I am currently studying to be a building services engineer and i am doing a poject on the services in a small factory. I would like some information on the location of the plantroom and building orientation, such as where the plant room would be positioned for instance would it be on the roof or adjacent to the building? any information would be appreciated
Plant roon in a factory hall can be located either on the roof , adjacent to the hall or even below the hall.

You should bear in mind that local practices may vary largely, every job has its specific characteristics, and finally costs should always be optimised. But the following factors need to be considered when placing the plantroom: Hall layout, boiler room location (piping costs), supply & general / local exhaust arrangements, heat recovery.

Note that having several plantrooms (supply & exhaust) might be practical in large enclosures or when the above factors lead to this.

Location on the roof:

  1. Weight of the plant room and penetrations through the slab have to be taken into consideration in structural design

  2. Air intake should be orientated and located to avoid excessive raise of outdoor air temperature during warm periods and high solar radiation(dark roof material ).

  3. Industrial buildings might not have architectural restrictions, however the heigth / outlook are subject to be checked from the architect

Advantages of location on the roof are: space often available , height of the plant room will not be restricted normally, ductwork in size and pressure conditions are optimised, when supply air diffusers are located in upper level (e.g mixing or zoning pricinple )

Central location of plantroom

  1. Relative to ventilated / air conditioned space is optimum what duct lengths are concerned i.e pressure drops are optimised to avoid excess fan power consumption.

  2. Exhaust duct located normally in upper level can be ducted with relatively short distances to plant room in oder to enable recuperative / regenerative heat exchangers to be used for the heat recovery from exhaust air.

Location adjacent to the hall

  1. Space requirement need to be noted.

  2. Supply air ductwork can be optimised for low velocity units installed at low levelwhen displacement strategy will be used.

Location not centralized

  1. Longer distances for ductwork create more pressure drops.

  2. When heat recovery is used heat recovery coils with liquid circulation might be used with no need to draw the exhaust ducts to plant room

  3. Take care that air intake is positioned in order to guarantee good outdoor air quality (no excessive dust)

Location below the hall

  1. Take care there is sufficient height of the plant room

  2. Locate the air intake louvre to a level high enough to guarantee best possible outdoor air quality. Air intake chimney (shaft) might be needed.

Source

Building Sustainable Design