2015 Asia-Pacific Gold Winner - Syfon Systems
Company: Syfon Systems, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Category: Business Innovation of the Year
Entry Title: The ‘Syfon System'
Established in 1992 to assist with the increasing need to conserve and re-use water, Syfon Systems has changed the face of roof drainage engineering and is renowned across the globe for its innovative and ground breaking ‘Syfon System’ developed in conjunction with CSIRO and the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS).
With a focus on research and innovation from our policies, to our people, to our projects, Syfon Systems are recognised as leaders in roof drainage and rain water harvesting, especially in high rainfall areas across Australia and Asia.
In 2014, Syfon Systems (SS) maintained market leadership in Australia and continues a high rate of growth in Asia. The Syfon group concluded the financial year with record contracted work in hand, beyond $20M, equally balanced across Asia and Australia.
Innovation through technology
The ‘Syfon System’ is a unique high rainfall roof drainage system that revolutionised the industry, producing lower capital costs, reduced construction time and gives architectural flexibility in building design that no other system can match.
Unlike conventional systems, the Syfon System significantly reduces the need for downpipes from projects. All rainwater is collected via our high rainfall syfonic gutter inlets and is reticulated at high level through a piping system that does not require grade and is designed to run full (conventional pipes run at 1/3 or less). The result is a more effective and efficient system with higher flow rates, significantly reducing pipe dimensions and less reliance on pipe slope, reducing the need for underground drains.
Innovation firsts - SS uses innovative test facilities, new product development and investment in safer and more efficient techniques to help other businesses conserve and re-use water.
Test facility - SS designed and established a test facility to demonstrate the operation of the system and enable clients to examine its effectiveness under extreme conditions.
Pipes are sized according to the specific design parameters to demonstrate the system under particular design loads, showing how the design will operate with code requirements.
The facility simulates different types of system failure and blockages, to determine the impact on gutters, overflow, and systems redundancy. It also enables testing for a range of purposes including:
• Different overflow configurations
• Raking Box gutters and their impact on the system
• Varying gutter configurations as per architectural requirements that fall outside the normal parameters
• Acoustic levels of alternative piping materials
New product development
SS invests in ongoing research and development and in 2014 expanded into roof refurbishment (including associated drainage).
A new syfonic balcony drainage inlet launched late-2013 is a new system and initiative that the Australian and Asian market have not seen before. The inlets have been well received by building designers and specifiers and feature on many larger institutional and high rise residential projects in Australia and Asia.
Syfon’s new Syfonic Low Flow Balcony Inlets allows our low flow syfonic inlets to work alongside our standard high flow syfonic inlets and finally provide the construction industry with a single system that can drain rainwater off the complete elevated footprint of a building. Traditionally, low flow drainage areas could only to be collected by a separate conventional drainage system, resulting in doubling up of downpipes through the building.
The introduction of this Syfonic Balcony Inlet and its innovative slimline design has also lead into further problem solving applications within the industry.
Water ingress during the construction is a problem that can cost project’s millions in lost down time and flood damage. Temporary drainage to combat this problem is often unplanned, poor quality and sometimes exacerbates the problem. Utilising the slimline profile of the Syfonic Balcony Inlet, with the high drainage efficiency of small bore syfonics pipework, our 'Designed System' can temporarily drain a slab and be cast completely within the slab to maximise buildability and enhance reliability.
Supporting Materials:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWf1t4rbcDs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok7GBjzqiO0&list=UUQoVLzv1qRx3N2afkyLE_Yg