04/11/09
SCS Group carries out £120k bank job
The SCS Group, one of the UK's leading providers of ventilation, building management and smoke control solutions, has completed work on a new passive ventilation system at the UK headquarter of the Bank of America (BofA).
The Caerphilly-based building services specialist won the £120,000 contract awarded from contractor ISG Regions as part of a major upgrade of a two-storey building at the BofA's head office complex in Chester.
As one of the world's largest financial institutions BofA provides financial products and services to individuals and businesses in over 150 countries. The company serves 53 million customers with more than 6,100 retail banking offices. The Chester office complex is the nerve centre of the bank in the UK and is a base for many thousands of financial workers.
In order to minimise disturbance to BofA staff during the refurbishment and ensure completion to a tight deadline a four-strong team of SCS Group engineers worked on the project over an intensive 6-week period and throughout the night.
SCS fitted an intelligent stand-alone control and passive ventilation system that can be operated remotely and is not dependent on the buildings' management system (BMS).Tailored to meet the specific needs of the BofA, the building's 93 windows can be programmed to open and close at specific times and the remote dial-up system will allow for quick and easy re-programming.
The passive ventilation system uses the natural air-flow of the building, whose aluminium-framed windows were fitted with mechanical chain-drivers and actuators. This allows them to be opened or closed either by a CO2 sensor, thermostat, wind and rain sensors or from the touch screen automation panel.
The SCS Group-designed control panel is able to operate the windows in each of the 14 zones within the building independently. This system offers flexibility to meet the different needs of each zone to ensure the maximum comfort of staff. For security reasons the system can be overridden quickly and simply to ensure windows are kept shut any time during the day or night and carbon dioxide (Co2) detectors have also been fitted throughout the building to ensure the safety of staff.
Adrian Gornall, Technical Services Manager, ISG Regions, said:
"The SCS Group offered intelligent, flexible and cost-effective solutions to what was a complicated and demanding project. We're showcasing the BofA system for similar installations in the future."
Michael Washbourne, SCS Group senior project manager, said:
"The systems we've installed not only meet the BofA's current needs but can be adapted as the Banks' requirements change in the future, so it will last for many years.
"A passive ventilation system such as this avoids the everyday use of an expensive mechanical air conditioning system and ensures maximum comfort for staff while saving energy and helping the environment for future generations," he added.
The SCS Group, which won Fire Safety Specialist of the Year in the 2008 national Construction Specialist Awards, has installed over 500 smoke control systems for residential, retail and commercial buildings. Recent projects include supplying systems to Westfield London, Europe's biggest indoor shopping centre and Canary Wharf-based Crossharbour, a development of 700 apartments.
