Evaluations

Independent evaluations of Termodeck

TermoDeck has attracted considerable interest in professional circles, and in government and academic institutions, because of its operational, financial and environmental advantages. A selection of the resulting literature is summarised under the sub-menu Articles and Reports.

Of particular interest are the two reports on the Elizabeth Fry Building at the University of East Anglia and the article about the Met Office.

ELISABETH FRY BUILDING

THE NEW PRACTICE FINAL REPORT 106
-The New Practice Final Report 106 (March 1998) by the UK Government’s Department of the Environment, transport and the regions (DETR) provides “impartial, authoritative information on energy efficiency techniques and technologies in industry and buildings”.

• Click here for the report

THE BEST BUILDING EVER?

-PROBE team of Building Services Journal (April 1998) has done a thorough study of the Elizabeth Fry Building.
The team’s verdict was: “The Best Building Ever?”.

• Click here for the report

THE MET OFFICE

An interesting article in Building Services Journal (June 2004) is the report of the Meteorological Office in UK with its conflicting needs of high internal heat gains and low energy consumption. The Met Office won two prestigious awards in 2004.

Click here for the awards.
Click here for the report about the Met Office

MARKET STUDY: THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE AIR CONDITIONING (TES AC) SYSTEMS IN SAUDI ARABIA

A report commissioned by British Offset about Thermal Energy Storage AC systems for Saudi Arabia was finalised in April 2005. The report, done by ASA Consulting, a British consulting firm, concluded that the increased utilisation of TES AC Systems, particularly TermoDeck, could lead to major benefits for the Saudi government in terms of capital savings in power sector investments of US$ 8.6 billion from 2005-2020. Also, the total estimated saving of CO2 emissions until 2020 would be 18.2 million tonnes (given that TermoDeck’s market share of new buildings rose from less than 1% today up to 33% in 2020).

The report also concludes that by using TermoDeck, savings in both capital costs – 20-35% for the AC installation – and energy costs – around 30-40% – were achieved compared to buildings using conventional AC systems.

Click here to read the summary of the report. For more information, please contact us.

Many countries in the world have sincere problems with power generation during peak hours. According to the BAe report, almost 50% of all power generated in Saudi Arabia goes to air-conditioning. 25% of the power needed are used during peak hours only which accounts for 4% of the time. Almost all this additional power derives from AC usage. Therefore, many power plants, used just for peak hours must be built for increasing future demands, especially since air-conditioning are much more common in new buildings.

Independent report of life cycle costs

An independent report produced in the United Kingdom in 2000 by Gardiner & Theobald and MacDonald compared the life cycle costs (capital, running and maintenance) over a 25-year period for three systems in a school project. The report shows that both capital costs and running costs are lower for a TermoDeck building when compared to conventional air-conditioned buildings. The report also indicates that the TermoDeck system compares favourably with natural ventilation systems. Life cycle costs are very much interrelated with the level of energy consumption, especially over long periods.

For more information about this report, please contact us.