For those organisations where failure of critical power/plant results in significant downtime costs, continuous predictive maintenance can no longer be regarded as a luxury option, but should be seen as a necessity for critical risk management.

A diagnostic site visit with the right tools can reveal the hidden dynamics and interactions between the building shell, the heating system, and other building features. A thermal imager, for example, can quickly reveal missing or inadequate insulation, which is a major contributor to heat loss. Collected data from a full kit of handheld diagnostic tools can be used to quickly locate and accurately diagnose existing or potential problems. Otherwise these problems may jeopardise not only building performance in terms of energy efficiency and the comfort of its occupants, but also compliance with building, health and safety regulations.

In developing an appropriate fire safety solution for a public amenity, the use to which the building is put is typically much more important than the age of the building.

It is a debate that continues and any number of expert witnesses will come forward to put the case for their favoured material for above ground drainage systems. However, where the basis for judgement is open to interpretation, we are often asked to rely on opinion rather than fact.

Whilst this year’s fashion is bringing back the styles of the 1950s, the trend in refrigerants is reminiscent of the 1920s with natural refrigerants returning to popularity. Alexander Cohr Pachai, Senior Engineer at York, a Johnson Controls company, looks at the benefits that are bringing these refrigerants back in vogue.

Although piped services are the life blood of some people’s business, when it comes to aesthetics, no one wants to see the pipes in an installation. Here Mike Darvill, Managing Director of Climate Pipework Systems Ltd, distributors of Roth Industries products in the UK, looks at the fact that pipework has a critical and developing role to play in building performance and that there are also some key decisions to be made when selecting your piped services supplier.

Questions are being raised more and more about the relative merits of materials used for above-ground drainage systems, with a good deal of comment having come from manufacturers of traditional materials such as cast iron.