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Many complex construction projects are likely to be finished more than six months late, due to poor time control, according to research by the Chartered Institute of Building.

Representing an investment of about £1 million in the factory of Polypipe Terrain at Aylesford in Kent is a new HDPE extrusion line and three additional injection-moulding machines — giving a significant increase in capacity. Additional storage capacity has also been created.

Balfour Kilpatrick, the multi-services and power-systems business of Balfour Beatty, has moved its head office, projects unit and Scotland West operations to a new building to reduce its carbon footprint. The new office is the Lumina Building in Hillingdon Park, Glasgow — close to the previous premises.

SummitSkills’ chief executive Keith Marshall has been appointed an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in recognition of his contribution to skills.

Following directorships with the Training Standards Council and later the Adult Learning Inspectorate, he joined SummitSkills as chief executive in 2003 and has led the organisation through its initial licensing in 2004 and the award of its second contract in 2007.

FG Eurofred, a joint venture between Eurofred of Spain and air-conditioning manufacturer Fujitsu General, is targeting the UK air-conditioning market with a new image, a new structure and a unique selling proposition.

Balfour Kilpatrick has completed a £1.8 million contract at the Luton Innovation Centre for the supply and installation of HVAC, electrical and plumbing services for Marriott Construction and ultimate climate Luton Borough Council.

A new EU1.5 million test chamber at Ciat’s factory in Culoz, France has halved the time needed for end-of-line testing, enabling chiller production to be increased. The new chamber also dramatically reduces the impact of these tests on the environment.

Ventilation specialist Vent-Axia is pleased to announce that Simon Lamb of Targetfellow Estates Ltd is the lucky winner of its World Superbike Championship competition in the June issue of Modern Building Services. He wins two tickets to this year’s championship.

NG Bailey, one of the UK’s largest building-services providers, has been awarded a £20 million contract to provide the category A mechanical and electrical fit-out for a grade A specification office in the City of London. Work starts on Drapers Gardens, to the north of the Bank of England, in July. This 25 000 m2 development for Canary Wharf Developments and Exemplar Developments is designed to achieve an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating.

National distributor BSS Group has reported a 27.4% increase in revenue for the year to the end of March 2008 and a 23.3% increase in profit compared to the previous year.

Building-engineering provider Birchall has installed the mechanical services for the largest modular healthcare scheme in the UK. The Acute Admissions Unit at Watford General Hospital has been built using 142 steel-framed modules.

Energy Technique has reported a 9.3% increase in sales for the year to 31 March 2008 to £9.19 million and profit before tax up 34.8% to £530 000.

Housing starts for 2008 are forecast to be the lowest since 1945, according to the latest forecasts for construction output from the Construction Products Association. Little more than 147 000 new housing starts are expected in Great Britain this year, 27% down on 2007 and the smallest number since 1992. In addition, the social-housing programme is failing to grow in line with the Government’s plans for 45 000 new homes a year by 2011.

Capita has been named as the preferred bidder in the competition to provide a new registration scheme for gas installers in the UK. It will replace the scheme currently operated by CORGI. The announcement comes from the Health & Safety Executive.

Solar-heating specialist Riomay is installer of the year in the British Renewable Energy Association awards for what is believed to be the largest solar-thermal heating system in the world.

The 2006 Building Regulations are starting to have a major impact on large-scale regeneration projects, as demonstrated by Temple Quay Central in Bristol.

With energy-hungry filament lamps soon to be history and low-energy bulbs growing fast in popularity, it is time to revisit the subject of selecting contactors for switching lighting loads — as Steve Rickard explains.

Nearly every home and many offices have panel radiators, but they are usually ignored and unloved. Dean Chughtai from MHS Radiators takes an alternative view and celebrates a true classic — that still has a key role to play in an era of renewable energy.

In just five years the number of porjects using variable-speed pumps has shot up from 10% to 90%, posing new challenges for commissioning engineers — as we found out from John Coppin

John Armstrong shares his practical experience of maintenance and refurbishment.

Consequential improvements was a new line of thinking in the latest Building Regulations. Malcolm Jeary offers guidance on what it all means.

Alldales variable-speed drives have been fitted to the master extract system of the O2 leisure and entertainment venue in London. They were commissioned by building-automation consultant TAC Systems as part of an upgrade and refurbishment arising from the fitting of a new integrated Building Management System and bring to 16 the total number of inverter drives supplied by Alldales since the former Dome site reopened.

The low profile of two Tricool chillers installed as part of the replacement of the air-conditioning and ventilation systems for the Hilton London Green Park Hotel in Mayfair was a key element in obtaining planning permission.

Durapipe’s SuperFLO plastic pipework system has been installed as part of the renovation of a data centre owned by ATOS Origin, avoiding the need for hot works.

Easicult dipslides from Kamco provide an easy way to determine the total bacterial count in cooling-system water without having to send samples to a fully equipped laboratory. These dipslides can be used, for example, to check water for bacterial activity in cooling towers, evaporative condensers and hot and cold water systems.

Fuel costs for boiler plant at Withington Girls’ School in Manchester are expected to be reduced by up to 40% following the replacement of 30-year old boilers on the recommendation of Belfry Maintenance Group, which had maintained the old boilers for many years.

With the involvement of CIBSE, the scope of facilities management is growing to include operational and engineering aspects — and Geoff Prudence, chairman of CIBSE’s FM Group, believes that the time is ripe for further progress.

A downtime of just half a day was achieved when boiler plant serving the heating system in sheltered housing in Alnwick, Northumberland, was replaced. That feat was achieved using a Paraskid 120 condensing packaged boiler plant from Potterton Commercial to replace the previous plant.

Guidance on regulations governing the use of ozone-depleting substances, such as some refrigerants, is available from the British Refrigeration Association. This guidance has been prepared as there is critical timing associated with phasing out refrigerants under the ‘Ozone depleting substances regulation’. It is important that everyone involved with the distribution and use of HCFCs, including R22, is fully aware of the issue.

Trox has supplied and installed exposed multi-service chilled beams in the refurbished office of hydrocarbon contactor M. W. Kellogg Ltd in Greenford. The initial contract was for one floor, with a potential rolling programme covering four buildings and 30 storeys.

To reduce the cost of replacing existing boiler plant with a fuel-efficient condensing model Broag-Remeha has introduced the Gas 110 Eco floor-standing boiler which has been specially developed to fit into the same floor area as one of the most popular traditional boiler designs of equal output. One of the major savings is avoiding much of the cost of modifying pipework and associated fittings. These boilers also pass through a standard doorway. Their footprint is 600 x 663 mm, the difference in output being due to height. The range of features of these boilers also makes them ideal for new-build.

The occurrence of a problem with a building-services system is not the time to start finding a specialist to put it right. The appointment of a service and maintenance provider is a much better approach — as Chris Trotman explains.

One of the first installations of Vaillant’s ecoTEC SEDBUK A rated condensing combination boilers installed in Scotland is a replacement for a boiler in a private Victorian property in the Lenzie district of Glasgow — and has reduced the gas bill by 42%.

The small size of a range of Rhoss chillers from Coolmation is said to make them especially suitable for retrofitting in replacement projects where space is at a premium. Their footprint is little more than half that of their predecessors.

John Wright, general manager of specialist servicing and maintenance company EWS, has warned against the dangers of cutting corners on service and maintenance in the current economic climate.

Daikin distributor Space Airconditioning has a dedicated and experienced spares department to support all Daikin equipment, both current and older models. Space has over 27 years’ experience with Daikin equipment.

Architectural and design practice BDP specified Krantz active chilled beams during the refurbishment of the Strand Building of King’s College London. Nearly a kilometre of these beams were supplied for open-plan office areas and cellular office spaces in the reconfigured interior of the building.

Glynn Williams is concerned that like-for-like pump replacement fails to exploit the benefits of modern pump technology.

Controls company Resource Data Management has developed a drop-in replacement for the aging Tuscan refrigeration controller, providing a quick and cost-effective upgrade of existing installations to the latest technology.

Chubb Fire is now responsible for servicing the extensive fire-safety system of the most popular museum outside of London — the National Media Museum in Bradford, which draws over 735 000 visitors a year.

The benefits of condensing water heaters have been brought to a school in York by upgrading an outdated boiler room using two Lochinvar TurboCharger 88-380CE condensing water heaters. They provide hot water for a kitchen serving the main dining hall of St Peter’s School and were installed by Connaught Gasforce.

Air-conditioning distributor Hushon used products from three manufacturers to fulfil the air-conditioning and ventilation requirements for the refurbishment of a major office building in Oxford.

Retrofit work carried out by Alldales Drive Systems to fit inverter drives to air-handling systems at Sainsbury’s store support centre in London demonstrates how in-house experience can help overcome the challenges of introducing additional plant into existing buildings to improve energy performance.

Building on CIBSE’s success in addressing the carbon issues associated with climate change, the institution’s new president, Professor John Swaffield, argues that water is the new carbon.

Over 100 000 l of water falls each year on the roof of an typical 4-bedroom family home in the UK, compared with the 70 000 l a year used by a typical family for flushing toilets, washing clothes and outside use. Harvesting that water is the solution to the water stress that is experienced in much of England, explains Steff Wright.

Low pressure and poor flow rates can cause serious water problems at existing and new-build properties. Darren Cooper explores the issue and suggests various solutions.

Rehau has installed its own rainwater recovery system at its newly expanded factory in Amlwch on Anglesey to meet a significant percentage of its non-potable water requirements. The company has also installed its storm-water management scheme to reduce the disruptive effect of heavy rainfall on the site.

Armitage Shanks’s Aridian waterless urinal has been awarded the Waterwise Marque for products that highlight water efficiency or reduce water wastage.

The adapting of 11 urinals to use no water at Bromley College of Further & Higher Education is expect to save nearly 3500 m3 of water a year.

There is absolute no need for scalding accidents associated with domestic hot water, as Martin Strom explains.

Rotex has launched two rainwater storage tanks designed to work inside and outside buildings. Variocisterns are available with capacities of 750 and 1000 l to collect water from the roof of the building. These tanks can be linked to increase capacity and the water used for flushing toilets and washing clothes.

In response to the requirement in Part L of the building Regulations for water in hard-water areas to be treated to inhibit the build-up of limescale, Kinetico now offers a water softener that does not require electricity.

If a building does not have sufficient demand for hot water to justify installing storage cylinders or investing in renewable systems like solar thermal, how can heating specifiers ensure that the hot-water delivery is as efficient as possible? Jon Cockburn suggests some options.

Hydrotec’s Hydroion range of salt regenerative water softeners comes in 12 sizes to serve flow rates o up to 17 m3/h. All units are available in simplex and duplex formats with timer or flow proportional control. Bespoke solutions can be produced for higher flows.

Stuart Turner has launched a new generation of its Monsoon pumps for boosting water pressure in the home.

A rainwater-harvesting installed by Stormsaver at the new Innovation Centre at the University of Exeter has help the project achieve the top BREEAM rating.

Many of Mira’s instantaneous electric showers are accredited with the BMA Water Efficiency Labelling Scheme. The scheme, introduced by the Bathroom Manufacturers’ Association, is designed to help the consumer easily identify water-efficient products that, when installed and used correctly, use less water than other products on the market.

Armstrong has launched a range of packaged variable-speed multi-pump booster sets. The 6800 IVS series features Soft Fill, an automated process to reduce the risk of hydraulic shock damage and water hammer by controlling the pump speed to ramp up gradually to a fill setpoint.

Optiflush flush controllers for urinals from Pegler Yorkshire are used in schools throughout Derbyshire. One of the most recent installations is a school in Belper.

Stuart Turner has launched an improved version of its Showermate pumps. There are significant technical improvements to the motor and pump head, with a carbon/ceramic seal and controls.

Washrooms are inevitably major users of water, but their water consumption can be reduced considerably, and with financial benefit, using a range of automatic controls. Geoffrey Gestetner explains how.

An intensive programme of testing and evaluation by BSRIA to compare Lindab’s Safe ductwork system with conventional circular ductwork and fittings has shown a halving in installation time and a 20% cost reduction compared with the traditional approach.

Operational monitoring of an installation of three ICS TECS 300 kW chillers using Turbocor compressors has shown significantly higher COPs than would have been expected from standard chillers.

Air-sampling smoke detection systems that can detect fires at a very early stage are helping to protect the Performance Wall, a giant video screen that delivers information about events at The O2 arena in Greenwich. Wagner’s Titanus ASD systems can often detect fires before visible smouldering, or an open fire occurs and before intense smoke develops.

The continuing supply of Trox products and terminal air-conditioning systems for projects at London’s Canary Wharf has made the area the largest concentration of Trox products in the world. It houses some of the world’s leading legal and financial institutions.

Oventrop valves have been used throughout a new flagship building at the University of Manchester. University Place is part of a £650 million capital programme at the university, for which M&E consultant is R. W. Gregory LLP of Manchester. The Oventrop valves were selected by M&E contractor SES.

Energy-efficient lighting for a new exhibition and conference centre in Lincolnshire has been achieved using control and connection products from Flex Connectors’ Flex 7 range.

Evinox has continued its long-standing relationship with Octagon Developments with the supply of a solar solution for the Oak House a luxury 7-bedroom residence at Hadley Wood to the north of London.

At the heart of the heating, air-conditioning and DHW system of the new School of Creative & Cultural Studies at the University of Glamorgan is a series of Grundfos pumps, mainly drawn from the versatile and energy-efficient TPE family.

Encompass has won the contract to supply ground-source heat pumps and an underfloor heating system for the 1913 Lamp Cabin at Beamish Museum in County Durham. It will provide a base for the museum’s collection of miners’ lamps and other mining artefacts, many of which have not been on display to visitors before.

A building-control system from Priva Building Intelligence is contributing to a Dutch football club achieving 40% lower carbon-dioxide emissions than other similar installations and using 45% less energy.

Moducel LKP air-handling units have been installed in the latest Hotel du Vin boutique hotel, close to the centre of York. This is the 11th hotel in the chain and occupies a Grade 2 listed building dating back to the early 19th century.

The small size and quiet running of Remeha Avanta 28c combi boilers were among the reasons for their installation in student accommodation at Loughborough University.

When the roof of the new Centre Court at Wimbledon is closed to enable all-weather play, sophisticated air-conditioning systems using Aermec chillers will be called into play to provide the optimum environment for the grass and comfort for spectators.

Raychem electric underfloor heating systems have been installed for comfort heating in the recently opened £8 million spa at The Gleneagles Hotel in Scotland.

Sustainably produced polypropylene pipework is being supplied and installed by Aquatherm for building-services and floor heating systems in four Bristol schools, redeveloped under the Building Schools for the Future Programme. This pipework is made from polypropylene PP-R(80), which has qualified for the label ‘Product approved by Greenpeace’.

Two Neptronic SKE resistive steam humidifiers from JS Humidifiers have been installed at Tate Modern in London to maintain the optimum atmosphere around the exhibits.

Danfoss Heat Pumps, formerly ECO Heat Pumps, is helping Woolsery Sports & Community Centre in Devon reduce its heating bills by over 60% with the installation of ground-source heat pumps — representing a saving of nearly £2500 a year.

Two special variants of Waldmann’s Tycoon free-standing luminaires have provided the solution to combining high-quality energy-efficient lightings with flexible, reconfigurable workspace at Santander Consumer Bank in Mönchengladbach in Germany.

Daikin’s top-of-the range VRV heat-recovery air conditioning has been installed in the Wellington House 2-storey office development in Aberdeen. The development by Knight Real Estate comprises about 2300 m2 of open-plan accommodation with high-grade finishes, energy-efficient glazing and a contemporary styled reception area.

Following positive experience with Breezair’s evaporative-cooling system to reduce high temperatures in its frying and packaging areas, Patak Foods, which specialises in curry products and is now owned by AB Foods, has installed the system in its bottling halls. It is expected that high temperatures of around 32°C will reduced to around 25°C. The systems were specified and installed by CoSaf Environments.

When Workspace Group, a leading provider of flexible business space for small and medium-size enterprises insisted on natural ventilation for new offices on the third floor of Canterbury Court on the Kennington Park Business Centre, consultants Brian Warwicker Partnership proposed Monodraught Windcatchers.

Being able to work with the electrical contractor to develop solutions for metering energy and controlling lighting helped Eaton Electric win a contract for a new multi-purpose conference and function centre near Grays in Essex.

Two 450 kW chillers and a host of other equipment were provided by Carrier Rental Systems to control the temperature in a data centre providing vital billing functions for several major service providers while power feeds serving the fixed cooling installation were interrupted for checking. These power feeds could only be checked at weekends, and once the power was cut off, the air-conditioning system also had to be cut off.

The installation of Actulite polarised daylight lighting in the refurbishment of three corridors in Milton Keynes Hospital was so well received that it has since been specified to replace the existing lighting in a ward.

Andrews Water Heaters has supply three SOLARflo water-heating systems to provide domestic hot water for a new residential service in Banbury. Agnes Court comprises 20 residential rooms and three respite rooms and is provided by Leonard Cheshire Disability, which operates both locally and worldwide to enable disabled people to live life in their own way.

Toshiba has carried out a comprehensive cost comparison of an old R22 split air-conditioning system compared to a new R410A system — with overwhelming results. It will be illegal to use bring HCFCs such as R22 for maintenance and servicing from the end of 2009, with a total ban at the end of 2014. In the UK alone, it is estimated that over 100 000 systems have been installed based on R22.

Two 450 kW chillers and a host of other equipment were provided by Carrier Rental Systems to control the temperature in a data centre providing vital billing functions for several major service providers while power feeds serving the fixed cooling installation were interrupted for checking. These power feeds could only be checked at weekends, and once the power was cut off, the air-conditioning system also had to be cut off.

The Karis range of decorative luminaires from Orbik Electronics comes in a choice of mains-only using single or twin 18 or 26 W TC lamps or as a self-contained emergency luminaire with a single 18 or 26 W TC lamp — offering specifiers the option to match mains and emergency luminaires within the same lighting design scheme.

A new air curtain from JS Air Curtains includes a built-in air freshener, UV air purification, strip light and energy-saving technology. These features of the Intensse air curtain are described as making it a good choice for modern commercial premises such as banks, hotels and offices. A noise-reduction system keeps operating noise below 46 dB(A).

Ciat Ozonair has introduced a range of air-to-water heat pumps with capacities of up to 40 kW.

To meet the needs of the 17th Edition of the Wiring Regulations for maintenance-free junction boxes to be installed in inaccessible locations, such as under a floor with a fitted carpet, Hager has introduced a box under the Ashley brand.

A new inverter-driven heat-pump air-conditioning system from Mitsubishi Electric achieves a COP of 5.25 in heating and 5.15 in cooling.

The Forum range of luminaires from Jordan is designed for out-of-town retail applications and general industrial plants. Developed specifically for TL5 lamps, the Forum range incorporates highly efficient, double parabolic reflectors made from micro-textured Miro-enhanced aluminium to deliver an overall light-output ratio of over 93%.

A complete VRF air-conditioning system can be designed in minutes using software developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. E-solution is designed specifically for the company’s KX4 VRF systems and is free to building-services engineers.

The Format range of aluminium radiators from MHS radiators are available with polished or satin anodised aluminium finishes. They are available for wet central-heating systems or as electric models.

Danlers offers a comprehensive range of passive infra-red occupancy switches to control lighting automatically. They can be installed using existing wiring to save energy in offices, factories, schools etc.

Danfoss Randall’s TP9000 universal programmable room thermostat incorporates an additional channel to control domestic hot water. They are preset at the factory to provide energy-saving chrono-proportional control as standard but can also provide on/off control if required. These controllers replace the well known TP9.

Apollo’s XPander range of wireless intelligent fire detectors is designed for use where wired detectors are impractical or undesirable. XPander enhances the capabilities of the XP95 range of detectors and comprises an interface, optical smoke detector, multi-sensor smoke detector, heat detector types A1R and CS, wireless base, manual call point, sounder and a sounder beacon.

Dimplex has upgraded its radio-frequency controller with the addition of a programmer to give 24-hour or 7-day programming and a liquid-crystal display. It can be used to give thermostatic control to electrical appliances such as towel rails, which do not usually have an integral thermostat. This controller fits in a double-gang back box and can control loads of up to 2 kW.

Electrical-accessory manufacturer Crabtree has developed a range of KNX switches as part of its Platinum range. The KNX control protocol is embedded in these switches, so they can communicate using the KNX bus to a host of other devices such as sensors, actuators and smart controllers.

Itho’s CAS ECO 2 roof ventilator extracts air from multiple locations using a single collective ventilation duct to remove contaminated air from all wet rooms and reject it to atmosphere through the roof ventilator.

GE Lighting’s T5 CovRguard range of linear fluorescent lamps include a 0.38 mm-thick Lexan plastic shield around the tube to contain glass fragments and phosphors if a lamp is broken. These lamps come in 24, 39 and 54 W, five colour temperatures and a CRI of 85. Average rated life is 30 000 h.

MK Electric has substantially redeveloped the Ackermann range of floor boxes for raised, flush and screeded floor applications. The new range has very high load-bearing performance and a host of features for easier installation and speed of fixing and the ability to accommodate plug-top power supplies with the lid fully down.

Adey Professional Heating Services has taken a step forward in reducing the risk of leaks from valves with the use of a triple seal that includes a replaceable packing gland seal, almost eliminating the prospect of leaks.

All distribution switchgear from Moeller Electric is now available in versions that have been specifically designed to accommodate meters and, where appropriate, current transformers — providing an effective method of meeting the metering requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations. This capability is available for all switchboards — from B-type board to the largest fault-rated distribution switchboards.

LG has introduced a range of air-conditioning cassettes which are claimed to be the slimmest on the market and be easily slotted into a ceiling void only 184 mm deep. These cassettes also give users precise control of the airflow angle and speed from each of the four vents — a feature which is claimed to be another first.

TridonicAtco’s new Xitec technology has been used to improve the Pc Pro T8 ballast. The new benefits of the PC Pro T8 Xitec include a high level of integration and a wealth of additional functions to enhance performance.

Legrand has added two new finishes to its Synergy Modern range of wiring accessories. They are matt black and black nickel.

Glow-worm has upgraded its range of hot-water cylinders with better packaging of the motorised valve.

Glow-worm has upgraded its range of hot-water cylinders with better packaging of the motorised valve.

A new range of self-regulating pumps from Smedegaard Pumps is said to save up to 40% more energy than a standard pump.

Stroma LZC, a leading independent provider of renewable energy products, is now the sole supplier of HeatKing’s air-source heat pumps.

Big Foot Systems are designed to support anything installed on a flat roof, creating a secure support for all air-conditioning/ refrigeration roof plant and associated services. The key to the systems is that they allow you to maintain the roof without decommissioning the equipment supported on it. Big Foot eliminates the need for drilling holes in the deck or building concrete supports — potential sources of damage and leaks. They offer a free 48 hour design service and can supply a bespoke framework from stocked parts and deliver the next working day. All Big Foot Systems are covered by an independent 15 year warranty.

CADBID is an online service to help CAD draughters find clients and clients find CAD draughters. There are no transaction-based fees.

Underfloor heating specialist Evenheat has moved into a new 1000 m2 2-story building in Banbury to provide much-needed additional space for product storage and accommodate a fast-expanding specialist team.

As part of its on-going commitment to added-value services, Legrand’s national training team provides free product-training sessions tailored to the needs of consultants, contractors, architects and wholesalers.

The KeeGuard free-standing roof-edge protection system from Kee Safety allows contractors to gain access to rooftop air-conditioning units and associated equipment safely and securely. This system is suitable for flat roofs and has three