In recent years, sustainability and efficiency have made their way to the forefront of building design. More so now than ever, owners and contractors are looking to take advantage of the most advanced climate control systems in an effort to lower energy costs, maximize space, and ensure the safe and comfortable use of their structure for many years to come.
The use of chilled beams, in particular, has become a highly popular method of achieving these goals. Originally built to take the place of passive radiant cooling ceiling systems, they provide designers and engineers with the ability to make the most out of their space by replacing bulky supply and return air ductwork with smaller and more efficient chilled water pipes.
Chilled beams are an intelligent option for both new buildings and retrofits alike; and when used in conjunction with other state-of-the-art mechanical technologies like Belimo’s 6-way Characterized Control Valve (CCV), they help simplify an otherwise complex piping arrangement, reduce costs and improve climate-controlling capabilities in structures of nearly all shapes and sizes.
The Belimo 6-way CCV is designed specifically for chilled beams and radiant ceilings. It can
perform change over and modulating control for a single coil in a 4-pipe system and with functionality equivalent to that of up to four 2-way control valves, it produces significant savings in terms of space, material, and installation time.
Belimo 6-way CCV’s innovative ball design features hydraulically decoupled heating and cooling circuits, which means that each sequence is controlled individually by the rotary movement of a single actuator. As a result, one valve can support a coil with two different Cv values.
In addition to substantially reducing wiring requirements, the use of only one actuator simplifies installation, saves time thus reducing labor costs. Building sectors where lean construction is becoming increasingly important, this is highly advantageous. The 6-way valve is also highly compact and bubble-tight in the closed position, helping prevent unnecessary energy losses and reducing operating costs.
Through all of its innovative features, the Belimo 6-way Control Valve can serve as a highly economical addition to chilled beam applications in a wide range of building designs, and as more and more owners and contractors look for new and effective ways to cut costs and improve the environmental-friendliness of their structure, technologies like it will become increasingly prominent.