City Multi price is right

UK: A new finance package from Mitsubishi Electric has enabled a leading software company to enact a major overhaul of its air conditioning system.

Leading cloud-based software company Software Europe has marked its 25th anniversary with an overhaul of the building services at its Lincoln headquarters thanks to a new, financed package from Mitsubishi Electric.

The head office was running a 15-year-old air handling unit with a gas-fired LTHW coil and a DX chiller coil ducted air system. But the parts were obsolete and failing, and there was poor temperature control in the building.

Software Europe’s business support assistant Fiona Jenks says: “You couldn’t regulate the old system. It was a nightmare, as it was usually too cold or too hot. We really struggled for quite a few years, and some of the parts were obsolete, so we felt that it was time to make the change.”

The company took advantage of MELFinance to avoid burdening their cash flow with the up-front cost of the project.

We felt the finance terms were good, says Jenks.  When we compared the terms to a loan, it didnt beat the quote we had from MELFinance.

Shane Suter, corporate operations and MELFinance manager, says: The offering is a better way for many companies to pay for new projects. MELFinance has been running since January 2014 and Software Europe was the first £100k plus project we have done. We have given customers more choice and offered different ways of funding their projects.

“The main driver for Software Europe was the need to have a newer system that would reduce running costs and provide significant energy savings over a period of time, whilst being better for the environment. In fact, they are now saving over £12,000 in costs per year which far outweighs the interest payable,” adds Suter.

The £107,000 installation included three Mitsubishi Electric City Multi R2 VRF heat recovery systems plus a new electrics package and water heater in the toilet areas of the building.

With increasing numbers of employees in a building comprised of both open plan and cellular offices, the company needed a solution that would reduce costs and deliver a far more energy efficient solution together with improved controllability.

Lincoln-based installer Lynx AC got to work on the removal of the old gas-powered system and replaced it with the three City Multi R2 heat recovery units, totalling 95kW of new air conditioning. The installation also included AG150 centralised controllers to allow for greater occupant control over room temperature.

Financially, the new system has quickly proved itself. Software Europe was spending in the region of £1,000 per month on gas, and approximately £300 a month on electric to run the fans and chiller plant. Factoring in their finance repayments for the system, their savings per annum amount to £12,290.00.

“We knew we would be saving a lot of money,” adds Jenks. “The gas bill has gone because we now have no gas coming into the building. The cost of running the previous system was very expensive on the electricity as well so thats going to reduce significantly.”