2010 October

Rehau partner White Underfloor Heating has installed almost 1000 m2 of underfloor heating at the newly opened Tollymore National Outdoor Centre.

The Holiday Inn at Birmingham Airport is enjoying green and sustainable heating thanks to the installation of flat-panel solar collectors from MHS Boilers.

Crabtree, part of wiring accessory specialist Electrium, has developed a new range of energy-saving card-operated switches for the hotel market. The switches help to control energy use in hotels by ensuring that electrical devices are not left switched on when rooms are unoccupied.

Birmingham-based building services provider JS Wright has won a £400,000 contract to provide the mechanical services for a ground-breaking modular hotel scheme in the city’s Jewellery Quarter.

Chilled beams are becoming more flexible for the hotel sector. Mike Beeton and Mika Ruponen explain how the technology is being applied.

Geoff Hobbs outlines how one installer used smart thinking to keep hot water running for DeVere hotel guests while replacing a 20-year-old heating system.

Phil Chilton and Chris Davis explain how they are helping clients cut waste and use more renewable options to create efficient and comfortable environments.

Tony Barnes of Calorex explains the important process of controlling humidity, temperature and fresh air for swimming-pool environments.

Hot-water supply is one of the most important aspects of building services for hotels. Paul Marsden explains the importance of understanding hot-water demands in hotels.

Building controls play a vital role in achieving the balance between hotel guest comfort and energy efficiency. Jim Barlow describes the latest technologies.

The Government sets high targets for achieving low- and zero-carbon buildings, but how can construction professionals make the vision a reality?

Simon Potts and Andrew Miele explain why chp is so well suited to hotel and leisure buildings, and advise on how to make the most of your investment.

Budget hotel chain Travelodge aims to grow its estate to 1000 hotels by 2020, making it the fastest-growing budget hotel chain in the UK. In summer 2010, Travelodge boosted the number of properties in its chain to 452, raising its room stock to 30,504 across the UK, Ireland and Spain.

Whitbread PLC, the UK’s largest hotel and restaurant group, will spend £7 million to boost the environmental performance of its hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. Whitbread includes Premier Inn hotels, Beefeater restaurants and Costa Coffee cafes.

London’s prestigious Savoy Hotel reopens in Autumn 2010 after a £220 million refurbishment that has taken three years to complete.

A number of key sporting venues for the 2012 Olympics have made progress over the past few months.

The MBS Focus panel discusses hotel buildings and examines how their design and operation are affected by owners, operators and guests.

Micronics describes its U1000 clamp-on flow meter as offering significant installation savings and simple, accurate flow measurement from outside the pipe. There is no need to cut pipes. The device can be used straight out of the box, and no programming or specialist engineering is required. Knowing the pipe size, Micronics will supply a factory-configured meter ready to clamp on and produce flow information in minutes.

Fireco has developed a technique for sending text messages to the mobile phones of people who are deaf or hard of hearing when the fire alarm sounds in a public place like a supermarket, shopping centre or library. When such a person enters a building with Deaf Message Service (DMS) installed, a sign will advise them to text a location code to the DMS number. When that connection text has been sent, the person will be connected to the DMS service for that location.

Passivent’s Sunstract combines natural ventilation and the company’s Sunscoop rooflight technology into a single product for medium and large commercial buildings. Sunstract contributes to compliance with the carbon emission levels required in Building Regulations Approved Document L, which came into force on 1 October.

Cooper Lighting’s LED high-bay luminaire is presented as having a number of significant benefits compared with traditional HID luminaires. When used in place of a 400 W metal-halide fitting, these LED luminaires achieve energy savings of 65% as a consequence of their power consumption of 142 W. There is also no restrike or run-up delay, and a long service life without the need for lamp changes. They deliver white light.

Victaulic’s Aquaflex range of sprinkler fittings uses flexible couplings to the fixed pipework to reduce installation time. These stainless-steel sprinkler fittings are suitable for suspended and hard ceilings and for round or square ductwork to provide fire protection where combustible gases may be present.

Apollo Fire Detectors’ latest range of base-mounted flame detectors has a Class 1 performance that enables them to quickly identify 0.1 m2 flames at a distance of 25 m. They can rapidly detect all types —including those from a hydrogen source, which are invisible to the naked eye and some other flame-detection systems.

Glow-worm’s range of ‘intelligent’ room controls is designed to work with its range of boilers to create advanced heating systems. The Climastat, Climapro and Climapro RF (radio frequency)

Among a range of new cooling solutions from Airedale is an R410A chiller with a cooling capacity from 150 to 450 kW and which can achieve up to 98% free cooling, based on London conditions. The DeltaChill Freecool (left) combines the latest fan technology with micro-channel coils to achieve an ESEER (European seasonal EER) above 4.5.

The Ecocond range of forced-draught floor-standing condensing boilers from MHS Boilers has outputs from 110 to 640 kW and is suitable for natural gas, LPG, heating oil and biofuel. They can be dual-fuel fired. Efficiencies range from 92.9 to 95.5%, and they are designed to work at low temperatures, such as are required by underfloor heating systems.

Rada’s V10 sequential shower control is designed for commercial environments. It has a robust cartridge to cope with heavy usage, and occasional misuse. The thermostatic mixing valve conforms to TMV2, the standard designed to prevent scalding.

Envirotec’s range of air-handling units can be quickly and cost effectively customised to meet the precise needs of each project. There are two ranges, both made in the UK.

Fujitsu offers three VRF air-conditioning systems with cooling capacities from 15 to 135 kW and a connectable indoor-unit capacity of up to 150%.

Certus has launched a multi-layer press-fit plumbing system for potable, sanitary and heating applications. The K1 system has visible indicators to mark the insert depth of pipes, so no guesswork is needed during installation. This pipe system is made from corrosion resistant MP (metal plastic) PEX-C pipe and high-quality PPSU fittings with a fixed stainless-steel sleeve. It is available in 16, 20, 25, 32, 40 and 50 mm sizes.

Underfloor-heating specialist Timoleon has developed two products in response to the increased use of timber and other dry construction methods and the growing popularity of low-energy systems served by heat pumps. They are designed to integrate with a timber building to provide the same performance that can be expected from screeded sys­tems but at lower water temperatures.

Architects can now create escalators in any shape they want, even freeform curves, following the development of a system known as the Levytator by Jack Levy, an Emeritus Professor of Mechanical Engineering at City University in London. The concept can also carry twice as many people as a traditional escalator, at a comparable price.

Dimplex Renewables has launched a range of solar photo-voltaic packages based on polycrystalline modules and containing everything required for installation on light-commercial and residential buildings. These kits include G83-approved inverter, roof-mounting system, cabling, isolators and generation meter. The hardware is MCS accredited, so the kits qualify for feed-in tariffs when properly installed by an MCS-accredited installer.

Flakt Woods has extended its range of heat-recovery products for air-distribution systems. The e3co-HR range offers thermal efficiencies of up to 93% and specific fan powers as low as 0.45. These units also incorporate low-loss high-performance filters. Overall, energy savings up to 85% can be achieved.

Zehnder offers a collection of products to provide heating, cooling and air filtration for new and refurbished school buildings. The range comprises low-surface-temperature and panel radiators for standard classroom use, radiant heating and cooling panels to provide an energy-efficient all-in-one package for Summer and Winter operation in classrooms and sports halls, trench heaters for discreet and effective heating (particularly in glass-fronted locations), and the Clean Air Solutions system to help create a clean and healthy environment for woodwork classrooms.

Heatrae Sadia has launched the next generation of its Mega HE unvented hot-water cylinder, the Megaflo eco. Key features include nearly 30% lower heat loss in actual operating conditions, with valves connected, than the previous model and a 20% improvement in flow at low pressure. These new cylinders can be installed without the need for special tools and equipment. A key benefit is the pre-wired wiring centre.

Sanyo has introduced a range of R410A air-to-water heat pumps to complement its successful Eco CO2 series as part of the company’s Heating Solutions range. The new split system is available with capacities from 5 to 24 kW and provides hot water at up to 50°C for underfloor heating and radiators. It can also provide hot and chilled water for heating and cooling via fan-coil units.

To make the best use of a biomass installation, Euroheat offers a wide range of accumulators. These vessels are available as standard in sizes from 300 to 5000 l and up to 10 000 litres as a tailor-made tank. Connections are provided for a variety of heat inputs and outputs to the heating system. Solar systems can be incorporated via single or dual internal coil.

Primaflow now offers a multi-layer pipe system for general plumbing and heating. MLfP is easy to bend and stays bent, nor does it creep or sag as temperatures rise. Fittings are supplied in brass with a bright nickel-plated finish or stainless-steel sleeves to complete consistency of appearance. There are 21 transition fittings to make it easy to use MLfP pipe during refurbishment and modernisation programmes.

The PHE x-Series of high-efficiency plat heat exchangers from Armstrong is part of the ECO:nomics brand of low-cost low-carbon solutions. These units can achieve regeneration rates of up to 90% for a range of HVAC heat-transfer applications without carrying a premium price tag.

Upgrading existing Daikin Roundflow cassette air-conditioning units with a self-cleaning filter panel can reducing running costs by up to 30%, amounting to about £150 a year for a 12.5 kW cassette that would normally cost about £500 a year to run. Such a reduction in running cost amounts to a reduction in CO2 emissions of about 620 kg a year. This technology is also available for new Roundflow cassettes.

Lowara’s range of stainless-steel vertical multi-stage pumps has been enlarged to 11 models with the introduction of the e-SV models. The range can deliver flows up to 160 m3/s with a maximum head of 265 m. The new range achieves a 10% better hydraulic efficiency than the previous models, with even better performance achievable using energy-efficient motors with speed control (pictured). There is no price premium.

Newly formed Derwent FM’s first health contract is for a GP-led health centre in Wakefield. The contract is for five years and covers the management and maintenance of all aspects of the hard services of Hard Service House on King Street on a 24/7 basis every day of the year. The contract is valued at £50 000.

With only the downward leg of Mount Snowdon to complete on their Three Peaks Challenge to raise at least £1500 for a children’s hospice, members of the team from Sheffield-based Gripple and Loadhog take a short break. The challenge is to ascend and descend the tallest peaks in Scotland, England and Wales — Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Mount Snowdon.

Mitsubishi Electric has signed a 5-year rolling contract with bespoke design and air-conditioning supplier Pacair following its success as an official value-added reseller of Mitsubishi’s range of air-conditioning, heating and ventilation products. The move comes after both companies enjoyed growth during one of the toughest periods for the industry for decades and reflects the investment that Pacair has made, which has seen the company grow its workforce and customer base.

Recently formed heat-pump distributor Freedom Heat Pumps has opened a showroom that installers, end users and home owners can visit to see an actual Samsung installation in operation. The system in the company’s premises in Chandlers Ford near Southampton demonstrates an air-to-water heat pump with radiators, underfloor heating, air conditioners to provide heating and cooling, and domestic hot water.

MBS (Modern Building Services) has been named the official media partner for the 2011 awards of the Building Controls Industry Association. The agreement follows several years of this magazine and the association working together to produce quarterly features on controls and building-management systems. There is more about the awards at the web site below and on page 9 of this issue of MBS.

Westmark’s new headquarters building for the Environment Agency in Bristol has achieved the highest ever BREEAM score for an office building. The overall score of 85.06% under BREEAM 2006 is one of only four scores above 80% and is the result of the extensive use of sustainable features, onsite practices and building materials by Sir Robert McAlpine and supply-chain partner Prater.

Space Air founder and managing director Neil Afram chose to mark the company’s 30th anniversary in resplendent style by chartering one of the largest pleasure boats on the River Thames to host lunch for guests and the evening for staff. One of the highlights was the opening of Tower Bridge, not once, but twice on each trip for the passing of the Dixie Queen.

Electrical contractor Grimwood & Dix of Dukinfield near Manchester, is continuing its commitment to training with the taking on of four new apprentices. This latest intake brings to 24 the number of trainees at different stages.

Concerns that it might not be possible to train the 35 000 refrigeration and air-conditioning engineers that are not yet qualified to F gas standards by the July 2011 deadline have been expressed by a leading provider of technical skills training. According to Develop Training, a sudden surge in registrations before next Summer’s deadline could leave many working illegally.