The situation

Around the mid-2000s the Institute Trinitarian Fathers of Venosa (Pz) decided to buy and renovate an old farm in the district Scorzone near Bernalda (Mt) to make a great home for homeless young people with disabilities, in need of and rehabilitation for people and the elderly in need. The building, completely devoid of technological systems, needed to be equipped with systems that would guarantee the integrated type structure, as requested by the client, a perfect integration of architecture and plant engineering, with particular attention to the prerogatives of end-users: people with disabilities physical and / or mental. The cost of operating costs in respect of all facilities, together with the autonomy of the individual areas of use, and the minimization of costs, following a strategy aimed at saving energy.

The solution

The company ACOGEI srl (Construction Management Support Equipment) Altamura (Ba) takes up the challenge and coordinates both the design and the supply and installation of all the technological systems at the Institute. For central air conditioning systems, booster of the fire suppression system and water supply and sanitary drinking water are selected and supplied equipment Grundfos. Specifically, ACOGEI opts for: a pressure group 02 HF Y / C for the fire-extinguishing system, comprising a motor pump and a motor pump, in order to ensure the autonomy of intervention even in the absence of electrical energy to means of a fuel reserve in support of the group; a booster set variable speed Hydro MPC-E / G 3CR 3×400 15-05 / 50 for the transport of drinking water in all the service areas of the structure; a group of increase in pressure variable speed H MULTI-E G 10-06 2 CRE 3×400, formed by two pumps, for feeding to the drains of the toilet. In addition to these systems, to stand out in functionality is the air conditioning system, powered by heat pump air / water producing heat transfer fluid heating / cooling for the power plant type radiant floor air-conditioning and other utilities. The transport of heat transfer medium at the end of each area to be air conditioned, including patient rooms, spaces for entertainment activities and specific areas of physical education and / or professional, occurs with circulatory Magna Series 2000 Twin type, favorite, among others , for their ability to guarantee low consumption and high reliability. The choice of the type twin, with alternating operation of the engines, in fact, responds to the request for total guarantee coverage of continuous operation, without interruptions caused by any failure of one of the two motors. Each pump, is installed downstream of the distribution manifold of the heat transfer fluid with the adoption, upstream, a mixing valve to respond to the variation of required thermal load, operates at constant pressure with the variation of the thermal load and serves a specific area of the structure, carrying the fluid to the air conditioning terminal. For the dining hall and the conference room we have been provided, in addition to the radiant floor systems, full fresh air with UTA equipped with heat recovery air / air. Whether patient rooms that areas aimed at activities such as educational workshops and professional education, are enslaved to a centralized control and management of heat and humidity conditions, required by and in each area, which manages each circulator and allows the different areas, equipped with probes for detecting the ambient temperature and humidity, the complete and automatic regulation of climatic condition. “We completed a very challenging job, which cost about two and a half million euro and lasted over 5 years from the initial design to implementation” – commented Nicola Cannito, owner and CEO of ACOGEI Srl – “The design criteria evaluated, given the considerable amount of circulation required, the management flexibility required by the client and the tested and consolidated response in terms of energy-saving circulatory Magna, together with the central management system from Siemens Desigo V4.
The decision to install the twin version is sort of consequence, considering the residential use of the structure, to avoid potential service interruptions “.

The result

Thanks to the choices made and the synergy between users with low energy consumption and the centralized system for the management of the air-conditioned building, the Institute is now possible to better coordinate, and will, the temperature control of each area, depending on the needs of individual guests staying in the hotel. Is also guaranteed immediate information regarding the operating conditions of the system, as well as an important reduction of energy consumption, made possible by the use of circulators with inverter, which, by allowing the pumps to work at variable flow, then vary according to the the required thermal load and the flow of heat transfer fluid, allow to obtain an energy saving of over 30%. “All four of the installed systems are working perfectly” – confirms Nicola Cannito – “and the response of the pumps is timely and consistent with the changing demands from homes: the environment sensors detect the conditions in the various areas, the report system management related information, and ensure that the circulators, through the mixers, respond as quickly as possible. The customer is very satisfied with these results, especially in the summer cooling, which relieves the heat found in summer at the property. Benefit from the availability and expertise of specialists and technical service of Grundfos was very important for us, and I can say that I would choose again Grundfos is a company that offers excellent guarantees on the operation of its devices and in 20 years in business I’ve never been disappointed. Never change a winning team! “.

The witness

“We are absolutely satisfied with the results obtained in terms of comfort thanks to these systems, their management and linearity of the sensible reduction of energy consumption that have allowed us to achieve.
Grundfos systems are designed to best meet our needs: last summer, for example, we have fully enjoyed the cooling and we never had problems in the use of water, both of which the drinking health. If we go back we would make the same choices, pointing again, as we did, on the aesthetics, as well as on the efficiency of the plants: the beauty, in fact, it is the first medicine useful to healing the patients entrusted to us.
Only those who are capable of empathy can relate to those suffering from mental disabilities: through faith, science and love, the Trinitarian Order, to which I belong, accompanies the ‘new slaves’ of the modern world toward autonomy and towards a life as independent as possible. We are always listening to the needs of these people and offer them rehabilitation programs suited to their physical needs, but also to the entirety of their existential needs: psychological, moral and spiritual. ‘Listen, accept, love‘: these are the principles that we follow is in Venosa that in Bernalda “.