The student-bursary scheme operated by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers to encourage more people to embark on careers in building-services engineering has a vital role to play in helping to provide the expertise needed for the future. The latest Building Regulations give much more responsibility and greater opportunities for imaginative engineers to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings in the UK and tackle the issue of Climate Change.

Partnering used to be a good idea. Now it’s a necessity. That is if you want to deliver a major construction project on time and to budget, according to one of the industry’s leading strategic thinkers.

The first company to successfully undergo BESCA’s competent-persons scheme registration criteria is M. D. Enertech Ltd, a design-and-build mechanical-services contractor and a member of the Heating & Ventilating Contractors’ Association.

With the plethora of competent-persons schemes that have sprung up in the HVACR sector, BILL BELSHAW clarifies some of the most commonly asked questions to help dispel the myths and bring some clarity to the issue.

The control of energy use in buildings is becoming a key element of planning regulations and this will now affect anyone involved all aspects of both new builds and conversions. PHILIP ORD explains more.

Manufacturers have a major part to play in responding to climate change says GERRY STAPLEY.

Conventional air conditioning may not be the best way of delivering comfort in buildings as ambient temperatures rise.JOHN STAUNTON discusses an alternative.

RICHARD SCOTT explains why sustainable energy is no longer an option but a necessity — and looks at heating and hot-water innovations for the 21st century.

A small village in North Yorkshire is a working model of the effective application of renewable-energy technologies.

Effective and energy-efficient heating for a village church in Gloucestershire is provided by an air-conditioning system — used purely for heating. Such is the efficiency of Toshiba’s Super Digital Inverter Split heat-pump system with a COP of over 4.0 at full capacity that it provided an effective replacement for electric radiant heaters in this Methodist church, which has no gas available. The system was suggested by local air-conditioning contractor Eesicool.

British business wasted nearly £600 million through poor energy management this summer. If nothing else gets efficiency changes made, then greed will, says HVCA president MIKE McCLOSKEY

To speed up the installation of photo-voltaic systems by up to 90%, Wieland Electric has developed a specialised connection system.

The Thermia Diplomat heat pump is now available from Eco Heat Pumps and can extract heat from a variety of sources — ground loops, lakes and outdoor air.

A whole-house heat-recovery system from Xpelair is said to be up to 92% efficient. The Xcell 150 unit is designed for smaller dwellings and is the smallest in the Xcell range. It can be installed in existing buildings.

Clyde Energy Systems has helped bring Bromley Council up to speed on condensing boilers with a CPD session on Part L of the Building Regulations and the replacement of old boilers with condensing boilers.

Vaillant claims that its AuroTherm VFK 900 flat-plate solar collector is the highest performing available in the UK It joins the company’s total-solar-system solution launched earlier this year.

Rape-seed oil can now be used as the fuel for the R Series of condensing boilers from Atlantic Boilers. The rape-seed is stored like conventional fuel oil in an external or bunded vessel and piped to a pre-heat tank within the boiler, from where it passes to the burner. The rape-seed oil burns with the same maximum condensing efficiency as light oil and natural gas.

Occupants of a dramatic office building that has won a RIBA award can control the temperature of their surrounding office environment from their PCs — thanks to an innovative natural-ventilation system from SE Controls.

Over a hundred heating engineers have qualified for the BPEC certificate in solar domestic hot water by participating in Vaillant’s training programme. This certificate gives candidates automatic entry to the Government’s Clear Skies Scheme, which is now part of the Low Carbon Building Programme managed by Energy Savings Trust. The scheme gives householders access to grant funding for fitting solar heating.

Stiebel Eltron offers a range of solar systems for generating domestic hot water. They are available exclusively through Applied Energy, with a nationwide after-sales services and approved-installer network.

Tucked away in the north-east corner of Wales is a factory producing photo-voltaic solar panels and being installed in a rapidly growing number of substantial projects in the UK.

When a fixed-speed pump is preferred over a variable-speed unit, there is no need to compromise energy efficiency, as ROY HENDERSON explains.

Pump specialist Smedegaard UK is developing a new corporate image following the recent appoint of Chris Barrett as general manager. Smedegaard is a Danish company and makes pumps in Denmark and Switzerland. The UK operation at Bridgewater makes pressure and boosting equipment covering commercial/domestic, industrial and fire-fighting applications.

Their ability to save energy is just one benefit of applying variable-speed drives to pumps. BRITTA FRANK explores other possibilities.

AquaTech has extended its range of VariMatic water-pressure booster sets, based on combination of Smart Logic controller and variable-speed inverter technology.

To simplify the installation of solar heating systems, Taconova has introduced a solar station combining pump, regulator and air vent. Designed for commercial, public-sector and domestic applications, the FV 70 Tacosol 3.0 enables hydraulic balancing, flow measurement and venting to be performed at the same point.

By exploiting the latest in pump technology, Grundfos is moving to reduce the energy consumption of domestic circulators by up to 80% compared with today’s average.

PETER NEARS explains why variable-speed pumps should be commissioned by a competent person to achieve effective operational performance, maximise energy savings and prolong life expectancy.

There are two aspects to be considered in responding to climate change — and here we are considering the how, not the why. One is reducing the consumption of fossil fuels that generate the carbon dioxide which increases the greenhouse effect of the Earth’s atmosphere, leading to global warming. The other is achieving comfortable buildings in the warmer climate that we are assured is inevitable.

The strengthening in the sales of construction products over the last three months exceeded manufacturers’ expectations, according to the latest figures from the Construction Products Association. The association’s activity barometer records a score of 68, well above the no-change mark of 50.

Briggs & Forrester has added to its range of charity fund raising with a team of 11 cyclists participating in the ride from Oxford to Cambridge for the British Heart Foundation. This firm of building-services engineers has presented over £60 000 to various organisations over the last five years.

Lindab, which specialises in circular-duct systems, has agreed to acquire CCL Veloduct, a leading UK supplier of ventilation and air-movement products. The deal will give Lindab major penetration of the UK market and enable CCL to expand its branch network and product range at a greater rate.

Consulting engineers White Young Green have reported a 16% increase in revenue for the year to the end of June 2006 to reach £167,5 million. Profit before tax was up to 18% to £11.1 million and operating margin on net revenue increased to 10.3%. This was the ninth consecutive year of double-digit organic growth.

Calorex Heat Pumps is increasing manufacturing capacity at its UK factory by 20% as part of major expansion plans. The move coincides with a major investment in the in-house engineering department, which has doubled in size — stepping up the pace of research and development, with new and updated products constantly on the drawing board.

To help tackle the skills shortage in the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry, Daikin Airconditioning UK has donated a VRV air-conditioning system to Grimsby Institute of Further & Higher Education.

Caradon Plumbing has bought Keston Boilers, an early pioneer in the market for domestic and commercial high-efficiency, low-emission condensing boilers.

SummitSkills is running a series of consultation workshops as the next stage in its Horizon project to create a sector skills agreement for building-services engineering.

Thermography specialist Flir Systems has introduced into its seminar programme a foundation course for building science thermography. The first will be held from 15 to 17 November at the company’s infra-red training centre in West Malling, Kent.

Bailey has secured a £7 million-plus contract to design, install, test and commission all mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations for BP’s new North Sea headquarters in Aberdeen.

Diffusion, which makes commercial heating and air cooling products, is investing over £100 000 in new testing facilities at its main manufacturing site in Molesey, Surrey.

Buro Happold’s 30th anniversary celebrations at the new Emirates Stadium of Arsenal Football Club raised over £2000 for the club’s charity of the season. Bids for a football shirt donated by Arsenal FC and signed by the current team reached £2250 during the evening. The event was attended by over 500 clients and friends of this multi-disciplinary consultancy.

ADCAS (the Association of Ductwork Contractors & Allied Services) has joined FETA (Federation of Environmental Trade Associations) — giving the UK ductwork industry a louder voice in its campaign for better training and fair practice. FETA will provide a full secretarial and administrative service to ADCAS, which represents most of the UK industry, and is growing fast.

Modular Heating Group has moved to new 4000 m2 purpose-built premises in Southfields, Basildon. The new premises provide offices, warehouse and distribution centre for the company’s MHS brands of designer radiators and commercial boilers.

Building-services provider SES has restructured its operations. The company now has two divisions, north and south, which replace the former three regions. A work-winning team has also been set up, comprising business development, marketing and public-relations, estimating and cost planning. As part of this change, the company will increasingly focus on risk and commercial management.

Lindab’s CADvent software can now be used with Autodesk Building Systems (ABS) following a new joint marketing agreement.

AMEC Plc, international project-management and services company, has topped the 2006 Dow Jones sustainability index (DJSI) in the world and European sustainability indices for the support-services sector.

Daikin Airconditioning UK has opened a technology centre at Woking, close to its headquarters in Weybridge.

JS Humidifiers’ yacht Juliet Sierra finished 11th out of 29 places in the Class 7 Cruisers category of the Little Britain Challenge Cup out of Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

A fire has been prevented in an unmanned storage facility in Austria by Wagner’s OxyReduct system. The Roco automatic storage facility has a capacity of 3000 pallets and is unmanned during normal operation.

Ferroli commercial boilers are delivering energy-efficient heating and hot water for Filton College’s new WISE campus, which provides state-of-the-art performing and creative-arts facilities — including an indoor pitch for football and rugby, 2250-seat theatre, rehearsal rooms and ceramics studio. Some 50 showers provide a high demand for hot water.

Domestic hot water for buildings on the island of Flat Holm in the middle of the Bristol Channel five miles from Cardiff is provided by Vaillant systems using solar panels. The island received the first ever radio message across water sent by Marconi in 1897.

Lighting costs have been halved following the installation of Ex-Or lighting controls in the North Stand of Blackburn Rovers’ Ewood Park stadium. Presence-detection systems have been installation in offices, reception areas, function suites, ticket offices, walkways, spectator areas and concourses to automatically switch off lights in unoccupied areas. They are also to be installed in staircases and private boxes.

Space-saving, quiet and energy-efficient heating for a new car showroom at Caldicot in Gwent is provided by two Powrmatic NV suspended gas unit heaters. The NV50F heaters were supplied and installed by Heatwaves of Gloucester for the Thompson & Thompson showroom of this prestige Seat and Kia dealership.

During the restoration of the Royal Devonshire Hospital by the University of Derby, these Atlantic boilers, originally commissioned in 1988, were found to be in such good condition that they were retained and given new controls.

The problem of providing adequate cooling for the Lawn ticket office in Paddington Underground station has been solved by the longer pipe runs possible, up to 110 m, with Mitsubishi Electric’s City Multi Y-Series VRF air-conditioning system.

A novel application of presence detection to control lighting in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London plays an important role in protecting 150 portrait miniatures on display in 17 cases.

When two prefabricated concrete flues serving multiple dwellings in Birmingham were found to be potentially dangerous, Vokera was able to devise a unique solution.

Hot-water services for the UK’s first purpose-built, professional theatre for children are provided by an Andrews Hi-Flo storage water heater installation. The Unicorn Theatre in Tooley Street, London, close to London Bridge presents world-class theatre and education projects for children aged from four to 12. It will be used by 100 000 children a year.

One of the UK’s leading interiors contractors, Cathedral Contracts, has enhanced the appearance and environment in its board room with the installation of LG Art Cool air-conditioning units.

The Toshiba split-system heat-pump air-conditioning system installed in a small office development near Bristol was selected for its capability to provide efficient heating.

Part of the specification of this skid-mounted boiler system for Friarage Hospital at Northallerton includes a reverse-osmosis water-treatment plant instead of the standard water softener and chemical-dosage system. This method of water treatment reduces blowdown and the associated loss of heat and water and was adopted following a review of a water-analysis report of the area.

Systems integrator OBS Ltd has completed the installation of a native BACnet building and energy management system at the Cheshire & Merseyside NHS Treatment Centre based at Halton Hospital. It is operated by InterHealth Care Services in partnership with the Cheshire & Merseyside Primary Care Trusts.

To reduce the cost of providing domestic hot water at The Stafford Hotel in St James’s Place, London, one of a very few 4 red star hotels in central London, two Ideal Super Plus boilers have replaced boiler plant that was over 20 years old. The new plant supplies hot water for the 81 luxurious rooms in the hotel, along with restaurant, bar and four private dining rooms.

Mitsubishi Electric has increased the flexibility of its City Multi range of air-conditioning systems with three new ranges of indoor units. These new units are designed for hotels, buildings with limited ceiling voids or where a floor-mounted model is preferred. They use R410A

Ansell Lighting’s Meteor indirect luminaire is extremely slim, so it can be installed in restricted void depths. These luminaires can be fitted into the same space as standard modular or louvred fittings. These can be used with exposed-T ceilings with 15 and 24 mm grids.

A steam-absorption humidification system that takes up less space in an air-handling unit or ductwork, particularly length, has been developed by Vapac.

Power and communication for TAC Satchwell’s Intelli-M access-control range are both provided over Ethernet cables.

HRM’s X-external oil-fired boiler can be installed outdoors on the external wall of a house, providing a solution where internal space is limited. This compact 12/20 kW appliance comes in condensing and conventional versions and meets SEDBUK requirements.

Glow-worm has added 24 and 30 kW condensing combination boilers to its Betacom range. Both models are SEDBUK B rated and come with built-in timer, bypass and frost protection.

SAV’s control commissioning module brings together the control sets for up to six fan-coil units at one point.

To improve safety for electrical contractors, Engex has introduced a range of glass-fibre step ladders. They have been independently tested ’30 kV non-conductive’ and comply with EN131 with a 150 kg load rating and non-slip feet.

Xpelair’s XPress range of duct fans develops very high pressures, enabling significantly smaller ductwork to be used than conventional inline fans.

Durapipe has extended its range of threaded fittings, introducing a series of brass inserts to provide a highly reliable connection between pipework and ancillary equipment for a wide range of building-services applications.

Wall-mounted indoor air-conditioning units in Daikin Airconditioning’s indoor range come in two sizes. They provide 2.5 and 3.2 kW of cooling and 3.0 and 3.9 kW of heating, achieving COPs of 2.63 and 3.01 in cooling mode and 2.98 and 3.41 in heating mode. Sound-pressure levels are from 27 to 39 dB(A), depending on model and operating mode.

Viessmann’s Vitrocrossal 200 range of condensing gas-fired boilers is designed to offer outstanding performance to a tight capital budget.

Vaillant’s Applied Systems Division has launched a range of boilers aimed at the UK commercial market. The ecoCraft range is based on 40 kW modules and available with six outputs from 80 to 280 kW.

Reductions in heating costs of up to half for large buildings and tall spaces are claimed for Monodraught’s Heat-Harvester. Installed at high level, these devices draw in accumulated hot air from above and direct it downwards.

Toshiba Carrier UK has further developed the control system for its Aquasmart air-conditioning system to ensure that HVAC systems operate as fully integrated systems designed to maximise energy efficiency in build- ings from 150 to 4500 m2. It uses the open-protocol BACNet system developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Hamworthy Heating has introduced a range of accessories for its Milborne range of wall-hung condensing modular boilers. The accessories include fast-fit frame sets, pipe header kits, flue headers and primary-circuit kits. These kits are aimed at simplifying design and installation and complement the integral controls for multiple-boiler packages

A ladder for engineers visiting sites combines a number of safety features. These lightweight ladders from Chubb can easily be transported on roof racks, with all safety features permanently attached.

LG now offers a comprehensive range of accessories for its air-conditioning products and systems.

The Ultramax PB range of boilers from MHS Boilers is said to solve the problem of fitting an energy-efficient, high-performance condensing boiler to an old system. The trick is to incorporate an optional kit containing a plate heat exchanger into the boiler case to protect the boiler from debris that accumulates in older systems.

Fire Fighting Enterprises has launched the first in a new family of optical-beam smoke detectors that have been designed from first principles to address the needs of installers and end users.