Several Fujitsu General solutions were specified for a massive HVAC project at a luxury residential development in suburban Brisbane.

Lotus Tower is a luxury villa, apartment and penthouse development in the highly sought-after suburb of Kangaroo Point, Brisbane.

The complex features an extensive range of residential amenities including a rooftop sun deck and spa, swimming pool, dedicated yoga space, a golf simulator and children’s play areas, as well as high-end residential villa-style apartments, penthouses and townhouses.

Brisbane-based air conditioning specialist Applied Air Services was engaged to meet the individual heating, cooling and air flow requirements of all residential and commercial tenancies, as well as the building’s shared amenities.

The Project

The 24-storey Lotus Tower complex consists of four levels of basement and 19 levels of apartments, with level 20 being the penthouse floor. There are an additional 12 townhouses detached from the main tower. Common areas within the precinct include a gym, golf simulator, reception and private dining area.

Challenges

The brief for Applied Air Services sought an HVAC solution that could manage power allocation for each tenancy. The Fujitsu General VRF solution enabled this requirement to be met with its power apportioning feature. All the indoor units at Lotus Tower are powered from a local distribution point from the apartment, and the building has watt hour meters, monitoring the power used for all the outdoor units. Software converts power meter usage into a percentage for each tenant.

Outcomes

The Lotus Tower project required the installation of 54 outdoor units and 533 indoor units. During installation not one of them had a fault, error or gas leak, which is a testament to the quality of both product and installation.

With power apportioning managing the system’s energy usage, the building management can extract reports regarding the allocation of energy usage to identify where wastage occurs, and determine where savings can be made.

A Fujitsu General ducted air conditioning system was installed in each townhouse, providing zone control and individual system management.

A Fujitsu General VRF heat recovery system was installed in the main tower. Applied Air used bulkhead fan coil units connected to multiple RB units located in the corridor. The bulkhead fan coil units were chosen for the compact size and internal drain pumps.

The basement receives carbon monoxide (CO) controlled ventilation, which allows system sensors to level the CO produced by vehicles in the basement and operates ventilation fans to reduce the amount of CO, a new standard practice in the industry.

“Fujitsu was the preferred choice over competitors with its five-year warranty as standard. I also have peace of mind with securing manufacturer parts and labour warranty,” Jeff Mann, Applied Air Services, said.

The HVAC project was completed in December 2019.

Installation details

Products:

  • VRF Heat Recovery
  • VRF Heat Pump
  • Ducted Systems
  • Wall Hung Split Systems

Quantity of Indoor Units:

  • 519 X VRF
  • 12 X Ducted Units (LHTDP)
  • 2 X Wall Hung Split Systems

Quantity of Outdoor Units:

  • 35 X VR-II
  • 4 X J-IIS
  • 1 X J-IIIL

Central Controller:

  • System Controller
  • (UTY-APGXZ1) With Power
  • Apportionment (UTY-PEGXZ1)

Separation Tubes:

  • 44 X 4 Port RB Units
  • 23 X Single Port RB Units
  • 391 X Separation Tubes

Total System Capacity:

  • 1271.9kw Of Condenser
  • Cooling Capacity