Annual energy savings of up to £5000 a year are expected by Tayside Police following the installation of a gas-fired water heaters and solar-water-heating package from Andrews Water Heaters, including new controls. This refurbishment project was carried out in two stages at the divisional headquarters in Perth.

The most important question to ask when a pump needs to be replaced is if there an opportunity to replace with a variable-speed option that will work only as hard as its needs to — according to Grundfos — and giving the potential to save up to 80% of the energy that would be required by a fixed-speed counterpart.

Traditional wisdom has always been that replacing a lighting system more than about five years old will reasonable quickly be repaid by reduced energy costs. Now with energy savings can be achieved just by replacing the lamps — as Mike Barrett explains.

Communal heating for a development of 85 high-specification riverside apartments on the River Tyne at Gateshead is provided by nine Dimplex 28 kW air-source heat pumps. Each home in Friars Wharf has underfloor heating with individual time and temperature control. They are supplied with relatively cool hot water to maximise efficiency. Heat meters in each apartment can be remotely read, so that each owner pays only for the energy they use.

Marcus Levy explains how combining heat-pump technology with mechanical ventilation can achieve very efficient heating and cooling performance.

Following an initial trial at its headquarters, the London Fire Brigade is to install Pegler Yorkshire’s Terrier i-temp programmable radiator control (PRC) in other fire stations. Energy savings of up to 30% can be achieved by independent digital programming of each radiator to provide specific temperature management. PRCs were initially fitted on 10 radiators in the brigade’s headquarters.

Variable-speed drives can play a very effective role in achieving energy-efficient HVAC systems. Richard Burke gathers the views of some of the leading players in variable-speed drives.

The green credentials of a remodelled 2-storey building of the Ministry of Defence at Imjin Barracks have been enhanced with the provision of natural ventilation and natural daylight using Passivent systems. Defence Estates, the property and estates-management arm of the MoD worked with Debut Services on the projects, which will centralise the service and veterans agency at the Barracks. A key criterion of the design brief was for the 3800 m2 1960s building to achieve an ‘Excellent’ DREAM, the defence equivalent of BREEAM.

Three decades on VRV/F technology continues to evolve to improve the efficiency with which cooling and heating can be delivered. John Durbin traces the history of this technology

Lighting energy consumption has been more than halved by the installation of more efficient lighting for vehicle renting company Hertz at Heathrow. Calculated energy savings are 54%, amounting to £6841 a year with a payback of 16 months. The project includes the Drive fitting from Riegens and other Riegens luminaires.

Kinetico, a leading manufacturer of commercial water softeners and filters, is urging building-services consultants and contractors to consider the positive contribution effective water treatment can have — especially in hard-water areas. John Bisset, the company’s operations director, says, ‘Building-services equipment which is specified for its energy efficiency at the design stage can quickly be compromised in its performance by the build-up of scale. This is a common problem in hard-water areas of the UK, including London and the south east. It’s imperative that effective, low-energy water-softening technology is specified at new-build stage, or retrofitted where problems have occurred, to ensure HVAC systems can perform to their design efficiency.’

Chris Ingram hopes there are signs of new thinking in the new Government’s approach to carbon reduction as it comes into office vowing to make cuts in public expenditure.

Over 30 of Ability Projects’ EC-DC Matrix 1 fan-coil units have been installed as part of the high-grade refurbishment of a mixed office and retail complex in central London. The development at 1 to 3 Mortimer Street, W1, is fully let. Matrix fan-coil units provide infinitely variable speed control of the entire fan-coil unit and each fan in it, enabling each air duct to be balanced for air volume through fan speed alone — avoiding the use of noisy volume-control dampers and their costly installation.

With growing recognition that energy efficiency deserves as much attention as carbon emissions, Kevin Stone explains how this principle can be applied to boilers

Andy Watton believes the industry is too complacent about the energy penalties associated with the high rates of air leakage from ductwork systems.

Enormous improvements to the energy efficiency of old-style fluorescent lighting systems can be made at the same time as reducing maintenance costs, without having to rip out existing fittings, as Aidan Salter explains.

Chilled beams and ceilings are generally accepted as an energy-efficient way to cool buildings, but the design of chilled beam and ceiling systems is vital to their effective performance. Andrew Jackson highlights important points to consider when applying these technologies.

Swapping new variable speed drives for old can help building managers meet the demands of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme. Whilst requiring new investment, there are ways to help ease the cost burden, with both public organisations and private companies offering help with costs — as Steve Ruddell explains

The electrical consumption of air chillers at Manchester Airport is set to be reduced by over 4 GWh a year following the completion of a major project by Excalibur. A pilot installation of liquid-pressure amplification at the airport’s Olympic House was completed two years earlier, which demonstrated a reduction in power consumption of over 30%.

In response to the growing demand for mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, Xpelair Ventilation Solutions has extended its Xcell range with the introduction of the Xcell 200 Vertical MVHR range. The Xcell series features ultra-EC motor technology and 90% efficient heat exchanger. All units are SAP Appendix Q listed.

The energy required by an air-conditioning system can be reduced by installing air curtains or upgrading them to more efficient units, according to Dimplex. Air curtains are easy to retrofit in buildings where an air-conditioning system is already installed and can provide an effective method of reducing energy consumption for organisations affected by the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme.