Jul 2014
The push for energy efficiency has resulted in buildings that are well insulated and sealed. The unintended consequence is overheating in corridors and stairs. In most cases the using the existing smoke control equipment for day-to-day ventilation can provide a simple and inexpensive solution.
However, there are cases when natural ventilation won’t be enough to bring the temperature down to desirable levels. For these buildings, Colt’s CoolShaft smoke and day-to-day shaft system provides an effective and cost-efficient solution – both in terms of initial expense and running costs. It uses evaporative cooling technology to reduce temperatures in common areas to below the outside ambient by providing active cooling.
Evaporative cooling is up to 7 times more economical than conventional air conditioning and capital costs are generally lower. Such systems run most of the year in free cooling mode, with evaporative cooling kicking in when temperatures soar. It only needs a small quantity of electricity for the fan and the water pump, and you can cool several floors with just one unit. And, last but not least, it takes up little space and is much more lightweight than an air conditioning system.
The issue of overheating in common areas of residential buildings is becoming increasingly relevant, and is receiving growing coverage on our industry’s publications. In fact, the July 2014 issue of the CIBSE Journal covers the topic in a comprehensive feature article authored by Paul Compton, Technical Director at Colt.
We have also devoted several articles in our Colt Blog to this topic:
Our CPD recorded webinar about preventing overheating with a dual purpose shaft system is also available to watch online.
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