In January 2008, forty five Philips employees, their families and friends, will start the New Year by attempting to climb Kilimanjaro to promote energy efficient lighting, as a part solution to climate change, and to raise money for an Oxfam Novib project in Tanzania.

TAC has joined the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) along with parent company, Schneider Electric, in a global effort to help cities around the world improve the energy efficiency of buildings and decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

Nick Carter, the Managing Director of Lister Gas PRO, UK distributor of Sievert, has said the industry should welcome the government’s imminent increase in packaging waste levy/tax charges on the disposal of steel “because this will motivate both the merchants and heating engineers to do something about the unnecessary hazardous waste that disposable cylinders cause.”

A building management system can be a key tool for any business. It can provide a comfortable working environment for building occupants enhancing productivity and contribute significantly to saving energy costs and a reduced carbon footprint if used correctly, but despite this, all too often the capabilities of the BMS itself are not fully utilised and the potential benefits are lost.

Daikin UK is kicking off the festive celebrations early this year by launching a brand new promotion on its popular range of Split and Sky Air systems.

Andrew Morris has accepted an invitation to become a Partner of Hoare Lea Consulting Engineers.

The judges for the 2008 Lighting Design Awards have been announced and include some of the most experienced and respected names in the lighting industry.

Ductwork firms must take the opportunity over the next three years to tackle once and for all the contractual abuses that do great damage to their sector, according to a national M&E contractor.

In recognition of the increasing demand for chilled beam solutions to provide energy-efficient comfort cooling, the only trade body that represents the interests of such equipment suppliers has changed its name to match more closely its members and activities.

Logic Certification has developed an unvented hot water re-assessment programme for heating engineers whose qualification is set to expire in the near future. The scheme is initially being piloted before it is rolled-out to all Logic Certification training assessment centres later in the year.

Recruiting for the building services engineering sector just got easier thanks to an interactive careers map from SummitSkills. Career paths to accommodate all interests and ambitions in the industry are now available online, enabling individuals to find all the information they need at the click of a button.

A recent Ofsted inspection has confirmed BEST’s (Building Services Engineering Training) position and exceptional ability as the sector’s leading training provider.

Trox has announced a number of additions to its senior team to manage a period of unprecedented growth. Managing Director David Leatherbarrow said: “The business has grown by 50% over the last 18 months and with the success of Trox AITCS we needed to increase the skills within the business to maintain and improve our customer service levels, and that process is still continuing across the business at all levels”.

New from LG is the LG Advantage, said to be the simplest and best air conditioning installer incentive scheme which is designed to give rewards to all sizes and types of contractors for each purchase.

The Power of Light is the theme of The International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD) European conference – ENLIGHTEN 2008, which will take place at The ARC Show 2008. The seminars are aimed at lighting specifiers, lighting manufacturers and representatives, architects, interior designers, educators and students.

Sanyo Air Conditioners Europe (SAE) has announced the retirement of its President Mr Morisaki. His successor, Mr Yoda, formerly Executive Vice President for Sanyo Air Conditioners Europe, has taken over as President. Meanwhile, Mr Morisaki will remain at Sanyo Air Conditioners Europe as a senior sales and marketing advisor until the middle of 2008.

Door hardware industry stalwart David Whitworth was elected chairman of the Door & Hardware Federation (DHF) at its recent Conference and Expo.

Mercury Recycling has been awarded a contract to collect and recycle, end of life lamps from 40 Vodafone premises across the UK. Mercury’s specially designed Lampsafe containers are located on-site for the safe storage and transportation of used lamps.

Helvar’s Imagine Lighting Router is at the heart of a new lighting application centre at the Rexel Senate Eastern Region showroom in Brentwood, Essex. Along with a number of touchpanels and scene setting controls, the Router has helped the Rexel outlet to create a display feature that allows electricians, specifiers and developers to see exactly how the lighting products on offer can be used in a variety of different installation settings.

With advances in the energy efficiency of water heaters and boilers, it comes as no real surprise that more and more contractors are turning to energy efficient systems to convey hot water. CPV’s Hiline is one such system. A pre-insulated pipework system, Hiline provides a safe and efficient method of transporting media, whilst minimising heat loss or gain.

Vaillant has provided two ecoMAX 65kW boilers, a low loss header, condense pump and air & dirt separator for a brand new private GP practice, Chase Lodge in Mill Hill, London.

The UK’s biggest ever talent show, The X Factor has used a Fläkt Woods JM fan to help create a striking backdrop for their stage show.

Dimplex has secured its first funding from the DTI’s Low Carbon Buildings Programme Phase 2 for public sector ‘green heat’ projects, with a maximum 35% grant awarded to a school to install ground source heat pumps.

P A Collacott & Company’s recommendation to install a building management system from Priva Building Intelligence at the famous Charterhouse school, is demonstrating the ease with which it can attain backward compatibility and integration with other manufacturers’ systems, as well as providing a platform for future-proof building control.

The University of Nottingham’s cutting edge Nano Science department started the autumn semester in seven completely refurbished laboratories – each cooled by Fujitsu air conditioning, supplied by Wave Air Conditioning and installed by Brookair of Nottingham.

Luxo has provided the lighting for the new London showroom of fellow Scandinavians; office furniture solutions company Kinnarps (UK) Limited. Located in Covent Garden, the showroom has been designed to reflect a real business solution. The two storeys in Dryden Street are not just a showcase of Kinnarps products but more a working demonstration of an exciting workplace and the centrepiece of the facility is a striking, specially designed Luxo chandelier.

Lighting in the main sports hall of the award-winning Sands Centre in Carlisle has been greatly improved following the installation of long-life, high-output Brilliance light fittings from Chalmor. The centre has also reduced energy and maintenance costs and expects to achieve a payback of around three years.

Buderus boilers have been installed at the Arndale Estate, adjacent to the Southside Shopping Centre, as a planned replacement of existing outdated boilers with a high efficiency, specially designed, complete heating and hot water system. Two Buderus S825L 2.5 megawatt output boilers now meet the heating requirement, and a S825L 1.3-megawatt output boiler provides the domestic hot water.

Contractors Shepherd Engineering Services Ltd (SES) has used Hager’s sub distribution boards for Yorkshire’s tallest building, Bridgewater Place.

BSEE and the BCIA have once again joined forces to bring you an awards programme designed to bring together the entire building controls industry in a celebration of the companies, innovations and people that are achieving the highest professional standards and helping to drive this dynamic industry forward.

The 4,000m² HQ is located in the UK’s busiest container port, Felixstowe and the design team was strongly influenced by the maritime history of the location. Pre-patinated copper for example forms the cladding on the rear elevations giving it a stunning ‘sea’ colour.

In Australia, New Zealand, Japan and, to a slightly lesser extent, the USA and Canada, along with almost every other technologically savvy country other than the UK, the practice of installing gas boilers and water heaters inside a building is considered rather unwise and certainly uneconomical.

Solid state lighting (SSL) is a relatively new technology for the lighting industry. Among this technology are Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), which are becoming increasingly available for a variety of applications such as displays, signs, traffic lights, car head lamps and brake lights, and city beautification. The technology is still in development phase to increase light output while reducing costs, and to provide an efficient warm white light.

We are witnessing a defining moment in the evolution of the chilled beam with the technology set to overtake fan coil units as the terminal device of choice among air conditioning equipment specifiers. Massive changes in the way the UK terminal unit market has developed over the last three years has benefited the chilled beams sector with multi service chilled beams (MSCBs) proving particularly popular.

An extensive study by PIX Transmission has examined the energy saving potential of raw edged cogged (REC) transmission belts over wrapped belts, when operating under similar conditions in HVAC environments.

The pressure is on all of us to reduce energy consumption both at home and work and for those involved in managing a building’s services this involves the double challenge of keeping costs down whilst doing our bit to save the planet.

Manrose Manufacturing Limited’s Multivent (CF234) innovative Centrifugal Fan Series has been designed for use in bathrooms, kitchens and utility rooms. The unique versatility of the range is achieved by means of an integral performance selector switch inside the fan, which enables the installer to select the fan speed to suit the room.

The latest addition to the Seaward range of hand held portable appliance testers is the new PrimeTest 350.

ABB is dramatically reducing the time it takes to specify and assemble mains distribution boards, with the launch of its Triline-R enclosure range. With availability to the complete ABB product range, Triline-R will reduce delivery times down to 7 to 15 working days.

Venture Lighting has launched a new brochure to illustrate the benefits of its energy saving lamps. Venture is at the forefront of product development to reduce overall energy usage costs without any compromise in lighting quality. This literature offers advice on replacement lamps and even provides information on the annual savings that can be achieved.

Each year in the UK, there are around 200-250 recorded cases of Legionnaire’s Disease and a growing awareness of the need to address MRSA and other cross contamination infections prevalent in healthcare and other public heath sectors.

Seaward Electronic has introduced a new test data management program that has been specially developed for use in conjunction with large corporate database systems.

The new Defensor PH15 from Axair Climate is an evaporative humidifier, designed to deliver precise control of relative humidity with minimum energy consumption, while also using innovative filters to remove dust and odours from the air. It is ideal for museums, galleries and living spaces where the quality of the indoor environment is particularly important.

Fan convectors from Dunham Bush are now available with DC/EC motors for projects that want to maximise energy performance and where a slightly longer payback is acceptable to the client. This option is available with the company’s Avant Garde, AM, BM, CM, 600 Series and LST ranges, as an alternative to a conventional AC motor.

The Liebert family of precision conditioners by Emerson Network Power has been developed to provide large datacentres with maximum flexibility in their use, with a significant reduction in the cost of power consumption. IT infrastructures are nearly always the foundation of business activities and increasing dependency on IT technology is driving organisations to increase the processing power of their datacentres in order to provide effective support for the applications that govern business processes.

MHS Boilers has launched a new range of reverse flame steel shell and tube boilers which are perfect for biodiesel.

Ferroli is taking a further step towards reducing CO2 emissions and increasing plant room flexibility with its new Econcept Band A commercial wall hung condensing boilers. The existing 100kW floor standing and 35kW or 50kW wall hung models are now joined by new 80kW and 125kW wall mounted models, which may be installed individually or in banks (modular configuration) for higher output.

Tyco Thermal Controls has expanded its Raychem range of under-surface electric snow melting systems with the launch of a further two new products developed for keeping exposed pedestrian and vehicular access areas open and safe during wintry weather.

Scorpion Power Systems new range of bunded oil tanks combine the acknowledged environmental benefits of integral bunding with the latest diesel storage and dispensing technology. Available in polyethylene or steel, each with its own merits, the tanks comply with DEFRA regulations and have been designed especially for the safe, secure and environmentally responsible storage of diesel fuels.

The AMP Netconnect Business Unit of Tyco Electronics has introduced a hand-held precision fibre-optic cleave tool which provides precision quality cleaves with the feel and robustness of a full-scale precision cleaver at an exceptionally competitive price.

The cost of installing a system to control natural air movement to ventilate buildings has become potentially non-existent.

Noral has added to what it claims to be an already outstanding architectural lighting range with the introduction of no fewer than 34 new contemporary-design, die-cast aluminium, extruded aluminium and stainless steel fittings. The company has also unveiled two new stunning stainless steel architectural LED fittings.

The Total range of premium-build portable extinguishers is described in detail in a new fully illustrated, 32-page brochure. It is available in the UK from Express Fire in Manchester and from a country-wide network of approved Total supply partners that are trained to advise, install and maintain the Total extinguishers in peak condition.

Tyco Safety Products Fire Suppression Group has launched a new low-cost Hygood CO2 high pressure system that incorporates the latest container, valve and nozzle design enhancements, and offers easy integration with the latest fire detection and alarm systems.

The benefits of providing employees with hot drinks at work are well reported however, what is less frequently focused on is the energy cost of providing these services. The energy consumed by constantly re-boiling the same kettle, or continually heating a tea urn, is more significant than most facilities managers are aware.

Royal Philips Electronics has introduced a new compact fluorescent lighting system which only requires up to half the energy to produce a given amount of light. The MASTER PL-R Eco is also characterised by fast return on investment, simple installation and greater robustness. In addition the new system will also indirectly save a significant amount of CO2 and contribute to reducing the increase in greenhouse gasses.

With the launch of Amtech 2008, the market’s leading software for electrical contractors, consultants and engineers has been completely re-written. Using advanced new technology, AMTECH 2008 is compliant with the new 17th Edition Wiring Regulations due for release by the IEE in January 2008 and includes a host of powerful new features.

New from B.A.C.Balticare is the Balticare Dolphin System, an innovative water treatment programme that controls scaling, corrosion, fouling and bacteriological growth in cooling towers and evaporative condensers.

Contactum Ltd has a range of products ideally suited to the healthcare sector, including Copper switch plates and power sockets and its best selling Aspire and Traditional ranges.

The Desigo building management system has been further enhanced with the new Desigo TX-I/O modules. These provide high flexibility, greater user friendliness and lower energy and capital costs.

RS Components, Europe's leading distributor of electronic, electrical and industrial components, has launched the latest edition of its Maintenance Essentials catalogue.

The Sonos Voice Sounder from Klaxon Signals is a fire alarm that combines a normal sounder with a clear, synchronised voice message to help reduce confusion and distress during an active alarm. The unique horn design feature ensures superior message quality over other voice sounders available in the market.

The SAV Express range now includes a wide choice of Cimberio Ball Valves purpose designed for building services applications.