HVAC challenges for high-rise

High rise buildings are developing on a rapid base in India. It is a structure that is well equipped and has all the amenities but still it has few challenges like indoor air quality, thermal comfort and the overall energy efficiency and the energy foot print which cannot be overlooked. Therefore it is important the high rise buildings shall maintain and ensure the ventilation and thermal comfort or the HVAC systems. On this note, the article will describe about how do these high rise buildings deals with challenges of ensuring HVAC systems and how one can meet the challenges.

In the wake of rapid urbanisation, increasing population and scarcity of space, the construction of high rise buildings in both residential and commercial segment has seen a boom since the last few years. However, making a very tall, high density building sustainable and green involves a plethora of challenges which includes maintaining high indoor air quality, ensuring thermal comfort and making it overall energy efficient. The heating, ventilation and air conditioning system of any building comprises of a substantial part of its overall energy footprint. This number becomes as high as 40 per cent of the total energy consumption for a commercial high rise building. “All this coupled with the added challenge of ensuring a continuous supply of fresh air and catering to the idea of comfort of hundreds of individuals, all within a building’s envelope, adds to the level of difficulty in creating sustainable and cost effective high rise building,” says Gurmeet Singh, Executive Director-Sale, Marketing and Business Planning, Johnson Control-Hitachi Air Conditioning India Ltd.

While energy efficiency, environment conservation, green building and smart cities have already become the new buzz words in the global scenario since a long time. “The Indian HVAC industry has also started working towards incorporating these into their designs and products while ensuring proper ventilation and thermal comfort. Proper well oriented envelop design ensures the energy efficiency and optimisation of the equipment selection for HVAC systems,” he adds.

How do you meet these challenges?
Meeting the challenges like indoor air quality, thermal comfort is import and challenging as well. For example these challenges can be met with having natural ventilation through windows, designing the structure in such a way that it’s easier for ventilation, having high ceilings etc. On sharing his views about how to meet these challenges Singh says, “Hitachi being a technology leader and one of the most premium brand in Indian air conditioner industry, is constantly working on new cutting edge technology in its product categories which comprises of room AC, VRF, chillers and other commercial air conditioners. Besides this, we are also involved in the trading of refrigerators and air purifiers. We are constantly working on producing best technology products which consume less energy and deliver best output.”

For the residential segment, the company’s room ACs are designed with I-Care philosophy at its heart. Its products come enabled with technologies that ensure efficient performance and optimised cooling which suit and fulfil the needs of its customers. “Our most premium product range- Kashikoi 5400i with I-Clean Plus, I-Sense, I-See and tropical inverter technology, is today India’s best energy efficient split inverter AC range. 36 per cent of our inverter AC range have BEE 5- star rating, which is again the highest in the industry and we also make sure that our products are eco-friendly as well and hence, our inverter ACs range uses R-410A refrigerant which is eco-friendly and ensures minimum ozone layer depletion. We also offer ACs with WIFI technology which enables the user of AC to control it from anywhere in the world,” informs Singh.

For the commercial building segment, the company offer VRF systems and water cooled screw chillers. Designed keeping in mind the needs of architects and HVAC consultants, Hitachi’s SET-FREE Kyosho range of VRF air conditioning offers a holistic approach to air conditioning in modern offices. These units are capable of cooling and heating, offers flexibility of installation, operates at impressively low noise levels and adapts to the varied temperature requirements of different rooms within a building. Its DC inverter driven compressor saves energy and is cost effective. It comes enabled with an air-conditioning management system that makes it easier for users to have simple, effective control of their air conditioning units to avoid unnecessary energy wastage, including overheating, overcooling and unattended operation. And with R-410A refrigerant, it is eco-friendly as well.

For commercial and industrial requirements, its water cooled screw chillers offers highly efficient cooling solution. With R134A eco-friendly refrigerant, it delivers superior performance and flawless functioning. With its precise and continuous capacity control technology, user friendly LCD touch panel and high performance twin screw compressor, it provides cooling with low noise and low vibrations which is ideal for industrial and commercial purposes.

“Thus, with our three pronged focussed strategy of quality, innovation and advance technology, Hitachi not only aims to increase the comfort of its consumers by ensuring proper ventilation and thermal comfort in a high rise buildings but also improves human lifestyle with energy efficient, eco-friendly and smart products,” say Singh.