An innovative hybrid air conditioning system will be used for a new 250-bedroom hotel project in Birmingham.

Mitsubishi Electric’s Hybrid Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) technology has been chosen for the 18-storey KKA Architecture-designed Holiday Inn Express Birmingham City Centre project, which is set to open in April next year.

The VRF technology removes the need to install leak detection equipment in occupied rooms. It is designed to ensure guests are comfortable in a controllable, energy efficient way, while still offering the full flexibility of design and installation that VRF air conditioning is known for.

Mark Foster, Managing Director of Centre Island, who will manage the hotel, explained: “We needed reliable and effective air conditioning that is easy to use from the guest’s perspective but which is also more cost effective for the hotel moving forward as it removes the annual maintenance costs associated with a leak detection system.

“The added advantage of using Mitsubishi Electric equipment is that we can control the whole system centrally, which minimises energy use for the business whilst still allowing guests to have individual control within their rooms. This also ensures we can stop rooms being heated or cooled when they are empty.”

The design for the air conditioning system was put together by SISK Design and Build Contractors who worked in conjunction with Building Services Consultancy DW Pointer. Together, the firms committed to providing a VRF system that did not require the significant cost of adding leak detection units in all of the bedrooms.

Brian Inett of John Sisk & Son added: “We proposed Hybrid VRF as it completely removes leak detection in occupied spaces whilst still offering the flexibility of a VRF system.

“We were already aware of the Hybrid system and had been looking for a suitable project to use it on, so this was an ideal solution for the client, especially as it does away with the annual costs of leak detection maintenance.”