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Dome pipework set to squander millions
00:00 18 Nov 1998
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Exclusive by Graham Ridout
The Millennium Dome is likely to waste millions of pounds worth of energy because of a bizarre decision not to insulate pipework for the air conditioning system, Contract Journal has learned.
Much of the Dome's 8km of pipework is not lagged, including the chilled water supply for the air-conditioning system, undermining its claims to be a 'green' project.
The revelation will cause severe embarrassment to the Government over its energy conservation policy.
The pipework for the £758 million project is being supplied by Tarmac subsidiary Crown House under a £7.8 million contract. Around 8km of pipework, generally in the 200-300mm diameter range, is being installed either in concrete-lined services channels or in excavated trenches.
According to one services engineer: "Pipes are being laid into the trenches and backfilled with no insulation whatsoever." He said that once the air conditioning is turned on and the chilled water supply is running: "It will be dumping heat into the ground and there is no building management system to control it - it will run wild."
CJ understands that Bath-based engineer Buro Happold designed the services on the basis that the Dome was to be a "temporary" structure. This led to the decision not to install insulation because it would cost more than the energy losses if the Dome were only to be on site for a couple of years.
Now, however, the life of the 320m diameter Dome has been extended "indefinitely" and the extra energy costs will outstrip the £400,000 and £1.2 million saved by not insulating the pipework before the dome is taken down.
Another consulting engineer said that even with insulated pipework, energy losses in the region of 5-10 per cent could be expected. He would not speculate on the energy losses of an unlagged system but said they would be significant. He added that the energy losses would be higher in the concrete-lined services ducts.
"You will get more [energy] losses in a duct because of the air flowing over the uninsulated pipes. It also depends what other services you have in the ducts. Generally ducts are used for everything so, if you have a hot water supply running nearby, you could get even higher energy losses," said the engineer.
He also expected that the steel pipework would start to suffer from corrosion caused by condensation within five years.
A spokesman for the New Millennium Experience Company said that the decision not to insulate the below-ground pipework was taken because it "was the most cost-effective solution."
He said the pipework network had only been designed to cater for the year 2000 because after that the Dome will be run by another company which will probably need a different configuration for the services.
The NMEC spokesman said that the cold water pipework in the larger service ducts was insulated. This statement conflicts with what other people have told CJ.
The Millennium Dome is likely to waste millions of pounds worth of energy because of a bizarre decision not to insulate pipework for the air conditioning system, Contract Journal has learned.
Much of the Dome's 8km of pipework is not lagged, including the chilled water supply for the air-conditioning system, undermining its claims to be a 'green' project.
The revelation will cause severe embarrassment to the Government over its energy conservation policy.
The pipework for the £758 million project is being supplied by Tarmac subsidiary Crown House under a £7.8 million contract. Around 8km of pipework, generally in the 200-300mm diameter range, is being installed either in concrete-lined services channels or in excavated trenches.
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According to one services engineer: "Pipes are being laid into the trenches and backfilled with no insulation whatsoever." He said that once the air conditioning is turned on and the chilled water supply is running: "It will be dumping heat into the ground and there is no building management system to control it - it will run wild."
CJ understands that Bath-based engineer Buro Happold designed the services on the basis that the Dome was to be a "temporary" structure. This led to the decision not to install insulation because it would cost more than the energy losses if the Dome were only to be on site for a couple of years.
Now, however, the life of the 320m diameter Dome has been extended "indefinitely" and the extra energy costs will outstrip the £400,000 and £1.2 million saved by not insulating the pipework before the dome is taken down.
Another consulting engineer said that even with insulated pipework, energy losses in the region of 5-10 per cent could be expected. He would not speculate on the energy losses of an unlagged system but said they would be significant. He added that the energy losses would be higher in the concrete-lined services ducts.
"You will get more [energy] losses in a duct because of the air flowing over the uninsulated pipes. It also depends what other services you have in the ducts. Generally ducts are used for everything so, if you have a hot water supply running nearby, you could get even higher energy losses," said the engineer.
He also expected that the steel pipework would start to suffer from corrosion caused by condensation within five years.
A spokesman for the New Millennium Experience Company said that the decision not to insulate the below-ground pipework was taken because it "was the most cost-effective solution."
He said the pipework network had only been designed to cater for the year 2000 because after that the Dome will be run by another company which will probably need a different configuration for the services.
The NMEC spokesman said that the cold water pipework in the larger service ducts was insulated. This statement conflicts with what other people have told CJ.
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