The Government’s nationwide drive to improve schools with over £9 billion investment proved a popular and controversial topic at this year’s BSRIA Briefing, held in London in November. Over 500 delegates heard speakers discuss the progress being made on the Building Schools for the Future programme — but not all were agreed on its success.

The sustainability plan for the London Olympic games in 2012 includes addressing climate-change issues by minimising greenhouse-gas emissions and ensuring that legacy facilities can cope with the impact of climate change.

The early involvement of specialist contractors at design stage is the only way the building-services industry will deliver great efficiency on construction projects. That was the message from a one-day summit at Wembley to highlight the concerns of the £19.3 billion building-services industry.

The timetable for bringing in energy performance certificates (EPCs) for buildings has been delayed. The Department for Communities & Local Government has set a starting date for new buildings from April 2008, with certificates for buildings being sold or rented phased in between April and October. Display certificates for public buildings will be required from October 2008.

Elta Fans, which makes and supplies fans and air-movement products, has become a patron of the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineering, reinforcing its dedication to strengthening the quality of the building-services industry.

Building Services Engineering Training is increasing the number of apprenticeship places it offers by 50% next year, helping the organisation’s aim of promoting and supporting the building-services engineering sector.

Hard on the heels of major and rapid growth over the last 18 months, Trox has expanded its senior team. Managing director David Leatherbarrow explains, ‘The business has grown by 50% over the last 18 months, and with the success of Trox advanced IT cooling systems we needed to increase the skills within the business to maintain and improve our customer service levels — and that process is still continuing across the business at all levels.’

Nick Brown, MP, Minister for North East England (left) opens a state-of-the-art biodiesel CHP system at the New & Renewable Energy Centre. The Clothier Laboratories at the Hebburn research centre will host the first demonstration project in the UK of a new generation of CHP engines fuelled by 100% biodiesel.

Following its recent acquisition of Ex-Or, Honeywell has announced significant investment to increase manufacturing capacity by 50% over the next 18 months.

Red Engineering Design’s innovative approach to M&E design has won the practice first prize in the green award category of the 2007 HSBC Start-up Stars Awards. The company was selected from over 1200 entries for its innovative approach to minimising the environmental impact of buildings and helping end clients reduce their carbon footprint.

The £200 million regeneration of Middlesbrough’s Middlehaven Docks by sustainable-community developer BioRegional Quintain will be known as RiversideOne. It will have a striking landscape of contemporary architecture for living, work and leisure. Designed by award-winning architect Will Alsop, it will include waterfront homes, offices and leisure facilities at what will be the largest zero-carbon development in the UK.

The HVCA’s ‘SFG20 — standard maintenance specification for building services’ is now web-based — making it easier to use and allowing it to be regularly updated in line with changing regulations and best practice.

Grundfos Pumps has opened a new 1000 m2 European Competence Centre in Hungary and a third 25 000 m2 factory at Szekesfehervar, 60 km from the factory at Tatabanya, which was opened in 2001 and extended in 2005.

Low-carbon professionals, buildings and projects are to be rewarded at a new event organised by the Chartered Institution of Building Services. It will focus on real, measurable improvements and progress, rather than on problems and possible solutions. The event will also publicise these achievements to the building-services sector, to its clients and to the wider public.

Heating installer Neil Plimmer and his driving partner Geoff Fawcett have won the Uniroyal Fun Cup motor-racing series for the second year running in their Team Honeywell car. The races are endurance events on major circuits, including Brands Hatch and Snetterton. They feature regularly on Sky Sport TV.

Business in consultancy and engineering in the UK is continuing to grow, according to the latest state-of-business report from the Association for Consultancy & Engineering.

Warmafloor’s new headquarters substantially outperforms Building Regulations that came into force after it was designed. And managing director Mike Lamb wants to share his experiences with the setting up of a sustainable energy centre

Ron Bernstein foresees the future of building controls being driven by the evolution of the master systems integrator.

Cistermiser, which is widely known for its device for controlling automatic flushing cisterns, has been thinking more widely about improving the functionality and water use of washrooms.

There’s a powerful environmental and economic case for underfloor heating in large spaces, says Mike Lamb.

Demonstrating that form and function do not have to be mutually exclusive is this stylish bench radiator from Jaga Heating Products. Providing an interesting focal point for areas such as lobbies and public spaces, this freestanding unit is available in lengths from 1.2 to 2.8 m and outputs from 2.2 to 5.1 kW. Standard colours are white or sandblast or sandblast grey metallic.

Intelligent controls can reduce the annual fuel consumption of combi boilers by up to 15%. Owen Mace explains how.

Emmeti UK has improved its manifold for radiators and underfloor heating with the addition of a flow meter for each circuit to speed up commissioning, two drain-off and filling points (rather than one) that can be used at the same time — also to speed up commissioning. A Grundfos pump is also incorporated into a full pre-assemble manifold.

Look closely at the object on the wall at the far end of this room. Believe it or not, it’s a radiator. Its manufacturer, Jaga Heating Products, describes it as ‘the beautiful Heatwave radiator’.

Creda’s electric underfloor heating mats are just 3 mm thick and can be used with any type of flooring, including ceramic tiles, carpet, laminate or wooden floors.

Phil Marris explains how the latest technology for low-surface-temperature radiators delivers safety and energy-efficient performance.

Lars Fabricius of SAV Modules explains how new heat-exchange technology can bring the benefits of their own combi boiler to dwellings served by central boilers.

David Hearne reflects on the demands placed on wet space-heating systems by the trend towards lower flow temperatures — and how radiators can still feature in such systems.

Ferroli has two wall-hung condensing boilers to its range. They have outputs of 80 and 125 kW and can be installed singly or in banks for higher outputs.

How do you install underfloor heating underneath a wooden suspended floor? Bill McConnel offers a range of solutions.

The new low-surface-temperature version of Dunham-Bush’s AM series of fan convectors ensures that surface temperatures do not exceed 43°C.

Honeywell has made it much easier and faster to install energy-saving controls for underfloor heating and radiator systems served via a manifold. The HCE80 wireless manifold controller works with existing Honeywell wireless heating programmers and thermostats. It can be mounted close to the manifold, and there are no control cables between the rooms being heated.

Lochinvar has introduced a new version of its CP-M high-efficiency condensing boiler for commercial use. These wall-hung condensing boilers have pre-mix modulating burners and can incorporate additional on-board options, including control of up to four different zones, providing a cost-effective alternative to a full building-management system.

BSS Industrial now offers its own-brand radiator — The BOSS RIOpanel. It is the result of collaboration between manufacturer Hudevad and complements the BOSS range of thermostatic radiator valves launched early this year.

Two Vaillant wall-hung condensing boilers have replaced an old industrial boiler to provide heating and hot water for a private GP practice in London. Vaillant supplied two ecoMAX 65 kW boilers, a low-loss header, condensate pump and air and dirt separator for Chase lodge in Mill Hill.

Combining the function of a radiator with the aesthetics of an open fire is Smith's Industries” Hydroflame, which is regularly installed in homes by Wrexham Maelor Borough Council.

A new approach to bleeding radiators has been developed by Homeguard.

Ambi-Rad’s new Vision range of energy-efficient radiant-tube heaters have been installed in the two buildings of Ash & Lacy at West Bromwich to replace a warm-air system.

Flakt Woods has updated its Express Direct range of fans and published a new price-list catalogue.

Sontay’s 2008 catalogue of control peripheral products is available in hard copy, as a CD-ROM or for downloading as a pdf file. The catalogue details product features, service improvements and competitive pricing information on its comprehensive and recently extended range.

To help contractors and consultants calculate the seasonal energy efficiency ratio of its VRF air-conditioning systems, Toshiba has devised a calculation spreadsheet based on Microsoft Excel. This information is now required as part of the calculations for overall building energy performance.

ELECSA is running a series of free open evenings on the seventeenth edition of the Wiring Regulations. They will be held at a choice of locations around the country.

The United Kingdom Water Treatment Association has developed a web site to provide a range of information on water treatment. It outlines the scope of the four key technology areas it represents (chemical water treatment, water softening, water conditioning and drinking-water filters and membranes). It also deals with frequently asked questions.

BSRIA has developed a toolkit for designers and contractors covering handover, O&M manuals and project feedback. It runs to 114 pages and updates and combines TN15/95 ‘Handover information for building services’ and AG1/87.1 ‘Operating and maintenance manuals.

When you have 95 seconds to spare, Honeywell invites you to look at its video of its CentraLine Lion building controller being installed and commissioned. The clip is on YouTube and the CentraLine City web site.

Aura Corporation’s brochure on its Actulite polarised daylighting explains how its emits light closely resembling natural daylight. This is achieved by combining the patented Actulite multi-layered light-polarising filter with high-frequency control gear and specially manufactured triphosphor full-spectrum fluorescent tubes.

Elta Fans has updated its interactive CD to make fan selection quicker and easier. This latest version offers new product ranges, updated smoke and hazardous-area selections in relation to the latest standards, the addition of system curves and actual operating points to performance data and the ability to calculate idling losses for axial fans.

The ductwork sector must take advantage of the current healthy state of the market to tackle contractual abuses and poor profit margins. Modern Building Services reports from the first joint HVCA/ADCAS ductwork conference.

The ductwork sector must take advantage of the current healthy state of the market to tackle contractual abuses and poor profit margins. Modern Building Services reports from the first joint HVCA/ADCAS ductwork conference.

The ductwork sector must take advantage of the current healthy state of the market to tackle contractual abuses and poor profit margins. Modern Building Services reports from the first joint HVCA/ADCAS ductwork conference.

Tony Millard highlights how merely meeting the requirements of Part L can jeopardise the efficiency of air-handling units.

Tony Millard highlights how merely meeting the requirements of Part L can jeopardise the efficiency of air-handling units.

Xpelair’s XPress range of duct fans is said to provide very high pressure development, volume and efficiency — enabling significantly smaller ductwork to be used than with conventional inline fans.

Lindab has introduced a machine for cutting spiral ductwork on site. The SR Cutter can be used for all types of spiral ducting within the dimensional limitations, including LindabSafe products.

Addvent has introduced a range of powerful built-in commercial wall fans for both public and commercial applications. They are designed for a space-saving flush fit into walls and are made of high-impact ABS thermoplastics for strength and durability.

Passivent’s Enhanced Digital Controller for its natural-ventilation system now qualifies for Enhanced Capital Allowances, so that all of its cost and associated installation work can be offset against tax in the first year — rather than at 25% a year on a reducing basis.

A 50% difference between the energy consumption of old and new hospital buildings at the Turku University Hospital (TYKS) in Finland has been attributed the installation of 50 Flakt Woods EU air-handling units to integrate all energy functions, such as heat recovery, heating and cooling.

Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery for larger dwellings is provided by Xpelair Xcell 270 unit. It uses the latest UltraDC technology for reduce energy consumption in operation and increase its life up to fivefold.

Ventilation is essential for buildings. As their energy performance improves, the proportion of energy required to deliver ventilation increases. Joe Barasso discusses strategies for efficient ventilation.

Titon’s Trimvent Select Xtra 5000 trickle vent can be installed in replacement windows to provide the 5000 m2 of equivalent area that is needed in habitable rooms to comply with the requirements of Part F of the Building Regulations and to conform to the best-practice guidelines of the Glass & Glazing Federation.

VRF air-conditioning systems from Panasonic’s Urban Multi range installed as part of the rolling refurbishment of the Kensington Centre office building near Olympia in London are reducing energy consumption by 20% compared with the previous systems. Individual VRF systems are being installed on each floor, facilitating more efficient cost management.

The scope of Cooper Lighting & Security’s lighting product range is reflected in the installation for the £65 million waterfront campus of Doncaster College.

Among the benefits of installing the Advanced Ergonomic Technologies Flexible Space System incorporating Hiross underfloor air conditioning in the Nina Tower in Hong Kong is a considerable reduction in building height.

In what is believed to be the largest single-order for fan-coil units in the UK, Trox has supplied 3500 waterside FCUs for the £187 million Bishops Square office development in Spitalfields, London. Trox has also supplied a selection of grilles and diffusers.

When Weatherite refurbished a former stockholding warehouse for stainless steel to manufacture air-handling units and air-conditioning equipment, it chose radiant-tube heating from Ambi-Rad.

Xpelair PassivAir ventilation systems installed in the futuristic new Bridge School in Islington in north London are reducing energy costs by 40% and significantly reducing carbon emissions.

Daikin’s recently introduced Roundflow air-conditioning cassette is helping to deliver a quality environment in a new commercial development near Poole by providing 360° radial air distribution that ensures against local draughts and provides more uniform air distribution than other cassettes. 47 FCQ Roundflow ceiling cassettes have been installed throughout the project.

As part of the services installation at the new Horbury High School in Wakefield, SAS 600 acoustic lighting rafts were designed to incorporate radiant heating panels from sister company HCP. These rafts were located with lighting considerations in mind to ensure the most comfortable and productive working environment. They are therefore typically located at a height of 2.7 m.

An intelligent method of venting smoke in the event of a fire in the Skyline Central apartment and health-club complex in Manchester is provided by a system devised by SE Controls.

More than 20 years on since Vapac Humidity Control installed humidifiers for tobacco company Gallaher in Weybridge, the company has been called in to replace them.

‘If you can’t stand the heat in the kitchen...’ is rapidly being replaced by ‘if you can’t stand the cold in the kitchen...’ as the DW172 ventilation regulation requiring heat and fume extraction from commercial kitchens takes effect. The result is that many kitchens are finding their once super-heated environments are now too cold.

Andrews Water Heaters has kicked off its involvement with the 2012 Olympic Games with the supply of water heaters for the Lee Valley Athletics Centre. This Olympics training facility was opened recently by Tessa Jowell and is at Picketts Lock in Edmonton.

The new Radisson SAS Waterfront Hotel in Jersey has its hot-water requirements met by direct-gas-fired water heaters from Lochinvar. Five Charger CE600 water heaters and five LST166 energy-saving cylinders provide hot water for the 195 bedrooms, plus the health centre and swimming-pool facilities.

Liverpool’s newest concert venue has its cable-management requirements met by systems supplied by Legrand.

Seven of Star Refrigeration’s energy-efficient air-cooled Indigochiller packages have replaced aging water chillers at the Wellcome Trust Genome Campus research facility near Cambridge to serve air-conditioning systems.

Temperatures in Reykjavik rarely rise above 12°C, even in summer, but that has not prevented Iceland’s largest hotel installing an automatic system to open windows in bedrooms and meeting rooms to provide natural ventilation.

Space Airconditioning has supplied three Daikin air-cooled liquid chillers for a prestigious office building in St Mary’s Axe in the City of London.

Condensing boilers and solar thermal panels are combined with Geminox Modusat satellite heating units to provided independent heating for the 98 apartments for the Mount Anvil development on Atlanta Boulevard in Romford.

As part of Marks & Spencer’s remodelling of its stores, Matrix Control Solutions is upgrading building-management systems in 13 stores using controllers from Priva Building Intelligence.

To provide flexibility for leasing the recently completed West Strand Business Park in Preston, Airmaster Air Conditioning has installed 16 Toshiba R410A VRF systems with heat recovery.

To help create a low-energy building for the humanities faculty at the University of Manchester, Oventrop’s Aquastrom T Plus valves are used in three independent DHW systems. Other Oventrop valves include general and commissioning valves and 350 TRV/lockshield combinations. The valves were specified by DSSR’s Manchester office and installed by NG Bailey.

Armstrong’s ARMflo commissioning valves have a fixed orifice to achieve an accuracy of at least ±5% from 1.2 to five full turns. Variable-orifice valves, in contrast, can achieve this level of accuracy only when they are fully open.

Gripple has identified another benefit of its suspension system for mechanical and electrical services — lower carbon-dioxide emissions associated with its manufacture, transport and installation.

The XPress Carbon range of press-fit fittings from Pegler Yorkshire has been extended with the addition of 67 mm fittings.

Philips Lighting has introduced a compact fluorescent lighting system that uses 50% less electricity than other CFLs.

Plate heat exchangers and thermal wheels made by Klingenburg of Germany are being marketed in the UK by Reznor as an approach to reducing the energy needed for heating buildings.

A new inverter-controlled chiller from Daikin Europe can provide chilled water for air conditioning and also replace a conventional gas boiler in ambient temperatures down to -12°C.

Lochinvar’s EcoKnight fully condensing gas-fired water heater is available as five models with hot-water outputs from 710 to 2400 l/h, based on a temperature rise of 50 K.

Lochinvar’s EcoKnight fully condensing gas-fired water heater is available as five models with hot-water outputs from 710 to 2400 l/h, based on a temperature rise of 50 K.

Grundfos has added two new versions to its IMpress pressurisation units.

Downlighters using LEDs as the light source and using 80% less energy than a conventional MR16 luminaire have been tested by BSI. As a result these luminaires from EcoLEDLighitng fully comply with Part L of the Building Regulations.

Daikin’s VRVIII heat-recovery VRV air-conditioning system can serve up to 64 indoor units from a single outdoor unit, compared to 40 for a VRVII unit, in increments of 2 hp up to 48 hp.

Honeywell offers a range of valves to control the temperature of hot water to wash-hand basins, showers and baths. They conform to standards such as Buildcert TM3 for healthcare premises and the domestic TMV2. Other valves comply with the TMV3 standard to offer the maximum protection for facilities used by vulnerable people such as the elderly, young children or the mentally or physically disabled.

To simplify the checking of pipework using Pegler Yorkshire’s XPress Copper fittings, they have three leak paths which are not closed until these fittings are properly pressed. The leaks are small but very noticeable on sizes from 15 to 54 mm and visible but less noticeable on sizes from 67 to 108 mm.

Honeywell has obtained eu.bac (European Building Automation Controls Association) certification for its XL10 controller for fan-coil units.

CentraLine’s MT010-N linear thermo-electric valve actuator provides precise operating of water valves in heating and air-conditioning systems. It can be used with many types of 2-way and 3-way valves as well as thermostatic radiator valves (M30 x 1.5). It snaps easily onto the valve without a tool.

The Balticare Dolphin System is a water-treatment programme that uses only a small amount of a single chemical to control scaling, corrosion, fouling and bacteriological growth in cooling towers and evaporative condensers.

Airedale’s TurboChill air-cooled high-capacity chiller is its most efficient yet. Among energy-saving features are centrifugal Turbocor with a number of cutting-edge components.

Casino architectural luminaires from Riegens Lighting come as five different fittings with one common theme — functioning in the same way as daylight, whilst interacting harmoniously with it.

Amtech has completely rewritten its software for electrical contractors, consultants and engineers in preparation for the 17th edition of the Wiring Regulations, due to be published in January 2008.

Cablofil has been awarded local-authority building-control-system approval by Halton Borough Council for its self-contained fire-stop system, EZ-Path.

National pumps specialist AMS has been named pump distributor of the year at the BPMA industry awards.

To help combat infections in hospitals, Crabtree has developed a range of anti-microbial electrical switches and socket outlets. They incorporate a silver additive which prevents the ability of micro-organisms to reproduce.

Sontay has formed a partnership with Echelon to distribute its LonWorks automation infrastructure products for energy and building-control applications. Included in the range is the i.LON internet server, which offers the ability to remotely control and monitor assets whilst reducing energy and maintenance costs.

Viessmann has won the 2008 Corgi Installer Live award for gas safety with its Vitodens 200W boiler range. The control system on these boilers are designed to ensure that they work efficiently and safely with whatever type of natural gas is delivered — an important feature with new types of natural gas coming on stream.

Ellipse is a user-friendly lighting control time lag switch with simple push-button controls from CP Electronics Ltd.

Wilo is celebrating winning the environmental/energy saving award category from a shortlist of five companies at the Pump Industry Awards.

Mercury Recycling has been awarded a contract to collect and recycle end-of-life lamps from 40 Vodafone premises across the UK. Mercury’s specially-designed Lampsafe containers are located on site for the safe storage and transportation of used lamps.

As part of its expansion of its distributor base in Scotland, Danfoss Drives has appointed Sinelco Control Gear as Drives Partner for Glasgow and the west of Scotland. Based in the Hillington area, Sinelco is a well-established distributor of control gear and has earned a sound reputation for excellent support and delivery.

New site-accommodation company Konstructa Hire has unveiled a new website to help customers find a solution to their site-accommodation requirements.

KAC has introduced ExitPoint directional sound technology which, when triggered to a fire system, attracts people towards its source in both good and poor visibility. The units emit pulses of low, medium and high broadband noise which make it possible for people to accurately identify the source location. In tests, these directional sound units reduced evacuation times by up to 75% by aurally directing people to the nearest emergency exit.

Flex connectors has supplied its Flex 7 lighting connection equipment for Sense Scotland’s new resource centre in Glasgow. Sense Scotland provides innovative services for children and adults with complex needs arising from deafness, blindness or sensory impairment, learning or physical disability.

Fireco has been appointed to run fire-awareness training courses for staff from schools owned and run by GDST (Girls’ Day School Trust), the largest group of independent schools in the UK with 20 000 pupils and over 3500 staff.