2009 April

Nearly a thousand fan-coil units have been supplied by Ability projects for the landmark Watermark Place close to Cannon Street Station in London and alongside the River Thames. This highly specified commercial development offers 50 000 m2 of flexible grade A office accommodation and retail space. It comprises a group of lower-elevation buildings facing the river and taller 12-storey block to the rear. The complex has been designed to achieve a low carbon footprint and is expected to be awarded an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating. It is being developed by Watermark Place Oxford One Investments and UBS Global Asset Management.

Pegler Yorkshire has introduced a circulation valve to prevent legionella in hot-water systems by automatically achieving thermal balancing and high-temperature disinfection.

Logic Certification has launched two new renewables courses for installers. They are a ground- and air-source heat-pump course for experienced heating and plumbing engineers and a solar photo-voltaics course for experienced electricians.

Blue Box modular room controllers from Infranet Partners integrate temperature, ventilation and lighting control in a single unit. This concept saves time and expense during installation and commissioning. Energy is saved throughout the life of the building by dynamically adjusting heating and cooling set points and ventilation levels according to room occupancy. Fewer control boxes are required, and wiring is simple ‘plug and play’.

Danlers manufactures a range of passive infra-red occupancy switches for automatic lighting control, including the wall mounted version (pictured). The products are easy to install, using the existing wiring in a building. They are ideal for saving energy in offices, factories, schools etc.

J&P Supplies, specialists in pipework expansion, have announced that Stourflex stainless-steel products have been awarded WRAS (Water Regulations Advisory Scheme) approval for a further five years.

Tyco Thermal Controls has launched an interactive online design tool for the heat-tracing of pipework to provide freeze protection and/or maintain hot-water temperature. Raychem TracCalc Net Construction is an easy-to-use tool that enables consultants, contractors and system specifiers to calculate heat losses, undertake design work and generate an optimised bill of materials.

Delta Controls has won the Frost & Sullivan award of the year for product innovation and differentiation in the North American systems market. The award is presented to a company that demonstrates excellence in new products and technologies within its industry.

Roth UK has produced a commercial training programme for its solar-thermal products. The company has developed materials to provide tailored support for M&E consultants and contractors. Roth’s training services are backed by NICEIC and specialist software.

Established in 1925, Ledaire Fabrications Ltd is a specialist producer of high-quality, tailor-made extract canopies and hoods for commercial and public sector kitchens.

Big Foot Systems has introduced five standard designs of prefabricated aluminium roof penetrations with rounded inlets to prevent damage to insulated pipes and cables.

Food stores are thought to consume more energy than other parts of the retail operation due to services such as cooling, heating and lighting.

New Daikin concealed ceiling-ducted indoor units have inverter-driven fan motors in both VRV (FXSQ and FXMQ) and Sky Air (FBQ and FMDQ) product lines, reflecting the company’s emphasis on energy efficiency and installation flexibility.

Integrated Environmental Solutions has made access to SBEM (Simplified Building Energy Model) via its software free of charge. Google SketchUp, Autodesk Revit and existing IES users will not require any other software to access the free SBEM module.

Elta Fans has launched a demand-controlled ventilation system for any application with a variable-occupancy space to be occupied. QuietflowDCV can be manually controlled or set up as an intelligent system using a wide range of sensors and enabling devices. It can also be integrated into a building-management system.

Parking Ventilation Equipment has launched a new system for ventilating smaller car parks and underground developments. Compak is based around three standard packages using integrated and matched components to deliver cost-effective systems.

Daikin’s Ururu Multi heat-pump system for light-commercial and residential applications supplies comfort heating, cooling and ventilation — plus humidification, without an associated water source.

Windhager’s range of biomass boilers include the BioWIN plus wood pellet boiler (pictured) and the LogWIN wood gasification boiler.

Walter Meier (Climate UK) has launched a comprehensive service to help building operators identify the most appropriate and cost-effective solution for phasing out HCFC refrigerants in the with EC Regulation 2037/2000. The company will provide a no-obligation assessment of chiller plant.

The CN series of zone and fan-coil controllers from Sontay has simple menu-driven site configuration to reduce the installed cost. Pre-configured operation sequences reduce on-site programming and commissioning.

FG Eurofred is targeting the UK commercial air-conditioning market with the launch of two Fujitsu product ranges. They are the Airstage V-II VRF system and the Commercial Inverter 3-phase single and multi-split range.

Significant energy savings can be made by refurbishing VAV boxes that have mechanical dampers with a replacement valve/damper from Trox.

The new web site of Titan Products incorporates the ability to purchase products online, modern looks and in-depth information.

Taconova’s IP54 protected RA57 TopDrive range of actuators is described as versatile, robust, easy-to-install and ideally suited to underfloor-heating systems.

Grundfos Pumps reports that 42% of its total sales value in the commercial building sector in 2008 was accounted for by variable-speed pumps, which enjoyed a 10% increase in sales over the previous year.

Reznor’s UESA range of condensing gas-fired unit heaters achieve an efficiency of 104% (net), even at full output. They are suitable for applications from retail outlets to industrial warehouses.

A range of solar kits from Dimplex has a number of features for easier and faster installation.

Airedale’s DeltaChill range of air-cooled R410A chillers comprises 42 models with cooling capacities from 100 to 450 kW. They are compact, quiet and highly efficient, with excellent part-load efficiencies and configuration flexibility.

Ciat Ozonair has launched a range of packaged chillers incorporating free cooling. The free-cooling section of Aquaciat Free Cooling chillers is self-contained with its own control centre and is delivered with the chiller as a complete package.

Broag Remeha has set up a renewables department to advise on its energy-saving products and low- to zero-carbon technologies. The department will be developed as a centre of excellence for renewables in the business and have the expertise to support the main sales teams and manage high-level technology projects from design to installation.

Armstrong’s Quantum range of variable-speed chillers use Turbocor compressors and are claimed to have a lifetime cost 43% less than a traditional chiller over 10 years. The savings are mainly due to the high energy efficiency and very low maintenance requirements. Operation is also quiet and vibration free.

Marshall-Tufflex has produced a product brochure to support the launch of its cast-iron-style PVC-u rainwater system.

CIBSE has published expert guidance on building control systems (Guide H) and energy-efficient heating (KS14).

Monodraught’s new 40-page schools brochure highlights current legislation and guidelines concerning the building of schools for the future. It covers regulations, legislation, certification and formal guides. There is also an explanation of BREEAM CABE and the Building Bulletins relating to the construction of new schools.

Marshall-Tufflex has released a product brochure on its anti-microbial trunking systems.

The 2009 edition of ABB’s drives and motors catalogue is now available for end-users, system integrators and OEMs. It runs to 48 pages and provides technical details of low-voltage AC drives from 180 W to 2800 kW and motors from 60 W to 710 kW. It also presents ABB’s range of DC and medium-voltage AC drives.

To enable specifiers, consultants and fire engineers to fully appreciate the effectiveness of its ExitPoint directional sound technology, KAC has prepared a DVD that includes actual tests and gives key technical information on the product.

KNX UK, the association representing companies promoting KNX intelligent building technology, has published a new guide to KNX technology. ‘Putting the intelligence into buildings and homes’ is designed for building-services engineers, specifiers and users of KNX technology in the commercial and residential sectors.

Swiftclean Environmental has been working with the Heart of England Trust on a major programme of ductwork cleaning procedures to meet the trust’s commitment to hygiene in ventilation and air-conditioning systems in line with the latest ‘Health technical memorandum 03-01: specialised ventilation for healthcare premises’.

EnTech, which specialises in intelligent building controls, has won a significant contract on phase one of the MediaCityUK development at Salford Quays, Manchester.

Emergency-generator cover within the hour, 24 hours a day, will be provided to the National Portrait Gallery in London under a contract with Powercall UK. It provides a cost-effective guarantee to prolonged power cuts.

Over 800 McDonald’s restaurants in the UK are being fitted with Trend intelligent building-control systems, supplied and engineered by Powell System Engineering, a Trend Technology Centre.

Shepherd Engineering Services has started work on one of the few buildings in Manchester to have been awarded a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating for its efficiencies in design and operation. Four Piccadilly Place is the final phase of the Piccadilly Place development in the heart of Manchester.

Scorpion Power Systems has boosted the standby power at the Oxfordshire facility of the Health Protection Agency’s Radiation Protection Division to ensure safety. The project was won on competitive tender and provides a turnkey solution, including all electrical installation work and commissioning.

Scorpion Power Systems has boosted the standby power at the Oxfordshire facility of the Health Protection Agency’s Radiation Protection Division to ensure safety. The project was won on competitive tender and provides a turnkey solution, including all electrical installation work and commissioning.

HCP has supplied 600 m of trench heating for the recently completed office of BDP in Manchester. This 3000 m2 6-storey office includes a large open-plan studio space and an interactive area on the ground floor which includes a cafe, staff restaurant and extensive reception area.

Breezair evaporative cooling has been specified for two new higher-educational projects as the most environmental and cost-effective means of cooling the buildings. The units are being supplied by the exclusive UK and Irish distributor CoSaf Environments.

Natural lighting and natural ventilation are used extensively throughout the Seaside Primary School in Lancing, West Sussex, to improve children’s wellbeing. Monodraught SunPipes bring daylight into the building, with Sola-boost systems providing natural ventilation. The school will accommodate up to 420 pupils and has been created by amalgamating two schools.

When M&E contractor NG Bailey required several different pipework systems for a major construction project at Erdlington School in Doncaster, Durapipe products were chosen, making it a simpler process. The one-stop-shop solution includes Friatherm, SuperFLO and Vulcathene systems.

Smith’s Environmental Products has supplied a wide range of fan convectors to provide space heating for the kindergarten and pre-school facility of Bury Grammar School in Manchester. Skyline Ecovector HL (High level), Staccato and Caspian fan convectors provide energy-efficient heating throughout the building. High-level heat in the kitchen and washrooms is provided by the Ecovector HL and Skyline. Low-level heat is supplied to classrooms by Caspian and Staccato units.