Effi­cient cooling saves money

Marks & Spencer has some 960 branches, of which 615 are food-only outlets. With its “Plan A”, M&S is looking to become more energy effi­cient, and as part of that under­taking is grad­u­ally fitting out its build­ings with energy-saving tech­nology. The condensers on the store roofs used to be major energy guzzlers, because they used older-style AC fans. M&S approached ebm-papst to find a more effi­cient solu­tion.

The retrofit was completed after just 4,150 working hours. (Photo: ebm-papst)

The switch to HyBlade 910 mm diam­eter EC axial fans with AxiTop diffusers... (Photo: ebm-papst)

... will save M&S more than 500,000 pounds. (Photo: ebm-papst)

More effi­ciency on the roof

After a promising trial attempt, the order was placed. Every­thing then had to move rapidly, as Tony Wright, Divi­sional Director Upgrade Market at ebm-papst UK, reports: “M&S wanted to benefit quickly from the energy-saving poten­tial of our solu­tion.” One chal­lenge was the require­ment that the cooling systems had to keep running during the retrofit – with a total of 1,404 fans in 258 condensers at more than 150 stores. M&S engaged a capable installer in AB Group. “To ensure that the system could keep running as the upgrade was being carried out, they grad­u­ally replaced complete groups of fans,” says Wright.

Quick success

As a result, the work was completed after just 4,150 working hours, in three months. The switch to HyBlade 910 mm diam­eter EC axial fans with AxiTop diffusers will save M&S more than 500,000 pounds. That means the invest­ment in the upgrade is projected to have paid off within less than five years.

“It was a truly collab­o­ra­tive and successful project.”

Tony Wright, Divi­sional Director Upgrade Market ebm-papst UK

The new fans allow quieter, more effi­cient oper­a­tion, cope better with higher outside temper­a­tures, and can be easily adjusted down in colder months. “It was a truly collab­o­ra­tive and successful project,” Wright sums up.