2012 August

Sudlows has won the contract for a new data centre at the new headquarters of North Staffordshire Trust. The project, won in competitive tender, is for a new data centre and external plant to facilitate the trust’s relocation to its new headquarters.

Big Foot Systems

Big Foot Systems offers competitive, no-risk rooftop support systems for building services and plant equipment.

Commissioning, controls, PICV, Siemens

Siemens has extended its proven Acvatix range by the introduction of a new range of pressure independent control combi valves, types VPP46 and VPI46 to complement the existing VPI45 range. These have a control valve for temperature control, a differential-pressure controller for balancing pressure fluctuations in the hydraulic system, a facility for pre-adjusting the required flow rate, and pressure test points for measuring the differential pressure, all integrated in one valve body.

Ventilation-system refurbishment, VES Specialist Site Services

For buildings with faulty and aging ventilation plant, the choice is to repair, refurbish or replace. VES Specialist Site Services can help with all of these options. The company can quickly get any make of failed air-handling product up and running again and propose and implement a plan of action to refurbish the unit to make it reliable again and considerably extend its life.

Geberit, BSS Industrial, pipework

Geberit has been named supplier of the year by BSS Industrial for the second year running. The award was presented to Geberit at the annual BSS Industrial supplier event, which saw a day of activities — including a round of golf, followed by dinner and the award ceremony.

Kingspan Insulation

Kingspan Insulation’s colourful ‘At a glance’ brochure provides an overview of the company’s products and services, together with 40 case studies ranging from major new high-profile sporting venues to housing refurbishment. The brochure showcases the full range of products available and the many applications they are suitable for.

ErP Directive for fans

06 August, 2012

With the EU ErP Directive coming into effect at the beginning of 2013, ebm-papst has a simple Q&A on its web site about how it affects fans and motors. The directive affects axial, centrifugal (forward and backward curved), cross-flow and diagonal fans with a power input from 125 W to 500 kW. It is the responsibility of the fan manufacturer to assess its own products to determine if they pass or fail. Products from ebm-papst have been compliant for many years.

S&P Coil Products, indoor air quality, uv air treatment

S&P Coil Products has developed a CIBSE-approved CPD on the use of ultra-violet to combat sick-building syndrome and improve indoor air quality. The launch of UV into the UK market follows the successful use of the product in the US market for well over 10 years under the approval of ASHRAE and the use in over 75 projects throughout the Middle East worth over £2 million. The CPD is called ‘Improving indoor air quality and reducing costs with ultra-violet air and object purification’.

Asset Management, maintenance, BSRIA

BSRIA has launched a new guide to asset management and maintenance audits. BG24/2012 replaces two earlier publications (‘Operation and maintenance audits [AG24/97] and ‘Toolkit for building operation audits [AG 13/2000]). There are two parts to the new publication, including a guide to the audit purpose, plan and process and a toolkit using Microsoft Excel.

Inviron, contractor

Suffolk County Council has renewed its contract with Inviron for the M&E maintenance covering over 550 local-authority building in the southern and western areas of the county. The contract was won in competitive tender and includes the council’s headquarters in Ipswich, Endeavour House (pictured), schools, libraries and residential care homes.

Briggs & Forrester, contractor

Briggs & Forrester Engineering Services is to install M&E and public-health services for the Canary Wharf Crossrail station. The contract, awarded by Canary Wharf Contractors Ltd, includes electrical services, cooling, lighting, drainage, power and pump systems. This station will be one of the largest on the Crossrail line and is being constructed within the waters of North Dock. The station box is about the size of One Canada Square laid on its side.

Among £8 million-worth of M&E contracts recently secured by contractor W. H. Good of Haslingden in Lancashire is a £2 million contract for the University Technical College Burnley.

SDH Building Services has completed the technically demanding project of replacing a fire-damper control system for Proctor & Gamble’s premises at Brooklands in Surrey. Managing director Steven Hunt explains, ‘It was a live project, meaning that we had to work around employees in offices, which tested our logistical and organisational skills. There was not a single complaint from staff during the work.’

The Carbon Trust has announced a partnership with leading global insurer RSA to help its customers be more energy efficient. The Carbon Trust Implementation Services will partner with RSA’s engineering inspection and consultancy business and its 450 engineers to provide advice from trusted technical experts on installing new energy-efficiency equipment to reduce costs at a time of high and volatile energy prices.

Sabien, boiler, space heating

Sabien Technology Group, manufacturer of the M2G intelligent boiler optimiser, has reported an 18% increase in turnover for the year to 30 June and an increase in pre-tax profit of 32%. The M2G saves energy by preventing boilers firing to compensate for standing losses through the boiler casing and flue.

Kershaw, contractor

Two services contracts with a combined value of about £7 million have been won by Kershaw Mechanical Services. They are for the new Discovery Academy at Stoke-on-Trent, worth about £2 million, and for The Forum in Elmer Square, Southend-on-Sea, worth close to £5 million.

Refcom, F Gas

The F Gas Regulations are working, according to the latest quarterly audit by certification body Refcom that showed 100% compliance by randomly selected businesses on its register. These audits are a legal requirement as part of Refcom’s operating agreement with Defra, and the latest audit was of a randomly selected group of 50 businesses on the Refcom register.

Centre for Alternative Technology, renewable energy

The Centre for Alternative Technology has warned of a growing skills gap in building the green economy as the fifth generation of students graduated from its renewable-energy master course. Over the last five years, the renewable-energy industry has grown massively, with for example, there now being about 8600 jobs in the wind industry alone and predications that this figure could rise to over 11 600 jobs under Government projections.

BSRIA, PICVs

BSRIA’s new scheme for testing and certifying pressure-independent control valves (PICVs) is set to play a key role in simplifying the selection process for these products. The scheme enables manufacturers to have their products tested to the standard and go on to achieve full certification through regular factory product control audits.

The first adopter ‘pilot’ Government project for which BIM (building information modelling) has been utilised at tender has Interserve selected as preferred bidder. BIM will also be fully employed at contract stage. The project for the Ministry of Justice comprises a new 3-storey houseblock for remand and convicted juveniles, and an education facility at HMYOI Cookham Wood, part of the Rochester cluster of prisons.

J.S. Wright, contractor

The services fit-out for one of London’s most spectacular residential developments is to be carried out by J. S. Wright. New Capital Quay at Greenwich Reach, close to the site of the London 2012 Olympics, is in a world heritage site on the south side of the River Thames and fronted on three sides by the river. The £3 million contract to service all 980 private luxury and affordable apartments was awarded by Galliard Homes.

NG Bailey, contractor

NG Bailey has completed the £10.5 million project to install innovative services for a project at Manchester Metropolitan University. It involved providing full mechanical, electric and plumbing services — plus structured cabling — for the new business school and student hub. The work took 15 months to complete and was carried out by four of the company’s five divisions — engineering, offsite manufacture, IT and facilities services — working alongside main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd.

B&ES

Sue Sharp has been elected president of the Building & Engineering Services Association for 2012/13. She has been a member of the association’s council since 2013 and was chairman of the services and facilities group from 2010 to 2012. She was also chairman of the south west regional branch for four years from 2005.

Rehau, biomass, space heating, district heating

Rehau has opened what is claimed to be the first UK facility to produce pre-insulated pipework for the district-heating and biomass sectors The new facility is at the company’s long-established factory in Blaenau, north Wales, and representatives from DECC joined local MP Elfyn Llwyd and Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM at a large event for key customers. Until now, the UK has relied exclusively on imports of this type of pipework.

B&ES, heat metering, RHI

Against the background of only 77 successful applications for the Renewable Heat Incentive, the Building & Engineering Services Association has launched a guide to heat metering. Many installations are failing to qualify for payments under the Renewable Heat Incentive for lack of effective heat meters, and the new guide has been designed first and foremost to clarify and demystify the heat-metering process. It also aims to establish industry-recognised standards for a procedure of particular importance in the context of the RHI.

Honeywell’s ComfortPoint Open building-management system is described at the next generation of the company’s technology to control and optimise heating and cooling equipment in buildings. It can be accessed over the Internet and mobile devices. Features include built-in management tools for utility meters and advanced energy reporting. Flexibility to grow and expand is provided by end-to-end BACnet integration.

Trend Control Systems, controls, BMS, BEMS

Trend Control Systems has launched the first two models in a new generation of controllers for building energy management systems. The IQ411 and IQ412 both offer a combination of advanced capabilities not found on other building-services controllers, even much larger ones. A range of features simplifies installation, engineering and commissioning. These new units can be used to provide energy-efficient, highly distributed local control of services such as underfloor heating, natural ventilation, small air handlers and air-conditioning terminal units.

Evinox, communal  space heating, controls, BMS, BEMS

Evinox’s SmartTalk 2-way communication system for communal heating systems using heating interface units served by central plant enables heating and hot water in each dwelling to be remotely metered, controlled, interrogated and tested. Said to be a first for communal heating, this software has the ability to download data from the heat interface and also upload data to provide control remotely.

Wiremek, controls, BMS, BEMS

Wiremek has completed the replacement of the original control panels in the listed Willis building in Ipswich, one of the one of the earliest buildings designed by Norman Foster after establishing Foster Associates. With its 890 black glass panels and its avant garde organic shape, the building has won numerous design awards. The plant room is visible from outside of the building, so changes and replacements had to be an exact match to the originals.

The Evinox ModuSat heat interface unit for communal heating systems can now read electrical pulse meters, in addition to meters for heat and cold water. This feature enables Evinox to provide an enhanced billing solution. The ModuSat room controller also enables residents to read all three meters and view consumption figures, credit details and tariff rates on the controller.

Priva, aM&T, controls, BMS, BEMS

If you have a building-management system to control energy-using plant and systems in your building, it is very unlikely that you also have an automatic monitoring and targeting (aM&T) to analyse energy usage in detail and target future energy-consumption patterns. Anders Norén, managing director of Priva Building Intelligence, suggests that only 2 to 3% of buildings in the UK with a BMS also have aM&T capability.

KNX, LED Lighting, controls, BMS, BEMS

A KNX-certified dimmer for LED lamps is now available in the UK from IMP, a member of the KNX UK Association. The company is the sole distributor for Vima Spa’s KNX-certified products. This dimmer is designed for all lighting loads, but is especially useful for LED lighting having a minimum power requirement of 2 W.

Membership of the EnOcean Alliance has grown by 50% in the last year to 300 members and a thousand interoperable products that use energy-harvesting techniques to power them so they do not need cables or batteries. The EnOcean Alliance represents an association of companies that implement products or system solutions using this energy-harvesting wireless technology.

Monitoring and targeting software from eSight Energy is now fully compatible with the technology solutions provided by HMI/SCADA specialist PcVue Solutions. The large and expanding number of users of PcVue technology worldwide now have the opportunity to quickly and simply import data into eSight to monitor and target energy usage. The wide range of eSight modules include energy and financial analysis, bill verification, reporting, tenant billing, and dashboards.

Ex-Or, lighting, controls, BMS, BEMS

Among best-practice sustainable features in Birmingham City Council’s new £38 million office development in Woodstock, Aston, is the use of Ex-Or’s MLS digital managed lighting system to control the 4000 light fittings throughout the building in open-plan office areas, corridors, meeting rooms, washrooms and lobby areas. The new building has 22 000 m2 of space on five floors and will accommodate over 3000 staff when it is fully occupied later this year.

KNX, controls, BMS, BEMS

Better Blind Company, a member of the KNX UK Association, has made and installed some 400 automated cassette roller blinds in 69 luxury apartments at the Central St Giles mixed-use development in central London. These blinds have Sonesse 50 ILT motors and KNX gateways from Somfy, another member of KNX UK.

Energy Logger, Gemini Data Logger, controls, BMS, BEMS

Gemini Data Loggers, manufacturer of the Tinytag range, has developed the Energy Logger non-invasive tool for the monitoring the power usage of individual devices and complete premises/installations. It is described as providing the level of performance required by experts with the simplicity of use required by energy-management novices. It is suitable for assessing the energy efficiency of single- and 3-phase power supplies. The device can be used for spot checks or long-term data logging.

Sontay, RHI, heat metering, BMS, BEMS, controls

Metering heat has a vital role to play in the UK’s long-term energy strategy, But Alan Braybrook of Sontay is concerned and frustrated at what is happening in the field.

Marshall-Tufflex Energy Management, sub-meters, meters, controls, BMS, BEMS

Marshall-Tufflex Energy Management has introduced a range of sub-metering products that are easy to install and report data wirelessly over the GSM network so that energy managers can download usage patterns and consumption figures direct to their PC for analysis. This approach to remote data collection is said to be perfect for monitoring multiple sites in a cost-effective and efficient manner while minimising cable runs to manage costs.

Ewgeco, MITIE, controls, BMS, BEMS

Ewgeco of Edinburgh has struck a substantial with one of the UK’s leading facilities-management organisations, MITIE, that will enable it to double its workforce by 2013. Ewgeco’s portfolio of energy-monitoring products and services, including in-premises displays (IPDs) will now form an integral part of the MITIE offering.

t-mac, controls, BMS, BEMS

Comfort and the efficient use of energy can be the same thing — as Lisa Gingell of t-mac explains.

Trend Controls, boiler, space heating, controls, BMS, BEMS

Heat of the moment

06 August, 2012

With annual boiler checks now scheduled by many organisations, Matt Peasnall of Trend Controls answers readers’ questions about checking and reconfiguring a building energy management system (BEMS) as part of a boiler maintenance programme.

Siemens, controls, BMS, BEMS

The Hepworth Wakefield art gallery in Yorkshire has a Desigo BEMS from Siemens to create an energy-efficient building and provide a controlled environment for the preservation of the valuable works of art housed there. The system was specified by Linear Controls to provide an effective way of measuring, monitoring and controlling energy throughout the gallery’s 5000 m2. The gallery is on the banks of the River Calder and uses river water to maintain an efficient temperature.

KNX, controls, BMS, BEMS

KNX room thermostat

06 August, 2012

IMP, a member of the KNX UK Association, now offers the Vimar KNX room thermostat for heating and air-conditioning applications to the UK market. It can interact with other thermostats and with a supervision centre such as a PC in the reception or plant area of a building.

EnOcean, wireless sensors, controls, BMS, BEMS

A new international standards promises to accelerate the development of energy-optimised wireless sensors and sensor networks. Laurent Giai-Miniet of EnOcean has the details.

BCIA, controls, BMS, BEMS

Learning from experience

06 August, 2012

Speakers at the BCIA National Conference 2012 on 10 May emphasised the crucial role that building controls play in achieving energy-efficient buildings.

Energy efficency, Grundfos Pumps

Replacing pumps in a 238-bed hospital in Germany has reduced energy consumption by 40 MWh a year following a pump audit carried out by Grundfos Pumps. Salem Hospital in Heidelberg was built in the 1970s, and the audit discovered that the existing pumps were tremendously oversized, which is often the case in older buildings. They were also far less efficient than today’s high-efficiency speed-controlled pumps.

Rinnai, fan convector, space heating, Energy efficiency

Rinnai fan-convection powered-flue heaters have earned a reputation for providing flexible, safe and controllable heat efficiently and reliably. An array of Rinnai heaters in a large church with central time control can cost less than £5 to provide heating during a Sunday service. The fully modulated fanned convection quickly circulates warm air to take the chill off large spaces quickly. These heaters have a small powered flue to allow flexible positioning; flue extensions are available.

LED lighting, lamp, luminaire, Energy efficiency

Energy savings of up to £40 000 a year are expected following the replacement of 1200 luminaires in the Newstead office of E.ON with LED lighting, representing energy savings of up to 55%. Other savings include £6000 a year for maintenance (labour and material) and £3000 a year carbon-tax savings. The payback is expected to be 6.5 years, and maximum demand has been reduced by 100 kVA.

Climaveneta, energy recovery ventilation, Energy efficiency

Climaveneta’s i-Whisper Enthalpy packaged rooftop unit includes a thermal wheel to recover both latent and sensible heat and provide free cooling. These reverse-cycle air-to-air units have inverter-driven scroll compressors and a plug-and-play approach for simplified installation and maintenance. By providing precise control of temperature and indoor air quality in a single unit i-Whisper Enthalpy is an ideal alternative to a combination of air-handling units and chillers.

Elta Fans, space heeating, thermal destratification, Energy efficiency

Elta Fans has developed a destratification fan to overcome thermal stratification in high spaces. ZOO (Zone of Occupancy) units generate columns of air which direct warm air at high level down to the occupied zone. They can also be used in closer proximity as spot coolers, taking advantage of the evaporative-cooling sensation.




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Manufacturer helps equip skills centre

Ideal Heating has helped to equip a new £500,000 green energy centre in Merseyside which is seeking to attract fresh talent into the heating industry.

Acoustic solutions suite with easy access to services at University of Birmingham

A suite of ceiling and wall acoustic solutions have been specified for The University of Birmingham’s new landmark Molecular Sciences building, which will provide a hub for research and academic work.