2004 October

Solar energy technologies for buildings are no longer limited to add-on technologies. They can now be integrated with the fabric of buildings — with significant cost implications. CLARE HAWTIN tells the story.

Estimating software that links directly into the Jewson’s price list is being launched by HBXL. This price list is continuously updated.

Graphisoft’s CADLink program for the design of HVAC and electrical services is based on a 3D database that tracks all elements with which a building is put together. Using Graphisoft’s Virtual Building model makes it possible to design, administer and manage a building throughout its entire life cycle.

Emitex has added a Category 6 package to its range of data-cabling products to meet the need for higher transmission speeds.

Throughout the life of a building, from conception to occupation, and beyond, on-line tools provide scope for collaboration in a way that has not been possible before. GAVIN DALE explains.

Underfloor heating systems in five new pre-school nurseries in the Isle of Thanet are providing safe heating without the use of cumbersome and costly LT radiators and without taking up wall space.

Hamworthy Heating has launched a range of stainless-steel condensing boilers designed for use in modular arrangements or singly. Ansty boilers have two return connections, one low temperature and the other high temperature, allowing separate circuits to operate at different temperatures, such as underfloor heating and DHW. The lower-temperature return circuit enables the energy-saving benefits of condensing operation to be realised.

A range of six wall-hung condensing boilers from Clyde Combustions covers outputs from 58 to 180 kW. All have a maximum operating pressure of 6 bar.

The Unimat range of commercial boilers from Controlled Flame Boilers is designed to provide energy-efficient solutions for larger heating projects. PM5 safety requirements are included as standard items.

Underfloor heating and cooling served by a Calorex heat pump is providing an energy-efficient solution for a suite of offices in Aylesbury.

A ground-source heat pump provides space heating for the Eco visitor centre in Southport, which is the terminus for the park-and-ride service and a showcase and teaching centre explaining sustainable construction and renewable energy. Over 500 000 visitors a year are expected.

Faced with the need to replace three cast-iron sectional boilers with ages from 12 to 30 years, Bryan Yates, site manager with Braintree College in Essex, embarked on a feasibility study with consulting engineers Atkins Management Professional Services. The aim was to identify new boilers that would achieve efficient performance with low emissions, ease of maintenance, responsiveness ot varying space-heating requirements and the ability to be easily retrofitted to existing pipework.

An underfloor heating system designed for use with raised access floors has been developed by Osma. The system can also provide cooling.

Technological advances in recent years enable electric underfloor heating systems to provide optimum comfort and be economically viable, says SIMON BRODERICK.

Heating remains one of the biggest operational overheads for industries throughout the UK. The Government’s Climate Change Levy has added an extra cost to all fuel bills. Switching to energy-efficient space heating technology will minimise fuel consumption, benefit the environment and, most importantly, reduce costs. DAVID ROCK of Ambi-Rad Limited explains.

Forget the heating of village and church halls of your youth. Gas-fired convector heaters have advanced enornmously — as BILL SINCLAIR explains.

A new standard for calculating the performance of underfloor heating systems is not only simple but very accurate. BRIAN SENSECALL explains how it works.

With carbon-dioxide emissions being 50 to 60% lower than even a gas-fired condensing boiler, ground-source heat pumps have a key role to play in a low-carbon future. PROFESSOR TERRY WYATT explains why he believes their time has arrived.

The design of a new series of electrothermic actuators for the automatic on/off control of valves on radiators, fan-coil units and manifolds is based on an analysis of the failure mode of similar products. 22C actuators consist of only a few components, and they are made using modern techniques to produce an overall robust design and reliable performance. They are available from Watts Martin Orgee.

The launch of the new Memstyle range of socket outlets is complete. There are 800 variants, including some unique and innovative products that acknowledge the increasing use of IT equipment in commercial, industrial and residential premises.

The Standesse range of air curtains can be used on doorways up to 12 m wide and 4 m high by joining six units together and regulating them from one controller. They are available from JS Air Curtains.

BP Solar’s Poly 3 Series of PV solar cells over 75 W are now supplied with white Tedlar, thus improving their performance as the modules run cooler, which means more energy over the life of a system.

Fulton Boiler Works offers a range of vertical steam boilers for many hospital applications. They can be supplied as packaged and skid-mounted systems or stand-alone.

Hep2O pipe-in-pipe systems are now offered with colour-coded outer conduits to indicate whether the enclosed pipes are carrying hot (red) or cold (blue) water.

Bitzer is now stocking and distributing SWEP heat exchangers for air-conditioning and refrigeration applications. These plate heat exchangers are typically up to just a tenth the size of shell-and-tube heat exchangers.

Continuous supplies of hot water can be delivered by a plate heat exchanger from Beeston Heating at 99% efficiency. With primary water at a nominal 82°C, these units raise cold water from 10 to 60°C.

Design style, ease of installation and performance are billed as the main features of the Icon range of domestic ventilation fans introduced by Airflow Developments.

A technically challenging project involving the design and installation of new plant and controls to operate alongside existing refurbished equipment has been completed by Integrated Control Systems.

To meet the demanding environmental control requirements of the National Portrait Gallery in London a range of industrial control hardware and software is now used to manage building services. The hardware and software from Rockwell Automation is part of a £38 million investment programme. It includes Allen-Bradley logic controllers and motor-control gear, as well as a Rockwell Software Active Display Server supervisory control and data-acquisition system.

To provide comfortable conditions in exercise areas of a gymnasium where a low ceiling made the atmosphere unacceptable, textile ventilation ducts have been installed vertically in structural columns and fed with conditioned air via ductwork in the ceiling.

The problems of providing both central switching and some local control for lighting circuits supplied from different distribution boards has been solved for JJB leisure centres by Hannan Associates using Hager’s Tebis bus-based system.

Kingspan’s pre-insulated KoolDuct system can be installed three times faster than sheet-metal systems — according to research by consultants Bucknall Austin.

The first UK installation of Daikin’s R410A mini VRVII-S air-conditioning equipment serves a cooling load of 109 kW for the new Wood House commercial complex at Woodlingdean in East Sussex. Developed by Westridge Construction at a cost of £1.8 million, the 2-storey complex on the South Downs is U shaped and zoned into four self-contained areas on each floor with a view to multiple-tenant letting.

Vent-Axia’s capability as a comprehensive single source for fans, air-handling modules and accessories has led to the company’s equipment being specified and installed in the new Maidenbower Secondary School in Crawley, West Sussex. It is the first of three similar projects for new schools in the area, the others being Ifield and Thomas Bennett.

integrated controls for an air-conditioning installation at Stansted Airport is said to have saved tens of thousands of pounds in customised software routings, wiring and additional controls.

Pump manufacturer Armstrong has restructured its UK operations following the rapid integration of its sales teams, product lines and business systems with those of Armstrong Holden Brooke Pullen.

New research commissioned by the Department of Trade & Industry provides a template for how UK buildings can be adapted to cope with increasingly hot Summers — one of the main effects of climate change. The research was carried out by Arup, and the full recommendations will be published in the Autumn as a CIBSE technical memorandum.

With evidence of the growing use of Dutch auctions, the HVCA has embarked on a campaign to resist this unregulated practice.

Transport for London has awarded a contract for cleaning grease-extract systems at over 20 Transport for London and London Underground sites with staff catering operations to Indepth Hygiene Services.

A multidisciplinary appointment on a new £4 million research facility for the University of Newcastle upon Tyne has been awarded to White Young Green. It will house the university’s first magnetic-resonance (MR) scanner for clinical research. Based at Newcastle General Hospital, the scanner will be used to build up an internal picture of the body without using X-rays. This should allow the integrated clinical and basic research team to make substantial progress in diabetes, cancer, heart disease and dementia. The team will also be able to expand its understanding of how various body functions work.

To raise awareness of engineering as a career choice among 14 to 16-year-olds, engineering consultancy Buro Happold has launched a new website (URL below).

Business is booming for chimney and flue specialist A1 Bridge Flue Systems, with a record £1.75 million-worth of orders placed in June and July.

A 27 000 m2 extension for the Wellcome Trust genome campus outside Cambridge represents the largest single application of Carrier Global chillers in the UK in recent months. Eleven 30 Series chillers, two dry coolers and 600 unit coolers will provide 7 MW of cooling for the first phase of this project. The order is worth about £1 million.

The development of the workforce in the building-services contracting sector has been highlighted by HVCA president Mike Taylor as the single theme binding together the key issues affecting the future of the association and its members.

Two performances of ‘Tosca’ at the Royal Opera House in London went ahead thanks to careful planning by Hills Electrical & Mechanical for the lifting of new standby generators at the nearby BT in Covent Garden and the closure of 200 m of Bow Street for a whole weekend recently. The road closures around one of the West End’s busiest tourist destinations were necessary to enable the giant crane to be assembled by a second crane before manoeuvring the generators into position.

The first retail development to be certified under the new BREEAM retail scheme is Merry Hill shopping centre in the West Midlands. It was assessed by the sustainable-development group of FaberMaunsell for its existing operations in May and achieved a score of ‘very good’.

The £6.5 million contract for M&E services for the PFI scheme at Burnley General Hospital has been won by the Manchester office of Inviron.

BSRIA has boosted the capability of its test facilities with the completion of a new 230 m2 laboratory. It complements the existing 810 m2 laboratory, which can test over 30 types of building-services products, and offers the industry independent accreditation services and expertise for product development, certification and performance verification.

Is it my imagination, or has more been said by politicians and written in the Press about climate change and global warming than usual during the past month? Perhaps Modern Building Services started the ball rolling in the last issue when we suggested that since most experts now agree that climate change is inevitable, there is probably little point putting effort into designing services to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

STEVE LEONARD advises on standards, guidance and product selection for the effective, efficient and safe ventilation of commercial kitchens.

Some 600 outlets outlets of travel agent Going Places in the UK and Ireland are covered by a service-and-maintenance package provided by mobile engineers from Eaton-Williams Service.