NG Bailey and VINCI Construction have started work on delivering the M&E and information communication technology services for Network Rail’s redevelopment of King’s Cross Station. The contract will see NG Bailey deliver the services in four parts, following the precommencement phase of temporary station facilities to allow the redevelopment work to commence.

The Heating & Ventilating Contractor’s Association has devised a strategic plan to advance the interests of its members over the next three years. Called ‘Responding to change’, the plan took six months to develop and underlines the association’s commitment to equipping its members to operate profitably, to improving the commercial environment for building-services engineering and to promoting competence and professionalism across the sector.

Shepherd FM is now responsible for technical services and building maintenance of the headquarters of Standard Chartered Plc in London. During the selection process, the Shepherd FM team demonstrated a significant capability for delivering high-quality technical facilities-management services and also an empathy with the culture and values of Standard Chartered.

Romford Fire Station came out tops for energy savings by 112 London fire stations in a competition aimed at getting fast results and support by MITIE’s technical facilities-management team, which is working on these fire stations with the aim of reducing carbon emissions by 25%. Members of the Romford station crew were rewarded for their conscientious efforts across a full watch rota by being presented with a MITIE CarbonCare winners’ certificate and a cheque for the Fire Fighters’ Charity by Colin Goodwin, MITIE’s regional director responsible for this contract.

FG Eurofred has embarked on a major investment in training facilities and courses for air-conditioning installers and contractors of Fujitsu brand products. Sales director Tony Gittings says, ‘A major investment in training and training facilities — and Internet-based training programmes – is an integral part of our plans for future growth.

Work on what is believed to be the first project to start on site under the Government’s Community Energy Saving Programme (CESP) will improve the energy efficiency of a multi-story block in Bristol. Project partners include carbon-reduction company Sustain, which is managing the CESP delivery, Bristol City Council and EDF Energy, which are promoting and funding the energy-saving measures, and building company Rok, which is carrying out the refurbishment.

CIBSE has welcomed a report on engineering a low-carbon built environment from the Royal Academy of Engineering* as a ‘robust and timely summary of how the UK can develop a more sustainable building stock’. The report stresses that the UK will not be able to achieve its target of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 unless it urgently addresses carbon emissions from the built environment. The report also stresses that buildings currently account for 45% of UK carbon emissions, but estimates that 80% of the buildings we will be occupying in 2050 have already been built.

The Four Seasons Group, which specialises in air conditioning, ventilation and building services, has acquired JCW Air Conditioning. The move boosts revenue by £12 million to over £25 million — making it one of the largest air-conditioning-led building-services organisations in the UK.

Zip Heaters (UK) has acquired Southport-based Instanta, which makes and markets high-quality instant boiling water products for catering and commercial use. Instanta will continue to operate as a stand-alone company, retaining the entire management team.

The Joint Industry Board for the Electrical Contracting Industry is to adopt optional arrangements to cover mechanical disciplines within the JIB agreement. Existing electrical arrangements will remain unchanged. The new arrangements will be designed to offer the industry an option which reflects the JIB’s view of the developing needs of the industry and those working in it.

AECOM has been appointed lead engineer for this innovative zero-carbon community development in Berkshire. The development in Chalvey, Slough, is the brainchild of energy provider Scottish & Southern Energy. The 10 homes, community room and energy centre around a communal garden area will be used to test in real life and research new products and technical innovations. All the homes will be zero carbon, and their performance will be monitored for two years.

CIBSE and SummitSkills have combined forces to promote building-services engineering to schools and colleges and enthuse young people about opportunities in the sector. The two organisations are collaborating in the development and promotion of the building-services engineering ambassadors programme.

Polypipe has acquired the goodwill and assets of the Silavent group in a move that will strengthen Polypipe’s position in the UK market for ventilation systems. The acquisition significantly widens Polypipe’s offering in the ventilation market, alongside its Domus product range.

The £12 million contract for M&E services and information communication technology (ICT) for the new stadium of Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club is being carried out by NG Bailey. The work is due for completion by the end of May 2011. The stadium will seat 22 500 fans and incorporate the club’s office facilities, a club shop, corporate hospitality and conference facilities. There will be an education space for use by the club’s education partners.

Recolight has welcomed an amendment to the Environmental Permitting Regulations for England and Wales that allows collection points to store WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) until collection bins are full, rather than the current limit of three months.

‘Apprenticeships must be seen not just as a device for locking individuals into a unitary skill but as a device for unlocking the talent for personal career leadership inside young people,’ according to Dr Mark Brenner, chief executive of Building Engineering Services Training (BEST). Speaking at the National Apprenticeship Conference in February, Dr Brenner focused on the benefits of dual vocational and academic routes to provide a third route to higher education and professionalism, whereby apprentices can progress up a professional career path.

Wolseley’s UK head office and Sustainable Building Centre (SBC) in Leamington has achieved zero waste to direct landfill — and saved £30 000 a year as well. Overall recycling levels are around 90%, and the small amount of waste that remains is dealt with in two ways. Recyclable materials are removed to a sorting facility, and the rest is sent to an incinerator to produce electricity.

Waterloo Air Products continues to invest in its manufacturing capabilities with the installation of a Bystronic press-brake machine to replace one that had been in service for over 15 years. The new machine can form sheets up to 3 m long with a bending force of over 100 t. Its DNC controller can be liked directly to the ERP system, speeding up the production of plena, plank diffusers and other products.

Inviron has been awarded the contract to provide the M&E systems required to accommodate larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 at Gatwick Airport. The work is associated with the provision of six more aircraft stands, new roads and water settlement ponds in the north-west zone of the airport.

Balfour Beatty Engineering Services has been awarded the £3.2 million contract to install M&E services for the refurbishment of Carnegie Leisure Centre in Dunfermline. Work will involve the refurbishment of three swimming pools. The project will make use of the latest solar-panel technology to provide heating for the pools.

With the now almost universal use of variable-flow heating and cooling systems, Danfoss Randall has sought to bring together all aspects of system balance and control into one CPD seminar.

In response to the increase in gas-powered generators and CHP systems being sold in the UK, engineers with Merlin Power Management are undertaking Gas Safe training courses. About half of Merlin’s engineers have now achieved Gas Safe registration.

Daikin’s Altherma HT (high-temperature) heat pump has received two Rushlight 2009 awards in appreciation of ‘the most significant overall contribution to renewable-energy technology during 2009.’ The Altherma HT won the ground- and air-source power award and also the Rushlight natural energy award — beating the winners of the other categories (solar, wind power, marine energy and hydropower).

Parts Center has opened 20 new counters for HVAC spares within Plumb Center branches around the country. They stock a wide range of spares for such leading names as Worcester Bosch, Baxi, Honeywell and Siemens.

Building and facilities managers across England are being offered a 50% discount against the cost of a building-specific energy audit designed to reduce energy consumption and slash bills. The offer is made by building and energy-management specialist Automated Building Controls Group (ABC Group). It includes an on-site survey of BMS and HVAC controls, a detailed energy report and a review meeting on site to discuss the findings in detail.

Vaillant is offering an additional year’s warranty on any new boiler with a SEDBUK A rating or renewable appliance purchased as part of the Government’s boiler scrappage scheme.

Bitzer UK has moved to new headquarters in Milton Keynes. All manufacture from the former Grays site has been transferred, along with production, warehousing and management functions for the previous UK headquarters in Milton Keynes. The new premises also includes new training and conference facilities.

Daikin Europe has won an IF Product Design Award for its recently introduced Emura design-led heat-pump room air conditioning fan coil unit. This is the 56th year of this award, organised by International Forum Design GmbH and is one of the best known international design competitions.

Logic4training has opened a centre in Luton, putting its training and assessment services within easy reach of installers throughout the Midlands and south east of England. The new centre is housed in a 1000 m2 building within easy reach of the motorway network. It provides the full range of Logic4training courses, delivered by an experienced team of training professionals.

Syntegra Consulting is offering developers and architects one-hour free seminars on the Code for Sustainable Homes. They can be arranged at short notice and held on practice premises at any time of the working day.

The 2010 CIBSE conference takes place at the British Museum in London on 27 and 28 April. Its theme is ‘Resilience and building services; how to secure the future’. Its aim is to equip building-services specialists with an insight into scenario planning for commercial resilience. It will provide information on the political, legal, environmental and technical changes that will have significant impacts in the next two to five years. There will be sessions on ensuring that designs are resilient and that legal, contractual and other risks have been adequately managed.