Astor House in Berkshire take advantage of significant developments in Daikin refrigerant technology by becoming the first UK application of chillers with Daikin’s Bluevolution technology, based on the R32 refrigerant.

Daikin D1 Partner Klimatec installed the industry-leading EWAT-B units. The R32 chillers were delivered to site and craned into position over a weekend to minimise traffic disruption on the business park’s entrance road.

The R32 has a global warming potential (GWP) of 675 when compared to the 2088 GWP of the R410A. The lower GWP and higher efficiencies of the R32 are significant advantages in the swing towards more environment friendly refrigerants. Additionally, as a single component refrigerant, R32 is easier to recycle and reuse.

Klimatec director Adrian Griffiths says: “The Astor House facilities manager, Mark Hogan of Orbit Property Management, and building services Contracts Manager, Aaron Lowe of Integral UK, were keen to accept our proposal and be the first to adopt the new technology – even though it meant delaying the replacement for a while when the existing chillers were literally on their last legs after nearly 20 years’ service.

“We will be monitoring the performance and the operating costs of the two systems – and we expect significant benefits from the R32 technology. The new technology appealed to us because of its increased energy efficiency and reduced refrigerant requirement.

“It was also an opportunity to future-proof Astor House because of the lower global warming potential of R32 in comparison with R410A.”