2014 June

Truly Intelligent buildings are within our reach.

The EU is changing the rules on support for renewables, so it’s time to pay attention and make sure you don’t miss out as renewable energies are exposed to greater market forces.

Dunham-Bush now offers a range of Zone Flow controls that can be specified with many of its fan-coil units. Zone Flow’s key features are simplifying commissioning, setup, adjustment and maintenance of FCUs.

What goes into creating energy-efficient products such as chillers. George Hannah of Airedale International gives an insight.

ThermOzone has marked its 20th-anniversary year with the opening of a new factory as the base for its Nu-Chill operation. Nu-Chill builds on the company’s established Re-Chill refurbishment and upgrading service for chillers and delivers bespoke plant for customers wanting to replace existing plant with a new chiller. This factory, ThermOzone’s third, is in Nottinghamshire and called Celsius House.

Jody Lees of LG draws on many years of experience in the air-conditioning industry experience to explain what VRF manufacturers can do and should be doing for specifiers, consultants and end-users.

LG Air Conditioning’s tablet-like AC Smart Premium controller can control up to 128 devices — including air conditioners, heat-recovery ventilation systems and air-handling units. The home screen of this 25 cm touch controller shows the current state of the system including how many units are running and how many are not running. It also shows what scheduled events are due that day and at what times — and if a unit is faulty.

Now that the EU has a framework policy for F gases, Tim Mitchell and Roberto Mallozzi of Klima-Therm reflect on the future for refrigerants with high GWPs.

AMP, one of the UK’s longest-established independent air-conditioning distributors, has expanded its sales team to support continued growth. The recruitment of three sales engineers (Andy Coleman, Andy Wilks and Rob Woods) has increased the sales team to 15 external and five internal staff.

There is still lots of equipment out there using R22 which will become unserviceable at the end of this year. Trevor Dann of ThermOzone traces the journey to this point and the options over the next few months.

Hitachi Air Conditioning Europe’s latest generation of Utopia IVX splits sees improvements across both the Premium and Standard models, which are available from 2 hp single phase up to 12 hp 3-phase.

Enabling fan-coil units to control the flow rate of water through them opens up a host of energy saving, installation and operational benefits. Peter Lowther of Ability Projects describes how they have led to the company’s first full Matrix project outside the UK.

Chilled beams and free cooling offer a persuasive combination when it comes to improving a building’s carbon footprint — says Rick Edmondson, of Waterloo Air Products.

The popularity of fan-coil units in air-conditioning systems has gone up and down over the years, but John Lightfoot argues that evolving technology makes them as valid an approach today as they have been in the past.

Adcock Refrigeration & Air Conditioning has launched a campaign to highlight an issue of refrigerant legislation that could affect over half of commercial properties in the UK. It concerns the complete phase out of R22, which has a small ozone-depletion potential, after the end of 2014, so it will be illegal to use it for topping up and maintaining air-conditioning equipment.

Europe and the UK are very small players in the world air-conditioning market, which is generally showing signs of recovery. BSRIA’s Saziye Dickson discusses how the market, including the UK, is developing.

From experience with commissioning procedures, often informal, in other European countries, Chris Parsloe wonders if design return temperature is more important than flow rate.

The FloCon Watchman from SAV Systems combines the proven benefits of commissioning models with electronic monitoring to support ‘soft landings’ for hydronic heating and cooling systems. It provides visibility of performance at zone level rather than whole-system level, so that problems can be quickly pinpointed and remedied.

With energy costs continuing to rise, Albion Valves UK advises contractors and heating engineers that a well balanced commercial heating system can help address energy wastage. In a poorly balanced system, problems such as irregular temperature control and inconsistent water circulation can occur — driving up operating costs, creating maintenance issues and wasting energy.

Following last year’s success, Marflow Hydronics is again running its CPD training courses on pressure-independent control valves. These course are free and will run in September and October across the country. They are aimed at consultants, designers, specifiers and key influencers who want to improve their skills and specify, purchase or commission a PICV.

Delays in the commissioning of hot-water boilers can have serious implications for project timelines. Kevin Stones of Hoval highlights the key pre-commissioning measures that should be taken to minimise the risk of unnecessary delays.

Belimo’s EPIV pressure-independent characterised-control valve is available in sizes from DN15 to DN150. These valves combine the four functions of measuring, controlling, hydraulic balancing and air bubble-tight closing. They provide real-time information of the measured flow rate.

Matt Ward of the Commissioning Specialists’ Association believes that attitudes towards commissioning have not kept up with advances in other areas of the construction process.

BSRIA Instrument Solutions has been appointed for another year as a Gold Channel Partner by TSI, a leading name in Europe for high-quality, precision testing equipment. The Gold Status in 2014 applies to product ranges for respirator fit testing, ventilation and indoor air quality, industrial hygiene and instruments for critical environments.

Airflow Developments is now BIM level 2 ready for its range of ventilation products. The company can supply components in a format that can be placed in the virtual building, which is a requirement of the Government’s BIM strategy paper.

JS Air Curtains is offering a 45-minute webinar that will provide online training to consultants, contractors and facilities managers on air-curtain system design, selection, controls and potential applications. It will be on Thursday 19 June at 10.30 a.m. and will enable participants to better understand the potential for energy savings and improved comfort that air curtains offer.

Over 250 people have competed the CPD programme on CHP technology run by Bosch Commercial & Industrial Heating since it was launched last October. Geoff Hobs, business-development director, comments, ‘The take-up of our bespoke CHP programme has been really encouraging and goes to show the growing levels of interest in the technology for commercial and industrial use.

As a result of increasing demand for emergency equipment from its specialist hire division, Andrews Sykes Hire has opened a new service centre for chillers and boilers. The facilities will be provided by Andrews Chiller Hire and Andrews Boiler Hire and will operate out of Andrews’ Sykes existing Grangemouth centre. Each division is managed and staffed by experience engineers.

Wood Energy now offers a 20-year total warranty for its Green Heat Module — a boiler and fuel store in a self-contained exterior. The duration of this warranty reflects the 20-year lifespan of the non-domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI).

GE Lighting’s LED T8 range of LED tubes provides a straightforward solution for easy retro-fitting into standard T8 fluorescent luminaires with electro-magnetic ballasts. These tubes are said to offer up to 60% energy savings and a quick return on investment.

Adey now offers its MC1+ Rapide Protector and MC3+ Rapide Cleaner for heating systems as a fast and easy-to-use aerosol. This method enables a heating system to be doses in as little as 20 s against normal system pressure.

Remeha Commercial’s Fusion Hybrid units combine a gas-fired absorption heat pump and condensing boiler(s) with an integrated scalable building-control system. These units are available with heat outputs from 100 to 1000 kW to provide low-carbon heating for new and existing buildings. A seasonal efficiency of 120 to 130% NCV can be achieved, along with accurate matching to heat demand.

Micronics, a leading UK manufacturer of clamp-on metering products for building services, has increased its product offering to provide complete metering solutions for building services. A comprehensive range of traditional inline meters (pictured) complements the established clamp-on range.

BSS industrial now offers an range of Boss booster sets with one and two pumps. They use WRAS-approved pumps and components and are suitable for a variety of system requirements, including potable-water supplies.

Gilberts of Blackpool’s Mistrale 75 ventilation units achieve accurate and stable airflow and also have low air leakage and good thermal performance. Air leakage is as low as 5 m3/h.m2, with a U-value of 0.93 W/m2K, similar to a double-glazed window.

Eco-Powerad fan-convector units from Smith’s Environmental Products have a much greater heat outputs than radiators of a similar size but are priced similarly. These units provide heat from the floor upwards and are said to be up to 31% more efficient than a radiator of equivalent output. They offer the benefit of low surface temperature.

Durapipe has redesigned its Vulcathene 910G glass-based dilution recovery trap, which now incorporates a removable lid for easier access and maintenance. Made from tough heat-resilient boro-silicate glass, it is highly resistant to all corrosive chemicals. Its transparency allows for easy identification and recovery of valuable solids.

Grundfos has extended its Magna3 range of pumps by 25 models, enabling it to support light, medium and large commercial heating, air-conditioning and cooling systems — as well as DHW systems, ground-source heat pumps installation and solar-heating systems.

Marflow Hydronics offers a range of PICVs (pressure-independent control valves) from 1/2 to 2 in screwed and 65 to 150 mm flanged. The company also offers axial, rotary and electronic valves to complete its portfolio.

To simplify the control of underfloor heating for communal and district-heating installations, Evinox offers a control kit for its ModuSat heat interface unit. It provides individual room or zone temperature control when combined with Evinox room thermostats.

Architects remain confident that improving future workloads remain solid and widespread across the UK, according to the latest RIBA future-trends survey (April). The workload index held up at +35. All UK nations and regions returned very positive balance figures for future workload forecasts. Architects in London were the most positive, with a balance figure of +45.

SPIE UK’s building-services division has been awarded the second phase of the terminal-transformation project at Stansted Airport. The project involves providing services infrastructure to 46 new retail outlets to be completed over three phases.

Facilities-management leaders have been urged to get serious about retro-fitting energy-saving equipment to buildings rather than chasing green bling if they want to meet emissions targets and save money. Mike Malina, director of consultancy Energy Solutions Associates stressed that companies need to be do more to review energy-use profiles of existing buildings if they want to help the Government meets its target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050. He was speaking at a conference organised by ebm-papst UK.

Following a decade of being awarded consecutive gold awards by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) NG Bailey has this year secured a president’s award in recognition of its health-and-safety achievements. The company has also received a further 10 and three silver awards across the business.

The Design Engineer Construct! programme has been approved for the Department for Education’s 2016 performance league tables. The scheme is supported by CIBSE, and the qualifications will provide transferable skills required by the very people who look to employ them.

Dynamic-valve manufacturer Frese has seen its UK turnover grow by over 40% in the last year to reach £3.4 million. The year started successfully with projects for major landmark schemes such as The Shard and De Vere Gardens in London.

Interserve is to design, construct and co-ordinate a high-energy proton-beam facility for The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. Work is planned to start on site in 2016 for completion in 2018. The project is part of a ProCure 21+ framework, with Interserve appointed principal supply-chain partner.

Waterloo Air Products, which specialises in air distribution, has seen its order books double in the last 12 months and turnover increase by 12%. Company chairman Rick Edmondson said, ‘We are optimistic that we can continue to exceed our goals for growth and profitability, but also for customer services and innovation.’

The Glenigan Index for May shows a 10% increase in project starts for the previous three months compared to the same period a year earlier. The increase is primarily due to robust growth in the private housing, hotel and leisure and utilities sectors.

The Industrial & Commercial Energy Association (ICOM) has created a BIM (building information modelling) working group and is working with CIBSE to develop a suitable information structure. The group will co-ordinate the production of product data templates (PDTs) for the non-domestic heating industry, enabling ICOM members to make their product information available in a format that is usable on all BIM platforms.

Morrisons supermarket chain is looking to build on the success of a project that has reduced energy consumption across 105 stores by about 16%. NG Bailey and Elutions have signed a 5-year multi-million deal to roll out the Rare Energy solution across the rest of Morrison’s 395 stores by October this year.