Air conditioning

Sensata Newtownabbey

Sensata Technologies, a global leader in sensor development and manufacturing, invested £16.5m in a new research, testing, and office facility in Newtownabbey.

Background

Sensata Technologies, a global leader in sensor development and manufacturing, invested £16.5m in a new research, testing, and office facility in Newtownabbey.

The development required a building services solution that could provide:

Precise and simultaneous heating and cooling across open-plan offices, testing laboratories, and research areas.
Independent, highly reliable cooling for computer and server rooms.
Integration of multiple systems into a centralised, easily managed platform.
Energy efficiency to minimise long-term operating costs.

The facility, spread across two bespoke buildings, demanded a scalable solution capable of meeting diverse environmental requirements without compromising comfort, performance, or efficiency.

Solution

The HVAC system was delivered using a Daikin VRV and split-unit configuration designed to handle the varied load profile of the site.

Key elements of the implementation included

161 fan coil units deployed across both buildings to provide heating and cooling simultaneously, ensuring stable and responsive comfort control.
20 Daikin VRV systems, networked to manage demand across office and testing areas, optimising efficiency through variable refrigerant flow.
10 independent split systems dedicated to server and IT rooms, providing precision cooling to protect sensitive equipment.

Key elements

A Daikin iTouch Manager platform, enabling full centralised control, scheduling, and monitoring of all systems, ensuring streamlined facility management.
This approach provided a highly adaptable solution, capable of serving complex and varying space conditions within a single integrated architecture.

Outcome

The completed installation delivered clear technical and operational advantages:

Stable environmental control across all office, research, and laboratory spaces, ensuring comfort and consistency for over 900 employees.
Dedicated resilience for critical infrastructure, with standalone split systems guaranteeing uninterrupted server cooling.
Reduced operating costs, with VRV technology significantly improving part-load efficiency compared to conventional HVAC approaches.
Centralised system management, giving facilities teams the ability to optimise performance and energy use from a single control point.

The system now provides Sensata with a robust, scalable, and energy-efficient solution, underpinning the company’s advanced research and manufacturing operations in Northern Ireland.