Air Conditioning Inspections
Air conditioning systems can account for 50% of the energy used in a building, and are therefore specifically targeted in the new legislation. Rutland Energy Assessors Limited are here to help you comply with EPBD Article 9 and the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations. The Article 9 Air Conditioning Inspection is gaining recognition as an excellent tool to help you identify energy-saving opportunities. It often pays for itself in just a few weeks when no and low-cost measures identified during the inspection are implemented.
The aims of the inspection are to provide building owners/operators with information about system performance and identify opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions and save energy and money. The output of the inspection will be a report highlighting measures which, if adopted, will have the potential to save energy and money within a reasonable payback period. Inspection reports will remain valid for five years, after which the system will require another inspection.
An air conditioning system is defined within the regulations as “a combination of all the components required to provide a form of air treatment in which the temperature is controlled or can be lowered, and includes systems which combine such air treatment with the control of ventilation, humidity and air cleanliness”. The regulations are being adopted in two phases. The first phase applies to systems with a rated cooling capacity above 250 kW and the second phase for the remaining systems over 12 kW. The cooling capacity of an air conditioning ‘system’ is further defined as “the sum of all individual cooling units under the control of one building owner or operator”. It may therefore include smaller ‘window-box’ and split units which are considered to be part of the ‘system’.
First inspection of all existing systems over 250 kW cooling capacity completed by 4 January 2009. First inspection of all existing systems over 12 kW completed by 4 January 2011. New systems over 12 kW installed after January 2008 must be inspected within 5 years of being put into service. |
