News in brief
11.3.2009 15:30:00
The requirements for an HVAC system are becoming more and more demanding. Connecting thousands of points to a single building management system requires seamless integration of field equipment.
It seems evident that Ethernet-based communication is the future of building automation. We believe that AC drives will be more and more often connected to Ethernet-based BMS networks, either via wire or wireless links. The Vacon HVAC supports BacNet/IP and ModBus/TCP protocols as standard in every unit.
Serial communication still plays an important role in building automation systems. The Vacon HVAC supports ModBus, BacNet and N2 as standard.
The Vacon HVAC does not require an external energy measurement system for pumps, fans and compressors. Energy monitoring capability is incorporated into each and every unit as standard. Now it is easy to measure how much you actually save energy - every day.
The Vacon HVAC monitors the conditions of the AC drive itself, the motor and the process. The building automation system receives an alarm, for instance in case of a broken fan belt.
As an HVAC equipment manufacturer, you will need to be able to optimize your own product, not its components. With the modularized Vacon HVAC you can choose only the specific features that support your product, instead of being forced to choose an inflexible, fixed AC drive package.
We deliver all Vacon HVAC AC drives with one of three keypad options: an alphanumeric keypad, a graphical keypad or no keypad at all.
Two protection classes - IP21 and IP54 - are readily available, allowing great flexility in your product variation. The mechanical size of the Vacon HVAC remains the same whichever protection class you choose. In addition, the Vacon HVAC is the smallest HVAC AC drive in the market in its power range.
The Vacon HVAC complies with EN61800-3, category C1 and C2 as standard. No additional RFI filters are required. The Vacon HVAC also complies with the new harmonics standard EN61000-3-12, and can also be connected to an IT network.
If your production volumes are high and you need an AC drive with your unique visual look and feel, please contact your nearest Vacon representative to learn more about our key account program.
The labor cost is increasing, and availability is decreasing. It is essential that the installation and commissioning of AC drives require no special skills nor excess time.
Size does matter, when you have to lift and mount the AC drive on the wall. The Vacon HVAC is one of the smallest HVAC drives on the market but still has everything built in.
To ensure that your electrician can safely and effectively make the electrical connections, we have designed the mechanics and electrical connections for Vacon HVAC drives to be user friendly.
To ensure that anyone can safely and quickly commission the Vacon HVAC drive, whatever their background, we have developed an automatic commissioning function.
No matter how easy the AC drive is to install and commission, it is still reassuring to know that help is always available, locally. As a dedicated 100% drives manufacturer, Vacon technical support can focus on one thing: supporting you in your drives related challenges.
In building automation and in HVAC applications in particular, the payback period for an AC drive is typically one year or less. When compared with a lifetime of 10 years or more, this makes an AC drive an excellent investment.
To keep the costs of the investment to a minimum over the lifetime of the building automation system, Vacon boosts energy savings and minimizes maintenance.
Commercial, industrial and even residential buildings contain more and more equipment that is sensitive to disturbances. To ensure that your building automation complies with all the relevant standards, we have built them into Vacon HVAC drives.
The Vacon HVAC contains numerous features that make additional controllers redundant. This saves the costs of additional controllers, and of their housing, power supply and cabling.
According to leading climatologists, global warming will result in an ice-free Arctic Ocean by summer 2040. The average temperature increase is not remarkable, only 1.5°C. But this small change will have bigger consequences: the sea level will rise 6.5 m if just the ice sheets covering Greenland melt. 40% of all energy in Europe and USA is consumed in buildings. More than half of this is in HVAC applications.
Productivity drops 2% for each degree centigrade above 25°C. In terms of resources, a two-degree increase in temperature means that 4% more workers are needed. In an office with 100 people, with an average cost of EUR 40,000 per person, this means EUR 160,000 in extra labour costs. The cost of reducing the temperature by two degrees would be only EUR 4,000 for the same office.
Each degree by which the level of air conditioning or heating is cut in a building reduces the energy consumption by 3–5%. The electrical energy consumed by pumps and fans in HVAC typically drops by 20–50% annually if speed control is applied with AC drives. Buildings are globally the biggest consumer of energy. HVAC applications use the biggest share of energy in buildings.
