Chilled Beams

Chilled beams are a HVAC system component used to heat or cool buildings. By using a controlled flow of water through a control valve, connected by a standalone thermostat or BMS system, the regulated water flow is passed through a series of coils within the beam acting like a heat exchanger. This can be either integrated into standard suspended ceiling systems or suspended a short distance from the ceiling of a room. These may also include other building services applications such as lighting, extra low voltage systems and life safety systems. As the beam chills the air around it, the air becomes denser and falls to the floor. It is replaced by warmer air moving up from below, causing a constant flow of convection and cooling the room. Heating works in much the same way.

There are two main types of chilled beams, passive and active. The passive applications uses convection only, while there is a “radiant”/convective passive type that cools through a combination of radiant exchange (40%) and convection (60%). The passive approach can provide higher thermal comfort levels, while the active type uses the ventilation air entering at relatively high velocity to induce the circulation of room air through the unit therefore increasing its heating and cooling capacity.