Carbon emissions have been reduced by over 10 500 t by GSH’s Energyplus contract-energy-management service over the last two years. The savings amount to over £1 million off the energy bills of clients.

Samantha McDonough explains why CIBSE is embarking on a 100-day campaign to reduce carbon emissions and why it is important to get involved.

A comprehensive programme of training and people development has long underpinned the business of contractor NG Bailey — and is central to its business plans for the next few years, as MARTIN BAILEY explains.

The opening of the Monodraught Gallery at the University of Nottingham demonstrates a range of practical applications of renewable energy

With forthcoming Building Regulations moving away from elemental design and focusing on what the outcome is in design terms, the president of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Donald Leeper, has called for the operational performance of buildings to be compared with design intentions.

Grundfos Pumps has won the global Green Apple Award for its approach to environmental issues — beating nearly a thousand entries from around the world.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has switched on the first stage of the CIS ‘solar tower’ project in Manchester. The south side of the 122 m-high building went live as Mr Blair pressed the switch feeding electricity into the national grid.

Robert Higgs, director of the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association has been appointed an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) in the New Year Honours Lists. The honour is in recognition of his services to the environment.

Hushon on the south coast has become the latest company to become a distributor of Toshiba’s VRF air-conditioning and split systems.

Glasgow-based electrical contractor WWW has won its first major contract in England with a £5 million commission to upgrade and rewire local-authority houses for Newcastle District Council. The 5-year rolling programme to upgrade social housing is part of the council’s decent-homes project.

A year on from ACE, the Association for Consultancy & Engineering, repositioning itself as the business association for the consultancy and engineering professions, outgoing chairman Desmond Scott believes it is making a real impact in the industry.

Dobson White Boulcott Ltd is acting as project manager on the £40 million project to consolidate Middlesex University on its Hendon Campus in north-west London. The scheme has been designed by BPR Architects and is scheduled for completion in September.

Following significant growth over the last three years in modular packages for M&E services, MEP Solutions is expanding its team and moving to a new site in Coleshill.

Thermal Transfer has won a £1 million-plus contract to design and build an additional production facility for independent pharmaceutical manufacturer Thornton & Ross.

New construction orders in the private commercial sector bucked the general trend by showing a 13% increase in value in the three months to October 2005 compared to the previous three months, according to the Department of Trade & Industry. They also showed an increase of 32% compared with the same period a year earlier. Year-on-year figures showed a 3% fall.

Buro Happold has been appointed building-services and structural engineers for a project to develop the biomedical building for the University of Strathclyde.

Aspen Air Conditioning has become one of the first partners in Mitsubishi Electric’s ‘Business solutions partner’ programme.

Contractor SES has been awarded the £2.3 million contract to install M&E services in the St James Gate development in Newcastle. Works will be completed within a tight 16-week schedule to enable end client The Big Lottery Office to move in by February 2006. The development incorporates office, leisure and retail accommodation.

With welded steel-wire cable tray becoming increasingly popular for cable management, MATTHEW WAY dispels a few modern misconceptions.

Modern busbar trunking systems offer many benefits over cable, as JOHN CLARKE explains.

Bringing data to office desks is every bit as important as bringing power — and is becoming more so. ALAN DURRANT explains the approaches available and how are they evolving?

Over 6 km of bespoke cable tray has been installed in the largest scientific facility to be built in the UK for over 30 years. The Metstrut prefabricated cable tray serves the £250 million Diamond synchrotron on the Harwell/Chilton science campus in Oxfordshire. The trays carry all the complex electrical cabling requirements for each of the 24 experimental research stations and the control rooms, laboratories and offices.

Cablofil’s EZ-Path through-wall fire-stop protection system is covered in a 12-page brochure.

Lighting connection and control products, extra-low-voltage switching, connection units and prefabricated chains of sockets from Flex Connectors have been used on all nine floors of the new £40 million premises of Matthew Boulton College in Birmingham. The building includes classrooms, meeting rooms, a library and an operating theatre. It enables the college to expand its healthcare, medical and IT facilities.

All low-voltage electrical services throughout 20 new accommodation buildings at Lancaster University is housed and protected by about 12 km of Mita’s Cableline Solo dado trunking. This £120 million project was designed by Michael Hyde Associates.

Disano Illuminazione’s Elesystem modular lighting track has 10 copper conductors, each rated at 16 A. It provides 3-phase supply, neutral, dimmer live and neutral, neutral, emergency live and neutral, earth and a free track.

Hager’s Ashley Euro data modules make possible matching power and data accessories from one supplier.

Developing regulations are driving changes in the boilers market. GRAHAM WILLIAMSON considers their implications and offers practical advice on product selection.

Prefabrication for one boiler manufacturer was driven by its customers, leading to a ‘can-do’ response to customer requests.

The increasing use of condensing and high-efficiency boilers is accompanied by issues of flueing. JULIE MOORE examines them.

A little extra effort goes a long way in enhancing energy efficiency when it is time to replace life-expired boiler plant — as we found out from KEN PERCIVAL and RICHARD WALKER.

Design features of Vaillant high-efficiency ecoMAX 816E and 622E system boilers have been used to good effect to serve underfloor heating systems in this block of 11 luxury apartment of the site of Queensbury House in Newmarket.

By measuring incoming water flow and temperature and modulating the burner, new water heaters from Andrews Water Heaters meet demand within ±1% accuracy. The Fasttflo range of wall-hung, balanced-flue, continuous-flow water heaters is available with outputs of 13 and 18 l/min, raised through 45 K. There are two models for indoor installation and two for outdoors, which do not require additional weather protection.

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, built under a PFI contract, has its heating and hot-water loads served by four Viessmann Vitomax boilers. They deliver, in total, 14 000 kW and form the largest installation of Viessmann boilers in the UK.

Because Ferroli holds all sections for its GN range of cast-iron boilers in the UK, it was possible to make and deliver two large boilers for Wigan & Leigh College very quickly. These two boilers each have an output of 590 kW, and they have replaced seven life-expired boilers.

Lochinvar boilers and water heaters have been used in a prefabricated plant room for a new House of Fraser store in Maidstone. Constant Air Systems made the plant room and selected the Lochinvar equipment in conjunction with Dowling Blunt Building Services.

Demonstrating the ability of Rinnai Infinity external water heaters to cope with harsh winter conditions is this site of apartments in upstate New York. A hundred of these continuous-flow water heaters were used to replace other units that were less capable of coping with temperatures down to –31°C. They are installed on the outside of these apartments to provide hot water for showers, baths and sinks. Specialised technology and complete frost proofing means that units can operate at full efficiency, even in sub-zero temperatures.

Developed to provide an interface between wet heating systems in apartments and central boiler plant, the Danfoss Redan Akva Lux range from Taconova can also provide instantaneous hot water. There is no need for separate water storage in the apartments served.

Training facilities for Glow-worm boilers are part of the new GasTec training centre at Milton Keynes. Glow-worm’s boiler-training centre offers installers a one-day product-specific course on its latest range of condensing boilers. They can also gain the Certificate in Energy Efficiency for Domestic Heating.

As part of a requirement by DEFRA that no modern facilities should be visible following the restoration of the Great Barn in the Teign Valley near Newton Abbot, heating is provided by a specially designed Robbens underfloor system. This Grade 2 building dates from the 14th century and is now a venue for business seminars, weddings and other local events.

A sustainable natural-ventilation system from SE Controls has been chosen for one of the most sustainable office developments in the UK. The new central office of the National Trust in Swindon is designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley and is built on a large brownfield site in the Great Western Railway works. The 2-storey building accommodates 430 staff and has a shop and public restaurant.

Over 40 000 m (linear) of Kingspan rigid phenolic Kooltherm pipe insulation and 3000 m2 of Kooltherm duct insulation have been installed in the multi-million redevelopment of Russell’s Hospital in Dudley.

BAA has replaced chemical water treatment on cooling towers at Heathrow Airport with ozone water treatment. The systems were supplied by Waterwise Technology as part of work to upgrade and increase the capacity of the cooling towers on Terminal 3 and adding additional cooling towers to Terminal 1. The selection of these ozone system follows several years’ practical experience with similar systems supplied by Waterwise for Terminals 1 and 3.

As part of the refurbishment of St Olaf House near London Bridge, Fan Coil Service has serviced and upgraded over 160 fan-coil units. Fan Coil Service is the recently established servicing and preventive-maintenance arm of Ability Projects.

Replacing oil-fired boilers with an air-to-water heat-pump, heat-recovery system in a luxury hotel in Bangkok will achieve a payback of four years.

Crane’s Z3000 Dominator flow-management system for fan-coil units is among a full range of control valves being supplied by Crane Fluid Systems for management of the heating and air-conditioning systems for Tower Wharf on Bristol’s floating harbour district.

Summer temperatures in the factory of Asset Demo at Earl Shilton near Leicester have been reduced from 30°C to 22°C following the installation of evaporative cooling.

To maximise energy efficiency in the new Radisson SAS hotel in Frankfurt, German, the building-management system is interfaced with the front-office computer, the lighting-management system and fire-damper controls.

The second phase of applying Chalmor’s TouchStat heating controllers to optimise energy consumption at the University of Manchester involves residential accommodation for students and hotel accommodation associated with the university’s conference centre.

A 21% reduction in carbon-dioxide emissions for a group of retirement apartments in Cheltenham is being achieved using small-scale CHP, compared with centralised power generation and heating-only boiler plant.

As part of the building-services solution for the Clore Learning Centre at Hampton Court Palace, King Shaw Associates has devised a wall with zero U-value. Other aspects of the design include high insulation, natural ventilation and daylighting.

To provide efficiently controlled radiator heating in new student accommodation at the University of Warwick, Oventrop thermostat radiator valves, double-regulating valves and differential-pressure control valves have been installed.

Multiload’s VoltMaster intelligent transformer has been used as part of display-lighting system for three rooms in Lord’s cricket pavilion. Display lighting in the Long Room, Committee Room and Writing Room uses three dimmable Voltmaster 400 units and 12 dimmable VoltMaster 300 units.

A range of pipework and fittings from Durapipe has been installed in an apartment development as part of a project to restore Bradford’s Lister Mills. The first building on the 14 acre site, once the world’s largest silk mill, is to be transformed into the Silk Warehouse, a complex of 131 apartments, with community and commercial space on the ground floor.

ABB has launched a range of variable-speed drives for motors from 370 W to 7.5 kW. These drives are said to be much smaller than compatible drives of these ratings. For example, the 5.5 kW model is 25% smaller than the Telemecanique ATV31 and 58% smaller than the Siemens MM440 with the same output. They are aimed at systems integrators, panel builders, OEMs and end users. Drives are available for single- and 3-phase operation.

Yorkshire Fittings has added a compact version to its Tectite range of push fittings for potable-water applications, heating and chilled-water systems. Tectite Sprint is slimmer than other Tectite fittings and available in sizes from 10 to 28 mm for use with copper and plastics pipes. These fittings cannot be reused.

A system to protect rooftop structures such as those used to house heating, ventilating and air-conditioning systems from the effect of lightning strikes is available from Dehn UK.

Expansion-joint specialist Stourflex can now offer its customers the benefits of the Caesar II software for pipe-stress analysis. Technical reports produced using Caesar II describe the behaviour of the pipework system from the software model. These stress-analysis calculations provide technical information for improving a pipework system before installation or to eliminate existing problems.

Biral’s twin-head P range of pumps have a power consumption of less than 50 W but can serve a 1000 kW heating system with a ?t of 20 K. They qualify for Enhanced Capital Allowances.

The ability of Daikin VRV air conditioning to serve larger and taller buildings has taken a significant step forward with the development of the third-generation VRVIII series.

The latest version of Knurr’s CoolTherm water-cooled server cabinet for computer rooms has a cooling capacity of 35 kW. This enclosure for blade servers has a capacity of 50U.

Whitecroft Lighting’s Atlanta Junior is a more compact version of the Atlanta decorative high-bay lighting fitting, designed for lower mounting heights. Applications include retail areas with mezzanine floors, atria, and refectory areas in educational buildings.

Crompton’s Moduwall range of asymmetric wallwasher luminaires from Cooper Lighting & Security provide an energy-efficient solution for illuminating walls and other vertical surfaces.

Estimation has organised its range of software for contractors into three product families, based partly on the size of the company and partly on its requirements.

To increase the strength and rigidity of rectangular ductwork, CCL Veloduct offers the Type S stiffener. Much less time is required to fit this product compared with traditional angle iron. Overall time savings of 20 to 30% are estimated, depending on the size of duct.

Ebm-papst is making its debut into the market for large fans with the launch of five new sizes of axial fans and three new sizes of centrifugal fans.

An earth-fault indicator light on Hager’s latest range of RCDs and RCBOs makes fault finding quicker and easier. If a device trips with the indicator light on, there is an earth fault. If the light is off after tripping, an overload was the cause of the deviceoperating.

Systemair has developed a range of air-handling units that offer high specification, quick delivery and speed and ease of specification.

LG now offers heat-recovery ventilation to operate with its multi-split air-conditioning systems. Eco V units incorporate a high-efficiency enthalpy heat exchanger that is said to be three times more efficient than one exchanging energy according to temperature only.

Mitsubishi Electric has launched a successor to its highly successful range of programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

User-friendly and intuitive operation are key features of new operator interfaces for the modular Desigo building-automation system from Siemens Building Technologies. These interfaces are designed to make it easy to monitor, analyse and control energy usage. They are available in versions for every level of user — from janitorial staff in individual buildings to corporate energy managers.

A new range of chillers from Delrac comprises 10 models with cooling capacities from 120 to 290 kW. They are available in several versions, from standard to silenced, ultra-silenced and, to special order, even quieter UX models.

By using the floor void of the refurbished Tricorn House in Birmingham to accommodate the air conditioning, the depth of the ceiling void has been reduced to only 80 mm.

Air conditioning for the ‘Best UK retail interior’ is provided by Toshiba SMMS 2-pipe and SHRM 3-pipe VRF systems. The award from Retail Week is for the first four floors of this 6-storey building comprising retail and office space on London’s Oxford Street.

Velta underfloor heating being installed in the north-east of England will serve an area of 27 000 m2 in five schools. These new schools are in Redcar and Cleveland, and M&E contractor NG Bailey worked with consultants White Young Green & Partners and main contractor Mowlem to specify the Velta Classic 20 system for this PFI project.

Despite a refurbished factory in Norwich having an unusual design that would normally impede effective airflow, Reznor has provided a successful warm-air heating solution.