CH MADISON

The first shopping mall in Gdańsk, still under the name of Dom Handlowy HEWELIUSZ, was established in 2003. Today, under the name of CH MADISON, with an area of 33,000 m3, it is one of the smaller ones in Gdańsk. Nevertheless, in those rather distant times, when designers were wondering what ventilation and air conditioning systems should be used, the announcement of its construction evoked considerable emotions of Gdańsk residents.
Currently, the principles of building shopping centers are almost a technical canon. However, in those years it was not so obvious. Ventilation systems for commercial premises and public areas are designed on classic block of AHU and there is nothing sophisticated here.
However, the designed system for heating and cooling the rooms was a novelty at that time. A system of local air-conditioning devices operating in circulating air was adopted. Heat pumps with a water heat source were used, operating in the so-called water loop. The water in the loop, depending on the season, is kept at a constant temperature of approx. 35-40 ° C for summer, and approx. 20-25 ° C for winter. The water source heat pump is a self-contained, compact heating and cooling unit with a reversible cooling circuit. The system components, such as the water-refrigerant heat exchanger, air-refrigerant heat exchanger, refrigeration compressor, fan and 4-way valve, are housed in a compact housing.
In cooling mode, heat is extracted from the air in the used space and transferred to the water loop. To achieve this, the water-side pump exchanger acts as a condenser and the air-side exchanger acts as an evaporator. The internal circulation of the refrigerant is provided by a refrigeration compressor. As a result, heat pumps in cooling mode increase the temperature of the water in the water loop.

In heating mode, heat is transferred to the air in the used space and taken from the water loop. To achieve this, the water-side pump exchanger acts as an evaporator and the air-side heat exchanger as a condenser. The refrigerant circuit is changed over via a 4-way valve on the side of the refrigerant circuit. As a result of the heat pumps operating in heating mode, the water temperature in the water loop is lowered. To keep this temperature at a rational level, it is necessary to supply heat to the loop from the outside. This takes place in the heat exchanger in the building's heat node. But the big energy benefit is the fact that in the transitional periods (spring, autumn) some commercial premises require heating and some cooling. In this situation, the water loop acts as an energy transporter between the premises. As a result, there is no need to supply heat or cooling energy from the outside, which of course results in significant savings in the global energy consumption of the building.