2004 November

Mitsubishi Electric has revamped its product catalogue to reflect the introduction of an extensive range of R410A air-conditioning products. It has 20 more pages and provides details of the M Series, Mr Slim and City Multi ranges. There are also detailed sections on advanced controls and Lossnay heat-recovery units.

An interactive CD designed to inform and educate industry on some of the implications of changing Government legislation on energy efficiency in buildings has been developed by ebm-papst, manufacturer of fan drives and motor technologies.

Stokvis Energy System’s Econo-Air direct-fired, gas heating and ventilating systems is the subject of a new guide. It provides the information needed to make an initial selection and size the relevant system. Typical applications included industrial buildings such as warehouses and loading areas, sports halls and buildings with varying extract loads where air input is automatically balanced.

By building every Gas 310 ECO boiler to a customer’s specific requirements, Broag optimises the value of each boiler by including only those options required and positioning of components.

All the relevant information to help contractors select the right MK product for electrical projects in included in a 500-page-plus catalogue that is little larger than a double-gang socket.

A new catalogue on the comprehensive range of air curtains from JS Air Curtains includes information on its standard and premier ranges for all types of public doorways, bespoke units, concealed air curtains for suspended ceilings and rotating doors, industrial models for warehouses and factories and air curtains for chill stores and freezers.

Short-form guidance on pipe and duct insulation aimed specifically at building-services applications has been published by Kingspan Insulation.

Keraflo has introduced a 5-year extended warranty for its Aylesbury range of float valves. Extensive testing over two million cycles has proved there is no measurable wear on the ceramic disc that is the heart of a valve. The extended warranty is against manufacturing-related defects arising from faulty design and manufacture.

Grundfos has expanded its Magna range of pumps to provide flows from 5 to 35 m3/h and heads from 1.2 to 12 m.

One of the major players in the market for speed-controlled pumps has been looking at the benefits of this technology in chilled-water air-conditioning systems.

The Fisair range of evaporative humidifiers for air-handling units and ducted systems is now available from Vapac under a sole-distribution agreement for the UK.

Powrmatic’s NV range of suspended gas-fired unit heaters has a combustion efficiency of 92% and qualifies for Enhanced Capital Allowances.

Trane’s VarioTrane range of variable-speed drives can be used in a wide range of plant incorporating fans and pumps to control the speed of motors and reduce energy consumption — while at the same time improving performance compared with constant-speed systems.

Stainless-steel bellows-sealed PN40 valves from Spirax Sarco offer low maintenance costs for hygienic applications that demand non-corrosive equipment.

The launch by Vaillant of the high-capacity 35 kW ecoMax 635 boiler completes the company’s range of high-efficiency condensing boilers. Its output is sufficient for large domestic properties and means that Vaillant now has a high-efficiency boiler for every type of dwelling. It has a SEDBUK A rating.

A 4-gang 2way option has joined Hager’s Ashley New look range of plate switches. The rockers are wide and finger friendly with a positive switching action and silver contacts.

By replacing the metal layer to prevent oxygen ingress into underfloor heating pipe with a PEX C layer, Viessmann’s Vitoset system achieves a number of benefits.

Technical support for Watts Industries’ RPZ valves is now available from four qualified staff. These accredited testers can provide support by telephone and in the field to other accredited testers, installers and distributors.

Vent-Axia now offers a range of remotely controllable variable-duty split air-conditioning units.

Rinnai has moved into large-scale water heating with the launch of the Infinity HD series of mains-fed continuous-flow water heaters.

Four choices of indirect/direct lighting distribution are offered by the Thorn Zep T5 luminaire. They range from 40/60 to 84/16 up/down lighting.

A combined service valve and flow regulator from Aquaflow prevents taps nearest the supply receiving more water than they need and delivers a good service to all users on a pipe run. Water savings of 25% are often achieved.

Fully speed-controllable motors and metal impellers are features of the SlimVent series of plate and cased axial fans introduced by Helios.

All the pump requirements of the world’s first lifeboat college, opened recently by the Queen, are met by a range of equipment from Grundfos.

Valve manufacturer Hattersley is working on its largest-ever single order — supplying control valves for Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport.

To facilitate future service and maintenance for two extensions to a hospital in Hampshire, Oventrop has supplied all the mechanical-services valves, TRVs and isolation and gas valves for the new boilerhouse. Oventrop also supplied boiler ancillary and gas-supply valves.

Mitsubishi Electric’s TG2000 control system is making possible sophisticated control of a major VRF air-conditioning system at Birmingham Business Park in Solihull.

The application of integrated building-management technology at Oxford Brookes University has had a dramatic and positive impact on the management of the site.

Colt International has completed its first water-source heat-pump installation in the UK to provide energy-efficient climate control to the newly opened cardiology day unit at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Harlow. The project follows over 50 installations in Europe, particularly Holland and Germany.

A sophisticated ventilation system to maintain a negative pressure of up to –100 Pa has been installed by Hills Mechanical & Electrical for an advanced animal-health laboratory in the south of England. It is part of a services installation valued at £2.5 million, half the total cost of the project.

Secure Web Services has addressed the problem of high temperatures affecting its servers by installing a Breezair evaporative air-cooling system in its new headquarters at Telford. The system provides cooling at a fraction of the cost of air conditioning. The central plant is is installed at the rear of the building, with ducting to the server rooms and offices.

Not only did the McQuay Easdale AHUs for the new Weill Cornell Medical College near Dohar in Qatar have to be designed to fit the technical specification of the building, but they also had to meet the constraints of standard shipping containers. This resulted in the 23 Easdale systems being shipped in 112 containers, each 40 ft long and represented a £1.6 million order for design, supply and commissioning.

The use of plastics-based pipes for above-ground drainage systems aids the spread of fire, according to tests carried out in a German research laboratory.

With the formal consultation process for the new Part L of the Building Regulations closing this month, MIKE DUGGAN highlights its scope and the issues raised.

SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building-services engineering, is looking for nominations for the fifth annual National Training Awards for the HVACR industry. Celebrating the best young apprentices and engineers throughout the industry, the even at the British Library on 16 March, will all award new management talent and present bursaries to enable students to further their education in the sector.

The Avanti programme to encourage collaborative working on construction projects has agreed the second of its core projects. It is to support the design team for St Helens & Knowsley NHS Trust on the £305 million new development that will rationalise its healthcare facilities at Whiston, St Helens and Newton. Avanti is a Partners in Innovation Programme supported by DTI with £750 000 over three years; it is a programme of live construction projects designed to achieve and measure IT-enabled business improvements at project level.

Fourteen air-conditioning contractors from LG’s ‘Love golf’ tournament qualifying round in the UK are off to Portugal next Spring for the finals in Quinta de Lago, one of the world’s premier golfing resorts. There were two UK tournaments — one for the south at Donnington Grove and one for the north at Breadsall Priory. In all 120 air-conditioning contractors competed.

BSRIA has won a £208 000 contract to help achieve best-practice levels of health and safety, quality and productivity performance of the Arts Quarter construction project in Chelmsford.

Opened last month by HRH The Princess Royal, the new Fleet Headquarters of the Royal Navy adjoins a Site of Special Scientific Interest — and is itself a building combining the latest in energy efficiency and environmentally conscious design.

With the order to supply air conditioning for the world’s new tallest building, Carrier is now cooling eight of the 10 tallest buildings in the world. At 508 m high, the Taipei Financial Centre in Taiwan has taken over the title from Petronas Towers (452 m).

Aceri has completed its acquisition of Cymap’s building-services software and associated business software.

David Hills, chief executive of contractor Hills Electrical & Mechanical, gives the ‘Oscar’ treatment to innovative ideas in the industry at a dinner at Birmingham Botanical Gardens last month. The event recognises and rewards contributions to innovation, sustainability and whole-life costs.

Baxi has brought together five operating divisions as Baxi Commercial. The new company has a turnover of £100 million a year and a workforce of 600.

Building-services contractor Inviron is adopting a new approach to disposing of its redundant computers by making them availble to disadvantaged communities in the West Midlands, instead of recycling them.

Air-movement company CCL Veloduct is moving into motorcycling racing by sponsoring a 3-man team competing in this year’s KRC Endurance Championship. The rider of the 1000 cc Suzuki GSXR is Austen Reid (aka Scud Missile), group sales director of Vent-Axia. Austen and his Vent-Axia team will compete in a series of five endurance races, each lasting six hours — or until the last rider comes off.

The service arms of leading Novar brands Trend, Gent and Bardic have been integrated into one building-services maintenance company. Called Novar Services, it provides skilled support for building owners and users to ensure the continued effectiveness of environmental controls, fire systems and emergency lighting. The new business starts with a customer base comprising over 20 000 sites.

Bookings for the industry’s double show at NEC from 1 to 3 March — RAC 05 and H&V 05 — are reported to be surging ahead.

New construction orders in the year to August 2004 rose by 2% compared to the previous 12-month period, according to figures from the Department of Trade & Industry — despite a 25% slump in infrastructure orders for the period.

Terry Wyatt, chairman of CIBSE’s Carbon Task Group, has responded to new research data from Hawaii showing an acceleration in the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, with the statement: ‘Climate change is a reality, and these new findings suggest that the increase in global temperature is itself having the effect of increasing the carbon-dioxide concentration in the atmosphere over and above than produced by human activity.

When the new Part L of the Building Regulations comes into force at the end of 2005, the energy performance of new buildings should improve by about 25%. The consultation period has just ended, and it is clear that the skills of building-services engineers will be put to the test in reducing carbon emissions arising from heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting by a further 10% over the Part L that came into effect in April 2002. Combined with a requirement for renewable energy systems, the stage would seem to be set fair for a reduced energy consumption for buildings and, hence, lower carbon emissions.

York’s YFC-E range of fan-coil units are designed for UK market requirements. The design philosophy was aimed at countering the problems of on-site installation, so factory prefabrication includes the fitting of standard York controls or those requested by the client. Delivery can be achieved in three to four weeks, or earlier for standard units. All units are factory tested