Riverside House is the Headquarters of communications regulator, Ofcom and is located next to Southwark Bridge on the Thames in London.

As part of a bid to revamp Riverside House and to transform the building services and space conditioning into not only a visually superior solution, but also a more energy efficient and higher performance system solution, FTF Group were selected to supply around 500 of their X-Wing® MSCB units. These MSCB units are equipped with continuous "Bullnose" polycarbonate LED luminaires designed, manufactured and tested in-house by FTF Group to deliver direct and indirect lighting with a uniform lighting level across the building while also being fully optimized for energy efficiency.

In order to secure this prestigious refurbishment project, FTF Group attended many design and professional team meetings and demonstrated and validated the various disciplines of their Multi Service Chilled Beam (MSCB) offering at their in-house UK Technical Facility in Derby which has 3x Climatic Test Laboratories, 2x Photometric Lighting 1 x Acoustic Test Laboratory.

FTF Group's X-Wing® "Radiant"/convective passive MSCB units were selected as the client wanted to continue with a 'Passive' cooling system, but wanted more cooling but also with improved thermal comfort for the occupants. As such FTF Group's X-Wing® "Radiant"/convective passive MSCB units were the obvious choice.

X-Wing® units are a passive cooling unit but with a considerable radiant absorption quotient. These attractive chilled beam elements have 4 large elongated surfaces painted black per waterway to provide the most radiant absorbing surface within a given envelope on the market and also the shallowest construction depth.

X-Wings® 40% Radiant quotient enables up to 35% more cooling while maintaining the thermal comfort for the room occupants when compared to fin coil passive units as these have just 5% radiant absorption regardless of which manufacturer/supplier.

FTF Group's next generation of passive chilled beam technology employs both convective and radiant principles which are designed to deliver high cooling duties with minimal air movement within the occupied zone. The radiant quotient now available on the market is typically 40% of the total cooling effect (the other 60% of cooling generated by convection). Therefore, the ability to cool by radiation means that this new technology can provide 35% more cooling at the same air movement velocities when compared to traditional finned coiled batteries. This is ideal for use with offices where there is a requirement to provide the best possible occupancy comfort levels and excellent energy efficiency is required.

FTF Group's "Radiant" / convective passive chilled beams are designed to be installed free-hanging from the soffit, positioned above a perforated metal ceiling system or as Multi-Service Chilled Beam (MSCB's). A passive "Radiant" / convective chilled beam also offers effective cooling when used with a ceiling system or underplate which is perforated to just 30% free area. A recommended maximum cooling of up to 300 W/m applies to the latest passive radiant/convective chilled beams (60% convective 40% Radiant elements) based upon the comfort criteria recommended with BS EN ISO 7730 CAT B (PPD <20 percent).