2007 September

Despite the heating industry’s excellent response to Part L2 and L2a of the Building Regulations, which has seen the move towards high-efficiency boilers gather pace since April 2006, Graham Williamson argues that standard-efficiency appliances still have a major role to play in the non-domestic sector.

Refurbishing or upgrading existing heating plant provides the opportunity to deliver very significant increases in efficiency but there are a number of factors that need to be taken into account. Kevin Stones takes a look at the key considerations.

Multi-service chilled beams remove the need for suspended ceilings, resulting in greater room height and more usable space. But their benefits in refurbishment projects don’t stop there, as Terry Farthing explains.

As part of the comprehensive of the 2700 m2 Apollo office building in Ruislip, Space Airconditioning supplied equipment for a Daikin VRVII heat-recovery heat-pump air-conditioning system to replace a chilled-water fan-coil system.

Heather Jefferson explains how best to exploit the energy-saving potential of CHP plant in existing buildings to produce power, heating — and cooling.

The quality of lighting has been significantly improved and energy costs halved in the main distribution centre of RS Components at Corby by upgrading from high-pressure sodium to Venture Lighting’s pulse-start metal-halide lamps and Ventronic dimming system.

There are more benefits to be gained from controlling lighting than energy savings. The reductions in maintenance costs can be even more important. Mark Andrew explains how good lighting control can help slash maintenance costs.

The benefits of modern fluorescent tubes can be exploited without having to replace lighting fittings using Save It Easy components from ECSL.

The hot-water system servicing a prestigious hotel overlooking Loch Ness has been has been upgraded with an Andrews Hi-Flo LPG-fired storage water heater. It supplies the 15 guest room in the Inchnacardoch Lodge Hotel, the kitchen and all the hotel’s domestic hot water.

As part of the £10 million refurbishment of the student-union building at Brunel University, Kingspan’s pre-insulated ducting system was installed to distribute air throughout the building, including the student nightclub Academy.

Promoting and delivering sustainable buildings is a key role, even a responsibility, of building-services engineers. Dave Cheshire and Hywel Davies share their ideas on what they should be delivering — and how.

Industrial-heating manufacturer AmbiRad Group and CA Building Products, which makes metal envelope systems for buildings, have joined forces to promote an energy-saving heating system for commercial and industrial buildings.

Attitudes to safety within Balfour Kilpatrick have been boosted by the delivery of a behavioural safety training module to 2150 operatives of this multi-services contractor and its subcontractors.

SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the building-services-engineering sector, has welcomed the Government’s plans for the implementation of the Leitch Review and the recommendations it makes for the sector.

Briggs & Forrester has won a £7.5 million contract for the design and installation of mechanical, electrical and public-health services at The Pinnacle in Milton Keynes. The contract was awarded by Marriott Construction.

Airedale Service has taken on its first-ever apprentices. They are Stuart Onyett, 19, and Shaun Woolacott, 17 — both of Kent. Their recruitment is part of a new grow-your-own policy adopted by Airedale Services. Adrian Trevelyan, Airedale service and maintenance manager, explains, ‘We have adopted this approach because of the difficulty of recruiting good services engineers where we need them and because we have to travel them into these areas.’

Climate-change minister in Scotland, Stewart Stevenson, wants to see new houses in Scotland meet Scandinavian standards, enabling householders to significantly reduce their energy user and bills.

Perth Concert Hall in Scotland, for which Buro Happold was building-services consulting engineer, has won the project-of-the-year category at the International Building Services Awards for 2007.

Reducing waste on site, using sustainable materials and increasing skills in the workforce are some targets set out for the construction industry in a draft strategy for sustainable construction prepared by the Government and the industry.

Hurleypalmerflatt has been appointed as lead consultant and M&E engineer on the £1 million improvements to the Earth Gallery offices at the Natural History Museum in London.

Ability Projects has won NG Bailey’s sustainability award for 2007 at its recent national-supplier conference in Leeds. The award was for the EC Matrix modular and electronically balancing fan-coil system for air conditioning.

The Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association and air-conditioning specialist Daikin UK have signed a partnership to highlight their shared commitment to raising installation standards and promoting best practice across the UK contracting sector. The agreement is called ‘Striving for excellence’.

Building-services provider NG Bailey’s operating profit for the year to 2 March 2007 rose by over a third to just over £12 million from just under £9 million the previous year. Net assets rose from just over £68 million to nearly £83 million.

Brian Taylor of national ventilation specialist SK (Sales) hauled in a catfish of 132 lb when Flakt Woods took four staff from two key distributors to chase the massive catfish on the River Ebro in Spain.

The British Property Federation has backed Government plants to scrap the ‘Merton rule’, which requires a building to generate 10 to 20% of its energy through onsite renewables, on the basis that investing in inefficient onsite renewable-energy sources is simply not the best way to reduce carbon emissions.

Balfour Kilpatrick has been awarded a £10 million contact to supply and install HVAC, electrical and plumbing services for the Paradise Project in Liverpool. This large £920 million retail-led mixed-use development comprising over 30 buildings, each with its own distinct character.

Former heart-surgery patient Kevin Padmore, OEM sales manager for Wilo Intec (right), will be a Heart Runner in this year’s New York Marathon to raise funds for the British Heart Foundation. He will don his official BHF Heart Runners vest, along with French colleague Vincent Fleurier, to run the course on 4 November. He is aiming to raise at least £2500 to help the charity in its fight against heart and circulatory disease, the UK’s biggest killer.

To encourage more students to study science and engineering, the Confederation of British Industry has proposed a bursary of £1000 a year per student. The suggestion has been made against the background of a decline over many years in the study of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. Its total cost is put at around £200 million a year.

The newly refurbished dining room at Bolton Wanders’ training complex is heated by CM fan convectors from Dunham Bush. The units were selected for their small footprint, high heating capacity and low-noise operation.

Luminaires on 10 refurbished floors of the 36 000 m2 One Exchange Square building in the City of London are controlled under DALI protocol by Simmtronic systems using Tridonic ballasts. This 12-storey building has recently been acquired by KanAm Grund, one of Germany’s leading fund managers for open-ended real-estate funds and asset manager of international real-estate investment.

Scorpion Power Systems has replaced a standby power system at the German Embassy in Belgrave Square, London, which was obsolete and unable to support the building’s growing infrastructure, with a technologically advanced power support system. It was the decision of Frank Bernhardt, engineer at the embassy, to replace the old generator with a back-up power system that would support operations facilities, telephones and essential services.

Raychem electric underfloor heating systems have been installed in all 95 bathrooms of the Kempinski Hotel Charles V in Bruges, Belgium. The development involves the restoration and redevelopment of a former convent and a castle in the medieval city centre to create what will be Bruges’ only 5-star hotel.

Having waited for a school building in Coventry to be stripped of asbestos, Weatherite Building Service was able to install a new kitchen ventilation system at Westwood School.

With the support of boiler manufacturer Glow-worm providing full training for all its engineers, Torfaen County Borough Council in South Wales achieved an almost perfect record for boiler servicing last year. All but a handful of its properties had their domestic heating boilers serviced on or before time — with a 99.9% independently verified score on a stock of over 7300 units.

A windowless staff room in a Victorian school building has been transformed into a bright and attractive environment following the installation of two Solatube daylighting systems to replace flexible tubes that had been installed even though Solatube had been specified.

LG’s Eco V energy-recovery ventilation units are designed to save energy in air-conditioned buildings and dramatically improve indoor air quality. A washable particle filter can trap particles smaller than tobacco smoke.

The HydroFlame flame-effect fireplace from Smith’s Environmental Products combines a fan-convector heater served by a wet central-heating system and built-in thermostatic control. The flame effect is created by an energy-saving light bulb and specially developed ribbons moved by circulating air to give the impression of a real fire. Dual models also have an electric heating element.

Two new products from Xpelair are designed to provide energy-efficient ventilation in homes. They are the Xcell 270 mechanical-ventilation and heat-recovery unit (MHVR)and the Premier LV UltraDC fan.

MHS Boilers now offers commercial-scale biomass boilers working in partnership with wood-heating specialist Econergy. Boilers are available with outputs from 25 kW to 1 MW.

Airflow’s Duplexvent range of compact, commercial unit ventilators with heat recovery use counterflow heat-exchanger technology to achieve a recovery efficiency of 80%.

The Lennox Aircoolair ducted split range of air-conditioning products is now available using R410A with capacities from 19 to 134 kW.

Fläkt Woods’ MaXfan range for high-pressure commercial kitchen canopy extraction systems now has an electronic speed controller optimised for pressure. They are available for single- and 3-phase operation in diameters from 400 to 630 mm and static pressures up to 600 Pa.

Honeywell’s BA295 compact backflow preventer ensures that contaminated water cannot flow back into the public mains supply. These valves are designed to meet all requirements of the UK Water Regulations Advisory Scheme and use the well proven RPZ (reduced pressure zone) principle.

A device that will automatically protect building risers from destructive surges and water hammer is available from Grundfos.

Buderus has added to its range of commercial boilers available in the UK with the GB312 range of floor-standing gas-fired condensing boilers. Their modulating premix burners use a lower velocity of gas and air than normal, making it one of the quietest condensing boilers on the market.

Vaillant’s ecoTEC exclusive condensing combination boiler can provide space heating and domestic hot water for larger domestic properties. There are two models, with DHW outputs of 32 and 38 kW.

The Construction Confederation has published a definitive DVD guide to help the industry cope with the changes to the Construction (Design & Management) Regulations (CDM 1007).

The 2007/8 edition of the directory and buyers’ guide of the British Pump Manufacturers’ Association includes an update on all current directives affecting the pump industry. The latest guide also includes a new-products section and a good selection of generic articles from association members.

Danfoss-Randall has totally revised its web site to provide comprehensive information on the selection of the correct heating controls for an installation. Although structured around Danfoss products, the information and advice can be readily applied to controls generally. Information covers the following types of controls: commercial and domestic TRVs; time controls; electrical and electronic thermostats; underfloor heating; automatic and manual balancing valves; motorised valves and other controls.

To highlight the responsibilities of users of fans in potentially explosive atmospheres under the ATEX Directive, The Fan Manufacturers’ Association has produced a 2-page leaflet.

Air-conditioning service and maintenance specialist Delrac ACS has updated its web site. It now details the company’s full range of services, alongside project descriptions that include work for Smiths Group and the Royal College of Music.