Andrews Water Heaters, part of Baxi Commercial Division, has
supplied two Queen’s Award-winning MAXXflo condensing, gas-fired
storage water heaters to provide energy efficient domestic hot water
to Wolverhampton’s five storey Civic Centre as part of a major
refurbishment of the heating and ventilation system. Officially
opened in 1979, the Civic Centre provides accommodation for
departments of Wolverhampton City Council, as well as the Council
Chamber and Mayoral Suite and houses 1500 members of staff. The
original boilers were 30 years old and required replacement as they
had reached the end of their operational lives, providing the ideal
opportunity to re-design the system in order to save energy and
reduce carbon footprint.
Domestic hot water was formerly supplied by LTHW boilers and storage
calorifiers with the stored water supply serving an on-site
restaurant. However, since full restaurant facilities are no longer
provided, there is reduced demand for hot water and it was decided
to separate the heating and water heating functions so that the
boiler plant can be shut down in the summer months in order to save
energy.
In a very tight schedule, all the original plant and pipework was
stripped out and replaced, the project being completed in time for
the start of the 2008/9 heating season. Wolverhampton City Council
Facilities Department expects that the newly designed heating and
water heating system will deliver energy savings in the region of
15%. In addition, Wolverhampton City Council has incorporated a
chlorine dioxide dosing system into the DHWS, as part of their water
hygiene regime. This has enabled them to lower the water temperature
to 450C, which has reduced the carbon footprint of the building
still further.
The new heating and ventilation system was designed by Jacobs
consulting engineers and they were responsible for specifying the
Andrews MAXXflo storage water heaters. These were selected for their
high efficiency, condensing capability and high recovery rate as
well as their compact footprint and aesthetic appearance. Another
important consideration was their modular burners, which not only
provide flexibility in the provision of hot water but are also
simpler to maintain as individual burners may be serviced while
others are still in operation.
Domestic hot water supplied by the MAXXflo heaters serves the
catering facilities which mainly offer a cold buffet and sandwiches,
hence the reduced requirement for hot water in the building. The
other draw off points are in the 34 staff toilet facilities located
throughout the building, as well as disabled and private toilets.
Each staff toilet has up to seven wash hand basins and a cleaner’s
cupboard with a Belfast sink.
The MAXXflo water heaters were installed by SG Maintenance Services
in the basement boiler room, connected to standard open flues. A
spokesman for the installer commented: “We were very happy with the
level of customer support provided by Andrews Water Heaters and the
technical assistance we received from their Area Sales Manager”
The MAXXflo CWH 90/300 models selected feature a fast recovery time
which is ideal for use in public buildings as this ensures that hot
water provision is always reliable, despite peaks in demand. Each
unit has a storage capacity of 300 litres, an output from 19.5 kW to
91.6 kW and a recovery rate of 1530 litres/hour through a
temperature rise of 50oC.
These high efficiency water heaters incorporate stainless steel heat
exchangers and tank and fully modulating premix burners to provide
maximum performance flexibility with economic running costs.
Generating hot water in condensing mode up to 80% of the tank
volume, condensing technology allows them to operate at 109%
efficiency. Heat input and flow are carefully regulated to produce a
closely controlled water temperature and a high temperature anti-legionella
program is incorporated as standard. These units are robustly
constructed from stainless steel giving a long service life and, for
maximum energy savings and operational convenience, they are
connected to the on-site Building Energy Management System.
Winner of the Queen’s Award for Innovation, the MAXXflo range of
condensing storage water heaters has integral tank options of 200
and 300 litres capacity, each with four output sizes from 30 to
120kW. MAXXflo units have a small footprint and offer flexible flue
options for ease of siting.
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