Rudds Consulting Engineers - Systems and Services for Aviation, Commercial, Defence and Recreational Buildings

Rudds Consulting Engineers is a successful Canberra-based company that has been involved in the design of critical building services — including air-conditioning, communications, power and lighting — for a wide variety of facilities for over 40 years.

Environmentally friendly engineering for structures and buildings

The company is primarily involved in the design of what could be described as the 'engine room' of buildings — that is, the services that keep buildings running.

Rudds has become a leader in its field through innovative and environmentally conscious engineering solutions. We pride ourselves on being able to integrate state-of-the-art technologies to reduce the impact building services have on the environment.

We design:

• Air-conditioning systems
• Communication systems
• Fire systems
• Heating systems
• Power systems
• Lighting systems
• Security systems
• Co and tri-generation systems
• Ventilation systems
• Vertical-transportation systems
• Emergency power systems
• UPS systems

There are a variety of applications to which these products apply, including: airport facilities, new commercial offices, building refurbishments, building fit-outs, environmental facilities, archives and exhibition facilities, clubs and recreational buildings, schools, health-service buildings, telephone exchanges, data centres, emergency power systems, laboratories, shops, and cafés.

Our innovative approach contributed to the design of the first Australian building to achieve a five-star Greenstar rating. This was achieved in 2004, and there have been many others since.

The design elements and initiatives being employed include:

• Buildings are designed to meet or surpass the highest rating standards for commercial buildings
• 400Hz power system for on-ground aircraft
• Runway lighting
• Apron lighting
• Internal metering and billing system for on-sale of power to airport terminal tenants
• Load shedding, load control and emergency power systems including UPS and generator backup
• Aircraft preconditioned air
• Central energy plants to service entire complex
• Solar hot water
• Rainwater harvesting, grey and blackwater treatment

Tri-generation: combined heating, cooling and power generation systems (CHCP)

One of the technologies Rudds has incorporated into the new Canberra airport complex is tri-generation or CHCP.

A tri-generation system comprises a natural-gas-fired generator to produce electricity cleaner than the grid and to provide redundancy. The heat produced by the generator, which would normally be wasted and sent into the atmosphere, is instead recovered and used to produce cooling, heating, and hot water.

The core of Rudds' innovation in the engineering and design of such systems is careful and precise integration. This results in highly cost-effective systems for new and existing developments with payback periods well below current Australian benchmarks.

A tri-generation system offers the following values and benefits:

• Lower CO2 emissions: a plant with a capacity to service an office building complex of say 40,000m² of space for 3,000 people can reduce CO2 emissions by more than 1,100,000kg per year, equating to removing 360 cars from the road
• Operating cost savings: for a 40,000m² office tri-generation could reduce costs by approximately $200,000 per year; with carbon trading it is possible for further financial benefit to be achieved
• Reduced water use: for a 40,000m² office complex, a gas-fired generator can potentially save between 1,000l and 2,400l of water per hour of operation in comparison to energy produced from coal
• Reduced transmission losses: the move towards decentralised electricity generation through a tri-generation system, where a plant meets the needs of local consumers, avoids transmission losses that can account for system efficiency reductions of in excess of 15%
• Redundancy: a tri-generation system can provide standby power and reduce the impact to consumers caused by external power outages on building power, heating and cooling
• Greener electricity contributed back into the grid: tri-generation can operate at overall efficiency levels up to 90% while the most efficient modern coal-fired power is only 45% efficient before transmission losses
• Cleaner electricity: tri-generation and associated technology can reduce CO2 emissions by 50% or more

We also provide:

• Feasibility study input
• Proposals on costs of building services
• Commercial building energy evaluation and performance management
• Quality assessments of construction works
• Construction-management services for building services projects
• Building services maintenance projects
• Conditions, surveys and reports
• Project-management services from inception through to completion of construction

Our clients

Some of Rudds' many clients include:

• The Australian Federal Police
• Canberra Airport Group
• Emergency Services Australia
• Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT)
• Verizon Business
• Telstra
• Qantas
• Australian Defense Department