2014 September

Karen Fletcher Reports from the Energy Information Theatre.

Despite its success in many major projects and its potential to bring major benefits to a project, offsite manufacture widely engenders caution. NG Bailey’s Graham Cleland shares his frustrations — and enthusiasm.

BSRIA’s Krystana’s Dawson wonders how effective the Government’s ever-changing approach to financing energy-saving home improvements will be in the long term.

The effective control of building-services systems saves energy and money — but Professor David Fisk sees this capability as a revenue generator as the National Grid looks to demand-side response to match capacity to demand.

Thanks to new lighting technologies, human centric lighting is now a viable approach to lighting design. David Scott of BAG Electronics explains

The energy management of a building is intrinsically dependent on its building-management system (BMS).

CentraLine by Honeywell has announced the release of the new Niagara-based Coach AX 3.8 software for the Hawk AX range of integration controllers and the Arena AX supervisor.

Honeywell will be exhibiting its range of water control products and systems at the Institute of Healthcare & Engineering Estate Management (IHEEM) Conference and Exhibition on 7 and 8 October in Manchester Central, Petersfield, Manchester.

A scattershot approach to saving energy will never be as effective as a structured strategy. Gavin Holvey of Priva UK explains how putting in place a framework for energy management can unlock much deeper energy savings than an ad hoc approach.

Confidence in market conditions and the strength of its products and services has seen water-treatment specialist Sentinel relocate its headquarters to a facility twice the size of the previous premises at Runcorn. The new headquarters is at Daresbury Park, about five miles away and provides for expansion of the business.

Viessmann has produced three seminars on industry hot topics to form a one-day programme providing credits towards CPDs for consulting engineers and architects. They can be delivered at the company’s head office in Telford and at a specifier’s own offices as lunchtime training sessions. Al three courses are accredited by CIBSE.

Sontay now offers an in-house calibration service for its temperature and relative-humidity sensors. The state-of-the-art calibration chamber (pictured) is tested to UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), and Sontay can provide test certificates for 3­point calibration as standard.

Power Electrics, which specialises in diesel generators has opened a new 2000 m2 depot in Southampton. It is close to the M3 motorway and well located to dispatch rental generators anywhere in the south of England. Local customers can benefit from much faster delivery times — especially in emergency situations.

Legrand has prepared a CPD presentation that explains the impact of power distribution systems on lighting-control functionality and flexibility. Entitled ‘Delivering flexibility and control to commercial lighting solutions’ it discusses the cost and flexibility implications of different options for power distribution — including traditional hard wired, prefabricated cable systems and busbar systems.

Schneider Electric’s branch circuit power meter (BCPM) is a fully featured metering system that enables users to monitor, plan and optimise the use of critical power infrastructure to meet the demands of continuous availability. The system is suitable for new and retrofit installations, as the offer has current transformers with solid and split-core versions.

Tridonic has launched the second generation of the 3-part EM series of emergency light drivers for linear and compact fluorescent lamps. It enables the standard product portfolio to be halved and stockholding costs to be reduced. All modules in the second-generation series comply with standards such as IEC 62034 and IEC 62386, ensuring future proofing for installation.

Dunham-Bush’s System LST range of low-temperature radiators incorporates finned-tube heat exchanger to help achieve the requirements for touch temperatures— not only of the case but also the air-outlet grille. The range is available with finned-tube elements or panel radiators in a choice of enclosures that include ‘wet floor’ and ‘tall’ units for specific applications.

Wavin has added two gullies to its growing OsmaDrain range of below-ground drainage systems. They are for draining paved or concrete areas and for discharging external rainwater or waste pipes to drains.

Developments to Sentinel Commercial’s KalGuard electrolytic scale preventer have made it easier to install and operate. The updates include a simplified, intuitive interface on the controller and a 4-line LED display. KalGuard is WRAS approved.

Ability Projects’ Multi-Room unit is a fan-coil unit that can serve up to five small spaces or offices and meet their individual requirements, rather than having five separate FCUs. These units are conventional ‘draw-through’ units with separate fans and motors serving a single plenum section and delivering the required volume of air to the space they serve.

Lochinvar has added larger-capacity models to its range of LST direct storage vessels. There are now 10 models with storage capacities from 312 to 2820 l. These units can also be installed with packaged plate heat exchangers where a buffer storage capacity is required to meet peak hot-water demand.

Sentinel Commercial’s Sentinel System is a straightforward 3-step water-treatment process of ‘clean, protect, maintain’. It is designed to help specifiers, contractors and installers prevent corrosion and limescale in commercial systems — helping to avoid boiler breakdowns and replacement of components. It also reduces maintenance and repair work and disruptions to business.

Bitzer has added smaller and larger units to its range of semi-hermetic compressors for trans-critical CO2 applications. The series now covers displacements from 4.3 to 25.6 m3/h at 50 Hz.

The Gewiss Smart[4] LED lighting system is said to have well under half the energy consumption of traditional fluorescent lighting and a payback on investment of 12 months. Smart [4] is described as a fit-and-forget solution that does not require any routine maintenance.

Rinnai’s Energysaver range of gas-fired heaters with powered flue is suited to all types of site — schools, community centres, libraries, conservatories and churches. These heaters exceed seasonal thermal heating guidance of Part L. They heat a space from the floor up and modulate gas usage according to room temperature.

Xylem has expanded its Lowara range of vertical multi-stage pumps with the launch of the high-efficiency e-SV ATEX for use in potentially volatile environments. In its standard configuration, these pumps can deliver up to160 m3/h with a head of up to 330 m.

Panasonic has developed a solution to detect refrigerant leaks in VRF air-conditioning systems and collect the refrigerant in the outdoor units or an optional receiver tank for larger systems. Refrigerant is pumped down before there is a major loss of refrigerant.

Victaulic offers a coating for its FireLock sprinklers that delivers excellent corrosion resistance through a proprietary composition and application process for use across a variety of corrosive environments. The VC-250 coating is applied to fully encompass the sprinkler frame at a uniform thickness to prevent areas of vulnerability seen in other coatings.

Hamworthy Heating has expanded its library of BIM (Building Information Modelling) objects to include the recently upgraded Wessex ModuMax mk2 range of condensing boilers. The parametric models are loaded with extensive metadata and optional pipekits. They can be downloaded from the link below.

Fujitsu has introduced a controls software package for VRF installations in small and medium-sized buildings that is less than half the price of its standard system. It can control up to 400 indoor units, compared with up to 1600 for the standard PC-based system controller.

Evinox’s Residential Web Billing App enable its billing customers to log into their account at any time using smart phones, tablets and other web-enabled devices. The app enables customers to check current energy credit/debit balance, view latest meter readings, see details of tariff rates, payment history and downloadable documents and user guides.

McQuayService is offering customers a year’s free maintenance on all scroll and screw chillers as part of its new customer-care package. Three visits are made a year, and all maintenance is carried out by factory-trained service engineers.

Kingspan Tarec’s Kooltherm FireSleeve has an intumescent layer inside a stainless-steel facing and is sealed at both ends with compressible rings. It is designed to seal service penetrations and can reinstate the original fire rating of a building element.

Bristan has launched a shower that is designed to help commercial users ensure optimum water temperature and infection control. Ideally suited for the healthcare, the Opac bar shower has built-in TMV 3 control and an automatic thermostatic shutoff in the event of the hot or cold water supply failing.

The Model Slot linear slot diffuser from Air Diffusion doubles as a striking architectural feature and can handle high air-change rates. These diffusers are designed for maximum flexibility in air pattern and volume control. They are suitable for ceiling and sidewall applications in a wide range of commercial buildings.

Gilberts of Blackpool offers a CFD (computational fluid dynamics) service to model air-distribution systems, not just to ensure regulatory compliance but also that the proposed scheme will deliver the expected performance in terms of air movement and thermal requirements.

8point3 LED’s Sabre Claris exterior LED combines a remote phosphor with a special delivery system to give a durable, cost-effective exterior LED luminaire with the look and feel of a fluorescent fixture — and 60% more efficient compared to T8 fluorescent equivalents. These luminaires can also be used in interior spaces such as industrial units, corridors in sports centres and processing plants. They have an IP65 rating.

Marflow Hydronics has added to its range of valve sets with the introduction of the Xterminator Lite. This next-generation 40 mm assembly comes as an off-the-shelf solution and works more ideally in today’s buildings. The company’s development team has combined its knowledge and understanding of valve sets to date with what has been learned from customers to create a valve assembly with new features and associated fitting kits.

Uponor has underlined its support for the heating and plumbing trade by freezing prices across all product ranges in its latest installer price guide. This A5 guide is available on line and from leading plumbing merchants.

The Energy Institute has published guidance on ESOS, the Energy Savings Opportunities Scheme, the UK Government’s response to implementing Article 8 of the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, which mandates energy assessments for large organisations.

A guide to acronyms associations with CHP (combined heat and power) has been assembled by cogeneration specialist Ener-G to improve customers’’ understanding of combined heat and power. Clare Burns, marketing manager for Ener-G Combined Power, says, ‘CHP is a complex technology, and there’s a long list of other associated industry abbreviations that can make it more difficult to understand,

To coincide with the introduction of numerous heating, hot-water and renewable products Elco UK, formerly MHS Boilers, has produced a new all-encompassing product selector catalogue. Consisting of 88 pages, it is designed to be a one-stop shop for specifiers and building-services engineers.

Underfloor-heating specialist Warmup has redesigned its web site to combine usability, content and services. Content has been upgraded, and there are more targeted tools and an improved quoting system.

Powerstar’s latest brochure on voltage optimisation can be downloaded from the link below. It contains information about Powerstar, Powerstar MAX and Powerstar HV MAX products, along with all their benefits, information on voltage optimisation and case studies and testimonials.

Newey & Eyre’s latest guide to lighting products using LEDs offers contractors an extensive range of cost-effective and energy-efficient LED products to choose from. The scope of the guide includes battens, panels, floodlights and strips. There is also a range of retrofit lamps.

With a following of new and returning visitors each month, the Grundfos web site is a popular communication hub for those seeking information on new and/or replacement pump solutions. Reasons for this popularity include it being easier to find a specific product, locate support data and there being a quick link to a wide range of campaign-specific sites.

Fire Design Solutions has completed the installation of smoke-venting systems for the large-scale residential at New Capital Quay in London. The development comprises over a thousand dwellings — along with shops, offices, leisure facilities, underground parking and a health centre.

To meet the sound-proofing and noise requirements of a £9 million care home in Sunderland, Wavin’s internal drainage system was specified. This retirement home in the Doxford Park area of Sunderland includes a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ extra-care facility, 40 extra-care apartments and 14 bungalows. The quiet pipework avoids the problem of noise affecting sleep and causing health problems.

This installation of over 200 solarPV panels on the roof of DWP Housing Partnership in Bournemouth is expected to pay for its £60 000 investment within six years. The 50 kW system on the roof of the headquarters of Dorset’s biggest private landlord provides enough power for the people working in the building and can also charge the Nissan Leaf electric car.

Okehampton College expects to see its energy bills fall by up to £25 000 a year following the installation of a 199 kW Hargassner wood-pellet boiler by Wood Energy. The boiler is housed in a unit that was built on site and integrated to the existing heating system via flow and return connections. The unit houses the fuel and the boiler.

AmbiRad has combined a Nordair Niche air rotation heater with radiant tube heaters to deliver space heating and frost protection for the new 60 000 m2 distribution centre of Regatta Group, which specialises in outdoor clothing and footwear. The centre is at Ellesmere Port and was opened earlier this year by adventurer Bear Grylls. Called Pioneer Port it has over 8 km of racking and more than £36 million-worth of stock. The manually picked racking units are 15.6 m high.