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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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’.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.’
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Peter Roege discusses a new approach to improving boiler fuel efficiency by 30%
As an energy-service company, Dalkia has been managing energy and saving money for clients for many years. The current concern with climate change and carbon emissions simply puts a new perspective on its work.
Passive technology alone cannot meet sustainability objectives. Alison Nicholl explains why intelligence-based solutions are also needed.
Chris Wootton explains the benefits of intelligent buildings — and how to enjoy them.
To respond to the multi-tenanted patterns of occupancy of the 33-storey Bridgewater Place development in Leeds, Electrak has supplied a KNX intelligent lighting control system.
A range of passive infra-red occupancy switches for lighting control is made by Danlers. They are easy to install and can use existing wiring in a building. Applications include saving energy in offices, factories, schools etc.
Anders Norén explains how using a number of open protocols to bring together a host of building services is the key to interoperability.
The new Wembley Stadium is more than just a 90 000-seat venue. It is a huge building complex with a vast range of services that can interact with one another through the intelligent building system that has been installed.
The latest addition to the Siemens Desigo building-management system is the Desigo TX-I/O range of modules. They provide high flexibility, greater user friendliness and lower energy and capital costs.
Redstone Converged Solutions is installing converged IT and communications infrastructures for projects in Bristol and Leicester. A range of third-party systems will connect directly to the network — including security, CCTV surveillance, HVAC, audio visual and people counting.
LonMark has opened its first proficiency testing centre in the UK. It is at Echelon’s office at Watford and provides LonWorks training and examinations to enable participants to become LonMark certified professionals. This examination is recommended for any specialist engaging in the design, specification, integration or installation of Lon control networks.
The ‘click-and-go’ concept of the Lion controller for HVAC control and energy management from CentraLine by Honeywell dramatically reduces the time and cost of system installation and commissioning.
Trox has supplied chilled beams with design modifications to enable them to be easily maintained and cleaned to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital in Brighton. The beams will help the hospital meet increasing demands to reduce air-borne contaminants in clinical environments by not allowing room contaminants to migrate to and from the ceiling void or supply ductwork when they are cleaned.
Breezair evaporative-cooling units installed in the St Helens factory of Remploy Household & Toiletries are reducing temperatures by around 8 K throughout the 3000 m2 production area. They were installation following consultations with CoSaf Environments.
Nu-Way has won the contract to supply renewable-heating equipment for the Northern Ireland Office at Hillsborough Castle. Wood pellets are the fuel for Ecoflex and EcoMass 750 boilers which will provide heating for this 18th-century mansion house, home to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.
