From Maintenance to Refurbishment
From Maintenance to Refurbishment
AE Smith Perth delivers energy efficient HVAC refurbishment to one of its loyal maintenance customers |
| 13 Sep 2010 |
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| A long standing maintenance agreement has turned into one of AE Smith Perth’s largest refurbishment projects. Ingres House, located in the heart of Perth’s CBD in Adelaide Terrace has been a client of AE Smith’s for over 17 years – where the Perth team have maintained and serviced the HVAC needs of the 10 storey office block originally constructed in 1972. “Time had certainly come for the building to receive an overhaul of its HVAC systems to be far more cost and energy efficient and set themselves up for the future,” says Perth General Manager, Graeme Stewart. “We were really pleased to turn our long standing maintenance agreement into a major refurbishment project,” he adds. But while the team had an intimate knowledge of the property, the project still came with complications – centered around transforming 40 year old technologies to meet present day standards. Led by Perth Commercial Projects Manager and Engineer, Brian Webber, the refurbishment involved stripping out all existing heating, cooling and ventilation systems and replacing them with state of the art energy efficient systems. Old open drive compressors, a water cooled condenser and chillers were replaced, while high specification AAM Building Controls using web based technology were also sourced in this $1 million refurbishment project. “We also worked closely with AE Smith’s Building Technologies division to ensure the right technology solutions were brought to the refurbishment to enhance the energy efficiencies for the building in the future,” says Graeme. Graeme adds: “The web based building technologies used at Ingres House also suit the property perfectly as they don’t have a full time, on site Building Manager. Controls and monitoring can all be handled via the internet from any location.” Another challenge inherent in refurbishing a building of this size was that the work needed to be carried out while the office tower was still occupied. “This project really required a lot of collaboration and consultation between the tenants, the Building Manager and ourselves,” says Graeme, who believes the relationships created during their long standing maintenance agreement was central to achieving a streamlined result during the 18 month project. |
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| Pictured above: Craig Bates, Project Supervisor and Electrician (left) and Ryan Starkey, 3rd Year Apprentice Refrigeration Mechanic (right) working on site at Ingres House. |
