Consulting-engineering practice Max Fordham has been named ‘Inclusion and diversity champion of the year’ at the 2017 Consultancy & Engineering Awards. The award recognises the organisation that has ‘diversity and inclusion at the heart of its business’ and seeks to ‘embrace the benefits of a truly diverse workforce’. They are hosted by the Association for Consultancy & Engineering (ACE).
Dr Kerry Mashford, chief executive of the National Energy Foundation (NEF), was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday honours for services to the energy industry. The NEF has been at the forefront of improving the use of energy in buildings for over 25 years. Since her appointment as chief executive at the end of 2012, Kerry Mashford has helped pioneer its work in advising and delivering more-comfortable energy-efficient homes and workplaces, including winning a number of national awards.
When over a hundred stakeholders got together to discuss the need for a radical rethink of London’s climate-change policy for buildings, the ideas flowed thick and fast — as Clara Bagenal George and Ed Garrod of Elementa Consulting report.
Supporting the work of the first NHS high-energy proton beam therapy centre for The Christie specialist cancer centre in Manchester is the latest CHP technology from Veolia to reduce energy costs and carbon emissions. Part of Veolia’s new packaged CHP range, the 240 kW(e) unit uses a 3-way catalyst to reduce NOx emissions and protect local air quality.
The early involvement of specialist contractors will be increasingly important to the successful design, delivery and operation of tall buildings, says BESA technical director Tim Rook.
The compact size of Wago controllers and I/O modules for controlling and monitoring DALI lighting and underfloor heating in the recently opened academy of Airflow Developments at High Wycombe enabled system integrator Accurro to build a cabinet half the size of that originally anticipated. Harry Lees of Accurro explained, ‘With Wago we can fit far more I/O into a panel. Using such a small cabinet allows the whole service room to be a third smaller than originally designed.’
The installation of voltage-optimisation equipment has enabled a school in Norfolk to reduce its annual electricity bill by 20%, representing a reduction in energy consumption of 120 MWh a year and CO2 emissions reduced by 50 t. The equipment was supplied and installed by Efficient Power Solutions for Acorn Park School, a specialist autism school.
With less than a year of the transition period for international standards for air filtration to go, Peter Dyment of Camfil explains their implications.
Prolojik’s PoE (power over Ethernet) Lightmatrix system controls LED lighting in The Armitage secure-storage facility in Marylebone, London. The system was chosen in part to meet the challenge posed by a particularly low service void throughout the building and is based on data cabling rather than electrical wiring, so that the majority of final circuit and associated containment are not needed, significantly reducing space requirements.
Engagement with corporate social responsibility brings business benefits according to 51% of electro-technical businesses that responded to a survey carried out by the Electrical Contractors’ Association and the Considerate Constructors Scheme. 67% of respondents highlighted ‘improved customer or client relationships’ as another business benefit of CSR work. ‘Positive media coverage (41%), ‘cost savings’ (30%) and the ‘ability to manage risk in the supply chain’ (28%) were also listed as significant benefits of CSR engagement.
Guidance from BSRIA is aimed at helping clients, facilities managers and their organisations to understand better the key success factors in procuring maintenance contracts. It promotes ‘cutting-edge’ tender processes and procedures, and supports the development of contract documentation — as Clair Prosser explains
ThermOzone’s ReChill service has restored an 85 kW chiller (pictured) serving an office building in the west end of London to full working order for less than 40% of the cost of a new chiller and in a third of the time, just four weeks. Funding from the Carbon Trust contributed £7000 to the cost of the project at Woolverstone House in Berners Street.
In a recent report from the Building Engineering Services Association, almost 70% of office workers believed poor air quality was having a negative effect on their wellbeing and productivity. Robert Dennis of Airflow Developments highlights the importance of effective ventilation in commercial buildings to create and maintain a healthy and energy efficient environment.
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