Contributing to the energy-efficient operation of the extension and refurbishment of the visitor centre at Kenfig Nature Reserve near Bridgend is the use of Passivent natural ventilation. The project has won two environmental awards — the National Gold Green Apple Award for the Built Environment & Architectural Heritage and the Consortium of Local Authorities of Wales Award for Sustainable Building of the Year.

To protect the power supply for the imaging facility of the Zoology Department of Cambridge University a Chloride 30 kVA 70-NET uninterruptible power supply has been installed. Batteries can supply power for nine minutes to prevent data loss and damage to four computer-controlled confocual microscopes, equipped with light detection and lasers.

The application of free cooling in a store of Wilkinson is having a dramatic effect on the use of mechanical cooling, leading to it being rolled out to 148 of its stores with ducted ventilation systems. The preliminary trial of a system installed by GK Industrial reduced the use of the cooling system from 45 hours to nine hours a week, a reduction of nearly 80% and achieving a cost saving of £4.30/m2, based on current energy prices. Wilkinson has nearly 300 stores in the UK.

As part of the campaign by Marks & Spencer to become carbon neutral within five years, Eurex Energy has supplied Airvolution low-energy air-conditioning systems to several stores. Eurex installed and commissioned the systems, which required remodelling the existing air-distribution system from total loss to supply-and-extract air distribution, with energy being reclaimed from the extract air. It is common for retail stores to be served by fresh-air systems, with the conditioned air being driven out through the main doors into the street.

60% of the energy needed for heating, cooling and domestic hot water for new buildings at a school in Sheffield is provided by a ground-source heat-pump installation. Sharrow School is little more than a mile from the city centre.

Britannia kitchen ventilation has engineered a special solution to provide ventilation for a new kitchen for the Grade 1 listed Wadham College of Oxford University.

John Lewis’s new store in Cambridge is three times larger than its previous store in the city. Its 13 400 m2 is air conditioned throughout by Daikin VRV and Sky Air air-conditioning systems designed and specified by CSA Consulting Engineers of London and installed by Daikin D1 installer Breathe Air of Cambridge.

Hoval SR combination boilers have been specified by consulting engineers Hannan & Associates for the rapidly expanding network of JJB Fitness Clubs. They are serving central air-handling plant, DHW systems and swimming pools and spas.

Energy-efficient water heating, with fast recovery, for various buildings of Stramillis University College in Belfast is provided by a range of Lochinvar equipment.

Village hotels are a breath of fresh air

Over 2500 m of Electrak’s 63 A underfloor busbar has been installed throughout all six floors of office accommodation in Fort Dunlop, one of Birmingham’s iconic buildings, which has been transformed by Urban Splash. The system was chosen by electrical contractor Mitie Engineering for its ease of installation and cost effectiveness.

To minimise disruption during installation and avoid damage to the historic Cunard Building in Liverpool, EMS Group has installed a wire-free analogue addressable fire-detection system.

Evaporative cooling has been installed to cool the top floor of Stylo Barratts’ 3-floor distribution warehouse in Bradford and improve air quality. This floor measures 85 x 75 m and is the main picking area. It has a large number of skylights and an extensive single-skin roof, so it became extremely hot in summer.

To minimise the energy consumption of his super-efficient home-heating system, Dr Michael Lamperth, a world-renowned developer of energy-efficient vehicle technologies, uses wireless Honeywell heating control of individual radiators. These controls heat rooms only when required and only to the temperature that has been preset for that time of day.

Trox has completed the supply of £1 million-worth of airside fan-coil units and diffusers for various contracts for Bankside 1/2/3 on London’s South Bank.

Following a comment in an Ofsted report that the fabric of the school building was contributing to classrooms feeling hot and stuffy, Manor Green Primary School in Tameside, Greater Manchester, has installed 10 Vaillant climaVAIR high-efficiency wall-mounted heat-pump systems with a total cooling duty of 52 kW. The rest of the Ofsted report was excellent.

As part of the renewal of heating systems in the 152 buildings that make up Colchester Barracks, AmbiRad radiant heating has been installed in the large workshops and stores.

As part of a major upgrade of the UK headquarters in Redhill of global engineering, consulting and construction company Black & Veatch, the radiator heating system and boilers have been removed and replaced with Daikin VRV systems to provide both heating and cooling.

Evinox is providing Belmont Homes with the Geminox Modusat for heating and cooling at Coast, its latest development in Hove. The Modusat units in the 68 apartments will be supplied with hot water from four Geminox boilers providing just 400 kW overall.

Portakabin’s expertise in modular buildings has been utilised in the delivery of a 1800 m2 project for the Ministry of Defence within 30 weeks. The building includes a stylish barrel roof, large picture windows for increased natural light and a barrelled canopy.

Unnoticed by visitors to the centre of Stratford upon Avon are 47 cottages (same dating back to the 17th century) where actors and theatre staff are housed during the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) season. The RSC has now started a programme of improvements to the cottages and their heating and plumbing works.

As part of the £8 million redevelopment of East Midlands Airport at Nottingham, Monodraught natural-ventilation and natural-lighting systems are being exploited as part of the airport’s commitment to being carbon neutral by 2012. It is believed that this is the first major airport in the UK to employ energy-free natural ventilation as a building-services strategy to eliminate the need for air conditioning in most areas.

The redevelopment of the old Highbury Stadium of Arsenal FC to create over 700 apartments with a two acre central landscaped garden will use Oventrop valves in all the plant rooms and distribution pipework that comprise the district-heating scheme. Bailey, mechanical-engineering contractor for the entire project, selected Oventrop valves on previous experience of quality and competitive costs.

Over a hundred McQuay Easdale model 50 air-handling units have been ordered to date for the first new hospital to be built in Birmingham for over 70 years. McQuay is also supplying eight air-cooled chillers.

Durapipe’s SuperFLO pipework system has reduced installation time for chilled-water circuits in a new air-conditioning system at Audi’s car showroom in Manchester.

Trox has supplied a complete package of fan-coil units and diffusers for two British Land projects in London. The buildings are the 165 m-tall Broadgate Tower and the neighbouring 63 m-high 201 Bishopsgate. They will be connected by a glass canopy.

Gilberts of Blackpool has completed a contract to supply grilles and diffusers for the tallest building under construction in the Cty of London.

The central plant serving this development of 238 apartments in Stevenage has been halved in size compared with using plate heat exchangers by using Geminox Modusat units in each apartment to store energy.

A new infirmary at the historic Royal Chelsea Hospital is heated by a Flowcrete Isowarm underfloor system. It serves an area of 6000 m2.

Seven new health centres in North Nottingham all use Grundfos Magna commercial circulators in their services systems. Installed by F. G. Skerrit of Nottingham, these were the first A-rated pumps on the market can use up to 80% less energy than fixed-speed counterparts.

Using solar energy to generate domestic hot water has contributed to the new head office of Charter Community Housing achieving a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating. Andrews Water Heaters designed a SOLARflo package for the project as a ready-to-install solution that included roof-mounted solar collectors and a twin-coil cylinder.

Energy from the ground serves underfloor heating in the new Queens Park Pavilion at Caterham in Surrey. Built to replace a former structure destroyed by an arson attack, this £700 000 project offers local residents an energy-efficient sports and community centre with modern facilities.

Vaillant has supplied condensing combination and system boilers for the Shehnai Banqueting Suites in Reading, which are a prestigious venue for Asian weddings and events. Davinder Bhangra of AGAS installed the two commercial 46 kW ecoMAX condensing combination boilers and an ecoTEC plus 637 condensing system boiler.

To cope with sudden high demands for hot water at the Judgemeadow Football Development Centre in Leicester, two Lochinvar 320LBF balanced-flue water heaters have been installed.

Low-carbon heating and cooling of ventilation air for a development of serviced business units near Belfast is provided by passing air through a network of pipes in the ground. Using this system, the temperature of ventilation air can be raised by up to 9 K in winter and reduced by up to 14 K in summer.

Air conditioning for the common areas of a high-specification residential development in London is provide by Panasonic Urban Multi VRF systems.

Temperatures of 40°C could be reached in the summer in the workshops of London Taxis International with heat generated from welding equipment in the metal-framed building with a corrugated-iron roof. The very uncomfortable conditions for the 28 employees have been massively improved using two Breezair evaporative coolers installed by Clean Air Systems.

A biomass boiler provides heating and hot water for the first major district-heating scheme in Ireland. It serves a housing development in Dundalk, with heat-exchanger units from Alfa Laval linking individual dwellings to the system. The objective is to reduce emissions by 90% compared with other approaches, increase energy efficiency by 30% and reduce energy costs by 30%.

Effective heating for the new 5000 m2 warehouse of Media Control at Kings Norton is provided by just four Reznor UDSA43 heaters to maintain a temperature of 19 to 20°C.

Aermec free-cooling water chillers are providing energy-efficient cooling at 55 Baker Street in London by delivering free cooling without the need for glycol circulation in the primary chilled-water system.

he CHP system being supplied by Ener-g for the UK’s tallest residential building, Pan Peninsula next to Canary Wharf, is expected to cut carbon-dioxide emissions by 207 t a year.

A new development of luxury apartments is benefiting from an advanced fire detection solution from Wagner UK. The original building dates from 1895 and was recently acquired for residential development.