➲ Global Update
ITALY FRANCE
UAE
WORK LIFE IN A BUBBLE
Italian architectural firm Carlo Ratti Associati has created a personalised heating, cooling, and lighting system that follows workers around. The“ Office 3.0” system uses sensors to monitor data such as occupancy levels, temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, and the status of meeting rooms.
Workers set their personal preferences via a smartphone app and the building system responds in real time, adjusting lighting, climate and room booking. An optimised“ thermal bubble” follows each person around.
“ By synchronising energy usage and human occupancy within buildings we can create a more sustainable and responsive architecture – theoretically slashing energy consumption by up to 40 per cent” says founder Carlo Ratti.
The first installation of Office 3.0 is scheduled to be completed in early-mid 2017. n
“ ATTRACTIVE” NEW TECH
A leading magnetic refrigeration company has launched what it claims to be the first commercial magnetic cooling system. The system is based on the magnetocaloric effect – the changing of the temperature of a material when it is exposed to a magnetic field.
Cooltech Applications is applying the technology in its magnetic refrigeration system( MRS) product line. With cooling capacities between 200W and 700W, the company intends for the product to be used mainly for commercial refrigeration, including medical refrigerators, display cabinets, beverage dispensers, store plugins, and wine cellars,
French refrigerated display cabinets manufacturer OFC is expected to be one of the first companies to adopt the new technology. n
CHILLED-WATER SPORTS CITY
Emirates District Cooling( Emicool) has been awarded a contract to build and operate a US $ 32.6 million( AU $ 44 million) mega project network to extend chilled water to new developments within Dubai Sports City.
The new network is set to increase the production capacity to 77,000 tonnes of refrigeration( TR), which will cater to the surging demand of the Dubai Sports City development. The expansion of the new district cooling network will result in an annual reduction of 173 gigawatt / hour power consumption in Dubai Sports City and also reduce 120,000 tonnes of CO 2 emissions.
" The new district cooling network from Emicool will connect complexes, stadiums and buildings in Dubai Sports City,” says CEO Adib Moubadder.”
The project is expected to be completed by July 2018. n
EU CANADA
USA
PREPPING FOR THE BIG CHILL
Scheduled for October 11 – 13, the fifth Chillventa exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany, is expected to draw over 1000 exhibitors, making it the biggest ever.
As Europe’ s largest HVAC & R convention, the show will be preceded by a major international conference“ the Chillventa Congress” on 10 October. This year’ s Congress will have a focus on heat pump technology.
“ Despite rising energy prices, the heat pump has established itself as a practical and attractive alternative to fossil heat generators,” says event organiser Dr Ing Rainer Jakobs.“ Chillventa is acknowledging this development with its special presentations on heat pumps in commercial and industrial use.”
This year’ s event expansion will see Chillventa add new halls and reorganise the layout to enable the refrigeration and AC sectors to be organised more thematically for the future. n
FIGHTING THE HEAT
A father who attended a UFC event in Ottawa, Canada says he’ ll“ never” go back to TD Place Stadium after his son suffered heat stroke, reportedly due to insufficient air conditioning.
“[ The heat ] was unbearable, to say the least,” says Rami Ahmed, who drove five hours to attend the UFC Fight Night.
In a brief statement, the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group( OSEG) revealed that the venue did have air conditioning, but it wasn ' t operating at full capacity on the night of the event.
" For the first time in the 40-year history of the arena, TD Place had air conditioning,” says event spokesperson Graeme Ivory.“ It was 60 per cent operational for UFC and will be up to 100 per cent in the coming weeks as the project is completed."
The fans weren’ t shy in expressing their discomfort during the fights, chanting“ We want AC!” at various points throughout the night. n
AGENTS OF SHIELD
The US Department of Energy ' s( DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy( ARPA-E) has announced AU $ 41.7 million in initial funding for 14 projects as part of the new Single-Pane Highly Insulating Efficient Lucid Design( SHIELD).
SHIELD project teams are developing innovative window coatings and window panes to significantly improve the energy efficiency of existing single-pane windows in commercial and residential buildings. The SHIELD program has a goal to accelerate the development of materials that could cut in half the amount of heat lost through single-pane windows without replacing the full window.
Among the projects, a team out of the University of Colorado is producing a flexible, transparent thermal barrier using low-cost cellulose nanorods synthesised from food industry waste. n
8 | HVAC & R Nation | www. hvacrnation. com. au | August 2016