MK Electric has enhanced its market-leading app for the iPhone, iTouch and iPad. The app puts the latest digital technology at the service of the specifier, providing full specification information without the need for either a lap-top or encyclopaedia-sized catalogue.

Black Teknigas has introduced a new system of free fall fire valve equipment suitable for oil and gas installations. This range of valves and accessories provides a complete, positive 100% fuel isolation system that will automatically operate in the event of excessive temperatures or alarm signal. Black Teknigas is a division of Watts Industries, one of the world’s foremost manufacturers of valves and controls.

Dimplex is extending the choices in solar thermal water heating, with the launch of the SOLC201 flat plate collector, which provides a cost-effective way to start enjoying low cost, low carbon hot water. The SOLC201 is solar keymark approved, meaning that it will be eligible for the financial incentives available under the Renewable Heat Incentive, available to non-domestic installations from July 2011, with domestic installations expected to be eligible from October 2012.

Pittsburgh Corning has updated its website to include a new range of technical literature aimed at specifiers of its FOAMGLAS cellular glass insulation. After gaining valuable customer feedback, the latest literature includes information on insulation for the entire building envelope, facades, interiors, flat roofs, metal and special roof systems.

Smedegaard has launched its new range of FalFlex wall-mounted cold water booster sets. The new FalFlex range is extremely compact and saves space by being wall-mounted, solving the traditional problem of limited space in plant rooms. The set is mounted on rubber lined support brackets to reduce noise transmission once installed.

Greenwood Airvac has launched the next generation heat recovery ventilator. Achieving 0.47W/l/s, with an exceptional 93% heat transfer, and incorporating new, innovative Greenwood SMART Technology, the new Fusion HRV2HT takes one of the UK’s best performing heat recovery product to the next level.

The ethical and legal requirements to protect workers from risk of electrocution are stronger today than ever before. The only way to completely ensure safety is by insisting on the use of safety switches in the workplace rather than ordinary rotary isolators.

The new Han 70 A crimp module is the latest addition to the Harting Han-Modular Series of heavy-duty connectors.  Designed for use in applications presenting the toughest mechanical demands, the new module is plug-compatible with the existing Han 70 A axial screw module, and allows the transmission of high power levels within a compact space.

New from Tridonic is the basicDIM RCL, a cleverly networked lighting management system for control in single rooms that can achieve energy savings of up to 80%. basicDIM RCL is a digital control module for use with up to 25 DSI ballasts that controls the lighting levels on the basis of ambient light and presence.

Collingwood Lighting has introduced a new series of waterproof LED drivers; the PL/IP range. Designed for outdoor use, the compact and effective drivers are suitable for a wide variety of external lighting installations, in both residential and commercial settings. Quickly and easily installed, they are fully compatible with all products across Collingwood’s extensive range.

ATC Semitec’s SP interchangeable series is a range of NTC thermistors that offers very high precision (±0.2°C 0~70C or better) at significantly lower pricing to that of existing interchangeable NTCs.

The Dimplex range of air source heat pumps is popular with specifiers, consultants and developers, with a new range of high efficiency models extending the range to meet the demand for energy efficient heating and hot water in both commercial and residential builds, including multi-dwelling developments.

Fluke offers three pocket-size professional-grade laser distance measuring tools that are fast and easy to use. While offering the most advanced measuring technology with buttons positioned for one-handed measurements, addition, subtraction, area, volume and other calculations can all be simply computed on the large displays.

Theben's PlanoCentro Presence Detector lies virtually flat on a ceiling and has won one of Europe’s most prestigious design awards. Established in 1953, the iF Product Design Award attracts entries from across the globe and this win for Theben will make the PlanoCentro the Presence Detector of choice.

Vent-Axia’s new range, the eViking Air Handling units, sets a new standard for equipment efficiency in HVAC applications. The range features significant performance improvements, providing greater reliability alongside a reduced carbon footprint thanks to the integration of energy saving heat recovery technology and high efficiency fans into its design.

Draka has taken the major step of rebranding one of its most popular cost-cutting fixed installation cables to more fully describe its key contractor benefits and differentiate it from inferior quality cables on the market.  From today, the Saffire YY OHLS cable is renamed as Saffire Swiftfit.

Xpelair, Redring and Galaxy have launched new look websites helping customers to discover the latest ventilation, hot water and showering technology at the click of a button. Visitors can explore the wide range of products available, such as the innovative Carbonlite range from Xpelair, the highly efficient Redring Powerstream Professional electric flow boiler and the stylish Galaxy Aqua Digitemp digital shower.

Marshall-Tufflex Energy Management has launched an industry-first Buyers Guide to Voltage Optimisation. The Guide, an unbiased reference point aimed at anyone considering investing in voltage optimisation, has been produced to equip specifiers and end users with information, questions and prompts to ensure they make the right decisions during the specification process.

Vaillant’s commercial offering consists of a comprehensive range of high output boilers and a range of corresponding controls. At the heart of Vaillant’s commercial offering is the VRC630/2 boiler management system. This versatile control can manage up to eight boilers in cascade and up to 15 heating circuits using additional accessories. 

Johnson Controls has introduced the YORK YLPA heat pump, which combines optimal energy efficiency with an extremely quiet operation.  The YORK YLPA is Johnson Controls’ third generation of scroll heat pumps. Continuous enhancements to the heat pump’s design has led to an even higher performance, whilst maintaining its reliability.

Now available from Aereco is the Demand Controlled Ventilation (DCV) system which is proven to have much lower energy usage than conventional systems whilst providing greater levels of comfort in living areas and eliminating mould and condensation in wet rooms.

A unique software tool, to help architects and specifiers accurately and quickly assess the impact of natural daylighting on a building’s energy performance, has been launched by Passivent. The company has worked closely with leading software house Environmental Design Solutions Ltd (EDSL) to develop the utility (Passivent Sunscoop Builder) which complements the already proven Passivent Airscoop Builder tool for natural ventilation in buildings.

Panasonic’s Gas Heat Pumps offer a low carbon gas driven VRF heating and cooling solution which is an ideal alternative to traditional electric VRF. The M-Series features improved performance and reduced carbon emissions while providing a great solution to power supply issues for commercial applications.

Taking the opportunity to review the situation when there is a requirement to replace a pump is rarely taken, instead the pump is replaced with a ‘like for like’ pump which means the opportunity to gain efficiency, save energy and improve comfort levels is lost.

Knowing where we can go to access particular information is something that can save us incalculable amounts of valuable time. The new Thinking Buildings Universe from Grundfos now offers building services professionals a centralised information point that is a one stop shop for commercial buildings services pump applications.

Part L2 of the Building regulations considers energy efficiency in non-domestic buildings (three phase applications), clarifying energy demands and the associated need to meter energy usage. Its effect will help building managers, landlords and tenants to understand where energy is used or wasted and to create opportunities to significantly reduce energy consumption, hopefully by around 5-10% p.a.

The new Seaward Solar Installation PV100 is the first dedicated multi-function electrical tester for those involved in solar panel installation. The new tester is capable of carrying out all electrical tests required by IEC 62446 on grid connected PV systems and eliminates the need for multiple test instruments for PV panel electrical installation and connection.

Legionella pneumophila is the bacterium associated with 90% of all cases of Legionnaire’s disease which is a fatal form of pneumonia.  It can affect anyone, but is particularly dangerous for people who suffer from any level of immunosupression such as the very young and the elderly, smokers and people who suffer from respiratory problems. Small quantities of the bacteria do exist naturally in nature such as in the micro flora in rivers, lakes and ground water but in such low concentrations that they pose no real threat.

The Home Technology Event which takes place at ExCeL London, from 28-30 June is most definitely the place to be for mechanical and electrical contractors and consultants seeking to find out more about the smart home, or residential custom installation, industry and grow their businesses within this fast-growing sector.

Saving energy, meeting carbon reduction targets, reducing costs – these are all phrases which we are very familiar with in this industry because they are things which we are all trying to achieve on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter what your role is because becoming energy conscious is at the very heart of every business, but after you’ve swapped the light bulbs and made some other ‘quick win’ adjustments to the building, what happens next.

The world’s demand for energy is increasing sharply, with up to 40% of consumption accounted for by the buildings we live and work in. The energy efficiency of buildings is therefore becoming a priority issue and KNX has proved itself to be a potential key to meeting the challenge. With a 20- year track record, the KNX open protocol has an established track record and cannot be ignored.

Getting KNX Certification is almost the equivalent of passing your driving test according to Ben Lewis who runs the company KNX Consultants which provides a range of independent consultancy and training services.

Numerous companies are now specifying a KNX system, but when global financial services firm, UBS, took space in Broadgate West and discovered the Lightrak KNX lighting control system from Electrak (part of the Legrand Group) was already installed, it made tailoring the space to their needs a lot easier.

Measures taken to reduce the energy consumption and carbon emissions of buildings can lead to energy wastage in other areas. Tony Willis, Technical Sales Director of Sabien Technology, explains why boiler dry cycling may be on the increase and going unnoticed.

KNX Building Controls have certainly hit the spot as far as MediaCityUK is concerned. EnTech, a member of the Integrated Building Technology Group (IBT Group), who use the KNX worldwide open protocol, has been awarded no less than 13 contracts at this prestigious complex in Salford which demonstrates the faith developers have in this international standard.

While the benefits of utilising the open KNX standard are clear, fresh thinking in an approach to total room automation that links traditionally separate control systems for lighting and heating could pave the way to significant energy savings for buildings.

Welcome to the final list of qualifiers for the Baxi Commercial Division Community Challenge. The judging panel received a rush of last minute entries that made the process of choosing the final shortlisted qualifier all the more difficult. After due consideration, three applicants stood out above the rest and the decision was made to include all of them in our final shortlist, making a total of five. Here are details of the final three.

A new fire station for Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service includes energy efficient cooling and heating courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI). AMP Air Conditioning has supplied a VRF heat recovery system from MHI’s KXRE6 range for the £1 million construction project.

The highest environmental rating achievable in the UK, gained at a new youth and community building, is helping create a legacy for the 21st century - in part due to Passivent. The YMCA’s new George Williams Centre in Bridgwater is aiming to be the first community building in the South West to achieve BREEAM ‘outstanding’ accreditation.

Elmwood Special School in Walsall is a dedicated school that caters for children between the ages of 11 and 16 who have social, emotional and behavioural difficulties. As part of the refurbishment seen within the school, Smith’s Environmental Products supplied 15 Caspian units which were fitted in the school’s sports hall.

Spenhill, the wholly owned regeneration subsidiary of Tesco, has begun construction work on the first phase of a £105 million mixed use development scheme that will create two vibrant public spaces at the heart of a modern residential community in Higham’s Park, London.  

A Delmatic lighting management system has been installed at Fortnum & Mason, one of London’s most prestigious retail stores, during a recent £26m refurbishment project. To mark the beginning of its fourth century of trading, Fortnum & Mason embarked on a major refurbishment which was carried it out in phases so the store could continue to trade.

Located in Middlesbrough on the south bank of the River Tees, Teesside University has become one of the UK’s foremost seats of learning. It achieves consistently high rankings in surveys that assess the quality of education on offer, and in 2009 it was named as the Times Higher Education (THE) Awards University of the Year.

Customers will appreciate the new entrances to McDonalds which will now feature automatic doors in restaurants as part of a national refurbishment programme. The contract is the first of its kind for Geze UK who will supply its compact Slimdrive EMD-F electromechanical drive systems, which can move McDonalds’ large and heavy external swing doors easily and with virtually no noise.

Planners have given Birmingham City University the green light to build phase one of its exciting new City Centre Campus - and applauded the investment to create graduates to compete in a global economy. The campus plans have been approved by Birmingham City Council and marks another boost for the region’s regeneration strategy as the new facility will help create skilled graduates ready to contribute to the local economy and beyond.

CP Electronics has supplied its popular Vitesse Modular range of marshalling boxes to the new Stoke City Football Club’s training ground at Clayton Wood. Chosen and specified by electrical contractors EIC Manchester, Vitesse Modular was used throughout the £7 million development, and when combined with CP’s absence detectors, will help improve energy efficiency.  

Abacus Lighting has completed the installation of floodlighting at Edgbaston Cricket Club as part of the ground’s £30 million redevelopment. The £1 million contract for Abacus to floodlight the newly developed ground comes in quick succession of its installations at the Oval and Lords.

Open systems protocols for building controls are probably not high on the list of interests for even the most dedicated building energy manager. However, the development and evolution of protocols such as LonWorks, BACnet, KNX, Modbus, M-Bus and others has had a significant impact on how building energy use can be monitored, measured and managed.

The Government’s Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell has identified BIM as one key to delivering better value for the UK taxpayer. Speaking at a specially convened BIM roundtable event, hosted by NBS at RIBA’s London HQ, Morrell reiterated his view that the BIM model could unleash a massive amount of innovation and positive integration in the supply chain.

The 2011 CIBSE/ASHRAE Graduate of the Year Award has been launched with entries invited from all recent graduates in a building services related discipline. Now in its 16th year, the award scheme, which is sponsored by Baxi Commercial, will once again reward its winner with a trip to the ASHRAE Winter Conference in the USA.

Refcom, the UK register of companies competent to handle refrigerants, has received European recognition for its F-gas expertise from the European Partnership for Energy and the Environment (EPEE). The EPEE is carrying out a study into F-gas regulations and requested case studies from F-gas authorities throughout Europe.

SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for building services engineering, has launched its annual Awards for Excellence event and is seeking nominations to acknowledge the industry’s best craft, technical and professional engineers.

CIBSE is leading the non domestic working group advising the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) and Building Regulations Advisory Committee (BRAC) on the planned changes to Part L for 2013.

Cost savings and government incentives are the top influencers driving an increased focus on energy efficiency in buildings, according to the results of the second annual Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Indicator (EEI) survey for Europe. The survey reinforces the growing trend of greening buildings seen in Europe in recent years.

A new report by Carbon Smart has been released that slams the state of carbon and sustainability assurance in the FTSE 350. The report, ‘Just off the starting blocks’, highlighted that only a small proportion of the FTSE 350 had sought assurance for the sustainability sections in their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reports, and that the quality of this assurance did not meet the recognised standards in many cases.

L&S Waste Management has received planning approval for the construction of a renewable energy plant at its headquarters in Pegham Lane, Fareham, providing a boost to sustainable electricity production in southern England.

After a competition was launched in their newsletter last year, Little Watty Baxter was the name chosen for the Baxi-SenerTec UK badger which appears on the company logo. Short for ‘Little Walter’, it was thought that Little Watty reflects the emphasis of the business being represented, which is Combined Heat and Power (CHP), both of which have the unit ‘Watt’.

Specifiers need to be aware of the latest control technologies for HID lamps if they are to offer their end-clients the best solutions, says David Bradshaw of Venture Lighting.

New product development is something which keeps this industry going as it is helping us all to manage our energy use and reduce our carbon footprint. But while new products are a given, do we all really know how best to make use of them?

HVCA is backing the call for wider use of display energy certificates (DECs), but warns that the scheme is bound to fail unless enforcement is also stepped up. A report from the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) entitled Carbon Reductions in Existing Non-Domestic Buildings, set out the case for extending the reach of DECs as the most practical way of highlighting potential energy and cost savings in commercial buildings.

Skills Minister John Hayes has called on senior leaders in SMEs to take advantage of funding that will support leadership and management training to help them grow their businesses. About 13,000 small and medium sized businesses and social enterprises that display a potential for development will benefit from the Leadership and Management growth grant.

Despite government spending cuts and low private sector investment in new build projects, the building services industry is continuing to see increases in demand fuelled by the focus on end-user environmental standards and tougher legislation. Alongside refurbishment, maintenance and repairs, the retro-fitting of energy efficient building services is top of the carbon reduction agenda.

Issue 10 of FS Cables cabling guide ‘The Little Red Book’ is now available. Extended to 176 pages and increased in size to A5, a host of new products and updated technical tables are included. The coax section now benefits from a full range of connectors in stock, so you can easily select the accompanying connector when choosing your cable.

There is no doubt that it is in the best interests of a business to create an environment in which staff feel comfortable, and temperature control is a crucial part of that process. If it is too hot or too cold, a workforce is unable to function properly, both physically and mentally, which ultimately leads to a drop in productivity.

A key design decision in every chilled beam project is whether active or passive beams will best suit the application. There is sometimes a preconception that an active chilled beam is just a passive beam with more bells and whistles. But, as the operating principles of the two are so different, we miss a trick as system designers if we overlook the specific benefits that each can bring depending on the requirements of the project.

Graham Fisher, Business Development Director at CME Sanitary Systems, looks at how greywater recycling is helping to meet the latest requirements for water conservation in buildings.

Described as the eighth wonder of the world, the Eden Project is an exciting and inspiring playground in which we can explore our relationship with nature. But what happens when the temperature in the famous rainforest Biome drops below 16°C? Quite simply the plants start to die.

Introduction: In today’s competitive market, engineers, contractors, owners and specifiers are looking for the right control solution for their HVAC systems. Traditional building management systems integrate many aspects within the building, including HVAC, Lighting, Boiler and Chiller plants. The challenge for more energy efficient control has required the technology to become more advanced while at the same time becoming more complex.

Maintaining clean ventilation systems is an important part of sustaining good indoor air quality or fire risk management where grease contamination may be present. With this in mind building owners and site facilities managers employ contractors to visually inspect inside these respective systems to determine if they are clean.

The Vaisala INTERCAP® Humidity and Temperature Transmitter Series HMW80 combines proven stability with easy installation and reliable operation. The HMW80 offers both combined relative humidity and temperature measurement, as well as temperature-only measurement for temperature control applications.

Sabien Technology Group plc (AIM: SNT), the manufacturer and supplier of M2G, an energy efficiency technology, has been awarded Jones Lang LaSalle’s inaugural Supplier of Distinction Award for Energy & Sustainability.  The award recognises Sabien’s dedication to delivering the highest calibre of services, value and innovation to Jones Lang LaSalle’s clients.

HeatKing have just introduced a range of packages aimed at providing it’s customers with the option of buying a complete system and solution for Air Source Heat Pump installations. The packages, called HeatPacs, include all the major “capital” items of plant the installer requires, leaving him to obtain only the distribution side of the system.