FETA (Federation of Environmental Trade Associations) has joined the Passive Fire Protection Association. David Sugden, chairman of the PFPF, says, ‘FETA brings technical knowledge of further built-in fire-protection products such as smoke-control dampers, smoke-control fans and ventilation equipment.’

A £2 million fund has been set up to accelerate the transition to low carbon in the north west of England. It will provide grants of £100 000 to £500 000 to new projects that can demonstrate significant savings.

Airco Group of Hull has landed a major contracts with new client Centrica Storage, a subsidiary of Centrica. They are for maintenance at the Easington terminal and the Langeled receiving facilities, assets that are worth £400 million and £100 million, respectively.

Aspen Pumps, which specialises in condensate removal pumps, has received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of international trade in recognition of its achievements in developing export markets in over 55 countries.

The education sector is likely to lead the construction industry out of recession, with underlying construction starts forecast to rebound by over 12% in 2010, according to research by Glenigan for the Interbuild exhibition.

Morfitts has completed another project for Betty’s Café Tea Rooms, this time for mechanical services for the expansion and refurbishment of the Harrogate Café, working with main contractor William Anelays.

Keysource, which specialises in the strategic design, building and ongoing management of data centres, has become an official endorser of the European Code of Conduct on Data Centres.

SES has been appointed the main M&E contractor for the £13 million M&E contract to extend the University of York’s Heslington East campus. Building-services work is due to start in late summer 2009.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged £3 million to develop 10 flagship low-carbon zones to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills and create jobs.

ABS London Ltd has scooped the £2.75 million contract to install M&E services in a new office development for professional-services company KPMG in Birmingham. Main contractor is Como Group.

Tridium’s Niagara framework for integrating a range of systems for managing and controlling buildings has won the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Green Excellence HVAC Controls Technology Innovation Award. A feature of the technology is that anyone can develop their own applications using the platform and make them available to the market as their own product.

Balfour Kilpatrick has won a £4 million contract for M&E works at Greater Manchester Police’s new divisional headquarters in Bury. It was awarded by Mansell. The new building is less than 300 m from the birthplace of Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the modern police service.

Entry is now open for CIBSE’s 2010 Low Carbon performance Awards — a prestigious industry event to reward low-carbon performance, not promise. The awards recognise proven achievement in delivering carbon savings in buildings — both in their design and management.

The Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineers has warned that the Government’s new safety measured on hot water do not go far enough.

The education sector is likely to lead the construction industry out of recession, with underlying construction starts forecast to rebound by over 12% in 2010, according to research by Glenigan for the Interbuild exhibition.

Morfitts has completed another project for Betty’s Café Tea Rooms, this time for mechanical services for the expansion and refurbishment of the Harrogate Café, working with main contractor William Anelays.

Keysource, which specialises in the strategic design, building and ongoing management of data centres, has become an official endorser of the European Code of Conduct on Data Centres.

Sustainable-power business Ener-G has boosted its production capacity for CHP and biogas generators by 50% with the opening of another factory in Salford. Only last year the company doubled its original manufacturing space by opening a second factory in Sunderland and has now trebled its original manufacturing space to 3200 m2 by converting an adjacent building.

SES has been appointed the main M&E contractor for the £13 million M&E contract to extend the University of York’s Heslington East campus. Building-services work is due to start in late summer 2009.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged £3 million to develop 10 flagship low-carbon zones to reduce carbon emissions and energy bills and create jobs.

ABS London Ltd has scooped the £2.75 million contract to install M&E services in a new office development for professional-services company KPMG in Birmingham. Main con­tractor is Como Group.

Tridium’s Niagara framework for integrating a range of systems for managing and controlling buildings has won the 2009 Frost & Sullivan Green Excellence HVAC Controls Technology Innovation Award. A feature of the technology is that anyone can develop their own applications using the platform and make them available to the market as their own product.

Balfour Kilpatrick has won a £4 million contract for M&E works at Greater Manchester Police’s new divisional headquarters in Bury. It was awarded by Mansell. The new building is less than 300 m from the birthplace of Sir Robert Peel, the founder of the modern police service.

EMCOR Group’s engineering-services division has won the multi-million contract to install all shell-and-core M&E and public-health services at the 110 Fetter Lane development in central London.

Entry is now open for CIBSE’s 2010 Low Carbon performance Awards — a prestigious industry event to reward low-carbon performance, not promise. The awards recognise proven achievement in delivering carbon savings in buildings — both in their design and management.

The Chartered Institute of Plumbing & Heating Engineers has warned that the Government’s new safety measured on hot water do not go far enough.

An ITN film production of Monodraught’s Windcatcher natural-ventilation systems and SunPipe natural-lighting systems was shown at the recent NEMEX exhibition. Four case studies were highlighted. One was an interview with Bill Moss (pictured), community champion at Tesco’s new eco store at Cheetham Hill, which has 11 specially designed Windcatcher systems.

The first of 14 prefabricated modules that will form one of four core risers at Heathrow’s new Terminal 5C facility is lowered into position by NG Bailey. The risers will be up to 25 m high with a 24 m2 footprint.

The recession will be good for building design and is likely to spawn some of the greatest and best-value architectural creations of modern times. That was the message of Michael Thirkettle, chief executive of design and construction consultancy speaking after the recent address by Prince Charles at the Royal Institute of British Architects recently.

SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building-services engineering, is looking for people who are passionate about their work to become ambassadors for the sector and pass on real-life experience of their work to motivate and inspire young people. Ambassadors represent the industry and ensure that it remains an aspirational career choice, guaranteeing a steady stream of fully qualified candidates for when the UK recovers from recession.

Building Services Design has been recognised by The Sunday Times as one of the best small companies to work for in its Top 100 Best Small Companies report.

Despite a marked growth in civil-engineering projects since the beginning of 2009, the Glenigan Index for March shows a 23% year-on-year fall in the number of new construction projects starts. Glenigan forecasts that the construction industry will contract by 30% year-on-year in the first half of 2009. Although the outlook is expected to improve in the latter half of the year, construction activity is thought likely to remain subdued until 2011.

Inviron’s M&E fit-out of an office building in the Spinningfields business district of Manchester will involve a 500 t crane being used to lift and position new plant, including an air-handling unit and generator, on the roof.

ELECSA has been awarded UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Services) accreditation for its Part P scheme for electrical contractors.

LG Electronics has spun off its air-conditioning operation with the launch of LG Air Conditioning Company.

Kershaw Group has received the biggest single order in its history with a £7.7 million contract for mechanical work for the residential mental-health facility at St Andrews Hospital in Northampton.

The payback period of constructing the Severn Barrage to generate electricity would be less than six months, according to a study published in the Water & Environment Journal of the Chartered Institution of Water & Environmental Management (CIWEM). The study took into account the production, transportation and construction of the materials that would be used.

Walter Meier (Climate UK) has appointed three new sales agents for its range of isothermal and adiabatic humidification systems from the Condair, Defensor, Draabe and Esco brands. The agent network will cover specific geographical regions in the UK and focus particularly on consultants and design contractors.

BTU (Heating) Ltd has won the Toast of Surrey Awards 2009 for its ‘outstanding contribution’ to the Surrey business community. These awards were launched and hosted by the Surrey Advertised and 96.4 Eagle Radio. BTU was entered into and won the category for businesses with a turnover of up to £10 million.

The article ‘Flakt Woods uses thermal wheels to improve efficiency of chilled beams’ included an incorrectly labelled diagram. The full article, with correct diagram, is on our web site. It can be found by typing ‘Beeton’ in the search field on the home page.

HRP’s technical centre has received accreditation for its refrigerant safe handling courses from City & Guilds and approval for courses for C&G 2078 and 2079.

Sanyo Air Conditioners has appointed Air Conditioning Accessories as a distributor for its full range of air-conditioning products and systems. This distributor has branches in Leeds and Manchester and will stock Sanyo on an exclusive basis alongside its established range of accessories, refrigerants and components.

Buro Happold has been appointed engineering consultant for the Barnsley Building Schools for the Future programme. The appointment follows BSF experience built up by the practice delivering a number of award-winning educational facilities in Bristol.

Staff of Kershaw Group have raised a substantial sum of money for East Anglia’s Children’s Hospice (EACH) for the seventh year running. The £3000 donated this year brings the total to just under £15 000. The money will be used to help with the costs of running three hospices for children suffering from life-threatening or limiting illnesses. Office staff with the group raised the money with a number of charity events, including a giant raffle at its Christmas party.

Ken Logan, managing director of A-(UK) Ltd, has expressed surprise at how many people are still unprepared for the phase-out of R22, following the recent RAC exhibition.

Claire Shouksmith, daughter of Richard Shouksmith, chairman of building-services company Shouksmiths, is taking part in the 2009 Polar Race to raise funds for the charity Children with Leukaemia. The contribution forms part of the company’s ‘Choose a charity’ scheme, which is funded from pre-tax profits. Employees and their families are encouraged to nominate a charity or seek support for their own fund-raising activities. Since its launch in 2007, over 24 local and national charities have received support.

Roth UK has produced a commercial training programme for its solar-thermal products. The company has developed materials to provide tailored support for M&E consultants and contractors. Roth’s training services are backed by NICEIC and specialist software.

Delta Controls has won the Frost & Sullivan award of the year for product innovation and differentiation in the North American systems market. The award is presented to a company that demonstrates excellence in new products and technologies within its industry.

Logic Certification has launched two new renewables courses for installers. They are a ground- and air-source heat-pump course for experienced heating and plumbing engineers and a solar photo-voltaics course for experienced electricians.

Pegler Yorkshire is investing £12 million in new machinery at its Doncaster site to improve efficiency and capacity, while helping to deliver additional work for the factory.