Multi-apartment buildings and multi-storey flats need a centralised approach to energy-efficient plant and exploiting renewable energy, while still permitting individual control and metering for each dwelling. JOHN COOPER explains how this could be achieved.

With the growing use of variable-speed pumps comes the demise of proportional balancing. DUNCAN SELBY discusses this new world of commissioning.

The Government’s long awaited changes to Part L of the Building Regulations will set more onerous limits on the energy efficiency of lighting in domestic and non-domestic buildings. Just what’s involved is explained by HUGH KING.

The statistics of carbon emissions from buildings show just why the forthcoming Building Regulations are so timely.DR GARRY FELGATE explains how the Carbon Trust can help

ANT WILSON of FaberMaunsell outlines the effect of energy-efficiency issues in the new Building Regulations for building-services engineers

Microgen Energy and Dutch boiler manufacturer are working together to commercialise an alternative to the traditional heating boiler. The microCHP appliance produces electricity and heat and could achieve energy savings of 25% for an average household. Remeha is represented in the UK by Broag.

With the performance of the entire building being what the new Building Regulations seeks to maximise, building-simulation software comes into its own. DAVID McCEWAN explains how such software is the key to integrated design.

IAN ADAMS offers advice on how building services contractors, facilities managers and building owners can take a tactical approach in preparation for the introduction of the new Building Regulations.

To enable old, balanced-flue heating systems to be replaced with its powered-flue units, Rinnai UK has developed a flue-conversion kit.

A natural-ventilation system from SE Controls has been specified for the Jubilee Library in Brighton. It has been designed by architects Bennetts Associates with Lomax Cassidy & Edwards as part of a £45-million scheme to transform a run-down area in the heart of Brighton with the creation of a new square, hotel, residential, retail and leisure buildings. The library itself has been designed to represent the future of public libraries.

Renewable energy from an underground aquifer serves an underfloor heating/cooling system in a recently completed school project in Holland. The Velta Contec system serves an area of 14 600 m2 in the Harlemmermeer Lyceum at Hoofddorp near Rotterdam.

As part of its continuous drive to save energy, Tesco has incorporated rooflights, Sunpipes and a wind turbine at its new store at Diss in Norfolk. Airtightness services are being provided by BSRIA as part of continuing collaboration for over 13 years to achieve airtightness specifications way below those required by the Building Regulations.

Simmtronic has supplied the fully addressable digital lighting-controls system for a new corporate office building on the new Spinningfields development in Manchester. Due for completion in March, 2 Hardman Street is an 8-storey building offering 13 300 m2 of office space and a basement car park.

The HCM4 heat-calculating meter from Meters UK uses digital high-accuracy sensors (DHAS) to measure pipe temperature, avoiding the problems associated with platinum-resistance sensors and their complex installation requirements. DHAS sensors can be strapped onto pipes, rather than placed in designated pipework pockets.

Against the background of the forthcoming Building Regulations, Dimplex has enhanced its approach to electric space heating to achieve carbon savings of up to 10% over conventional off-peak heaters.

Packaged ventilation units from Eurex Energy incorporate a thermal wheel to exchange energy between the two air streams. There are three models in the RotOvent series, offering airflows from 10 to 180 l/s.

EcoCooling has added side- and top-discharge evaporative coolers to its ECP range. They are designed for the commercial and industrial market to provide a simple, safe and low-cost cooling for people and processes.

Biddle has enhanced the design of its Forceflow fan-convector heaters to operate with lower water temperatures — such as those delivered by condensing boilers.

Sophisticated lighting-management and control systems from Ex-Or were specified for the showcase 2-storey extension to the learning resource centre of Guildford College of Law.

Phase 3 of the London Bioscience Innovation Centre, comprising 23 new office suites with adjoining laboratories, are fully air conditioned by five Daikin VRVII heat-recovery systems.

An Internet-based approach to using existing instrumentation as part of remote management for energy monitoring and plant maintenance is offered by t-mac Technologies.

Excessive indoor temperatures in the group head office of Garden & Leisure have been brought under control by installing a Breezair evaporative air cooler from Seeley International.

Integrated service modules based on chilled ceilings have the potential to transform building design and project management. explains. ANDREW JACKSON.

Maximising the energy-saving potential of variable-speed pumping systems in air-conditioning systems using fan-coil units demands action up close — says LARS FABRICUS.

With the environment in which they are installed having a significant effect on the performance of chilled ceilings and beams, WILLIAM BOOTH explains the benefits of mock-up testing.

Carrier’s quietest fan-coil unit to date is the Atmosphera, designed for concealing above ceilings.

Frenger has supplied multi-service chilled beams for Saffron House in London that are just 140 mm deep. This listed building has minimal slab-to-slab height. As a speculative office development, it required exceptional heating and cooling capacities from the shallowest possible depth.

Part of the transformation of a former prison into a luxury Malmaison Hotel includes the installation of 77 chilled beams to convert the former cells of A-Wing t Oxford Castle into opulent bedrooms. Trox (UK) supplied these passive beams in a contract worth £100 000 and customised their design to blend in with their surroundings. Trox also supplied a range of fan-coil units, attenuators and grilles for the project.

Trox (UK) has invested £40 000 in a new facility to test fan-coil units. to the requirements of BS 4856 Part 1 1972.

Actionair fan-coil units with DC electronically commutated motors have been used in the major refurbishment of two former MoD buildings near Bath to provide a new headquarters for Helphire Group, which specialises in replacement transport and other insurance-related services for motorists. The use of these motors can reduce power consumption by up to 40%, suiting them to low-energy environmental control. The heat gain from the fan motors is reduced by two-thirds.

Fan-coil units with electronically commutated fan motors are being supplied by Smiths Environmental for Berkeley First’s Paragon development in Brentford. The 240 units will be installed by Star Mechanical & Electrical Services to provide air conditioning in the academic block, an 11-storey building which will become the new home of Thames Valley University’s faculty of health and human science this autumn.

The opening of a state-of-the-art demonstration facility for fan-coil units enables customers to witness performance testing before a building is built. Virtually any building characteristics can be created. A wide range of windows, flooring and ceilings are held on site at Montluel in France, and thermal loads, outdoor and ambient temperatures, and the effects of solar heat gain can be replicated and varied at will.

With the cooling requirements of data centres outstripping conventional close-control air conditioning, Trox has been working on a radically new approach.

The potential to reduce the energy consumption of existing buildings is boosted by adding intelligence to them. RICHARD HIPKISSS explores the need and the possibilities.

Not only do ground-source heat pumps represent an effective way of using renewable energy without storage problems but they also address the issue of rising fossil-fuel prices. As TONY BOWEN explains.

A new group has been set up by the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA) to stimulate the use of energy-equipment. The Energy Reduction Group is chaired by Mike Lawrence from the British Refrigeration Association.

The HSBC Group headquarters building in Canary Wharf has become the first building in this development to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

Centres for research into energy utilisation and sustainable building design are part of a major new R&D initiative for the built environment launched as the BRE-Universities Partnership. Initially, there are four research centres; energy utilisation is at the University of Strathclyde and sustainable building design is at the University of Cardiff.

With the new Building Regulations requiring a 28% improvement on current performance, CIBSE’s forthcoming national conference in March is designed to help professionals throughout the industry deliver innovative approaches to the design, construction and operation of buildings. Other driving forces requiring a step change in industry performance include local planning requirements and voluntary codes.

Energy and facilities provider Cofathec has acquired Energy Services Ltd as part of its strategic expansion in the energy-management market. The acquisition of ESL, which is based in Halesowen, will boost Cofathec’s turnover by £5 million and bring in 17 more staff members.

roles in hospital project

Thermal Transfer has secured a £5.25 million contract for the design and build of a new sterilising suite for medical instrument and manufacturing facility for Vernon-Carus.

Yorkshire-based building-services group JH Shouksmith & Sons has win its largest-ever contract. Worth £3.6 million, it is for mechanical and electrical work for student accommodation in Leeds.

Axair Climate has established a partnership with Fujitsu to launch a new range of split air conditioners in the UK. The move further strengthens the packaged side of the business of Axair Climate. The company’s product portfolio includes Condair, Defensor, Hitachi and Blue Box, and it already has successful trading inks with Fujitsu elsewhere in Europe.

Design services for the £38 million Macclesfield Learning Zone project are being provided by the Manchester office of White Young Green. This world-class educational campus will comprise a new college, new joint sixth-form college, new school for Henbury High School, new joint sports centre, the European Centre for Aerospace Training and the integration of Park Lane Special School.

Following some 20 years working in the building-services industry, Darren Warmington has set up a new recruitment company specialising in building-services vacancies. He has worked as a site-based engineer and designer in both consultancy and contracting and has a number of years’ recruitment experience in design consultancy and project management.

Less than six months after SES launched its revamped apprentice scheme to 28 budding engineers, the benefits are being seen at sites across the country.

Pipework-fittings specialists Watts UK and Watts Martin Orgee have combined forces under the new name Watts Industries UK Ltd. The complementary businesses will operate as a fully integrated division of Watts Industries Group.

LG is the world’s largest manufacturer of air-conditioning products for the sixth consecutive year, according to independent auditors. The company has sold over 10 million units in consecutive years.

Samsung Electronics has expanded its distribution channel for air-conditioning products with the appointment of United Refrigeration UK as a distributor.

To reduce the electrical energy required for cooling clean rooms in Epson’s 42 000 m2 facility at Telford, two existing Airedale chillers have been replaced with three Airedale Ultima 750 kW FreeCool chillers.

While renewing and refurbishing its coal-fired energy centre Doncaster Royal Infirmary has installed three prefabricated and temporary burner/boiler units to main the supply of heat and steam.

Britain’s tallest residential building, the 47-storey Beetham Tower in Manchester, has its hydronic balancing and isolation requirements served by Crane Valves.

Swimming has been restored to the activities at the Kingswood Centre in West Runton on the Norfolk coast following the installation of a new heating system.

The ability to deliver two cast-iron boilers in two weeks, each with an output of 590 kW, led to Ferroli winning a contract to replace three outdated coal-fired boilers at an educational site in Wigan.

The requirement for electric lighting at a power station in Lincolnshire has been reduced following the installation of 16 Monodraught Sunpipes 530 mm in diameter. West Burton Power Station has a generating capacity of 2 GW, and the Sunpipes were installed to bring natural light into the control room, which operates 24 hours a day, to replace the need for electric light during the day.

The problems of aging boiler plant at the Crown Hotel in Weymouth have led its replacement with equipment from Stokvis. The new installation comprises two Econoflame R307 modulating boilers and the splitting of the supply of hot water into two separate zones.

Space heating for the 18 m-high 5000 m2 factory of Liebherr-Great Britain at Biggleswade is provided by a Nor-Ray-Vac continuous-radiant-tube system designed by Ambi-Rad.

Problems with restricted headroom during the refurbishment of the headquarters of Cobelfret Ferries UK have been overcome using the Flexible Space Systems from Advanced Ergonomic Technologies. The company’s headquarters is at Purfleet in Essex, and it operates a core fleet of 21 vessels specifically designed for short-distance roll-on, roll-off operation.

The responsibility of ensuring that air conditioning serving a range of sites of Walsall Council runs optimally and with energy efficiency as a key driver is the task of EWS, part of the Eaton-Williams Group. The brief covers the Civic Centre, the Council House and 10 other satellite sites across the town, including the Central Library and Bloxwich Leisure Centre.

Within 24 hours of Watkins Hire receiving a call from the consultant to a school suffering from boiler failure, a mobile solution delivering 350 kW had been delivered and made operational.

In response to impending F-gas regulations, Star Refrigeration has developed a new chiller for building services and process cooling.

LG’s Multi V VRF air-conditioning system can power up to 40 indoor units and is initially available in two sizes — 4.5 and 40 hp.

Daikin Europe has added new slim built-in duct-mounted indoor units to its range to replace existing units.

Priva Building Intelligence now has 11 products on the Energy Technology List, so they qualify for Enhanced Capital Allowances. They include products from the Comforte CX and Comset CX range of controllers, together with TC Vision.

Uniflair’s Leonardo 2 Evolution range of close-control air-conditioning units for data centres incorporates a series of energy-saving features.

Thermal Transfer has developed a range of air-handling units for hospital and similar buildings. Their construction is based on requirements to sterilise sections and components. They also have inside surfaces free of screws, hinges, fixings and other protrusions that may harbour dirt and bacteria. These AHUs are designed to meet the requirements of the national Health Specification C04 and the NHS Estates Technical Memorandum HMT2025.

A new linkage enables Honeywell’s SmartAct direct-coupled actuators to be easily mounted on site to ESBE and Croval 3- and 4-port rotary valves. It has an internally profiled connector that locates firmly onto a D-shaped EBSE valve stem and is secured by a screw into the existing thread, which is preferably to using a grub screw on the flat of the stem.

Airedale has added an upflow version to the larger-capacity models of its EasiCool packaged close-control range of air conditioners.

A dual-function self-contained emergency luminaire that combines downlighting with an evenly illuminated exit sign is available from Cooper Lighting & Security. The JSB Waylight provides both functions from the same lamp. The number of fittings required is minimised and overall installation costs reduced.

Autron’s range of low-surface-temperature radiators includes one that is just 75 mm deep — said to be the slimmest on the market. Slenderline meets NHS guidelines, with a maximum surface temperature of 43°C.

The latest air purifier from Daikin removes 99.6% of allergens (including mites and pollen), 99.99% of bacteria and also breaks down 95% of odours. The MC707 can provide clean and purified air for spaces up to 48 m2, such as small offices, clubs, pubs, surgeries and small retail outlets.

Heatrae Sadia has developed a packaged module to provide electric space heating and domestic hot water. Called ElectroMax, it is targeted at dwellings that are regarded as unsuitable for using mains gas for central heating. Reasons may include gas-supply restrictions or issues surrounding flueing, pluming or condensate drainage.

By siting local I/O panels close to the plant they control the latest I/O modules in the Desigo PX building-automation range from Siemens Building Technologies eliminate the need for costly individual connections between the central controllers of a building-automation system and remotely sited actuators and sensors.

The inclusion of direct-driven centrifugal fans enables Reznor’s UDSB warm-air heaters to distribute heat through ducting or induction nozzles or to be used as an over-door heater.

The Tracer Summit control system for chillers from Trane Control Systems is said to achieve significant energy savings, even when the chillers are controlled through a conventional building-management system.

IFC (Industrial Foundation Class) models can be viewed using a free downloadable viewer from Data Design System, even without design software that supports IFCs.

SAV Valve Systems has introduced a heat-exchange module to produce domestic hot water direct from cold mains using heat from central boiler plant. It comprises a compact plate heat exchanger and differential-pressure control valve (DPCV). Cold water is heated directly, so no separate cylinder or calorifier is required.

The Tempo range of air-cooled scroll chillers from York offers cooling capacities from 180 to 480 kW and uses R410A. Standard-efficiency models achieve an average EER of 2.74, and high-efficiency units reach 3.1.

The Unitron Energy Manger recently introduced by Cylon Controls provides an integrated web-based solution for energy control.

Douglas Controls claims that a new generation of controls on its taps enables water savings of up to 70% to be achieved compared to typical basin mixer. The savings are due to a combination of automatic non-touch operation and a factory-set flow rate of 6 l/min.

Aico has added four specialist fire sleeves to its range of intumescent fire-safety products.