We are all familiar with the Frico range of products which are well known within the industry and which they have been developing and manufacturing since 1932. Today they are the leading supplier of air curtains, radiant heaters and fan heaters in Europe and provide a comfortable indoor climate for a variety of different buildings.

There is no doubt that the general public and commercial building clients have a healthy appetite for sustainability, but the market is being driven down a series of blind alleys.

‘Bid to win’ and ‘targeted estimating’ won’t be familiar terms to all contractors but for some these sum up a whole philosophy of maximising the chances of winning bids. And many contractors who take such measures are deploying information technology to help achieve their objectives.

Critical computer loads have traditionally required continuous voltage supply with a maximum break of 20ms to function without failure. At the same time, the temperature and humidity of the ambient cooling air has been controlled to within fine limits and close control air conditioning has been the norm.

Using biogas, which is generally a waste or by-product, to generate electricity can make sound economic sense for an organisation, even before considering the green arguments. There are however some buts. Most of the major issues are technical and it essential that you choose the right partner for such an enterprise with care.

On the face of it, the case for working in open plan offices is pretty clear cut. Not only is it more conducive to communication and less bound by ideas of that great contemporary no-no that we call ‘status’, the economic case is seemingly open and shut. Open plan workstations not only take up around half the space of cellular offices, the costs of fitting out a cellular office are around 25% higher than an equivalent open plan space. So little wonder that open plan offices are now the standard form of most British workplaces.

Tight lead times from clients throughout the construction sector are leading electrical installers to look at ways to shave valuable time off all projects. A main driver for the cabling industry to introduce innovation to save time on projects will come from work won in the public sector, on schemes including schools and hospitals.

Not only would you be hard pushed to find a fridge with anything but an A rating, the scheme also includes an A+ level (and even an A++). Manufacturers have responded to consumer demand by pushing on to higher levels of energy efficiency.

The industry is already feeling the effects of the new Part L of the Building Regulations, with its emphasis on air tight design and energy efficiency.

Highlighting key issues in effective water management, he outlines product solutions enabling building owners, designers and facilities managers to make the washroom environment more installer/user friendly, water efficient and a safer place.

Legionnaires’ Disease was first recorded in 1976. The disease – and the bacterium that causes it – took its name from its first victims, members of the American Legion who were attending an annual convention in Philadelphia. The previously-unidentified bacterium caused pneumonia in many of the delegates, a large number of whom subsequently died.

It seems that the pressure to work smarter, more efficiently and more productively is never-ending, so how can building services contractors achieve these improvements in both installation and maintenance work, and still turn in the profits they require to remain viable?

With climate change looking ever more serious with each new headline, variable speed drives in HVAC are set to play a much bigger role in HVAC applications, using their major strength of saving energy. But what does the would be VSD user or specifier need to know about using these products in building services?

There are three distinct stages to the noise control process:

- Source - Transmission - Reception. The acoustic engineer needs to evaluate the noise reduction measures which must be implemented to provide a quiet comfortable working environment within these three stages.

Let’s start with boiling water. Many people in each different type of workplace require boiling water simultaneously.

It is no secret that the germicidal waveband of UV ‘C’ can be used to kill a range of pathogenic micro-organisms by disrupting their DNA chain. But it is only recently that UV disinfection in the form of second generation designs has been able to satisfy even the most sceptical.

When it comes to computerised estimating systems, M & E installers and contractors have a diverse range of needs. The most successful installations are invariably those where the company has taken the time and trouble to analyse its own specific objectives and ensure it finds a supplier capable of meeting these both in the short and long term.

Building Regulations Approved Document E 2003 (ADE) outline a variety of improvements that are now required for both new buildings and converted buildings to meet the latest Building Regulation guidance for the passage of sound. Some of the most notable changes are as follows:

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.

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.

There’s no doubt that rising energy costs, the drive to reduce carbon emissions and concerns over the long-term security of our energy supplies are having a significant effect on the need for energy efficiency in today’s building services sector. Karen Trewick, Marketing Communications Manager at Dimplex takes a look at why electric heating is set to be the system of choice as reserves of fossil fuels dwindle and the use of renewable energy sources grows.

Is there really such a thing as a single point of failure? Or could it be that putting all your eggs in one basket actually allows you to build simpler and more effective levels of redundancy?

As a recognised and long established designer and manufacturer of state-of-the-art Uninterruptible Power Systems (UPS) with world-wide coverage, Chloride closely follow developments in technology and product application. Of particular interest at this time is the changing nature of the computer loads that UPS products have to support. Whilst we have always been aware of the non-linear effects of computer loads we recognise that certain modern day IT products such as blade servers can draw power from the supply with a leading displacement power factor (DPF).

Now Part L of the Building Regulations is in place, BSEE asked a panel of industry experts what it thinks the key issues are for construction – and whether the industry is really ready to face the challenge of Part L.

Wireless controls have been around for decades, but increasing demand from the building sector means that they are undergoing a revolution in technology.