Nottinghamshire Police has refurbished the heating systems at a series of its stations with Remeha boilers to improve the efficiency and reliability of the heating service in line with its wider efficiency measures.
Remeha
A condition survey of the mechanical installation at Nottinghamshire Police’s sites by project consultant CJR Midlands had found severe failings in most of the existing aged plant. The consultant’s recommendation was to refurbish eight plant rooms with new energy-efficient condensing boilers together with associated pumps and flue vertical masts. New Building Management System (BMS) controls were also specified to enable CJR to monitor all the sites from Sherwood Lodge, the main police headquarters.
The critical challenge on this project was the tight schedule, as all sites needed to be fully completed within three months. Additionally, all police stations were to be kept operational during the works. This meant ensuring zero disruption to the hot water service throughout this period, with all systems fully operational by the start of the new heating system.
Remeha was selected to provide boilers throughout the scheme. David Griffiths, Regional Director at CJR Midlands, explained: “Working within such a narrow timeframe, it was essential to select a proven manufacturer – so we chose Remeha. They have consistently provided us with excellent service and support, including assisting with surveys. The good availability of spare parts was also key.”
At Radford Road police station, two Remeha Gas 310 Eco Pro condensing boilers were specified to meet the site requirements. At the remainder of the sites, including the Sherwood Lodge headquarters, a combination of Gas 220 Ace boilers was selected to match the individual heat output demand.
Remeha’s ability to offer offsite fabricated cascade arrangements for its Gas 220 Ace floor-standing range was a major advantage on this extensive refurbishment programme, as it facilitated faster, smoother installation to overcome the time constraints.
ABSN was appointed the M&E contractor on the project by main contractor GF Tomlinson.
Working with CJR and ABSN, Remeha prepared 3D drawings of the boiler cascade arrangement to the specified layout for each site and integrated LTHW and gas headers, pump sets and a Plate Heat Exchanger (PHE) into the design. PHEs are increasingly applied on refurbishment projects to protect the new plant from the existing building distribution system via hydraulic separation, thereby optimising boiler performance and longevity.
The drawings enabled early visualisation of the layout before the offsite production took place. David commented: “As we also design in 3D, the fact that the drawings were available in the same format enabled more close and accurate design.”
ABSN’s Contracts Director Nick Clews said: “Early engagement with Remeha was central to the success of the scheme. Having the detailed co-ordinated dimensioned designs for each plantroom allowed us both to procure and to pre-install pipework in readiness for the boiler delivery. This helped speed up the installation process considerably.”
The entire refurbishment scheme went smoothly, with the challenging delivery dates all met.
“We would have no hesitation in using Remeha again on projects and found them to be proactive in engaging into a team ethos to ensure the scheme was delivered on time and with no detrimental effect to the end user,” said Nick.
“The project went extremely well,” agreed David. “We’re delighted to report that, since monitoring the sites, there have been no issues with the Remeha boilers whatsoever. Nottinghamshire Police are also pleased with the end result, especially as the collaborative approach enabled the team to deliver on time
and on budget.”
