Diffusion shortlisted at CIBSE Building Performance Awards

Diffusion, British heating and cooling equipment specialist, announces it has reached the shortlist in the CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2023.

The company’s New Modular Highline 235 Fan Coil Range is in the final line up in the ‘Product or Innovation of the Year – Thermal Comfort’ category of the awards. The new range has been developed to create the perfect indoor environment, offering modular design, compact dimensions and advanced components that deliver low sound levels, reduced energy consumption, optimal performance, and significant sustainability benefits.

The CIBSE Building Performance Awards (BPAs) 2024 recognises the people, products and projects that demonstrate engineering excellence in the built environment. They are the only industry awards that focus on actual, measured performance outcomes, and not just design intent or performance specifications.

The awards are open to any organisation or individual, both within the UK and internationally, that is responsible for the design, commissioning, construction, installation and operation of low energy buildings and the manufacturers whose products enable efficient energy consumption. The winners will be announced at a glittering awards ceremony taking place on Thursday 29 February 2024 at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, London.

Alexis Roberts, Brand Manager at Diffusion, comments: “We are delighted to have reached the final at the prestigious CIBSE Building Performance Awards with our new Modular Highline 235 Fan Coil Range – the first and only modular fan coil range on the market.

“Our new modular range is almost endlessly configurable, and offers quiet, high performance and energy efficient heating and cooling for the perfect indoor environment.

“The Highline 235 was meticulously designed by John Hepper, Technical Director at Diffusion. It incorporates many components that have been designed to improve quality, enhance efficiency, reduce sound and optimise overall performance.

“These design enhancements are the direct result of Diffusion’s close relationship with our customers and a deep understanding of their project needs. We are therefore thrilled to have our new range of fan coils recognised by the industry.”

Developed to create the perfect indoor environment at work and at home, the new Modular Highline 235 fan coil range comprises eight models, including 13 fan combinations. Boasting exceedingly low sound levels, the Highline 235 delivers noise ratings as low as NR25. This ensures its suitability for a wide variety of buildings, particularly residential applications and hotels where quiet operation is critical.

All products are rigorously tested in Diffusion’s own test laboratory and then independently tested at the industry’s Sound Research Laboratory, to ensure customers’ peace of mind. Meanwhile, the range’s high efficiency EC motor and fan assemblies provide improved Specific Fan Powers (SFP) as low as 0.14 W/l/s reducing overall building energy consumption, another important consideration for these applications.

The Highline 235 has also been designed with aesthetics in mind, this makes it an attractive solution for architects designing buildings with an industrial look, as the units can be ceiling exposed, as well as ceiling concealed. Plus, the Highline 235 range provides increased performance due to heat exchangers specifically designed to achieve optimum heating and cooling performance using the industry predominant hot water and chilled water temperatures. 

Designed by Diffusion and utilising British-made components and excellent build quality, the new Highline 235 range is built to last with a galvanised steel chassis for increased durability. Meanwhile, the Diffusion Highline 235 range’s modular design delivers ultimate flexibility, enabling attenuator and plenum options to be easily configured to suit the application.

Design options are almost limitless as the Highline 235 is completely customisable with almost 300,000 configurations allowing customers to choose the fan coil that fits their individual design criteria. This is of particular importance to buildings that undergo a change of use, as the units can be re-configured on-site to suit the new purpose of the building and new configuration, this saves purchasing new models which is very costly and wasteful – a significant sustainability benefit since it lowers the embodied carbon life cycle of the building which is another significant benefit for architects and building owners.

All elements of the Highline 235 range have been designed with product performance, ease of installation, and service and maintenance in mind. The condensate drip tray and 22mm diameter drain connection is made from stainless steel for rigidity and longevity, the entire condensate tray can easily be removed on-site for cleaning while the drain connection is located at the lowest position of the condensate drip tray and fitted with a void tray so condensate can drain away easily. 

The fan coil range can be supplied with either the Diffusion lifetime ‘Eco’ wire mesh filter, this option provides a robust environmentally conscious solution that can be vacuum cleaned in situ, or alternatively ISO grade media filters. The filter can also be easily removed on-site from either the side of the unit or from beneath the unit. The filters on the larger models are split into two parts, making them easy to remove or clean, this is particularly beneficial when the unit is installed in confined or awkward spaces. 

Forward curved centrifugal fans are used in all models providing the most efficient airflow and acoustic performance. The fan coil units are insulated throughout with class ‘0’fire-rated foam, the thickness of the insulation throughout the unit varies to ensure superior thermal and acoustic performance, 70% of the foam is either 12 or 25mm thick. Diffusion’s new Highline 235 range is compliant with all key performance standards. 

The Highline 235 is the first of Diffusion’s Modular solutions and the start of a whole new generation of fan coil units with different depths that will utilise the same design and components, solving industry challenges and creating sustainable solutions for hundreds of commercial buildings. Diffusion’s new generation of modular fan coil units will help a wide range of customers meet their sustainability targets.