Precise airflow management is essential to effective hospital ventilation and to ensuring the comfort and safety of patients and staff in healthcare settings. To improve temperature, humidity, and air quality, we need to install HVAC equipment. However, some NHS hospitals are old, dating back to the early 1900s. This can create many challenges with the building’s infrastructure.
Older hospitals often have limited access and small plant room space. This makes it difficult to choose the right Air Handling Unit (AHU) to support reliable hospital ventilation in older buildings. The AHU needs to enhance hospital HVAC systems while fitting in the available space. It must also adapt to changing healthcare needs.
Recognising these retrofit challenges, Akrivis designed the DM Series, including the recently launched DM300 AHU, to simplify integration in existing hospital infrastructure. As such, it provides a powerful, space-efficient solution designed to help healthcare facilities deliver high quality care in any setting.
Meeting Restrictive Space Constraints
The DM Series, including the DM300, saves space with its smart vertical design. This unit needs less floor space than traditional, bulky horizontal units. With several units in the range, facilities managers have a choice of HTM-compliant plug-and-play products that can be located internally or positioned outdoors.
Unlike traditional horizontal AHUs, which are typically designed for installation externally or in spacious plant rooms, the DM Series effectively ‘folds’ the internal AHU layout into a smaller, more space-efficient format. This scalable approach results in a variety of units with a range of airflows, all designed to fit seamlessly within existing hospital infrastructure.
DM300 SER: Increased Airflow Capacity
To meet the demands of today’s complex hospital environment, Akrivis has recently extended the DM Series with the introduction of the DM300. (Take measurements out). This compact AHU offers an airflow capacity up to 3.0m3/s for both air supply and extraction.
Compared to other units in the series, this represents an increase in airflow capacity while maintaining the same width as its predecessor. As a result, the DM300 provides increased heating and cooling capacity, making it suitable for use in all areas.
Like other models in the series, the DM300 easily caters for clinical areas such as operating theatres, emergency departments and intensive care units where medical functions require specific environmental conditions.
With its extended airflow capacity, however, the DM300 AHU is also suitable for use on wards and general corridors or communal areas, ultimately delivering increased flexibility for a host of applications in today’s exacting medical environment.
Exceptional Energy Efficiency
With the DM Series available in a range of sizes and configurations up to 3.0m3/s, NHS facilities managers have a versatile solution to meet all airflow requirements. In addition to selecting the optimum capacity and size, users can also opt for supply/extract or supply-only configurations.
For maximum flexibility, there are also a range of options regarding heating and cooling. Heating can be either low-pressure hot water (LPHW), direct expansion (DX), or electric, while cooling can be achieved via chilled water or DX. For maximum efficiency, units are supplied with built-in heat recovery using run-around coils or a plate heat exchanger, which is soon to be added to the range.
This ensures that air supply, extract, heat recovery and exhaust are all available in one space-efficient device. Not only that, but DM Series heating and cooling technologies also provide exceptional energy efficiency, compliant with both the EU’s Energy-related Products (ErP) Directive and BS EN 13053 for energy performance. Adhering to these standards helps hospitals reduce energy consumption and lower operational costs.
Simple Installation and Maintenance
As a final thought, it’s worth noting that the compact, modular design of the DM300, like all models in the DM Series, offers significant advantages in terms of on-site handling, installation and service/maintenance.
Firstly, DM Series AHUs arrive as a series of pre-assembled modules, which can be readily transported through standard NHS hospital doorways and elevators. These pre-configured components are easily installed and, unlike custom-built systems that require on-site assembly and adjustments, work to keep installation time to a minimum, thereby reducing disruption to hospital operations.
Secondly, once installed, DM Series units are designed for efficient maintenance. With easily accessible filters, fans, and coils, they are purpose-built to streamline servicing and repairs, minimising downtime and reducing maintenance expenses.
A Future-proof HVAC Solution
By combining core DM Series advantages with a high airflow performance of 3.0m3/hour, the DM300 AHU delivers exceptional flexibility for medical facilities of all kinds. As such, retrofit compatibility is united with forward-thinking innovation to deliver an air handling unit capable of meeting both clinical and non-clinical demands.
Designed in accordance with HTM 03-01, the compact DM300 ensures proper filtration, ventilation, and infection control to meet the needs of an evolving healthcare system. The result is a hospital air handling unit that offers space savings, scalability, and energy efficiency — ultimately providing a future-proof solution for replacing HVAC that is just as well-suited to older hospital estates as it is to tomorrow’s new-build projects.
Download The DM Series Brochure
Download the DM Series brochure via the form below to find out more about the DM300 AHU and discover how the full DM Series meets diverse healthcare needs.