Energy Efficient Product or Innovation of the Year
Recognising building services solutions that reduce the amount of energy used in buildings through the efficient use of energy by the product/innovation itself
Winner: Armstrong Tango parallel pumping solution - Armstrong Fluid Technology
The Armstrong Tango parallel pumping solution reduces pump energy consumption by about 30%, and can be used in many situations.
It is an integrated, purpose-designed solution for parallel pumping that automatically optimises energy efficiency. It features two pump heads in a common casing with built-in parallel sensorless pump control, integrated as standard.
It enables 100% standby to be replaced with parallel pumping in a number of applications, reducing embodied carbon by more than 50%. This reduces first installed and lifecycle costs, frees up space in the plant room or energy centre, and potentially halves the embodied carbon for the installation.
The pump heads can run either simultaneously or individually to provide the required flow in the most efficient combination. The option of a blanking plate enables maintenance to be carried out effectively on one of the pumps while the other remains in operation.
Armstrong Fluid Technology has research and development teams situated in Toronto, Buffalo, Manchester, Birmingham, Bangalore and Shanghai, facilitating product design and testing on a 24-hour basis.
Investments have been made to equip these sites with full-size pump test rigs, which enable the performance of products to be assessed rigorously during the research, testing and development processes.
Under the umbrella of the group-wide sustainability initiative, Planet Proposition, all sites in Canada, USA, China, India and the UK are committed to reducing their own monthly electricity, gas and water consumption, and comprehensive monitoring has been installed across Armstrong sites since 2014.
By eradicating the need for full duty/standby, the Armstrong Tango typically halves the embodied carbon for this aspect of the project. In addition to reducing environmental impact during production, it can deliver significant reductions in environmental impact relating to the installation of building services in new builds.
It can halve the embedded carbon in projects involving the replacement of old pumps, as part of an energy upgrade in existing buildings.
Judges’ comments:
Armstrong has made significant commitments to reduce its own carbon emissions in its manufacturing locations. Donating the proceeds from recycling aged pumps, via their sustainability initiative Planet Proposition, to charitable causes also impressed us greatly.
Finalists:
City Multi R32 Hybrid VRF – Mitsubishi Electric
FX HFO – Mitsubishi Electric Hydronics & IT Cooling Systems
i-NX – Mitsubishi Electric Hydronics & IT Cooling Systems