Windowmaster develops natural ventilation system

Luton's Innovation and Business Base (IBB) is using a natural ventilation control system, designed and installed by WindowMaster, to maintain a comfortable internal working environment.

WindowMaster is Europe's largest provider of natural ventilation and smoke detection solutions.

In one of the company's biggest and most complex installations, it supplied over 1,000 window motors and installed the WindowMaster NV Advance system to control the louvres and the Monodraught Windcatchers at IBB.

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) funded the GBP14 million project which is now owned by Bedford City Council.

The 70,000 sq ft centre has over 100 supported units to accommodate growing businesses and will act as a catalyst for boosting Luton's economy.

The building will provide first class accommodation for start-up companies in the high-tech sector and will provide a stimulus for creative ideas.

Its outstanding architectural design incorporates a number of energy-saving features.

It has an 'Excellent' Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) rating - the highest classification which recognises that the design incorporates best environmental practice.

Part of the specification of the building was to design it with internal space flexibility to make it possible for walls to be moved or removed to accommodate expanding companies.

This made maintaining the internal climate more complex for WindowMaster because the natural ventilation system would need to be able take into account changes to the internal layout.

A typical office building has up to 50 internal zones, or areas, where climate needs to be monitored and controlled.

The IBB has over 150 zones, which made the project more challenging and was a reason for choosing the NV Advance control system WindowMaster's ventilation system interfaces with Windcatcher systems supplied by Monodraught - a sister company of WindowMaster.

The Windcatchers are mounted on the roof of the building and capture prevailing wind travelling from any direction and then direct it through a controlled damper arrangement into rooms below.

A weather station mounted outside the building monitors external conditions, including wind direction and speed, temperature and rain fall.

Changes in wind pressure on the facades are also modelled.

These parameters are programmed into the computer control system where they are analysed along with readings taken from the weather station and sensors fitted internally.

Windows around the building are then precisely controlled and positioned to keep air quality within rooms fresh and the temperature constant.

The system at the IBB is built on WindowMaster's NV Advance window automation platform.

It is the only system in Europe that intelligently monitors windows to prevent entrapment as an integrated function of the motor and control system.

It can provide almost failsafe security against the possibility of injury while windows are closing.

If an object, or hands or fingers, becomes trapped in a window and prevents it from closing, the amount of current drawn by the motor instantly increases.

This is detected by the microprocessor which immediately reverses the motor to release the window, therefore preventing the possibility of serious injury.

The system can be retrofitted on many existing windows as well as being installed on new buildings.

It can operate on a broad range of window types, including top and bottom opening, sliding and parallel opening.

The system can also be used on windows for heat and smoke ventilation.

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