To aid installation on site of Daikin VRV-II air conditioning equipment providing 975 kW of cooling for refurbishing a 1960s building in London, distributor Space Airconditioning supplied a range of extra services.

A programmable logic controller for Mitsubishi Electric’s City Multi air-conditioning range allows easy automatic interlocking, with multiple units controlled through card-key readers, passive infra-red devices, window contacts and over-ride switches. This PLC system links to the G50 and baby G50 controllers and is designed for applications such as hotels where it has been difficult to accurately control individual units in each room because of the localised setting of each guest.

The pressures placed on the cricket teams in the final match of the Ashes series at the Oval this summer were reflected in the demands placed on the air-conditioning system for the new £25 million OCS stand.

Toshiba’s latest VRF range is a 3-pipe heat-recovery system. The SHRM2 series offers 22 to 84 kW of cooling from a single inverter-driven system and up to 95 kW of heating. R410A is the refrigerant.

The popularity of Daikin’s VRV air conditioning in hotels is reflected by the installation in the Tulip Inn at North Harbour, Portsmouth. Golden Tulip Hotels are regarded as superior-quality establishments. This hotel has 108 guest rooms on five floors, complemented by quiet lounge areas, stylish and contemporary restaurant and bars, three well equipped meeting rooms and a spacious reception.

Changes to the Building Regulations could require the energy performance of commercial buildings to be reduced by 28% compared with the 2002 regulations. NIGEL POTTER discusses the philosophy behind the latest regulations.

If pupils at school do not know about building-services engineering, how can they express an interest in joining the profession? ANT WILSON shares his experiences in taking the initiative and making them aware of the excitement of engineering.

HARRY BARNITT argues that following standard lighting guidance results in poor installations. One of the main reasons is the failure to put any light on the ceiling.

NEIL JONES describes how lighting control can cut an organisation’s fuel bill and also deliver other key business benefits.

Plug-and play-connectivity has changed installation practices for lighting, so that projects can be speeded up up enormously, as MARK REDFERN explains.

More than halving the time to install a lighting system above a suspended ceiling with the same material cost as traditional materials is what Schneider Electric claims to have achieved with a new flexible busbar system.

An energy-saving lighting-control system for nearly 140 Staples retail outlets nationwide is being provided using Hager’s Tebis TS bus system. The system is also being used to control radiant heaters.

Travel specialist Thomas Cook has re-appointed Parkersell (Lighting & Electrical) Services to manage and maintain lighting and signage throughout its UK travel shops. The work covers over 600 retail outlets. Parkersell’s remit also includes electrical testing and inspection services to ensure that all the travel shops comply with current legislation.

An improved lighting scheme controlled by Eaton’s Studio 3 lighting controls has contributed to restoring the glory of the only Wren church in the City of London.

Whitecroft Lighting has supplied a range of luminaires, including direct/indirect Vector fittings and Mirage downlighters, for a refurbished office block in London.

Chalmor’s Brilliance high-output, energy-efficient light fitting is designed to offer low maintenance with an operating life of 20 000 h before relamping is required. Standard models come with a 5-year warranty on control gear.

Thorn’s Concavia range of high-bay lighting fittings is suitable for everything from retail and commercial premises to heavy industrial buildings. It combines aesthetics with robust construction. There are three sizes of luminaires — small, large and extra large.

Some 10 000 special compact fluorescent luminaires were supplied by Whitecroft Lighting for one of the biggest speculative developments in the City of London. Working with consulting engineers Faber Maunsell, Whitecroft developed a bespoke luminaire to resolve issue of high-volume air handling by designing a bypass system to reduce installed costs at 30 Gresham Street. The luminaires were installed by Emcor Drake & Scull.

To replace and upgrade its existing lighting-control system, the British Library has opted for a system based on the European Installation Bus from Andromeda Telematics.

RIDI Lighting has launched a totally revised range of downlighters. The EBD range is available in five diameters from 150 to 340 mm with compact fluorescent lamps from 11 to 57 W. Various depths are offered, including a very shallow unit only 60 mm deep.

Developing off-site manufacture is a vital element in the future development of contractor NG Bailey, and it brings major benefits to the construction industry — as CAL BAILEY and PHIL GREEN explained to Ken Sharpe

Rick Plummer looks at the not-so-obvious costs that can scupper the most carefully planned budget for heating plant and explains how to avoid them.

Manufacturing plant rooms off site offers a range of benefits, which are increasing all the time

— as STEVE COOPER explains.

Installation time for services for a new office development for British Sky Broadcasting has been halved by using building-services modules designed by MEP Solutions and made off site. The prefabricated modules connect some 60 to 70% of the services on each floor. The rest are piped in the traditional method because of structural considerations and layout.

Cablofil wire-mesh cable trays are being used in modular pre-fabricated services units for Manchester Royal Infirmary, or the Manchester Joint Hospital as it is known.

Armstrong Holden Brooke Pullen now offers configurable HVAC pumping packages that reduce installation time on site and enable designers to select an effective system solution without the high costs and longer lead times associated with bespoke systems.

Geminox now offers prefabricated boiler plant in the UK following success in partner countries.

Skills shortages and skills gaps encapsulate the two greatest concerns of the building-services sector in its need to ensure adequate capacity and capability to deliver projects in the future. Let’s face it, the average age of people in the industry is increasing — and one of the main reasons is that younger people are not entering the industry.

How many people are there with misgivings about the sort of examinations that children at school and students take? Many people wonder about the worth of media studies, psychology, leisure and tourism and a whole range of other courses.

New measures to make buildings more energy efficient will save a million tonnes of carbon a year by 2010, according to an announcement from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and DEFRA last month (September).

The architectural design for this newly completed futuristic building for Stephenson College in Leicestershire has been shortlisted for ‘Building of the year’ in the ProCon Leicestershire Property Awards.

Mechanical contractor Thermal Transfer is part of an alliance team awarded the European Construction Industry ACTIVE ‘Best project of the year award’.

Motorcyclist Jay Fernandez, sponsored by air-conditioning distributor Space Air, is back in the lead of the 2005 MRO SuperTwins Champions after two tough rounds at Knockhill and Cadwell Place.

Design services for this £9 million development at Accrington & Rossendale College are being provided by White Young Green. It has been necessary to pay particular attention to the steeply sloping site, a phased construction programme and keeping the site fully operational.

Daikin Airconditioning UK is moving to new state-of-the-art office in Weybridge. As a result, the next few months will see regional offices in Woking, Redhill and Heston integrated into the new premises.

CIBSE has welcomed the publication of the new Part L of the Building Regulations, which contains many of the institution’s suggestions from the original consultation in 2004. CIBSE expresses disappointment that some measures relating to improving existing dwellings have been dropped, but supports ODPM in its efforts to drive up the energy efficiency of non-domestic buildings.

The Major Projects Agreement (MPA) has had a positive impact on the Terminal 5 project at Heathrow Airport, according to a survey by independent auditors Baker Mallett.

Vaillant Group is boosting capacity at its UK assembly plant at Belper in Derbyshire by 80% to meet soaring demand for high-efficiency boilers. The facility will now operate 24 h a day, six days a week, and employ 60 more staff.

BEST (Building Engineering Services Training) has taken steps to encourage only the highest calibre learners to apply for the limited places offered by employers. The company is a leading training provider for the HVAC&R and plumbing industries and has raised its entrance criteria for craft apprenticeships.

York International’s air-conditioning factory at Basildon is to be closed as part of a major strategic restructuring across York Europe, Middle-East and Africa. The news closely following the announcement by Johnson Controls that it is to Acquire York International for about $3.2 billion.

In response to Government policy to exploit natural, energy-saving solutions in schools, ventilation for classrooms in the new mathematics block at a school in Dorset is provided by Monodraught Windcatcher natural-ventilation units.

As part of the major refurbishment and conversion programme of Morrisons supermarkets, Qualitair QLC low-temperature ceiling cassettes are being installed in the Market Street area of each store. These areas consist of specialist food counters such as a fishmonger, baker and greengrocer. The concept is part of the company’s strategy to offer customers food that has been freshly prepared in the store.

Aga, which makes the cast-iron Aga cooker, has overcome the problem of temperatures in its factory at Telford exceeding 30°C by installing a Breezair evaporative air-cooling system. It has reduced the temperature to less than 25°C.

Replacing four shell-and-tube heat exchangers with plate heat exchangers at Leighton Hospital in Crewe is expected to achieve energy savings of more than £5000 a year. The savings come mainly form improved control. Ken Hardy, estates manager at the hospital, says, ‘The new units are saving energy, because they have eliminated the frequent [temperature] overshoots we used to get.’ Efficiency has been improved by over 5%.

Valves to control domestic hot water and other water services in a hotel with an award-winning exterior were supplied by Oventrop for mechanical-services contractor Bower Fuller. The Oventrop valves have been installed throughout the 120-bedroom, 6-storey Travelodge in Cambridge.

Air-conditioning units with the cooling capacity of units that are normally twice the size and weight have been installed in the extended and refurbished River Island store at Lakeside in Essex. The compact Toshiba 12.5 kW digital inverter split systems were installed by Metainy.

Combined heat and power is among a range of technologies installed at Solaris, a regional centre of excellence in environmental sustainability in Blackpool.

The intelligent integration of services in the new Haghill Primary School & Community Sports Centre in Glasgow is generating substantial energy savings. This is one of the first new schools to be built as part of a programme of work involving over 200 new and refurbished schools.

As part of an investment programme that includes upgrading and replacing current facilities as part of a long-term maintenance programme, six Andrews Maxxflo condensing storage water heaters have been installed in various locations on the Streatham Campus of the University of Exeter. They join numerous other Andrews water-heating and boiler installations already operating on the site.

Cigarette-smoke pollution problems in one of the largest social clubs in the south west of England have been solved by installing Honeywell electrostatic air cleaners. This sports and social club has 3000 members and staff, and club steward Shaun Mullan believes there is no need to impose a smoking ban anywhere.

To overcome problems of keeping water pressure constant, Morston Hall, a hotel on the north Norfolk coast, has installed a Dualstream water-control system. It has been designed to feed the large bathrooms of this 7-bedroom hotel, maintaining the water pressure and flow to all the water outlets.

A new edition of its ‘two-in-one’ guide to its KoolDuct pre-insulated ducting has been published by Kingspan Insulation. This latest issue includes an up-to-date project portfolio of recent installations, as well as like-for-like comparisons between the cost of using the KoolDuct system and conventional sheet-metal ducting.

Heat-recovery units which all qualify for Enhanced Capital Allowances are the subject of a brochure on its Lossnay units from Mitsubishi Electric.

Bitzer UK has updated its selection software for compressors. Issue 4.1 comes on a CD and is freely available. The program is a feature of Bitzer’s web site and enables installers and specifiers to work out which Bitzer compressors will provide the necessary cooling performance for any specific application.

HVCA has released new guidance on good practice on the internal cleanliness of ventilation systems. The association says that adherence to the standards in TR/19 will provide clear and detailed proof that the ventilation system in a building is safe and well maintained, which is vital for securing adequate insurance cover.

Guidance on the implications for storing fuel and oil of the latest phase of the Control of Pollution Regulation is provided in a leaflet from Hytek. Topics covered include advice on bunding, oil deliveries, positioning of pump sets and dealing with spillages. Hytek offers a wide range of equipment to help comply with the regulations.

ABB has published an updated version of its ‘Six step energy saving plan’ for making substantial cuts in electricity usage, reducing liability to the Climate Change Levy and helping companies under Climate Change Agreements meet their commitments.

The application of Internet technology to building automation is the subject of a free ‘white paper’ from Priva Building Intelligence. It considers the use of TCP/IP in developing interactive building systems.

The management of modern structured wiring and data-communications cabling installations is covered in an 18-page brochure from Mita.

A full service version of the NBS specification system software for building-services engineers is now available. It builds on the success of NBS Engineering Services Abridged Service, launched in 2004 for domestic, commercial and light industrial projects.

Air-conditioning distributor AiAX now offers close-control units for applications where temperature and humidity have to be closely maintained. They are made by Tecnair LB in Italy.

By combining an air-to-water heat pump with a storage calorifier, a domestic-hot-water package from Clyde Combustions produces hot water with a coefficient of performance of 3.3.

Steinel has launched three new infra-sensors, a fast motion detector and a photo-electric lighting controller.

Coster has introduced a control module for use with warm-water underfloor heating systems.

The SmartCom heating-control system from Ambi-Rad is compatible with radiant-tube, warm-air and many other heating systems.

Stokvis has added more models to its Econoflame R30 range of wall-mounted condensing boilers for commercial applications to provide outputs up to 120 kW. The new models achieve an efficiency greater than 109.5%, modulation from 13 to 100% and NOx emissions of less than 26 mg/kWh or 15 ppm.

A range of iris duct dampers from CCL Veloduct provide effective control of airflow in either direction. The use of an iris damper reduces the overall dimensions of these dampers. Since they can be fully opened, no access is required for cleaning. Iris dampers can be used close to elbows and T pieces without causing turbulence in the air stream. They are made by ABB in Finland.

The Antares range of towel radiators from MHS Radiators is available in polished chrome, white or a section of colours.

The Arena web-based workstation package has been introduced as the standard interface to CentraLine building-management systems. Buildings can be managed easily via a browser, locally or from anywhere in the world. Typical premises include offices, schools, health centres, public and apartment buildings, health centres and retail premises.

Passivent has introduced a range of controllable façade ventilators for natural-ventilation schemes. The Aircool range has been redesigned to enhance its performance. Compared with mechanical ventilation, natural ventilation reduces capital costs by 15%, operating costs by 40% and almost eliminates maintenance costs.

New flue options for A. O. Smith’s Cyclone BFC condensing water heaters extend the range of applications.

Hamworthy Heating’s Dorchester DR-RS range of direct gas-fired water heaters are designed to work as a room-sealed system. They are thus well suited to applications where a conventional flue is impractical or where a heater needs to be close to the point of use, especially with noise less than 60 dB(A).

York International has extended its energy-efficient range of low-noise YAES Sonata chillers to provide cooling capacities of over 1800 kW at typical UK conditions. These air-cooled chillers have screw compressors.

Trane has developed a range of fan-coil units specifically adapted for the requirements of the British market. They are aimed at office and hotel applications.

Lightweight, insulated PEX pipes are now offered by IPPEC. Insupex plastics pipes are said to be quick and simple to install compared with jointed metal pipes. Being free of joints and durable, they also have low maintenance requirements. They are intended for cost-effective distribution of hot water in the ground externally.

Hamworthy Heating’s Purewell VariHeat range of boilers has been designed as a direct replacement for traditional cast-iron atmospheric boilers. These boilers occupy the same space as their predecessors, but have 50% higher output, exceptional seasonal efficiency and exceed the Building Regulations coming into effect in April 2006.