It is over 60 years since a death was recorded in the UK in a building with a working sprinkler system. Glynn Williams cuts through the complexities of using pumps to protect against the risk of fire.

Replacing pumps in 12 plantrooms at Derriford Hospital in Plymouth with equivalent pumps from Wilo’s energy-efficient range will reduce energy consumption by £70 000 a year — a useful dent on the electricity bill of over £1 million a year.

Grundfos is moving into the third phase of its project to increase awareness of how using efficient circulators can significantly reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. The project started in 2005 with the launch of the world’s first A-rated domestic circulator — the Alpha Pro.

To help customers decide which pumps would best suit their needs, regardless of the application, Grundfos provides a range of selection tools —which have become industry standards. These aids are constantly reviewed and updated to keep them relevant.

Designing systems with duty and standby pumps that can both meet maximum demand is must not efficient. Wayne Rose explores other approaches.

Smedegaard has developed a range of electronic energy-saving circulators that use up to 60% less energy than a standard pump.

The Wilo-Stratos ECO high-efficiency pump has been given an 'excellent' rating by the German consumers’ association Stiftung Warentest. It came top in tests as the best in energy efficiency and ratio of price to performance compared to all other small circulating pumps.

Lee Tebbatt explains how variable-speed pumps very quickly repay their extra capital cost in vastly reduced running costs.

Over a hundred HVAC drives with native BACnet capability have been installed in the new Blackburn Hospital to control water pumps and motors for air-handling units. One of the key benefits was a significant time saving during commissioning.