Chilled ceiling and beams deliver comfort cooling with 60 to 70% lower energy use than other systems, which is why John Staunton argues that this water-based approach cannot be ignored.

Monitoring carbon-dioxide levels in a building enables ventilation to be controlled according to occupancy and to maintain indoor air quality — efficiently. Bill McConnell examines the benefits that can be obtained.

As part of the conversion of a barn in Pershore, Worcester, a Vaillant solar system has been installed to help meet the demand for domestic hot water. The family for which the conversion was being carried out consulted with Vale Heating, which specified installing a Vaillant solar auroTherm system to provide 50 to 60% of the hot-water requirement.

With today’s overriding concerns about energy efficiency, is the building services sector missing a great opportunity to make their buildings more efficient.

Energy-efficient heating and cooling for a hospital in Poole is provided by a Daikin VRV heat-recovery air-conditioning system.

A low-energy approach to reducing temperatures in outpatient waiting areas in an east-Midlands hospital is provided by EcoCooling evaporative cooling used as part of a balanced-ventilation system. A typical EcoCooler rated at 30 kW can reduce electricity costs by over £2000 a year and carbon emissions by 10 t compared to an equivalent refrigeration-based system.

A fresh approach to adiabatic cooling can provide an ideal solution where new or additional comfort cooling is required. Chris Ree explains how.

Among a range of green-engineering solutions serving a flagship primary school in Altrincham is Passivent natural ventilation. Other features include solar panels, rainwater harvesting and a wind turbine to generate electricity.

Energy-efficient heating and hot water for the new Olympic Pavilion at the Trailfinders Sports Club in Ealing are provided by stainless-steel condensing boilers supplied by Clyde Energy Solutions.

To provide heating for the refurbished Roman Catholic church in Sligo, Ireland, Toshiba Super Digital inverter wall-mounted units have been installed.

Simply delivering energy-efficient products as its contribution to reducing the threat of climate change was not enough for Sanyo, which has adopted the Think-Gaia concept to direct its future development.

The role of system installers in the market for controls and building-management systems is growing, according to figures compiled by the Building Controls Industry Association — but service and maintenance work shows a sharp decline.

A new SeaChange controller for underfloor heating can provide independent temperature control of heating zones in underfloor heating schemes. This controller, from SC Controls, operates with a SeaChange control system to deliver a demand-based environment. This level of integration ensures boiler plant and associated heating pumps operate only when there is a demand from the heating zones.

A ceiling-mounted presence detector that can be surface- or flush-mounted onto a British Standard switch box has been introduced by CP Electronics. The SPIR-F/C detector monitors the zone and switches on automatically when occupancy is detected and off a preset time after the area has been vacated. The time delay can be adjusted from 10 s to 30 min. If there is sufficient natural light, a built-in photocell keeps the lighting off.

National wholesaler WF Electrical now stocks a broad range of HVAC equipment from many leading manufacturers, giving installers access to huge stocks from a large number of branches for next-day or same-day deliver. Customers can also buy from any branch using a national account.

A building-management system designed and installed by Campbell Control Services using equipment from Priva Building Intelligence is providing precise control of temperature and humidity to help protect 100 years of screen history at the Scottish Screen Archive in Glasgow.

When the question, ‘Are integrated/open systems the smart move?’ was presented to a panel discussion at the recent conference of the Building Controls Industry Association David Kitching of Siemens Building Technologies was in his element in presenting a resounding ‘yes’.

Helping to halve the energy consumption of new buildings in the City of London compared with similar buildings is the installation of a £1.8 million shell-and-core building-management system by Integrated Control Systems. The project includes 201 Bishopsgate and the Broadgate Tower.

Following the installation of a Honeywell Enterprise Buildings Integrator (EBI), RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire can strengthen the control of its site-wide building-automation system to increase energy savings.

Grasslin reports that its Famoso heating controls are increasingly being chosen as installers and specifiers follow the lead of major boiler manufacturers that have selected these control devices for heating systems using their boiler.

KNX, formerly called EIB European Installation Bus) is an international standard that enables products from different manufacturers to be integrated and programmed into a single installation. This open standard for home and building control complies with EN 50090, EN 13321-1 and ISO/IEC 14543.

Trend Control Systems has selected BSRIA to test its individual zone controllers as part of the process of applying for eu.bac certification. Only products that are tested by an authorised laboratory can now obtain this certification and carry the eu.bac mark. The mark is an expression of energy-efficient performance, and quality assurance, and Trend plans to be among the first in Europe to apply it to its controls.

Achieving the best results from a natural ventilation system requires optimal control of a number of parameters. John Fallon explains the importance of a fully integrated approach.

Lighting is a major user of energy in commercial buildings — and much of that energy is used unnecessarily. Neil Jones highlights the benefits of controlling lighting.