Building Services News l November/December 2019
central Dublin with over 500 rooms and 20 meeting rooms, including a conference room that caters for 1000 delegates. Apart from the removal of existing building services, the project calls for the seamless installation of 40 outdoor units, 550 indoor units, 50 hybrid BC controllers, and over 550 controllers. Crystal Air is working closely with the other project team members to achieve this objective. They include Patrick McCaul Consulting Engineers, Duke McCaffrey, Project Management Consultants, John Fleming Architects and Mitsubishi Electric. A bigger challenge Next came an even bigger challenge … how to carry out the works without impacting in any way on the day-today operation of the hotel. Apart from technical excellence and professionalism, the solution also called for creativity and flexibility, especially bearing in mind that the bedroom interiors were not being re-decorated. “There is no denying that this project presented some serious challenges,” says Domnick Ward of Crystal Air. “However, working as a close-knit team and doing continuous refresher on-site workshops – plus some inventive, outside-the-box thinking – we established a mind-set and culture within the whole team that became second nature. “For instance, we had regular ‘quiet days’ when necessary, and learned to remove all evidence of workwear such as hard hats, work boots, tool belts, high-vis vests, etc when in hotel common areas. It was as if we did not exist, appearing to be just other hotel guests when outside of the actual designated bedroom work areas. “As for the technical aspects of the project, the Mitsubishi Electric HVRF system proved the perfect solution for a live hotel application, especially as there was no refrigerant gas involved and there were no hot
Crystal-Mitsubishi DPS Oct 2019.indd 3
works in corridor areas. Other benefits were modular installation, quiet operation, simple user operation controller, and central control system set-up per phase. The system also comes with a 7-year warranty provided by Crystal Air and supported by Mitsubishi Electric.
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“While undoubtedly challenging, this project was also exciting and stimulating. The fresh thinking and learning outcomes involved have strengthened our operational procedures, and Crystal Air is now ideally placed to take on similar demanding projects in the future.” Q
Individual room controllers and grille outlets had to be installed without requiring subsequent interior décor upgrades.
The project involved a total of 50 hybrid BC controllers and over 550 customised individual controllers in the bedrooms.
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Working as a closeknit team and doing continuous refresher on-site workshops – and some inventive, outside-the-box thinking – we established a mindset and culture within the team that became second nature.
Indoor units and related services were discretely sited. However, they are still easily accessible for maintenance and regular servicing.
26/11/2019 11:55