The Lighting Design Awards 2007 have gained a record number of entries this year with the figure up 15% so far. The deadline for the Entertainment Lighting category is still to come so this figure is expected to raise even further.

The Electrical Safety Council has produced its first trade leaflet for contractors, which focuses on electrical safety on construction sites.

Lighting controls and management systems from Ex-Or Limited are helping office managers introduce flexible working practices and productive environments into office workspace.

Air Conditioning Solutions (UK) Ltd has replaced an old cooling-only system with five Mitsubishi Electric PURY-P City Multi heat recovery units for Lenta Business Centres.

Toshiba Air Conditioning has supplied six Split systems to the new Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Technical Training Courses facility at Dudley College for use in the training of students.

Chloride 90-NET uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems and LIFE.net remote monitoring services have recently been employed to provide critical power protection for IXEurope’s newest datacentre at Park Royal, London.

AMEC has played a significant role in the development of a best practice framework to improve collaborative business relationships which has been published by the British Standards Institution (BSI) and Partnership Sourcing Limited (PSL).

Many schools face the age-old problem of pupils either falling asleep in lessons or having continuous bouts of poor concentration and new School Building Bulletins require innovative solutions to this problem. Haydon Wick Primary however has found a solution with the installation of an oXygen air refreshment system from Jaga Heating Products to provide good air quality and safe heating.

Searchlight Electric Limited has acquired certain assets, stock, intellectual property and goodwill of Leicestershire based lighting manufacturer Illuma Lighting Limited including both the Illuma and Dot commercial lighting brands.

In the early eighties, heavy floods struck Bilbao in the Basque region of Northern Spain, killing many people and destroying the old part of the city. Since then the Casco Viejo (the old district) has been renewed and many modern projects have been built: the underground in 1995, the Guggenheim Bilbao Museum in 1997, the Euskalduna Jauregia in 1998, with many more to come, including the Isozaki Atea Towers.

Trox AITCS scooped its fifth prestigious award for innovation in just six months, when it won the IET’s Built Environment Award at the annual Innovation in Engineering Awards.

Colt International has cut the cost of smoke extraction in a new London business hotel by installing its Colt Shaft fan-powered system.

In partnership with the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA), the Fire Protection Association (FPA) has developed a revised version of their five day Fire Risk Assessment & Fire Safety Management Course, which is tailored specifically to the needs of electrical contractors. The course has received approval from the Institution of Fire Engineers (IFE) for the purpose of the Fire Risk Assessors and Auditors Register. Successful completion of the course will support an individual's application to the register and may help in reducing the burden of proof required through the application process.

Ski Dubai, developed by Majid Al Futtaim Investments as the signature feature of Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, has picked up its second major construction award in as many months after being announced as joint winner of the Major Built Projects category of the British Expertise International Awards 2006. The project has also received the British Construction Industry International Award.

Successful legal action is helping electrical safety testing specialist Seaward Electronic Ltd to step-up the fight against illegal online sales of its specialist software products.

It is now illegal to install heating and hot water systems, pipes and ducts, mechanical ventilation or cooling in buildings without notifying Building Control or registering with a Competent Persons Scheme, warns Building Engineering Services Competence Accreditation Ltd (BESCA).

Baltimore Aircoil has introduced the world’s first dry/wet evaporative condenser with water saving intelligence. The new B.A.C. HXC water saving evaporative condenser is the first condenser that takes full advantage of the low condensing temperature capability of evaporative cooling whilst using air cooled technology, and thus saving water, when the condensing load or ambient temperature falls.

The Honeywell D06 pressure reduction valve is ideal for protecting water installations in household, industrial and commercial installations from excessive supply pressures up to 25 bar. As the standard pattern Honeywell brass-bodied valve for the heating and plumbing market, it should be the first choice to maintain a constant pressure, even when there are wide inlet pressure fluctuations. Its output can be set at any pressure from 1.5 to 6 bar.

LG has introduced the latest addition to its expanding range of VRF products – the Multi V Space. This energy efficient outdoor unit is entirely inverter driven - both compressors and fan motors. It is also extremely quiet in operation, up to 10dBa quieter than equivalent capacity conventional systems.

Fluke has introduced new IR FlexCam fully radiometric Thermal Imagers, the Fluke TiR2, TiR3 and TiR4, and Fluke IR InSight Thermal Imagers aimed at building diagnostic applications.

Frico Limited has published details of its comprehensive Thermozone air curtain range in a brochure dedicated to solutions for comfort and energy saving in building entrances.

The brochure provides architects, building designers, building services consultants and equipment installers with ideas on how to create comfort in entrance areas and outlines the special features of Thermozone technology. It also includes a case study explaining how Frico worked with a leading European fashion chain, Lindex, to develop air curtains that led to a positive customer experience. Thermozone air curtains add comfort and save energy by effectively creating an invisible door that prevents the intrusion of outdoor air, dust, insects and exhaust fumes.

With Klaxon’s Flashguard range of security sounders, customers have the flexibility of choosing a backplate, outer cover and lens combination to suit the requirements of any given installation.

With Part L2 and rising energy costs there has never been a greater need for building services control in mainstream commercial buildings. What is needed is a simple cost effective solution that can control lighting, heating and other services argues Colin Legg, Product Manager for Hager’s Tebis TS bus system.

Rowan Crowley, Event Director for the forthcoming H&V07 and co-located RAC07 (NEC Birmingham, 27 Feb – 1 March 2007) examines a selection of the key issues facing the building services sector that will be addressed at the shows’ seminars and skills centres.

The cost of running building services is rocketing as energy costs go through the roof. Optimising the efficiency of your steam systems can offset these rises and reap rich rewards, says Rick Plummer, UK Engineering Manager for Spirax Sarco.

Well-executed estimating can save thousands of pounds on a building services project and mean the difference between winning and losing a contract. However, accurate estimation requires precise inputs. That’s why a new maintenance specification really matters, says Graeme Craig of HVCA Publications.

Technology provides the answer to many of the challenges facing lighting control and monitoring, but it’s important to ensure that it’s easy to use. Paul Mans of CP Automated Lighting and Jon Theis of Intelligent Solutions (IS Ltd) explains how new software technologies combined with new ballasts are making life easier for all concerned.

International trains will be running at speeds up to 186mph on the completed Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) from 2007. From St Pancras International, travellers will reach the Channel in just 35 minutes, Brussels in one hour 51 minutes and Paris in two hours 15 minutes. This has been made possible by London and Continental Railway’s (LCR) new 39km line through London that includes three twin-bore tunnels of more than 21km featuring pioneering ventilation technology. Phil Doyle of HVAC contractors Senior Hargreaves explains the technical and logistical challenges.

Introduction

A window of opportunity has led to a number of companies being formed to take advantage of the sales opportunities in the solar sector. Aided by a high profile Government renewable energy campaign, these companies are riding the wave of interest in solar systems providing off-the-shelf solutions.