Air Conditioning Inspections Are you ready?

by

Nemco Utilities

Building owners or managers who operate air conditioning systems have a statutory obligation and duty of care under the 2003 European Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) in respect of the operation and maintenance of their AC system.

The Directive requires all air conditioning systems (domestic, commercial and public) to be checked by an accredited Energy Assessor with the aim of improving efficiency and reducing electricity consumption, operating costs and carbon emissions. This is known as an air conditioning inspection or assessment.

Systems with a total effective rated output greater than 250Kw must be inspected immediately (the deadline for compliance was January 2009) and those with a total effective rated output greater than 12Kw must be inspected by 4th January 2011 (a single average cartridge AC unit = 5Kw).

Local Authority trading standards officers are responsible for enforcing the requirements and they have the authority to issue fixed penalty charge notices for non-compliance (currently 300).

The air conditioning inspection and resulting report must be CLG (Communities and Local Government) and CIBSE TM44 compliant and undertaken every 5 years. Reports should be uploaded to the Governments Landmark database.

Nemco offer a comprehensive service designed to meet the new requirements for air conditioning inspection with a panel of approved assessors operating UK wide.

The report will concentrate on:

oThe potential for reducing energy consumption

oIdentification of inefficient plant

oRecommendations for simple and low cost system modifications

oAssessment of current cleaning and maintenance regimes

oEvaluation of user operation

oMajor system and controls defects

The findings of the assessment may include recommendations and measure that could be taken to improve the efficiency of the system, such as improvements to the maintenance regime, operational changes or component / total system replacement.

Often the implementation of the recommended actions results in a reduction in electricity consumption, operating costs and carbon emissions as well as an improvement of the energy rating for the building (as calculated for an Energy Performance Certificate or Display Energy Certificate).

There are several potential benefits to the air conditioning operator in completing a statutory air conditioning inspection:

oCompliance at Local Authority inspections and avoidance of fines

oISO14001 / other environmental standards compliance

oImproved energy rating for the building

oReduced energy bills

oCertification will be required for property sale / transfer in the future

The responsible person is duty bound to arrange for the air conditioning inspection to be carried out and they are defined as the individual who controls the technical functioning of the AC system (rather than a user who may alter the temperature).

The government has produced a DVD to raise awareness of air conditioning inspections and this can be viewed at

http://www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/theenvironment/

If you require further information, or would like your air conditioning system to be tested or assessed, please visit our website at www.nemco-utilities.co.uk

Nemco Utilities offer a comprehensive service designed to meet the new requirements for

air conditioning inspection

with a panel of approved assessors operating UK wide and also provide a comprehensive service of local exhaust ventilation testing and risk

assessment

to ensure full compliance with the COSHH Regulations

Article Source:

ArticleRich.com