§ Mr. SayeedTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, (1) pursuant to the letter sent by (Mr. Chope) Under-secretary of State to the hon. Member for Christchurch on 23 October 2001 whether(a) the technological elements of the refurbishment of the air conditioning chillers at the QE2 Centre have been finalised and (b) whether these are to contain not-in-kind or HFC refrigerants; [41158]
(2) whether an installer capable of installing not-in-kind air conditioning is being invited to quote for the refurbishment contract for the QE2 building; and if he will make a statement; [41162]
(3) which consultant is being used to advise on the installation of replacement air conditioning at the QE2 building. [41184]
(4) what measures are being taken by his Department to ensure that the consultant advising on the installation of replacement air conditioning at the QE2 building is aware of the Government's policy on the use of hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in air-conditioning; and if he will make a statement on the measures taken by the consultant to source practical and safe alternatives to hydrofluorocarbon-based air-conditioning. [41157]
§ Dr. WhiteheadWe have been working on this project with a team which includes project managers Project Management International, engineers Cundall Johnson Partnership, architects Gollins Melvin Ward Partnership and cost consultants Dearle and Henderson. This team has experience of various, including not-in-kind, air-conditioning projects. We have engaged experts from AEA Technology to provide 585W health and safety risk assessment. We also have engaged as client advisers a specialist team of refrigeration experts headed by BRE.
Our project team has been evaluating the whole life costs and benefits of all options including not-in-kind air-conditioning. The project team and our advisers are fully aware of Government and Departmental policy on refrigerants and their work reflects this.
We expect to make a decision in the spring on a choice of replacement air-conditioning which fully reflects this policy. We will have a project team, including installers, with expertise appropriate to the option selected.