–LABS Tower | Hitachi combined HVAC project in Nicosia, Cyprus
VRF - Ventilation - Domestic Hot Water - Commercial Split Systems - Mini Splits
The place: Brand-new landmark tower brings coworking & hospitality together
After 4 years of construction, the new LABS tower opened its doors in 2023. With 22 floors, it makes the highest tower in Cyprus’s capital city Nicosia.
This new skyscraper is the 16th location of the LABS global ecosystem, offering first-class coworking spaces to individuals and corporations. Complete teleworking amenities, connectivity equipment and meeting rooms are provided to their members.
In addition, the LABS Tower offers luxurious serviced apartments for visitors in the city. Restaurants, gyms, and conference venues are also available.
In the LABS Tower, the extensive admission of natural light doesn’t compromise with the building’s sustainability.
“Living in a Mediterranean climate, with temperatures reaching in excess of 40˚C, especially given that LABS Tower is a glass building, it is imperative to us that the air conditioning system installed works seamlessly, efficiently and quickly, all of which the Hitachi HVAC system does effectively.”
Frank Stravrou, COO of LABS Tower
A major focus was on selecting energy-efficient materials and equipment during the building construction. Energy-saving electrified cooling and heating solution was extremely important for the end-client.
The solution: Hitachi VRF & ventilation units keep the air cool and fresh across 22 floors
Hitachi VRF cools and warms up all the working and living spaces of the building. The selected Set Free FSXNSE series provides superior energy efficiency, saving energy in both cooling and heating operations throughout the year. These modular top-flow Set Free Sigma units have been installed on each of the tower’s floors. The performance of these units enables them to be placed in a semi-open technical space inside the building, with louvers open to the outside air. This ensured the architect’s vision was not compromised by placing outdoor units on visible balconies or rooftops. The integration of the VRF units inside the floor layout is enabled through high external static pressure (ESP) ducts connected to the Set Free Sigma units.
“Sustainability means a lot to LABS Tower. Heat pump technology is highly energy efficient as it uses renewable energy from the outdoor air to drive the heating/cooling process. This technology delivers high output for low input, leading to a direct saving in CO2 emissions and running costs.”
Frank Stravrou, COO of LABS Tower
To complement every floor’s standard equipment, Hitachi KPI air renewal units have been installed to bring in fresh air. The heat losses are minimal, thanks to the heat recovery functionality of KPI units, which exchanges heat between fresh air and exhaust air. Effective ventilation is necessary in a big building like the LABS Tower Nicosia, to keep the air healthy for the occupants spending several hours a day in the living and coworking spaces.
All the air conditioning & ventilation units were connected to the Hitachi centralized monitoring system – CSNET Manager. With 2,500m of total H-LINK wiring, the CSNET Manager hardware device was installed on the 2nd floor and provides a web-based interface for the building’s entire HVAC to be controlled remotely.
On top of the standard HVAC equipment mentioned above, apartments and coworking spaces each had their own requirements met by various Hitachi Cooling & Heating products:
- In the coworking floors: 3.35 meter high exposed ceiling brought a modern industrial touch to the premium minimalist interiors. Hitachi VRF indoor ducted units were installed, and like the rest of the exposed equipment, they were painted in white for seamless aesthetic integration with the interior design. Server rooms are independently cooled by PRIMAIRY large split units, with one on-duty and one on standby. The condensing units for these systems are also installed in a semi-open technical space on each floor. with one duty and one standbythe condensing units also installed in semi-open technical space on each floor.
- In the fully furnished service apartments: Hydrofree hot water units were installed and integrated with the heat recovery Set Free Sigma VRF system. In this way, the Hydrofree units can recover the exhaust heat from cooling VRF and transfer it to the domestic hot water system of the apartments. It makes a great energy-saving and low-carbon solution for residential premises where domestic water is in high demand. For space heating and cooling, mostly ducted VRF units were concealed inside dropped ceilings, making the air conditioning completely invisible.
- In the floors with hospitality venues: as well as the top-floor event space and cafeteria, the ceiling were 6 meters high, and so required the use of powerful air handling units, conveniently connected to the Hitachi VRF systems with our DX-Kit.
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*At the time of project
Distributor: J. K. Vavlitis Ltd
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Location
Nicosia, Cyprus
Project
New built
Date of installation
2019
VRF Outdoor units
30 SET FREE SIGMA, FSXNSE series. Total capacity (402 HP)
VRF Indoor units
Total 299 indoor units, 260 (ducted unit), 39 (4-way cassette) 27 VRF CH-box for heat recovery
Ventilation
31 heat recovery ventilation units (KPI)
Large commercial Splits
18 PRIMAIRY Cassettes
Mini-Splits
5 wall mounted (RAC/RAK 35 REF)
Distributor
J. K. Vavlitis Ltd
