VRF air conditioning system

The practice is served by a VRF (variable refrigerant flow) air conditioning system, providing both heating and cooling from a single set of external condensing units.

VRF suits a building of this type because demand varies significantly from room to room and hour to hour. A consult room with two people and an animal in it has a very different load to an empty waiting area or a theatre under lights. VRF meets each zone individually, ramping capacity up and down to suit rather than running everything at a fixed output.

That zoning gives staff local control where they need it, and it keeps energy use in line with what the building is actually doing rather than what it might do at peak.

Heat recovery ventilation

Ventilation is provided by a heat recovery system, supplying fresh air throughout the building whilst recovering heat from the air being extracted.

Ventilation rates in clinical and animal areas are driven by air quality and infection control rather than comfort alone. Theatres, prep areas and kennelling all need consistent air change rates, and odour and contaminant control is a constant requirement across the building.

Without heat recovery, meeting those rates means continuously heating a large volume of incoming outside air. The heat recovery unit transfers heat from the extract air to the incoming supply, so the required air changes are delivered without the corresponding heating cost.

Controls system

The VRF and ventilation systems are tied together through a controls system covering the building.

Controls are what turn individual pieces of plant into a building that works as one. They set the operating strategy, hold conditions where they need to be, sequence plant so systems are not working against one another, and allow the practice to run to occupancy patterns rather than around the clock.

For the client, that means a straightforward interface and a building that holds its conditions without daily intervention. For the operation, it means the ventilation and air conditioning strategy is applied consistently across every area, every day.

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