Airedale offers complete Aftersales solution
Adrian Trevelyan, Aftersales Manager, Airedale International Air Conditioning
Adrian Trevelyan heads up a 60-strong technical team which provides a national maintenance, refurbishment and project management service. With 25 years at Airedale he has significant experience of overseeing complex upgrade programmes in live, critical installations to maximise energy efficiency and redundancy.
Rapidly growing market
With an ever-growing inventory of cooling applications throughout the UK and globally, cooling specialist Airedale International continues to invest in its Aftersales Division which offers a complete range of solutions from maintenance and refurbishment services to spares and complex project delivery.
With more than 43 engineers nationwide, supported by an internal team of eight, Airedale’s Aftersales division provides preventative maintenance services to more than 500 key customers including hospitals, data centres, banks, retail and defence sites. A 24/7 emergency line is available to contract customers with guaranteed on-site response times within four hours.
Retrofitting for energy savings
One of the biggest growth areas for the Leeds-based manufacturer of cooling systems, which was formed in 1974, is the retrofit market where it has built up considerable expertise working with clients such as Epson, the National Gallery, Reuters, Vodafone and numerous public sector bodies.
Airedale Aftersales Manager, Adrian Trevelyan says the efficiency savings resulting from a retrofit programme can be substantial, with surprisingly rapid returns on investment. “Take the latest example of our work with BAE Systems, Warton where we helped them achieve computer room air conditioning energy savings of 70-80%, equivalent to £350,000 per annum. Normally you would expect a payback of 24-30 months on a project of this type but with BAE Systems we achieved this within just 15 months.”
To view the BAE Systems case study please click here: http://www.airedale.com/web/About-Airedale/Case-Studies.htm
“We’re increasingly dealing with very savvy energy managers tasked with achieving challenging energy performance objectives. In many cases, the easy wins have already been made so they need more of a ‘solutions’ partner who can work with them on a long-term basis rather than provide a quick fix.”
A typical retrofit programme would start with an energy survey, following which Airedale would monitor and measure energy consumption over a period of time, usually one day or one week, depending on the client’s requirements. “After together selecting a suitable area for a trial and making the recommended upgrades, we would continue to monitor and measure performance over the same period of time to ensure like-for-like comparisons” continues Adrian. “In conjunction with our client we would then assess the results and help build a business case as a basis for rolling out an upgrade programme. We will then fully project-manage the works which, on a large scale project like BAE Systems, can be complex. Our approach is based on a high level of expertise in the cooling arena and a flexible methodology based on the client’s objectives”
Downtime is generally one day per unit to upgrade to electronically commutated (EC) fans and a further day to implement Electronic Expansion Valves (EEVs). Airedale would ensure that the other units were fully operational during that time so as to maintain the facility’s performance even where hot works such as brazing are involved. Airedale engineers are highly trained air conditioning professionals who understand and can adapt systems to ensure they operate as a whole. They have the necessary skills and knowledge to commission and optimise each system to the specific conditions of each individual room and of course ensure compliance with F-Gas standards where refrigerant changes are made.
Often Airedale controls experts will be called in to design and implement control logic for example to maximise the part-load efficiencies of components, network and integrate units with the site Building Management System (BMS) providing remote temperature and humidity control, and to sequence units which would allow power consumption to be reduced, ensure even wear of components and provide back-up in the case of maintenance.
At the end of the programme, in addition to substantial energy savings, sites typically benefit from much better visibility and control over their cooling infrastructure. Adrian adds: “Installations of any size can expect to see quite significant results as a proportion of their total energy consumption.”
Investment for customer satisfaction
In line with the rest of the business, to achieve the highest levels of expertise, investment in people has been key to Airedale’s success with eight engineers now having completed an apprenticeship with the manufacturer and two apprentices part-way through their programme where they build on basic refrigeration knowledge attained at college through practical training at Airedale’s own CITB Construction Skills approved centre, as well as fault diagnostics and resolution in the field. This is supported by continued investment in technology in order to provide the highest service levels to customers including GPS location software and electronic reporting which speeds up the quotation process.
For more information about training please visit: http://www.airedale.com/web/Training-Events.htm
The wealth of knowledge held by both field and office teams is supplemented by a bank of expertise in all leading makes of cooling equipment, giving Airedale the edge over many of its competitors and providing added reassurance for customers.
No job too challenging
A dedicated projects team also manages large-scale, complex upgrade programmes for key accounts including the country’s major telecoms and rail infrastructure providers. The team provides clients with an end-to-end solution which encompasses bespoke system design where necessary and managing all logistics, simplifying the specification and installation process for customers. Adrian says they are seeing an uptake in demand for on-site rebuild projects. Often this is because of weight, size or logistical restrictions at the customer’s facility, especially when inner city locations are involved. “We build and test the product in the normal way, then reassemble it on site to the same high tolerances” says Adrian.
Airedale’s skills in this area have again been tested in a recent high profile project involving eight Airedale TurboChill™ chillers. The chillers had to be airlifted onto the roof of a central London building so we designed and manufactured them in 18 separate component parts to meet the helicopter’s weight restrictions. Not only did Airedale rise to the challenge but it actually exceeded objectives: thanks to further special design adaptions the chillers were reassembled on the roof with 50% less manpower and within just one week of each of the two 40-minute airlift operations. Another job for Airedale well done!
To view the London chiller logistics case study please click here: http://www.airedale.com/web/About-Airedale/Case-Studies.htm
For more information please contact:
Airedale International Air Conditioning
Leeds Road, Rawdon, Leeds, LS19 6JY
Tel: 0113 239 1000
Email: connect@airedale.com
www.airedale.com
