ErP Proves Important In Winning Irish Government Contract

Fantech Ventilation of Tallaght in Dublin, part of the €106 million Elta group, has supplied ventilation equipment for the prestigious new Decentralised Government Offices in Tipperary, Ireland.

The company, which manufactures and supplies ventilation products throughout Ireland, won the contract in the face of stiff competition from other suppliers. Although cost was a major consideration with the government project being very much driven by budget, it was also important that the products employed had been designed with ErP (Energy related Products) energy efficiency legislation to the fore.

The fans supplied on the project were from Elta Fans' Twinflow STD box fan range. Although the 'lot' within the ErP legislation that will apply to box fans has not yet been introduced, in the light of other 'lots' adopted on 1 January, 2013, attention is very much turning towards ensuring that fans are designed to be compliant. On this project, this ultimately proved particularly important when the issue of the impending ErP legislation was raised by the project engineers.

Brendan O'Toole, MD of Fantech, commented: "There is still uncertainty in the market with the new ErP legislation being only a matter of months old. The engineers on this project recognised that it is important to think ahead and adopt products from forward thinking manufacturers who understand the new legislation. This essentially 'future proofs' buildings and clearly demonstrates a commitment to the energy efficient approach that the legislation is designed to instil. The importance of the ErP legislation in specification terms will only increase as specifiers, contractors and clients become more aware of its implications for HVAC systems."


The €20m state-of-the-art government buildings complex on Rosanna Road comprises the Tipperary Town Council Civic Offices and the Department of Justice decentralised offices housing the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service (INIS). Fantech Ventilation had previously worked with main contractors T. Bourke & Company on other significant projects such as the Irish national football stadium at Croke Park in central Dublin. The STD500-3EC fans were ideally suited to the demands of the Tipperary job, which involved several long runs of ventilation ducting. These long duct runs necessitated units capable of developing pressures of 450Pa, 350Pa, 300Pa, 250Pa and 200Pa respectively. Other fans supplied for the buildings' ventilation systems included Elta's STDD500 AC and STDD500 IACL, STD315 EC along with SQS315, SQS400 and SPD630 unit, all available from the new Elta Select brochure.

STD fans are part of Elta Fans' Twinflow range of in-line, centrifugal, twin fans designed to overcome internal space restrictions. SQS fans are part of the Quietflow range of acoustically treated, single, in-line, centrifugal, box fans. These too are compact and suitable for internal mounting. They are intended for use in restricted spaces such as low ceiling voids, whilst providing performance with low-noise levels. Fantech also supplies products outside its own manufacturing capability such as grilles, diffusers, flexible and spiral ducting, fire and volume control dampers and duct fittings and accessories - by offering products from a number of leading manufacturers. For the Decentralised Government Offices, Fantech was asked to supply bespoke grilles manufactured to specific requirements for installation in extremely difficult openings on site.

The offices in Tipperary are designed as public buildings in a new public space and are clearly seen to enclose separate functions. Each council service has its own area for customers, more parking spaces and much needed extra office space and facilities for staff. Dan Breen House had served as the Town Council’s headquarters and local county council offices since the 1960s but was no longer big enough for the number of employees and visiting members of the public. The new offices provide accommodation for nearly two hundred staff in a two and three-storey building of 4,404m². The Civic Offices accommodate over forty staff in a three-storey building of 1,971m², which includes the new purpose-built council chamber.

The eight acres site located in a green field site at the edge of Tipperary encloses a new public plaza and the landscaping extends across the public road to strengthen pedestrian links to the town centre. The grounds are designed to create semi-private garden spaces to the offices and utilise landscape features such as ponds to control storm water and improve biodiversity within the area. The Council consulted with the Tipperary Energy Agency on how to make the offices as energy efficient as possible and how to achieve this objective at the design stage. As a result, the government buildings are highly flexible and sustainable, with an A3 BER and LEED 'Gold' Rating.