Whichever way you look at it, 2020 didn't really go to plan for anyone did it! Unless you manufacture PPE or Hand Sanitiser, it probably wasn't the best year. Onwards and upwards I always say... 2021 is shaping up to be the year of rebuilding, the year of promise, the year we get back on track! 

This applies to the HVAC Industry too, today we will be identifying the upcoming trends that are set to shape the next 12 months of our industry in 2021, providing we don't get another global lockdown that is.

As an industry, HVAC has always been about heating and cooling, I know that sounds obvious, a simple change that people can feel almost immediately. However, with Coronavirus and the rise of COVID-19, the focus has shifted so that we aren't just focusing on people's comfort, we are also looking at their health and wellbeing, with air quality coming to the forefront and being an interesting talking point for manufacturers around the globe. 

Whether it be an app that allows you to connect your phone to your indoor unit and measure the quality of the air or an independent consultant that comes to measure your 'Air Health' it is an important area that will be highlighted going forward and could be one of the main reasons you invest in a system for your company or even your home, it could even be the reason you finally get that service.

The environment stood centre stage when the world shut down, however in recent months with COVID-19 reportedly coming back for a second wave, political campaigns raging and basic human rights being debated every day. It is easy to forget we are still responsible for our little rock floating in space, in 2021 it will be no different, it won't go away. 

New, green, environmentally conscious technology is sure to grow yet faster in 2020. This could mean heating being fuelled by electricity or hydrogen, or myriad smart inventions to provide cleaner solutions. Innovation in the HVAC sector has the chance to be at the vanguard of change. With growth in the green sector, the market for HVAC will have a big part to play in the rise of sustainable energy.

Smarter ways of thinking are complimented by the Smart Homes we live in. From an app on your phone allowing you to turn the lights on, cook a chicken and set the temperature in your home at the click of a button, smart homes are paving the way to a more intelligent and environmentally friendly society. Nest & Hive Thermostats bring another level of usability to the market that is likely to increase the appeal to make your home smart in 2021, if even just for the novelty factor at first, people will start to realise that these things we thought were pipe dreams 20 years ago will become a necessity we cannot be without.

Daikin Control Systems allow you to be in control of your HVAC at all times, with App access to up to 50 units at any one time, home owners and Facility Managers alike will rejoice in the holy grail of HVAC technology. The ability to change the temperature and settings room by room, time scheduling to make the systems work around you , energy usage to monitor consumption and see where you can save and the ability for the system to learn how you live and work. 

The future is now, long gone of the days where an air conditioning unit would be the talking point of the office, mostly for the wrong reasons, the technology available today allows for a smarter and move innovative way to exist with your HVAC system.

With new technology, comes new training. Global demands for HVAC equipment are expected to increase by 6% annually through 2021. The growth of the HVAC market brings with it extra demand for skills across a company.

The baby boom generation are entering retirement and the millennial generation may be much less likely to enter a skilled trade. Companies are therefore looking at the way they recruit and train staff, investing more in employee training and skills programs as they adapt to change.

AACS Limited work with a local North East education provider, Northumberland College, to find the best local talent through a vocational way of learning, we have to adapt and bring the next generation of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineers into the game.

Designing a new system can often be a complex job, with everything only ever existing in a 2D world until you get to site, however AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality) is changing the way design engineers plan and demo the latest systems in different spaces.

VR is often described as Immersive Technology, once you don your goggles you are sucked into a virtual world and can move around within that world. AR works slightly different, adding digital elements into a live view, usually incorporating the camera functionality in a smart phone or tablet.

Instead of a design purely being 2D, HVAC Design Engineers can visualise anything from the smallest component to a full system with the help of rendering technology in a simulated space using the latest CAD software.

This brave new world for HVAC can also help with training and maintenance, allowing Service Engineers to fix a problem in the safety of a workshop before they get to site, many of the AR apps allow for a built in manual which will in turn help the Engineer learn as they go.

Immersive technology is changing the way the industry designs, sells and services the products by adding an exciting new tool for those working in this fast-moving and dynamic industry,

Nothing is certain in this day and age, with trends changing faster than the temperature in an office, however the HVAC industry continues to strive and change for the better. With new technology and a consumer market with changing priorities, we are in a great place to see out the next 30 years as we have done since 1990.

Data centres are vital for almost every sector in the UK economy, but they are energy-intensive buildings.
TechUK, the membership organisation for technology businesses in the UK, estimates that data centres consume 2.89TWh of power per year.  

However, the sector also recognises that it has a role to play in achieving the UK’s carbon reduction ambitions.

The TechUK report UK Data Centre Sector Energy Routemap (November 2019) states: “The sector is a large electricity consumer with stable, predictable demand and significant embedded capacity. For these and other reasons it is well-placed to help support the transition away from an economy dependent on combustion and towards one based on renewables.”

​Agreed targets
The data centre sector has a Climate Change Agreement (CCA). This is a negotiated agreement with government offered to energy-intensive industries. In return for a reduction in or exclusion from paying some carbon-related taxes, participants commit to energy efficiency targets – specific to that industry.
The CCA for the data centre sector ran from 2014 to 2020. Government announced in early 2020 that it would extend CCAs to 2025.

The potential annual savings in carbon-related taxes can run to many thousands of pounds for data centres.

Higher energy costs
UK data centres also face higher energy costs than many other parts of the world.

In a global market where the geographical location of clients may not be a factor in data centre location, this makes energy efficiency a competitive issue.

There are, therefore, genuine benefits to continuing to make energy reductions wherever possible for data centre owners and operators.

UK data centres have shown firm commitments to energy efficiency and sustainability. Almost all of the CCA participants are compliant with ISO 140001 and half have signed up to the EU Code of Conduct for data centres.

However, more can be done, particularly in the building services arena.

Reusing heat
One of the potential savings highlighted by TechUK is the reuse of heat.

Data centres produce large amounts of heat as a by-product which is often simply expelled from the building. However, technology is readily available that can make heat reuse a highly cost-effective option.
Heat recovery captures heat rejected from a cooling system and applies this to other areas of building services such as space or water heating.

It is possible to save significant amounts of energy while reducing long-term operational costs.
Clearly, in a building which ejects large amounts of heat, the ability to use that energy elsewhere has enormous potential.

A range of options
There are several approaches for heat recovery, and Mitsubishi Electric has a range of technologies that provide heat recovery to both new-build and existing projects.

For example, simultaneous heating and cooling chillers are particularly useful in data centres where there are coincidental heating and cooling loads. The heat extracted from areas that require cooling can provide heating to occupied spaces in the data centre, such as offices. It can also boost the temperature of hot water to reduce the load on boilers.

For those looking to move away from gas boilers altogether (to make use of clean electricity, for example) there are chillers with simultaneous heating.

One of the primary benefits of this approach for new-build projects is that no gas boiler is required since the system provides cooling and space / hot water heating – removing the need for a gas connection.

The 4-Pipe Integra Chiller is an excellent example of this approach

It is also possible to use a dedicated heat recovery heat pump. The water-source heat pump uses the condenser water or return chiller water as its energy source. It is an excellent approach for large water-cooled chiller applications that improves the performance of large-capacity chillers and dedicated plant – enhancing the ROI of capital expenditure and improving long-term performance.

Data centres are now critical infrastructure for the UK. As significant energy users, they also have the potential to lead the way on the use of smart approaches to cooling and heating.

The latest guidance from HSE on Air Conditioning and Ventilation

Air conditioning
The risk of air conditioning spreading coronavirus (COVID-19) in the workplace is extremely low as long as there is an adequate supply of fresh air and ventilation.

You can continue using most types of air conditioning system as normal. But, if you use a centralised ventilation system that removes and circulates air to different rooms it is recommended that you turn off re-circulation and use a fresh air supply.

You do not need to adjust air conditioning systems that mix some of the extracted air with fresh air and return it to the room as this increases the fresh air ventilation rate. Also, you do not need to adjust systems in individual rooms or portable units as these operate on 100% re-circulation. You should still however maintain a good supply of fresh air ventilation in the room.

General ventilation
Employers must, by law, ensure an adequate supply of fresh air in the workplace and this has not changed.

Good ventilation can help reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, so focus on improving general ventilation, preferably through fresh air or mechanical systems.

Where possible, consider ways to maintain and increase the supply of fresh air, for example, by opening windows and doors (unless fire doors).

Also consider if you can improve the circulation of outside air and prevent pockets of stagnant air in occupied spaces. 

The work of building services specialists was acknowledged by various government departments and building clients as providing vital support for critical operations like the NHS and food suppliers during the Covid-19 crisis.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) said building maintenance should continue as normal during the period when the country was in lockdown and was “helping to save lives” by keeping hospitals, care facilities, schools and supermarkets operating.

There were some early rumours that air conditioning and ventilation could help to spread the virus, but it was quickly established that this was not the case. On the contrary, it became clear that these systems could play an important role in helping to deal with the problem.

REHVA, the European Federation of HVAC associations, explained that Covid-19, unlike some other viruses, is largely resistant to environmental changes and susceptible only to high relative humidity above 80% and temperatures above 30°C. Therefore, humidification, air conditioning and duct cleaning had no practical effect on its transmission.

However, there were certain adjustments facilities managers could make that would further reduce the risk of transmission. For example, by switching air handling units (AHUs) to full fresh air mode and temporarily disabling recirculation with heat recovery, facilities managers could ensure potentially contaminated air was not recirculated in occupied spaces.

Building users were urged to keep up air change rates – even in partially occupied buildings – as this would minimise the risk of moisture, which could contain the virus, settling on internal surfaces.

Monitoring and maintaining for health

​However, good maintenance strategies should not just be deployed in response to a pandemic.  There is a wider lesson to be learned about how building services maintenance can safeguard the health and wellbeing of building occupants at any time.
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According to the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) and the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) indoor air can often be between 5 and 13 times more polluted than outdoor air due to a cocktail of contaminants including smoke, damp, traffic fumes, chemical aerosols and particulates from wood burning.

This is known to be contributing to a dramatic rise in the number of asthma sufferers and is also linked to other allergic conditions including conjunctivitis, dermatitis and eczema. It also has a particularly unwelcome impact on the health of children.

Schools, care homes and healthcare facilities are areas of particular concern.  In these buildings it is crucial that the air conditioning systems are continuously monitored to ensure they are delivering the right conditions for health and wellbeing – and that regular maintenance is carried out to keep them operating reliably and efficiently to minimise running costs.

This is also the best way to extend the operating life of these critical assets and minimise costly repairs and system downtime. It will also flag up the need for regular maintenance activities such as disinfection and chlorination to kill viruses and bacteria, preventing airborne cross contamination.

Duct cleaning also removes unwanted substances such as debris and dust from ductwork and sanitising prevents mould building up in the system.  Duct and air sampling ensures good quality air is circulated through the HVAC units. Humidifiers should also be checked to maintain relative humidity levels are in line with recommendations for minimising airborne viruses.

Thanks to the availability of connected tools, continuous monitoring can be carried out remotely so potential problems are spotted before they arise. ​

Technical innovation for long term efficiency
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Our supplier Daikin continue to push the boundaries of technical innovation to improve the long-term operating efficiency of our installations. For example, they recently launched a new generation of water-cooled centrifugal compressor chillers, which provide better energy efficiency thanks to the inclusion of a new refrigerant cooled inverter drive.

Available in a wide range of cooling capacities and component combinations, Daikin's new B Vintage chillers have been designed to deliver optimal performance at both full and part-loads. They can also operate with a choice of refrigerant to help building users meet targets for reducing the global warming potential (GWP) of their installations.

Daikin AHUs also meet client requirements for air quality and energy efficiency through accurate sizing and using technical innovations like EC fans. Fan power is specifically referenced in revised ErP legislation so is another design aspect that should not be ignored by specifiers.  This also calls for multiple fan systems to build in redundancy so is as much about reliability and peace of mind as improving efficiency.

The country’s problems with air pollution and the increasing publicity around the transmission of disease means this aspect of building engineering is under the microscope. Fortunately, the air conditioning and ventilation sectors have a range of solutions available to help building owners and managers maintain safer, healthier and more comfortable conditions for occupants – delivering better and more cost-effective outcomes for all.