A success story: Honeywell Heat Distributors and CM Zone

The delicate environmental situation and the risk of excessive exploitation of natural resources forces us to seriously consider the energy-saving opportunities that appear on a daily basis. There are several options and some can be easily implemented with minimal financial investment. The recently completed project in Genoa (Italy) in 4 blocks of flats is an excellent example.

The project was carried out in Via Paolo Toscanelli 15-21, Genoa, in 4 towers with a total of 156 floors. Before the start of the project, each building had its traditional boiler running for the control of heating and hot water. This type of system does not guarantee an equivalent level of comfort to all floors because, as with central heating systems, lower floors received much more heat than floors located at higher heights. The different lifestyles and personal needs of the residents result in heating needs being very varied.

The decision to convert the central heating system came from the Community of Owners of the flats and also influenced the decision the possibility of obtaining a tax reduction of 55% in accordance with the tax legislation in force in Genoa. After the preliminary research phase of the project, technician Rocca Bacci proposed a project that included the calculation of heating consumption to offer a level of comfort that traditional central heating systems normally cannot offer, even less in complex buildings with varied heating needs. The conversion included installing a condensing boiler with prior mixing to avoid complying with the legal requirement of 12 hours of on and off that affects low-efficiency boilers. The new system allows residents to use the heating 24 hours a day, turning it on or off depending on their particular needs.

The regulation system chosen by the Community of Owners was a mixed system: some blocks chose honeywell's thermostatic valve, a valve with adjustable KV and a Thera 4 Design manual thermostatic head. This solution was particularly chosen by residents who spent more time during the day at home.

In the other blocks of flats, inhabited mainly by families, the Honeywell CM Zone zoning system was installed, a system that allows the user to set the heating schedule according to their preferences at all times. CM Zone offers a very intuitive interface, because it incorporates a programmable chronothermostat that allows you to divide each floor into zones (for example "day" and "night") and consequently establish for each of the zones different temperatures and schedules, depending on personal or family needs. A radiator thermostat for HR80 thermostatizable valves was installed on the radiators to regulate the flow of hot water within the radiators and cool them as soon as the proper temperature had been reached. As far as the expense is concerned, the central heating system in columns made it necessary to install a heat distributor on the surface of each of the radiators present on the floors. These heat distributors transmit the consumption data via radio frequency to a data reception center located in the boiler room of the building. The consumption data of each floor are transmitted via GSM modem to personnel authorized by Honeywell for the control of consumption.

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Authors: TECNOSOSTENIBLE - Engineering of comfort and energy efficiency

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