Ken Sharpe finds out how Cunnington Clark bettered the Building Regulations by 10% for little extra cost than other less energy-efficient buildings near the new headquarters of AB Agri.

PhotonStar as a company is only 18 months old, but is rapidly growing a business in LED-based lighting. Ken Sharpe finds out why LEDs are proving so successful for the company.

Combined heat and power and heat pumps are both viable approaches to reducing carbon emissions. Lars Fabricius of SAV Systems explained to Ken Sharpe how their benefits can be combined.

Ventilating buildings while minimising carbon emissions is one of the challenges of the future, and one on which Vent-Axia is basing its market development.

A new university campus in Wales shows how Part L can be comfortably exceeded without heavy investment in low- and zero-carbon technologies.

John Durbin discusses how you can exploit the benefits of air-source heat pumps and why they will be crucial to achieving targets for reducing carbon emissions.

Are you looking for a 17th Edition consumer unit? If so, you probably need to know that there’s no such thing, says Colin McAhren of Moeller Electric. However, he explains how to match the configuration of the consumer unit to the wiring scheme so that the complete installation conforms to the 17th Edition.

Is the new data centre of Petroleum Geo-Services the most energy efficient in terms of its cooling in the UK? The engineering approach is certainly very interesting, as Ken Sharpe discovered.

Yan Evans examines the benefits of modern commercial condensing boilers, how they have developed in terms of specification and compatibility with low- and zero-carbon (LZC) solutions and what the future may hold for them as research continues into possible alternatives in the commercial heating sector.

We already have a range of low-carbon solutions and a system for ensuring installer competence, so why does the Government keep coming up with new ‘green’ initiatives, asks Bob Towse.

Cal Bailey warns the industry against delaying investment in sustainability during the economic downturn.

With more low-carbon electricity becoming available and planned for the future, Paul Rivett believes that electric heating has a great future.

Using chilled beams for comfort cooling enables engineers to exercise their imagination in creating energy-efficient solutions — as Wander ter Kuile explained to Ken Sharpe.

The energy required by over 2300 chilled beams in the Peninsula Central office development in London has been substantially reduced using an air-handling unit developed by Flakt Woods that uses two thermal wheels. The concept uses about 50% less energy on the cooling coil for primary air to the active chilled beams and does not require a reheater battery during the summer.

Between September and December 2008, Modern Building Services, in association with Cerebra Recruitment, carried out a reader, industry and salary survey. Hundreds of people took part from all areas within the industry and of all levels of experience and seniority. The results are summarised in this special report.

Exhibition centres throughout Europe are watching with great interest a pioneering approach at the National Exhibition Centre for supplying electrical services to stands that can be set up and controlled from a central point using a SCADA system. Ken Sharpe reports.

Paul Greengrass warns of the risks of the improper disposal of condensate from boilers.

Does the efficiency of MANY VRF systems reflect the efficiency of the units they are made up from? Graham Hendra believes not.

David Pepper considers the potential implications of underestimating the importance of selecting the right water-heating equipment to work with solar thermal if the potential of renewable energy is not to be largely negated.

Sophisticated data centres require totally reliable supporting services, but that does not mean that substantial reductions in energy consumption cannot be achieved — such as more than half at the North London Data Centre of Fujitsu, as explained to Ken Sharpe.

Alexandra Krstanovic explains how Faber Maunsell delivered the University of Nottingham’s requirements for sustainable design and integration of renewable energy sources for the Gateway Building on the extension to its Jubilee Campus.

The development of a new range of water-cooled chillers by Carrier offers the possibility of integrating a building’s need for sources of heat and cooling into one item of plant.

Controlling the indoor environment using natural ventilation is generally regarded as ‘greener’ than air conditioning — but how effective is using solar energy to give it a boost? Ken Sharpe was given the chance to look at a project at BSRIA.

Michael Hamill explains why an evaporative wet cooling system is the ultimate ‘green machine’.

The UK should follow the example being shown by Germany, which is taking radical steps to stimulate its already relatively healthy market for micro-generation and renewable technologies, according to leading British sustainability experts.

What can educate and encourage building owners and occupiers to manage energy performance effectively? The answer could be staring us in the face. Richard Hipkiss considers the value of Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates.

Preventing legionella in solar-thermal hot water systems needs a thoughtful approach to avoid wasting the potential of the solar energy. Yan Evans explains.

40% can be lopped off carbon emissions associated with lighting — using current technology. Mike Simpson runs through a range of approaches.

The huge energy-saving capabilities of replacing aging chillers with new models incorporating the Danfoss Turbocor compressor in two recent projects is described by Ken Sharpe.

Integrating variable-speed pumps into the system they serve is the way to maximise energy savings. Wayne Rose explains how.

CIBSE gold medallist and former president Brian Moss believes the expertise of engineers could transcend politics in reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions — even to the level of CIBSE partnering with the Government.

Large pipe projects are more often prefabricated off site than installed on a site — and smaller projects are catching up with this trend.

Following on the success of last-year’s carbon clean-up campaign, which saw 700 organisations sign up to reduce carbon emissions, CIBSE is embarking on a similar campaign this year — with incentives to participate.

The redeveloped Woodside Leisure Centre at Watford exploits a range of technologies to reduce its energy requirements — and then meet much of them usable renewable energy — as Ken Sharpe discovered.

Not only can switching to white LED lighting from other light sources bring big improvements in radically reduced maintenance and increased energy efficiency, but LEDs also deliver many more practical and business benefits. Roy Burton explains what LEDs can bring to the world of modern building services.

Rapidly, and seemingly inexorably, rising fuel costs gave added meaning to the recent CIBSE Conference on ‘Sustainability — niche to norm’ in Gateshead because, quite simply, reducing fuel bill reduces carbon emissions.