Floor Shops: 2 x HYDRO FREE water modules - Other Spaces: 3 x Wall-mounted units

Controllers

Individual 85 x PC-ARFPE Central Station-CS-NET Manager