Introduction
Tate raised access floor systems are designed to enable the use of underfloor air distribution systems that improve the flexibility, energy efficiency, and comfort of commercial buildings.
Because they allow underfloor air distribution, Tate Access Floors provide significant advantages in boosting indoor air quality, ventilation effectiveness, personal comfort control and energy efficiency.
Virtually all high performance buildings use raised access flooring because of their many advantages in cost savings, energy use, and overall flexibility. They also achieve many of the goals of sustainable buildings.
Organizations can create great spaces that can inspire people and lessen negative environmental consequences. Well designed spaces lead to strengthened employee, organizational and facility performance.
Installing Tate Access Flooring in conjunction with underfloor air distribution as well as modular power, voice & data systems in an office area will greatly increase the flexibility and the configurability of the space.
By utilizing the underfloor plenum space for HVAC distribution the amount of ductwork required can be reduced. Easily delete, move or add the air and power distribution elements as required when changing office cubical configurations.
When an office space is flexible an organization can lower the cost per square foot, capitalize on new technologies and simplify moves, adds and changes to the space.
Many facility managers and designers are looking at ways to incorporate more sustainable products, such as access flooring that can reduce waste when changing an office space configuration due to the fact that a lot of the components can be re-used.
Underfloor air distribution improves energy efficiency through the virtual elimination of ductwork.
The significant reduction of ductwork reduces the amount of pressure required to deliver air to the occupied space.
This reduced pressure requirement directly correlates to a smaller horsepower fan in the buildings HVAC mechanical equipment. Typical fan horsepower reductions are around 30% significantly reducing your buildings indirect carbon emissions.
In addition, to the smaller fan horsepower, UFAD systems operate at 8-10° warmer temperatures than overhead systems expanding the opportunity to use free economizer cooling. This is possible because the cooling air is delivered directly to the occupied zone at floor level to create a stratified room temperature.
While the 6ft occupied zone maintains the desired comfort temperature the space by the ceiling may be warmer. Unlike overhead systems which are being mixed with warmer air in the room to achieve the desired room temperature throughout the entire space.
Thermal comfort is one of the most critical elements to increase the satisfaction and thereby work performance of a person. Being able to control the environment in which a person works has been shown to directly effect the productivity of that person.
Satisfied employees are more motivated and productive than disgruntled employees. Underfloor Air Distribution (UFAD) helps reduce hot-cold complaints by providing individuals with personal comfort controls in their workspace.
In a UFAD system the space between the raised floor and slab is used to create a low pressure air delivery plenum without ducting meaning that any diffuser placed in the floor has the capability of delivering a constant volume of conditioned air to the space.
These diffusers can also be equipped with manual dampers that provide the individual with the ability to adjust the volume and in many cases the direction of air passing through the diffuser.
Similar to the dial on most car dashboards this personal comfort control available with a UFAD system has a positive impact on indoor environmental quality and directly contributes to LEED EQ credit 6.2 Controllability of Systems.
<h4>Indoor Air Quality</h4>
A Variable Air Volume UFAD system increases ventilation effectiveness by providing occupants with the first benefit of outside air. The resulting ventilation can exceed the ASHRAE 62.1-2004 rate by 30% and helps LEED buildings achieve EQ credit 2 by delivering fresh air directly to occupants six-foot breathing zone.
As the fresh air enters the zone it replaces existing contaminated air (rather than diluting or mixing it). Pollutants and stale air in the zone are carried to the ceiling by natural convection, where they are removed through return outlets.
This one directional airflow coupled with the warmer cooling temperatures enables not only more effective ventilation, but also more fresh air being brought into the building during expanded economizer hours.
UNDERFLOOR WIRING
The use and flexibility of a Tate raised access floor system provides for advanced space planning by distributing power, voice and data cabling in the interstitial space between the raised floor and subfloor. Zone wiring systems for power and telecommunications with ‘modular’ plug and play capability allow for further flexibility to quickly and economically reconfigure the work environment, for optimum response to organizational and technological changes.
What is modular wiring? It is a pre-cut, pre-tested, connector-to-connector coupled cabling system that allows for easy installation and flexibility, eliminating the laborious process of laying conduit, pulling wire and hand terminating connectors in the field. Due to their plug and play nature, total installed costs can be reduced 30% or more as compared to traditional pipe and wire methods.
Using modular wiring, you can easily reconfigure your existing office space by simply unplugging the power, voice and data components under the raised floor, moving them to another location and reconnecting them. The result? Lower cost throughout the life-cycle of the building.
And there are potential tax benefits as well; because they can be moved and relocated, they are considered tangible, personal property and can qualify for accelerated depreciation tax benefits.
Modular wiring systems for power incorporate pre-manufactured, pre-tested assemblies, fabricated in a highly controlled manufacturing facility, to your precise specifications.
General purpose and/or isolated ground power are distributed throughout a zone via the typical system components: metal clad homerun cable runs from the electrical panels to the zone distribution box; metal clad extender cables carry power out to secondary/ splitter distribution boxes; the secondary boxes then deliver power to workstation outlets.
Similarly to modular power systems, modular wiring systems for telecommunications distribute voice and data throughout a zone distribution concept.
A telecommunications homerun cable (with copper or fiber optic cable) runs from the telecom closet to a zone distribution box; low voltage extender cables then bring service from the box to individual user ports.
