Now is the time for building services engineering employers to prepare for the business opportunities Green Deal will create, says SummitSkills after the Energy Act laying the foundation for the Government’s environmental initiative became law.

The passing of the Act marks a major step towards the Government’s aim of increasing the energy efficiency of homes and businesses and changing the way the UK uses and generates energy.

A new Enterprise Centre to be built on the Norwich Research Park at the University of East Anglia (UEA) with innovative use of natural materials and the most advanced approaches to low carbon is set to be a major stimulus to the region’s economy and to the UK low carbon sector.

By Jonathan Jones of Tyco Thermal Controls

The Climate Change Act requires an 80% reduction in our carbon emissions by 2050. Whilst we have heard this statement many times before, it is only just starting to sink in how high a mountain this is to climb!

For example, approximately 42% of UK CO2 emissions come from existing homes and approximately 75% of the housing stock of 2050 is already built.

By Jonathan Jones of Tyco Thermal Controls

The Climate Change Act requires an 80% reduction in our carbon emissions by 2050. Whilst we have heard this statement many times before, it is only just starting to sink in how high a mountain this is to climb!

For example, approximately 42% of UK CO2 emissions come from existing homes and approximately 75% of the housing stock of 2050 is already built.

By Adrian Kitching of Megaman UK

At the moment it seems as though every manufacturer is quoting ever increasing energy savings and jumping on the energy efficiency bandwagon in order to get you to specify their products.

That’s fine if the products do achieve the savings that they claim. But while all savings are good and any product which can help a company achieve genuine efficiencies should be applauded, isn’t it time we started to get our own houses in order?

It has been a year since BSEE launched the first ‘Where’s Watty’ competition and since then this stealthy young badger has been travelling the UK, popping up in interesting places as he chats to people about how he can reduce his carbon pawprint. Each month, BSEE readers have written in to guess where he has been photographed and, since January 2011, 12 lucky winners have received a cuddly badger for correctly naming the places and cities that Watty has visited!

BEAMA has announced the launch of the Consumer Energy Display Industry Group (CEDIG), which took place at a reception at the House of Commons attended by the Minister for Energy and Climate Change, Charles Hendry.

Energy displays have proven highly successful in helping consumers to reduce electricity consumption and will play a significant role in the context of the UK’s national Smart Meter programme.

Despite the fact that the majority of firms know carbon reduction helps cut costs, the construction industry still accounts for 47% of total carbon emissions of the UK. To help companies make significant carbon and cost savings, the Environment Agency has launched a second generation Construction Carbon Calculator which is available free.

£200m of new and additional Government funding has been announced to provide a special time-limited introductory offer to boost the early take up of the Government's Green Deal energy efficiency scheme.

With bills rising because of rocketing global energy prices, the Government wants to see as many people as possible benefiting when the Green Deal hits the high street.

Dimplex has welcomed the launch of the new MIS 3005 heat pump installer standard.

Created with input from a number of industry bodies across a range of sectors, MIS 3005 aims to bring clarity and improve performance in three key areas highlighted in the results of the Energy Saving Trust’s field trial of heat pumps, published last autumn.

New research shows that many of England’s local authorities are highly critical of the Government’s proposed planning reforms.

In an analysis of a representative sample of 27 local authority responses to the public consultation on the draft National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) has found that right across England, and regardless of political party control, local authorities are very concerned about the proposed changes to national planning policy.

The Trox Group has appointed Ian Sams as Managing Director of Trox UK to replace Ludger Bökmann who will return to full-time duties as Head of International Business for the Trox Group.

Ian Sams has spent more than half of his 30 year career in HVAC with Trox and has fulfilled a number of senior roles, the most recent being Chief Operating Officer.

Grundfos has received a seventh Green Apple Award in recognition of the technological advances that the company continues to invest heavily in, proving once again the importance the company places on all aspects of energy efficiency.

We are pleased to announce that BSEE and Baxi Commercial Division are once again collaborating to offer one lucky reader the chance to help out their local community by entering the 2012 Baxi Community Challenge.

The winner will receive a new ‘commercial- sized’ gas-fired water heater or boiler from Baxi Commercial Division, and could be any one of a diverse number of organisations from a scout/guide hut, a recreation field pavilion, a band hut, a youngsters’ football changing facility, a children’s arts and crafts recycling centre, a village museum, club halls and many more.  But if you don’t put them forward we won’t know about them and they will miss out on this tremendous opportunity.

By Ian Ellis, President of the Building Controls Industry Association

As we continue to face a challenging economy, the performance of buildings as a financial asset is rising up the business agenda. Property fund managers are leading the way in maximising the returns on their investment in buildings by being more energy efficient and sustainable, and there are lessons to be learned from their practices.

Expected to be one of Europe’s tallest buildings, The Shard at London Bridge Station, which is currently under construction, has been fitted out with the Durapipe Guardian dual contained pipework system.

Due for practical completion at the end of May 2012, the multi-use building will comprise offices, retail outlets, restaurants, a hotel, luxury residences and public viewing galleries and will be 310m tall. Consisting of 72 floors plus an additional 15 floors in the spire, the Shard replaces Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office building, and forms part of the London Bridge Quarter.

Three years into a major lighting refurbishment to tackle energy savings across its electrical bills, Royal & Derngate is making significant headway. By exchanging its current fittings with a selection of LEDs from Collingwood Lighting’s extensive portfolio, the theatre has had a staggering 50% reduction in utility costs from when it commenced the project.

Saint-Gobain PAM UK has been chosen to supply a major listed building with its

range of Classical rainwater and gutter systems.

Ubbeston Hall is a grade 2 listed early 18th century building, located in Suffolk. It recently underwent a major renovation which involved replacing the existing cast iron rainwater systems after a lifetime of service with new 150mmx100mm moulded cast iron gutters with 125mmx100mm rectangular cast iron downpipes supplied in the Classical Plus high quality pre-painted finish.

There’s a warm reception for visitors to the prestigious Kingsway Hall Hotel in London’s Covent Garden, thanks to the installation of a Dimplex ARC architectural air curtain that helps prevent draughts from the frequently opening doors.

With a history that dates back nearly 100 years as a sought after orchestral recording venue for stars including famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti, the recently refurbished 170 bedroom hotel in the heart of London is now popular with all types of leisure and business guests.

HygroMatik’s C22 and C10 Comfort Plus DS, CompactLine Steam Bath Generators have been fitted within The Spa, a luxurious and traditional Moroccan spa situated in the heart of Dolphin Square in London. The Spa aspires to capture the very essence of Morocco by offering authentic Moroccan cleansing and purifying treatments.

M&E specialist, Kershaw Mechanical Services, is installing full building services at two new academies for Central Bedfordshire Council, in partnership with the main contractor, Willmott Dixon Construction.

All Saints Academy, Dunstable, with an M&E value of £3m, will provide places for around 740 students, aged 11 to 18 years old while the larger Bedford Academy will provide places for around 1,440 students. Both academies will replace existing buildings and are designed around a central hub providing a circular reception atrium.

A sustainable new 2,200sq m teaching space at the University of Winchester has been granted planning consent.

Enabling work has already commenced for a new Learning & Teaching Building at the King Alfred Campus, which was partially designed by engineering consultants Grontmij as part of an overall master plan for development at the University.

With the first CRC footprint reports revealing that big users have huge potential for energy savings, isn’t it time all firms took a leaf out of the CRC book and invested in bespoke energy auditing, says Brian Rickerby, Joint Managing Director of energy consultancy energyTEAM.

Controversy and threats of strike action over a new working agreement only emphasise that the way building services projects are delivered is changing forever, says HVCA President Bob Shelley.

The recent protests against a new, single working agreement for mechanical, electrical and plumbing operatives were politically orchestrated by the radical arm of trade unions and it is still a minority of workers who are unhappy about the proposed changes.

By Paul Courson, Managing Director of Cablofil UK

It’s impossible to switch on a TV or radio these days without being confronted with an economic gloom that is making the markets jumpy and the commercial marketplace an increasingly challenging place to be. Between soaring unemployment in the USA, Euro zone bail outs and the seemingly endless capacity of emerging markets to undercut western manufacturers, the pressure is on.

Trevor S. Palmer, Managing Director at Sontay, examines the important role that metering has to play in reducing carbon emissions in commercial buildings.

Building owners are under intense pressure to save energy and reduce carbon emissions.

Government legislation and incentives are driving through changes in building practices and technologies to ensure that the UK meets its 34% emissions cut on 1990 levels by 2020 which is required under the Kyoto Agreement.

As the demand for sustainable building continues to grow at a considerable rate, Vicky Kenrick from Allen & York explores career opportunities within building services, specifically looking at new roles that are developing within the energy and environmental arena.

By Keith Minster, Sales Manager UK & Ireland for Morley-IAS by Honeywell

Recent research has identified that more than 90% of the general public rarely think about how to get out of a building, whether or not they use it regularly.  In the event of a fire alarm, the most common response is ‘to follow the people around me’, with more than one quarter of respondents ‘assuming that it is a false alarm until advised otherwise’.

By Mike Lamb, Managing Director of Warmafloor

A good education is one of the cornerstones of contemporary society and, in order for children to attain their highest academic potential, it is imperative that the buildings in which they are educated provide the optimum environment for them to learn and grow.

The new Delmatic Metro Desktop Touchpad from Delmatic is a versatile controller that helps to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions while giving users unparalleled control of their local environment from a single device. As such, the Touchpad is a wireless controller with intuitive context-sensitive graphical screens and a wide selection of software-configurable functions. Controllable parameters include light levels and lighting scenes, temperature, glare/shading and audio-visual functions – all from an interactive, desktop device.

The Deskspan Access System is a unique system that is manufactured to span over desking to gain safe access to lighting, fan coil units, air conditioning etc.

It is designed to clear computer monitors and standard partitions yet allow space between ceiling and platform to let the operative work on a properly guarded platform.

Are your heat exchangers not working efficiently in the winter weather? Breakdowns and a long wait time for delivery? With their ‘off the shelf’ availability, Clixcoolers the new, unique, modular forced air heat exchangers from Forward Industrial Products can be delivered and installed in just 72 hours.

A.O. Smith has launched the BMS interface for the BFC, SGE and SGS appliances.

By using the BMS interface you can extract data from the appliance. This data can be converted to your Building Management Software which enables you to monitor the hot water installation.

The BMS interface converts the information of the installation to a ModBus protocol, one of the most used protocols in building management.

BSS Industrial has recently added cut length kits and compression fittings to its already comprehensive range of TracPipe stainless steel gas pipe products. Stocked at its Magna Park national distribution centre, the new lines are now available at UK-wide branches or through next day delivery.

A viable alternative to traditional rigid copper or steel pipework, BSS Industrial is confident that TracPipe will be a popular choice with its customers.

The new Paramount three wall-hung high efficiency condensing boiler from Potterton Commercial offers the most flexible boiler control technology available in the UK market, whilst incorporating all the physical attributes of its predecessor, the Paramount two, in terms of size, appearance, outputs and condensing high efficiencies.

Dimplex is again expanding the UK’s widest range of heat pumps with the launch of the new LA PMS medium temperature range of air source units.

Available in 8 or 14kW capacities, the single phase LA PMS offers variable water flow temperatures of up to 65°C, weather compensated, making it the perfect choice where a complete domestic heating and hot water solution is required.

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.

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.

When replacing a pump there are several points that should be considered as these will have an impact on whether you are making the best selection including:

Wilo has launched the Wilo-Stratos GIGA here in the UK. It’s another highly efficient pump product – the first high efficiency glanded pump – and it’s targeted specifically at the building services and industry sectors.

The Wilo-Stratos GIGA offers building designers, specifiers and architects the chance to easily optimise the energy costs and environmental balance of a building or industrial complex.

The NX range of scroll compressor liquid chillers from Climaveneta UK combines excellent energy efficiency with a compact design and a choice of models to suit a range of applications. These include shell and tube or plate heat exchanger options, as well as low noise or super-low noise versions and units with partial heat recovery. Cooling capacities range from 159kW to 352kW.

Rinnai’s unique condensing technology on its heavy duty condensing continuous flow water heaters incorporates two heat exchangers to achieve optimum water heating generated from every cubic metre of natural gas or LPG, capturing residual heat from their flue gases and transferring it into the water being heated.

Shorts Environmental offers comprehensive planned maintenance, tailor made to suit actual customer requirements, as the key to optimum performance of all HVAC systems.

“Incorporating planned maintenance into the lifetime cost of HVAC systems installations is essential if maximum energy efficiencies and subsequent lower running costs are to be achieved,” says Gareth Chappells, Customer Support Manager at Shorts Environmental.

A unique natural ventilation combination from Passivent and REHAU can provide a low energy cooling solution for the commercial market.

The Passivent/REHAU solution combines the former’s passive stack natural ventilation with the latter’s AWADUKT Thermo ground-air heat exchanger, and is particularly appropriate for buildings with deep floor plans and/or restricted external facades.

Spectral has announced the UK launch of its ultra-efficient and architecturally stylised pendant luminaires, ESTRA-Pendant and a revised PLAFOU design.

Suited to office environments for VDU compatible direct/indirect lighting, PLAFOU and ESTRA incorporate slight design profiles to fit with contemporary, minimal interiors.

One of the first companies to introduce modular boilers to the UK market back in 1978, Ideal Commercial Heating’s latest milestone is the Evomod, the brand’s first modular boiler to feature fully condensing technology. This new product has been designed to fulfil market demand, since well ahead of mandatory requirements, more and more businesses are realising the carbon and cost-saving benefits of high efficiency boilers.

Compatible with its extensive range of energy efficient condensing boilers, Alpha has launched its Trace Heating Kit to help avoid boiler breakdown during the cold winter months.

The kit, which comprises a relay board, detecting wire and weather probe, helps protect against the effects of frozen condensate by detecting the exterior temperature and adjusting the boiler accordingly, ensuring the condensate pipe does not freeze and cause the boiler to breakdown which can be both costly and time consuming to fix.

ABB has launched a free energy calculator application (App) for the BlackBerry. The new App complements ABB’s existing iPhone energy calculator app and will allow, primarily, end-users to calculate the energy savings they can achieve by installing variable-speed drives (VSDs) to control motors.

The App gives end-users the ability to make quick comparisons between motors controlled by VSDs and motors running direct-on-line without any speed control device.

With £860 million made available by the UK government to support its Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) non-domestic renewable heat generators and producers of biomethane are required to measure their output.

In order to claim rebates they require RHI-compliant meters that are accurate and approved. 

Tyco Thermal Controls offer a comprehensive range of heat tracing systems to help winter proof your building just go to the website and claim a free building audit.

Raychem’s Self-regulating electric heat-tracing systems offer a versatile and energy efficient solution for the freeze protection of piped services, maintaining ice-free gutters and downpipes and for melting snow and preventing ice forming on pedestrian walkways and vehicle access areas.

SCHOTT Solar has launched a multicrystalline module that incorporates unique double-glass technology which delivers improved durability and long lasting, stable yields.

Rinnai’s Infinity 16i Continuous flow water heater is designed to meet the hot water needs of domestic and light commercial applications, offering reduced levels of energy usage and harmful emissions.

The 16i provides a constant flow of safe hot water via accurate temperature control with a delivery capacity of 15.2 litres per minute. Water temperatures can be pre-set through easy-to-use built in digital controls, eliminating the risk of scalding and eradicating the need for thermostatic mixing valves.

With the launch of the new 350lm ES50 from Sylvania, retrofit LED lamps have finally come of age.

The new lamp is the first LED retrofit to have the power to replace a 50W halogen (the hugely popular workhorse of accent and display lighting) while staying within the limits for maximum lamp dimensions specified by IEC. This ensures it can be fitted into all GU10 and GZ10-type luminaires without compromise which opens up the benefits of LED lighting to the whole lighting market.

The Wandsworth Group has launched a range of blue sockets to comply with NHS Medical Electrical Installation Guidance Notes (MEIGaN).

Designed for use in either bed head trunking or medical services columns, the new socket range is available in switched or unswitched single or twin units. The Wandsworth MEIGaN-compliant units offer a flexible solution for hospitals when carrying out refurbishments or new build projects and in some cases they can also be retrofitted into existing trunking and medical columns.

Hager has launched a control and circuit protection solution for domestic and commercial photovoltaic applications.

As every installation is different, Hager’s device offer is a modular solution. Hager offers various sizes of AC and DC rotary handle switches, a DC1000V din rail rotary switch, a type B RCCB 4 pole, surge protection, photovoltaic fuse carriers and fuses as well as metering.

Metered tests carried out on Thermal Energy International’s GEM steam traps by Italcables, Italy’s largest producer of wire strands for pre-stressed concrete and post-tensioned structures, have shown steam savings of up to 30% compared to mechanical traps. Now, Italcables has fitted GEM traps to its steam baths and kettle boiler used for ‘pickling’ and treating iron wire strands.

Members of a successful bidding consortium are celebrating as the Rugby Football League (RFL) confirmed that Bristol has been chosen to host matches during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The first International Rugby League to be played in the city for over 100 years will be played at the Memorial Stadium.

Space Airconditioning plc has appointed Peter Selmes as Regional Sales Director for London and the Home Counties.

Based at the company’s Guildford head office, Peter brings extensive experience in applying Daikin Air Conditioning solutions.

A consulting sales engineer with Space Air in the 1990’s, Peter returns after some 16 years as Director of one of Space Air’s nationwide network of approved design and installation contracting companies.

Clients of Meister Electrical Services are on target to make substantial savings on energy bills and significantly reduce their carbon footprint.

Meister Electrical Services, has installed over 1500 DANLERS ceiling flush mounted PIR Occupancy switches as well as DANLERS Surface mounted PIRs in 100’s of McDonald’s Restaurants as part of a rolling plan to populate restaurants with stand-alone energy saving controls, in conjunction with energy efficient LED lighting.

Three Hoval UK-manufactured SR Plus 600kW gas-fired boilers are helping the National Assembly for Wales minimise the energy costs and environmental impact of the award-winning Welsh Assembly building – the Senedd.

Designed by the Richard Rogers Partnership, the Assembly building at Cardiff Bay includes a debating chamber capable of accommodating 60 Members, along with office and meeting spaces, public areas, private accommodation and catering.

The BRE has announced the next dates for its next five day KNX Association Certified Training Courses which will be held on 16-20 January 2012 and 20-24 February 2012.

The courses will be held in Watford where the BRE benefits from a number of buildings on its Innovation Park including the visitors centre and training room which are installed with KNX.

In addition the buildings on the park demonstrate current methods of construction for sustainable, energy efficient buildings.

The Wandsworth Group has added two new area sales managers to its nationwide team.

Becoming area sales manager for North West England and North Wales, Michael Reay joins The Wandsworth Group from a competitor on the nursecall side of the business, bringing three years of experience of the rival system to the Wandsworth team. Michael will leverage his knowledge and contacts in the healthcare sector to help continue to provide an excellent service to the company’s customers.