VRV & VRF Systems
Flexible Control Across Every Zone
Variable refrigerant technology connects dozens of indoor units to a single outdoor condensing plant, giving you independent climate control across every floor, department and room — from a single system.
One Outdoor Plant.
Dozens of Indoor Zones.
VRV (Variable Refrigerant Volume, a Daikin trademark) and VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow, used by all other manufacturers) describe the same technology: a sophisticated refrigerant pipework system that varies the flow of refrigerant to each indoor unit based on real-time demand.
- Up to 64 indoor units on a single refrigerant circuit
- Independent temperature control in every zone
- Simultaneous heating and cooling in different zones
- Heat recovery variants capture waste heat for use elsewhere
- Significantly lower energy use than equivalent split systems
- BMS and smart building controls integration
- Suitable for buildings from 500m² to 50,000m²+
End-to-End VRF Expertise
from Design to Ongoing Care
VRF/VRV systems require specialist design skills and manufacturer-certified installation. We cover the full scope of work on every project.
System Design
Heat load calculations, pipe sizing, indoor unit selection and outdoor plant specification — completed using manufacturer design software to BS EN 15218 principles.
Indoor Unit Selection
Wall-mounted, ceiling cassette, ducted, floor-standing and concealed units — mixed types supported on the same circuit.
Heat Recovery
Heat recovery branch controllers allow zones that need cooling to donate waste heat to zones that need heating — simultaneously, from the same plant.
Controls & BMS Integration
Daikin DIII-Net, Mitsubishi G-50, BACnet or Modbus — integrated into your building management system for centralised scheduling and energy monitoring.
Commissioning
Manufacturer-certified commissioning engineers — every parameter set, verified and documented to manufacturer specification before handover.
Ongoing Maintenance
Dedicated PPM contracts for VRV/VRF systems — specialist engineers familiar with the complexity of multi-zone refrigerant circuits.
VRF Specialists with
Manufacturer Accreditation
VRF/VRV systems are complex — design errors or poor commissioning result in reduced performance, premature compressor failure and warranty voidance. We hold manufacturer design and installation accreditation so your system is protected from day one.
Daikin VRV Approved
Design and installation partner status — your Daikin warranty is fully protected
Multi-Brand Experience
Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Hitachi and Fujitsu VRF experience alongside Daikin VRV
In-House M&E Design
Full mechanical and electrical design capability — no need to appoint a separate consultant for smaller projects
Scale Proven
Track record on buildings up to 10,000m² with complex multi-zone heat recovery requirements
Related Services
Ventilation Systems
MVHR, heat recovery and extract ventilation for homes and businesses.
Refrigeration & Cold Rooms
Cold room design, commercial refrigeration and emergency breakdown response.
HVAC Design & Consultancy
Load calculations, system specification and project management for HVAC projects.
Electrical & Plumbing
Power supplies, pipework and electrical services supporting HVAC installations.
Compliance & Maintenance
PPM contracts, F-Gas compliance, TM44 surveys and reactive maintenance.
VRF/VRV system design is significantly more complex than a standard split system specification. The design must account for refrigerant pipe sizing, pressure drop, total circuit equivalent length and the simultaneous diversity of indoor unit operation.
- We use Daikin's VRV Selection Tool and Mitsubishi's ME-ES software to produce validated system designs specific to the building layout
- Heat load calculations cover every zone individually — solar gain, occupancy, equipment loads and lighting heat output are all considered
- Pipe sizing follows the manufacturer's guidelines for equivalent length limits — exceeding these affects system performance and efficiency
- Outdoor unit location is critical: access for maintenance, heat rejection clearance and structural loading must all be assessed
- You receive a full design package: load calculations, pipe schematic, indoor unit schedule and outdoor unit specification
One of the key advantages of a VRF/VRV system is the flexibility to mix indoor unit types on a single circuit — matching the unit type to each space's architecture and airflow requirements.
- Wall-mounted: lowest cost, easiest to install, suitable for offices and smaller rooms
- 4-way cassette: ceiling-mounted, blows air in four directions — ideal for open-plan spaces with regular ceiling grids
- Slim ceiling cassette (1-way or 2-way): fits between ceiling joists where a full cassette isn't possible
- Low-profile ducted: hidden above the ceiling with short supply and return ductwork — virtually invisible in use
- Floor-standing: useful in spaces with high window areas where wall and ceiling space is limited
- All types can be mixed on the same outdoor unit circuit — we specify the most appropriate type for each zone
Heat recovery VRF is arguably the most energy-efficient HVAC system type available for large commercial buildings. The system moves heat rather than generating it — zones that need cooling reject heat into the refrigerant circuit, and that heat is delivered to zones that need heating simultaneously.
- In a typical office in winter, the perimeter needs heating while the core (full of people and computers) needs cooling — heat recovery handles both from one system
- Heat recovery branch controllers (BC Controllers) manage the direction of refrigerant flow to each circuit
- Seasonal energy efficiency ratios (SCOP/SEER) typically exceed 4.0 — 4kW of heating or cooling per 1kW of electricity
- Heat recovery is only beneficial where simultaneous heating and cooling demand exists — a pure-cooling application is better served by a standard heat pump VRF
- We'll design the right system type for your building rather than defaulting to heat recovery where it won't deliver the expected savings
The controls layer transforms a collection of indoor units into a managed building climate system. Modern VRF controls range from basic centralised controllers to full BMS integration via open protocols.
- Daikin Intelligent Touch Manager (iTM) and Mitsubishi G-50A: centralised controllers with scheduling, zone grouping and energy monitoring for up to 64 indoor units
- BACnet/IP gateway: connects the VRF system to a building BMS — used in most major commercial BMS platforms
- Modbus RTU/TCP: available as an alternative to BACnet for older BMS infrastructure
- Occupancy-linked control: triggered by access control, PIR sensors or calendar-based schedules to avoid conditioning empty spaces
- Energy sub-metering allows running costs to be apportioned per zone — useful for mixed-tenancy buildings
VRF commissioning requires manufacturer training and brand-specific commissioning tools. It cannot be done by a general AC engineer without the correct software and authorisation.
- We hold manufacturer certification for Daikin VRV and Mitsubishi Electric City Multi
- Commissioning runs the automated self-check, verifies all indoor units are communicating and sets addresses and zone names
- Refrigerant charge is verified against the auto-charge calculation based on the total pipe run length
- F-Gas documentation: system registered on the national database, logbook records refrigerant type, quantity and commissioning engineer details
- A commissioning report is produced and handed over — required for manufacturer warranty validation
VRF/VRV systems require engineers trained on the specific brand and familiar with multi-zone diagnostics — not just a general AC engineer with a spanner.
- Filter cleaning across all indoor units is the most time-consuming element — we allow sufficient visit time rather than rushing a large site
- Refrigerant circuit checks use the outdoor unit diagnostic interface to check operating pressures, superheat and subcooling for the whole system from a single point
- Error code history is reviewed on the central controller — revealing intermittent faults that haven't caused a shutdown but indicate a developing problem
- F-Gas leak testing covers the full circuit, with particular attention to branch pipe joints and indoor unit connections
- We recommend bi-annual maintenance on large multi-zone systems — greater complexity warrants more frequent attention than a simple single-split