The right skills in the right place at the right time and in the right quantities are the heady objectives of the sector skills agreement for the industry launched by SummitSkills.

The costs and complexities of Type Testing of electrical panels are leading to it being avoided, which concerns Dave Holcroft.

Modern lighting equipment and lighting practice is far from wasteful in its use of energy — but still achieves aesthetically pleasing lighting installations, as the new low-carbon category of the Lighting Design Awards demonstrated.

Modern Building Services is the UK's most popular Building-Services Engineering magazine and website, and we're always looking to reach new readers and improve the quality of service we offer. To encourage people to sign up for the magazine - and for current readers to keep us up to date on their details - until the end of September we're offering an additional incentive to (re) register for MBS.

Just when you might have thought that the building-controls market had peaked comes growth of well over 20% overall — according to the latest figures from the Building Controls Industry Association.

Modern variable-speed drives can become an integral part of a building-management system — and eliminate the need for motor control panels. John Reid describes the realities.

The LON communication protocol has a history stretching back about 15 years, and is firmly placed as a control technology for future generations, as Ron Bernstein explains.

Traditional approaches to balancing recirculating hot-water systems fail in their task as soon as a tap is opened. They also do not readily permit the satisfactory thermal disinfection of a system. David Corner explains a better approach.

Nic Mallinson reminds us of the dangers of hot water and calls for the wider use of thermostatic mixing valves.

Solar energy for hot water in commercial buildings is becoming increasingly touted as the way forward, says Bob Walsh

Mike McDonald explains how the flexibility and efficiency of central plant in developments such as apartments can be combined with individual control in each apartment.

David Pepper explains how direct gas-fired water heaters have an important role to play in reducing energy consumption and helping to exploit renewable energy.

An organisation designed to improve and maintain professional standards among employment agencies has been launched by the HVCA. The Building Services Engineering Employment Agency represents a voluntary grouping of employment agencies that supply skilled personnel to contractors in building-services engineering.

Three Buro Happold employees raised £3000 running in the London Marathon last month, including £1500 from the company. The money raised will benefit a selection of worth causes.

Richard Ratcliffe (left) of St Martins Property receives one of the first commercial Energy Performance Certificates produced by an accredited CIBSE Low Carbon Energy Assessor, John Field.

Danfoss has taken a stake in the fast-growing heat-pump market in the UK with the acquisition of Eco Heat Pumps. This is the sixth acquisition that Danfoss has made in the heat-pump sector in less than three years.

A Parliamentary enquiry has been launched to establish what ministers, city leaders, property owners and occupiers need to do to cut carbon emissions from the country’s offices, shops and factories. The enquiry wants local firms and political leaders to get involved and support this first public enquiry into the issue.

Daikin’s split and Sky Air air-conditioning systems are now available through Climate Center, following a new arrangement with Wolseley. They will be available through Climate Center’s nationwide network of 51 branches, the largest in the UK.

Ener-G, which specialises in sustainable energy technology, has moved into ground-source technology with the acquisition of Ground Source Solutions, which is involved in renewable heating and cooling energy. The 80% stake in Ground Source Solutions brings Ener-G’s major transactions in the last six months to three.

Lighting and electrical-services specialist Parkersell has a new name, The company is part of Dalkia and has been renamed Dalkia Lighting & Electrical in a move that reflects Dalkia’s holistic service approach across all business sectors.

A call for ambient-air, water and ground sources to be included in the definition of renewable energy sources in the draft EU law on the promotion of renewable energy sources has been made by the European Partnership for Energy & the Environment. The primary technology to use these energy sources is heat pumps, and their use will strongly benefit from such an expanded definition of energy sources, combined with the inclusion of heat pumps in the EU Directive.

The web site for the exhibition H&V09 is now live (address below). This comprehensive resource has a wealth of event information and will be regularly updated with the latest event news.

David Shouksmith, project manager with building-services company Shouksmiths give a final once-over to its latest ‘complete package’ project. Concept House in Leeds was completed for main contractors Carillon and client Unite, the UK’s largest provider of student hospitality and accommodation.

Balfour Kilpatrick has been awarded a £10 million contract to design, supply and install M&E services for a new arts and technology college. Walsall College is adding the college to its existing four sites.

Hamworthy Heating has been acquired by Group Atlantic of France, which is well known across Europe for its commercial and domestic boilers, electric water heaters, panel heaters, towel driers, air conditioning, ventilation and renewable energy. It already has a presence in the UK through its Atlantic and Ygnis brands.

The Construction Products Association has cast serious doubts on the Government’s target to see 240 000 new homes a year built to zero-carbon standards by 2016 in a new report.

BRE has boosted its expertise in intelligent buildings with the acquisition of two specialist divisions of i&i Ltd, Europe’s leading intelligent-building consultancy. The acquisition brings two important services areas into BRE — intelligent-building-systems consultancy and ibexcellence, the world-renowned Centre of Excellence for Intelligent Building.

Grundfos Group has reported record sales figures for 2007 of £1.68 billion. Emerging markets in eastern Europe, Russia, Asia and China showed strong growth, but even the traditional more mature markets in western Europe showed a healthy 6% growth.

Gripple has received a second Queen’s Award for Enterprise — this time for the growth of its international business. The Gripple wire suspension system is widely used to support services such as ductwork, pipework and lighting, and nearly 300 million wire joiners have been sold to this and other industries since it was invented 20 years ago.

Inviron has been selected by Alfred McAlpine to design and install the M&E services for two primary-care-trust centres in Stockport. The £10.3 million project will see two state-of-the-art one-stop centres in Woodley and Heald Green replacing the current outdated facilities. Services to be provided by the new centres include district nursing, baby clinics, physiotherapy and nutritional advice.

Honeywell’s building solutions business (HBS) has won the IP in Security Innovation award for best application for its work at Wembley Stadium. Honeywell was also selected for the innovation award over two other category winners — best software and best hardware. The judges commented that Wembley Stadium is ‘a fantastic example of system convergence, with impressive scale to boot’; it was also described as ‘a world-class example of an integrated solution’.

A combination of controlled natural ventilation and air conditioning is helping Capital Print achieve a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating for its new custom-built premises, where it is moving to after being displaced from the 2012 Olympic site.

JS Air Curtains has supplied and installed a Windbox 18 kW air curtain for the Esprit Store in London’s Covent Garden. It was specified by consulting engineers E&M Tecnica of Surrey.

Keston Boilers has supplied a bespoke rig to provide all the heating and domestic-hot-water needs of the engine production facility of Honda Racing Development in Bracknell, which supplies racing engines for Honda Racing and Super Aguri Formula One teams.

Boilers and radiators supplied by MHS feature prominently in the refurbishment of the imposing Land Registry building in Lincoln’s Inn Fields in London.

When supply problems were encountered with air-conditioning equipment for new offices for a leading company providing temporary staffing solutions, air-conditioning specialist Cool Air Solutions turned to Climate Center for help — and took delivery of six Panasonic wall-mounted units the next day.

The carbon footprint of the new Walthamstow Academy in London has been reduced by the installation of a 120 kW biomass boiler from Broag. It is fuelled by compressed wood pellets fed from a store on the ground floor next to the first-floor plant room.

Oventrop vales have been used exclusively throughout a redevelopment at Rochford Hospital in Essex.

The upgrading of three ventilation systems at Leeds Metropolitan University will reduce running costs by an estimated £25 000 a year, for a capital spend of £47 000. That saving corresponds to 438 MWh of electricity and a reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions of over 192 t.

Actulite polarised daylight lighting is being widely installed in the offices of the Leicester Mercury newspaper following its success during refurbishment work.

Heating for a new school in Wrexham is provided by ground-source heat pumps serving underfloor heating. It was designed by NIBE Energy Systems and comprises 11 boreholes 100 m deep drilled into the school grounds before landscaping.

Unpleasantly high temperatures of around 38°C in a London laundry have been reduced by 10 to 15 K following the installation of a Breezair evaporative cooling system. The system for Bates Laundry in Leyton was specified and installed by Cosaf Environments, exclusive UK distributor for the system.

Vaillant’s solar domestic-hot-water system has been installed to serve two shower facilities at a Ministry of Defence Establishment in Dorset. They were installed by Southern Pipe Services, whose Dave Dodd says, ‘We use Vaillant products a lot and have completed several solar installation using their system.’

The energy needed to provide heating and cooling for a new clubhouse for the golf club at St Andrews Links will be substantially reduced following the installation of a new system from Mitsubishi Electric.

A total of 200 m of Vulcathene pipework has been installed to carry chemical waste from sinks in new science laboratories at King’s College School at Wimbledon. Pipework ranging in sizes from 6 mm to 100 mm was used in six laboratories built as an extension to the existing science block.

Recycling water used in evaporative condensers at ASDA’s distribution centre in Lutterworth will reduce water consumption and the discharge of water-treatment chemicals. In addition, electricity consumption will be reduced.

Walls built with hemp will be a major feature of a new building at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Wales. Hemcrete is a mixture of hemp stalks, lime and a small quantity of cement. It produces less carbon emissions than conventional concrete, owing to the fact that cement is fired at high temperatures, using a lot of energy. The energy needed to make cement accounts for about 10% of carbon emissions globally.

Guests at the recently opened Ramada Encore hotel in Chatham are enjoying the benefits of air conditioning provided by Ability Aurora II fan-coil units installed by Tandy Engineering Services of Gloucester.

Senior Hargreaves has completed the installation of heating and ventilation ductwork for the new Echo Arena and BT conference and exhibition complex on Liverpool’s waterfront. The project was handed over in phases, with completion in April.

Intelligent control panels supplied by Advanced Electronics are at the heart of the upgrade of a large fire-detection system at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The NIA is one of the busiest large-scale indoor sporting and entertainment venues in Europe. It can seat up to 14 500 people, but flexible seating allows the layout to be adjusted. It also has four car parks.

Hamilton Litestat’s Sheer stainless-steel range of wiring accessories feature in the new Radisson Edwardian Hotel in the Docklands area of London — along with a range of specials that include room status indicators and a door-entry system.

The City of York is looking to reduce maintenance call-outs and costs associated with central-heating systems in its housing stock with the installation of magnetic filter technology. The programme involves the installation of MagnaClean Professional filters to maintain and protect central-heating systems by removing black-iron oxide contamination which leads to inefficient performance, system deterioration and eventual failure.

Tesco is achieving costs savings on excess of £1.1 million a year, following the adoption of a lighting and energy improvement programme from Dalkia for its distribution centres. Dalkia’s integrated approach to cost and carbon savings, CarbonCare, is delivering energy savings in line with Tesco’s policy to reduce electrical consumption.

An ocean liner arrives at the City Cruise Terminal in Southampton about 60 times a year, but when it does the terminal needs to be ready for hundreds or even thousands of passengers to disembark and others to join the ship.

The INVent controller for Monodraught’s Sola-boost natural-ventilation system can control up to four zones and includes connections for sensors for temperature, rain, carbon-dioxide and windspeed/weather. Other features include a built-in BMS fault signal alarm, heating interlock/occupancy facility, fire service keyswitch over-ride facility and interconnection with a fire alarm to automatically close dampers in response to an alarm.

Honeywell’s Enterprise Buildings Integrators (EBI) working with LonWorks technology links building-management systems with financial and personnel records and supply chain of Italy’s leading financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore in its new headquarters in Milan.

A simple and cost-effective way of presenting real-time data for electricity consumption, carbon emissions and costs is provided by PRI’s Scroller for XP.

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.

To avoid problems with temperature sensors caused by the ingress of moisture, especially at the interface between the lead and the sensor, ATC Semitec has developed a range of TPE-encapsulated sensors with leads and sensors of the same material to create a waterproof barrier rated to IP68 and capable of operation at up to 105°C.

The ability of KNX intelligent-building technology to integrate and manage many different building-services functions and systems is fully exploited in a multi-purpose commercial headquarters building in Cheshire. Forum House was built three years ago and provides 3000 m2 of space on two floors.

The xitec processor from TridonicAtco is the latest in a line of intelligent ballasts to follow the successful ASIC generations. It is based on two decades of technology and knowledge producing dimmable and non-dimmable ballasts and offers sophisticated functionality for lamp and lighting management.

Sontay has added a new series of gas sensors and a water detection alarm to its product offering. They provide a valuable addition to a building-management system.

Daikin Europe now offers a solar kit for its Altherma heat-pump systems for space heating in houses and the supply of hot water to generate domestic hot water using solar energy.

It takes only 5 s for the Inline ES instantaneous water heater from Zip Heaters to deliver temperature controlled hot water to its tap.

Pegler’s Pride range of bathroom brassware products offers basin, bath and bidet taps in a contemporary square styling.

The Dualstream system from GAH Heating provides a way of improving the performance of hot- and cold-water outlets in homes with a poor mains supply.

Instantaneous hot water at mains pressure will be provided in apartments of the redeveloped Highbury Stadium, the former home of Arsenal Football Club, by SAV AquaCon indirect modules served by central boiler plant. These modules will also provide independently controlled hot water for each apartment.

Chelmer Heating’s Ecocat high-efficiency water cylinder can accept input from a heat pump and also has another coil to accept heat from solar collectors for both heating and hot water.

Up to 17 000 l/h of hot water can be provided for the City of Belfast Playing Fields in Mallusk by water heaters supplied by Lochinvar.

Rhinos at Whipsnade Zoo are enjoying hot water generated by a solar thermal system for showers and heating their pool water. This vacuum-tube system also serves the heating coil of the air-handling unit.

Redring’s Aqualoy range of stainless-steel large unvented water storage heaters can deliver a flow of 55 l/m and can easily supply a power shower, thus avoiding the need for a separate pump. They now have a low-noise immersion heater in response to customer demand.

There are over 600 new products in the ‘Solutions 5’ catalogue of Ansell Lighting, which makes and distributes lighting. It runs to 304 pages.

The British Flue & Chimney Manufacturers’ Association has updated its blue and yellow guides on, respectively, flues and chimneys for domestic gas-burning appliances and for domestic solid-fuel and wood-burning appliances.

Cable-management specialist Marshall-Tufflex has published a new brochure giving full details of its Cat 6 compliant trunking systems.

Sontay has introduce a fresh new look to its website — along with greater ease of navigation, redesigned colour scheme and live customer support.

BSRIA’s latest publication, ‘The illustrated guide to renewable technologies, BG 1/2008’, is described as the ideal primer for understanding the wide variety of innovative systems that provide cleaner and less environmentally damaging ways of heating, cooling and powering buildings.

MITA’s 2008 buyers’ guide provides distributors, contractors, specifiers and end users with a indispensable reference book for commercial and industrial cable-management solutions.

Mitsubishi Electric has produced a free, CPD-accredited guide to the maintenance and replacement of electrical equipment and the requirements of the WEEE Directive (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment).

EMTA Awards, which awards National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) and their Scottish equivalents (SVQs) has given its web site a virtual makeover.

Aqata has published a brochure on its Spectra range of ultra-minimal frameless shower enclosures.

The Lamp Company offers a free advice service to help specifiers and installers choose the best light source for a particular application. Ian Furseland says, ‘We provide lamps from all the main manufacturers, so we can offer completely impartial advice. All they have to do is call us and explain their requirements, and we’ll tell them which lamps to order from their preferred supplier.’

JS offers a free inspection of humidification systems to ensure that there is no risk of legionella. The free inspection includes checks on the existing risk assessment and water-testing regime, verifying correct operation of the humidifier and associated hygiene features, as well as a detailed review of the schedule for maintenance and disinfection. A schedule is provided after the inspection, which could be used by the facilities manager to help meet the requirements of L8, as required by HSE

Vaillant has upgraded its climaVAIR heat-pump air-conditioning range, with all units using R410A.

The stylish Chella range of fully recessed emergency luminaires from Orbik Electronics comes with a choice of long-life LED or low-energy 8 W fluorescent versions.

The Rhoss range of EXP heat-pump chillers from Coolmation is a self-contained hybrid system that can produce hot and cold water at the same time, enabling commercial air-conditioning systems to achieve significant savings on capital equipment, design, installation and energy costs. The hot and cold water is delivered through a 4-pipe system.

Integrated Environmental Solutions CLG-approved EPC software is now available with the release of v5.8.2 of its . This updated version incorporates the latest version of SBEM (v3.1.a), so it can generate life Energy Performance Certificates with an XML message valid for lodgement — as well as the associated recommendations report. The interface to SBEM uses a model-based input method that makes data assignment quick and easy.

A mini VRF system from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is designed for office, retail or apartment developments with up to eight rooms. The KX6 Compact outdoor unit is massively reduced in size from the outgoing KX4. Each outdoor unit has a footprint of 970 x 370 mm and is 845 mm high. They have cooling capacities of 12, 14 and 16 kW and require only one single side fan. They are available as single- or 3-phase units.

Ciat Ozonair’s New Space range of roof-top units includes an air-quality sensor to adjust fresh-air levels to actual needs and passive energy recovery to transfer energy between incoming and outgoing airstreams. The entire range can also deliver free cooling by drawing in outdoor air during mild weather.

Kamflo’s CF90 Quantum power flusher has an 80% higher flow rate that the existing CF30 pump, while keeping a compact design. The unit is easy to manoeuvre, with an extended handle and large-diameter wheels.

Panasonic’s latest energy-recovery ventilation units are 6% more efficient than earlier products, an improvement that is due to a new counter-flow heat exchanger to replace cross-flow elements.

Doby Verrolec has introduced a range of access doors for circular ductwork. Correctly installed, Easyfit access doors provide an airtight seal up to 2000 Pa and meet DW144 Classes A, B and C.

The Rotex Heat Distribution System 70 underfloor heating system is said to offer better thermal conductivity than any other system on the market, maximising the temperature of the floor surface and adding better impact sound insulation as a bonus.

A range of exterior, waterproof time-lag switches from Danlers can be used for the energy-saving control of outdoor electric heaters and exterior lighting.

The LMS lighting-management system from CP Electronics combines state-of-the-art technology with the versatility to meet every lighting-control requirement. This compact single-channel module is small enough to be installed in suspended trunking systems or inside lighting fittings.

Vaillant’s recoVAIR heat-recovery ventilation unit for domestic applications is claimed to be capable of recovering up to 95% of heat that would otherwise be lost from exhaust air. They have DC speed-controlled fans , which can be matched to ventilation requirements to reduce the need for wasteful and noisy duct dampers.

Glow-worm’s Betacom 24C wall-hung combi boiler can deliver 11 l/min of hot water through a 35 K temperature rise and is fully modulating for fuel economy. It has a built-in programmer, user display, on-board diagnostics and rapidly adjusting control of DHW temperature.

The BOSS pressure-reducing valve from BSS Industrial protects industrial and commercial heating systems from pressurisation damage.

Scorpion Power Systems has upgraded its popular Phoenix dual mains automatic changeover panel, which can now be incorporated with a building-management system and fire-control panel. It is also offered with a remote annunciator panel, so fire officers can see the status of alarms around a building. Phoenix has enhanced monitoring facilities and can be adapted to meet individual designs.

The time needed to test a domestic electrical installation to the requirements of the 17th edition of the Wiring Regulations can be halved using Metrel’s MI 3101 Eurotest AT. The time required for a 3-bedroom house is about 2.5 h, compared with 4 to 5 h.

Zip Heaters has introduced two more boiling-water products for the commercial market. They are the Zip Duo and the Zip Hydroboil Plus.

The Alpha2 domestic circulator from Grundfos is A rated for energy efficiency and is the first small circulator to be equipped with the company’s AutoAdapt feature to optimise its operation.

Lenze’s L-force 8400 range of frequency inverters is a modular range of tailored drive solutions that enables the customer to select the required set of features and functionality. Initially available as single-phase models up to 2.2 kW and 3-phase up to 11 kW, higher-power versions are to be added.

Ridi’s wall-mounted Corona luminaire now has the option of 3 h of emergency lighting from a battery — with no loss of light.

Ventilation specialist Titon has been awarded ISO14001 environmental management certification. As part of the certification process, Titon had all its waste streams examined and has put in place a number of improvements, including recycling and reusing all plastics, shredding all waste paper and reusing it in product packaging and resmelting metals.

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.

The installation of more than 14 km of Cablofil steel-wire cable-management tray is nearing completion in Liverpool’s new Arena & Convention Centre by Haden Young.

One of the world’s most respected manufacturers of uninterruptible power supplies, BORRI SpA, now has representation in the UK following the setting up of BORRI UK, an exclusive distributor of BORRI products. Based in Nottingham, the new company has a nationwide team of sales and factory-trained technical personnel who will focus on proving resellers and end users with first-rate customer response.

Fan-coil units made by Ability Projects have been installed in the spectacular Stratford Eye complex in the London Borough of Newham. This development by Wates for the London & Quadrant Housing Trust comprises a 19-storey tower of luxury apartments and a lower-level linear complex of commercial and mixed-tenure residential accommodation.

Rehau’s Rauthermex pre-insulated PEXa pipework has been supplied for a district-heating scheme of 250 units by Bellaway Homes. The Park 25 development in Redhill has a ring main using the Rauthermex system to supply to supply heating and hot water for each apartment. The corrugation of the outer jacket permits tight bends with small forces, so fewer connections are needed.

Raychem trace-heating systems are providing freeze protection for piped water service lines throughout the modules of the new Halley VI Antarctic Research Station. It is being built for the British Antarctic Survey.