A cleaning agent for coils in air-conditioning units and air handling units comes in granular form for ease of handling. Pro-Universal granular coil cleaner is being brought to the UK market by Diversitech and being made available through over 200 specialist distributor outlets.

As part of the process of upgrading over 2000 homes to high-efficiency boilers, Ceredigion County Council and its training section, Ceredigion Training, are partnering boiler manufacturer Glow-Worm in a new training centre. Glow-worm is supplying high-efficiency boilers and cylinders for the authority’s domestic heating engineers and the county’s NVQ apprentices to receive practical hands-on tuition and assessments.

BSRIA has published a new guide on CHP for existing buildings. It runs to 79 pages and provides guidance on the retrofitting of small-scale CHP systems, but many of the technical and operational issues are similar for a first time installation.

Inviron has successfully completed the extensive and comprehensive M&E installation for an historic building in Manchester’s up-and-coming Piccadilly Basin. Carvers Warehouse is being redevelopment by Town Centre Securities into a stunning, contemporary construction.

The last 10 years have seen the efficiency of heat pumps for air conditioning improve so much that refurbishment becomes extremely cost effective. Philip Ord describes how.

Planned maintenance increases energy efficiency and provides a cleaner environment, says John Wright.

The key to minimising life-cycle costs is to think about maintenance at the design stage. Wayne Rose shares some ideas.

Two vertical stainless-air curtains from JS Air Curtains have been installed as part of the refurbishment of the entrances of Aldwych House in London. JS worked with property specialist King Sturge to incorporate motion detectors and lighting into these units, whilst at the same time complimenting the stainless-steel architecture of this development.

The refurbishment of three floors of the office building at 225 Bath Street in Glasgow includes the installation of Daikin VRV heat-recovery air conditioning on three floors. The systems were specified by consultants K. J. Tait and installed by Brevel Environmental of Glasgow.

The maintenance of building services can be realistically prioritised, accurately budgeted for, and reliably delivered, as Peter Excell explains.

Decentralising the heating in a 6000 m2 factory in Burnley has transformed comfort compared with what was previously provided by central boiler plant supplying steam to radiators around the building.

The refurbished Devonshire Spa training facility on the Buxton campus of the University of Derby includes the installation of a Lochinvar LBF balanced-flue water heater to provide hot water for hand washing and showers.

Keraflo Aylesbury K type float valves are being installed to control water levels in tanks throughout the PFI Allenby/Connaught project. Over the course of this 10-year build and refurbishment programme, some 600 valves are to be supplied.

Retrofitting a modern approach to controlling airflow in VAV systems has enormous energy-saving potential, according to Michael Wild.

The Boots Group is systematically replacing steam traps in its energy centre at Beeston near Nottingham with Gardner Energy Managements’ GEM traps. This programme of work follows the successful installation of these traps on hot-water calorifiers. Since then, some 30 GEM traps have been installed on boilers, super-heaters and in the steam-distribution system.

Tesco is investing in none-invasive technology to check the performance and efficiency of refrigeration systems in its stores as part of its environmental programme to ensure that stores operate as efficiently as possible and the company’s carbon footprint is minimised.

The refurbishment of a building provides the opportunity to improve its energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. Kevin Pennycook explains how new guidance can help.

Every one of the 850 staff of the Natural History Museum was involved in its ‘100 Days’ campaign.

The advice provided for the 100 Days campaign helped Bolton Wanders reduce the energy consumption for lighting.

Schools in Sheffield have been encouraged by the city council to adopted cost-effective energy-saving refurbishment measures, winning for the Sheffield schools project the award for low-carbon refurbishment of the year.

Involving staff at over a hundred site was the key challenge to be addressed by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency.

In an organisation with over 3000 properties, one man cannot make much of an impact, so Bob Jauncey built up an effective team at Marstons.

A host of measures for reducing energy consumption have been implemented by Medway Maritime Hospital

FaberMaunsell’s innovative approach to sustainable design won the new-build project of the year award.

Continuous commissioning by Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust won the innovation of the year award.

Designed to use a third less energy than the target for a conventional new-build hospital is the new specialist Cancer Care Centre for Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust

The achievements of low-carbon projects, professionals and pioneers were brought into prominence at the first annual Low Carbon Performance Awards launched by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers in association with E.ON, one of the UK’s leading electricity and gas companies. The awards aim to reward actual low-carbon performance — not promise — and were presented by world-famous yachtswoman Dame Ellen MacArthur (the only person not brandishing an award in our picture).