Condominium with 107 flats

Milan, Italy 
Condominium with 107 flats
System: hydronic hybrid factory-made with Intelliplant management system Condominium with Year: 2023

Air conditioning for residential buildings

Condominium in Milan

Energy refurbishment of 107-apartment block

Upgrade from class C to class A by equipping the building with thermal insulation and replacing the existing heating system with a complete Clivet system based on multi-purpose heat pumps, high temperature water-to-water heat pumps, boilers and Intelliplant comfort and energy management system.

The challenge

The administrator of an existing 107-apartment building with 8 floors above ground + 1 basement floor for a total of 10000 m2 had been commissioned to improve the energy efficiency of the block of flats he administered with the dual aim of reducing the expenses for heating, air conditioning and domestic hot water production and increasing the building's energy class and consequently its real estate value. The interventions were to affect only the common parts and the building envelope, maintaining the existing distribution and metering system.

The condominium was served by a centralised system based on 3 old-generation gas boilers and radiators for heating and domestic hot water production and 1 large chiller with evaporative towers installed on the roof, combined with fan coils, for cooling.


The solution

To meet the needs of the residents, the administrator decided to intervene both on the building envelope, having the condominium equipped with a thermal coat and replacing the old window frames with low transmittance frames, and on the annual cycle air conditioning system, replacing the existing system with a complete Clivet system.

The existing radiators, fancoils, and internal regulation and metering system were maintained.
The Clivet system is based on :

  • 6 ELFOEnergy Magnum WASN-XIN multi-purpose heat pumps of 80 kW each capable of producing hot and chilled water simultaneously
  • 6 gas-fired 200 kW boilers
  • 2 high temperature water-to-water heat pumps WSHH-LEE1 ELFOFoenrgy Ground Medium2 of 100 kW
  • 3 x 2000 litre storage tanks for summer cooling 
  • 2 x 2000 litre storage tanks for heating 
  • 2 storage tanks of 2500 litres for domestic hot water, each equipped with 2 exchangers, which exchange respectively with the water-to-water heat pumps and the boilers, which only intervene in the event of greater demand
  • 1 Clivet Intelliplant management system

The 6 multi-purpose heat pumps produce the hot water for the storage tanks, which act as a source to serve the high temperature heat pumps. 

During most of the year, when there is a similar demand for heating and cooling, they make it possible to exploit the high efficiency of producing chilled and hot water at the same time. 

Domestic hot water is produced by exploiting the hot water of the multifunction units  as a source, thus not using groundwater or well water, which would have a less favourable temperature and would result in a more expensive system. 

Taking advantage of the multifunctional technology, combined with high temperature heat pumps, it is also possible to produce domestic hot water at temperatures above 65°C without using a boiler. 

The system is completed with 6 boilers, which can work in integration in the case of high heating demands, or in total replacement in the case of heat pump failure or maintenance. 

The entire annual cycle air-conditioning system is managed by the Clivet Intelliplant supervision system, which coordinates the entire thermo-cooling plant, enabling the central resources according to the requests received from the individual flats and always activating the most efficient resource, favouring the use of heat pumps. Thanks to the Intelliplant supervision system, it is possible to run heat pumps in conjunction with boilers, thus providing a perfectly reliable and efficient hybrid system for every eventuality. Intelliplant also allows the total efficiency of the system to be maximised by running the units at their maximum efficiency and also allows the customer to monitor thermal, cooling and electrical consumption.


The protagonists

Installer: Pentagas 
Agency: Pieracci
Designer: Studio Planning, Milan