Perhaps more than any other sector, the building industry has benefited the most from the introduction of thermal imaging. Its scope of application in this field is immense because a thermal imaging camera can identify problems early, allowing them to be documented and corrected before they become more serious and costly to repair.

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.

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.

You know something is not quite right with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) energy efficiency scheme when the Environment Agency has to produce a guidance note on its guidance notes.

Stephen Andrews, Technical Manager at Danfoss Heat Pumps, looks at how an increasing number of businesses are upgrading their buildings with microgeneration technologies, such as heat pumps, to provide a more sustainable and affordable energy source for the future.

Renewables are key to meeting our future energy needs, but as with all emerging technologies, the way forward isn’t always clear. Ideal Commercial Heating’s James Parkinson charts a path through the financial and legislative minefield for building owners and operators.

Steven Daniels, Director of Matrix explains how organisations can manage energy in the most efficient and cost-effective way. The use of energy is something that concerns every organisation across the country and efficient businesses are always looking for ways to manage energy as effectively as possible. Using energy efficiently is a challenge for all companies – from single site operations, to organisations that have a portfolio of properties across the UK.

With a 10-year history, The Energy Event has grown to be one of the largest energy exhibitions and conferences in Europe. Taking place on the 13 – 14 September 2011 at the Birmingham NEC, it is the only event dedicated to energy procurement, management and efficiency. Supported by the leading industry associations and organisations, this year’s event will provide the UK’s largest customer-led seminar programme free of charge and will address the key issues of energy availability, affordability and sustainability.

Spirax Sarco will be at The Energy Event to give expert advice on how to improve steam system efficiency, reducing carbon emissions and saving thousands from the bottom line. Visitors to the stand will be able to see Spirax Sarco’s unique vacuum insulated pipe. Soon to be released in the UK, this presents an innovative approach to pipe insulation, using vacuum technology to give the lowest operating cost of any insulation system.

Research by the Carbon Trust shows British business could save up to 20% off their energy costs by taking basic energy saving steps. For many companies that’s the same as a 5% increase in sales. In addition to complying with the Government’s CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, energy-saving within your business can provide a number of benefits which include reduced costs as a result of lower energy consumption and tax incentives which are available for some businesses that buy and use energy and water efficient technologies or low emission vehicles.

Haven Power is now well and truly established as an electricity supplier to some of the biggest I&C names in the UK. Despite its initial role to serve the needs of the SME market, it has grown its I&C customer base thanks to a strong range of tailored products, including flexible contracts.

Climaveneta UK (formerly Walter Meier) will demonstrate its total approach to air conditioning, from advice with product selection and application, installation and commissioning to on-going maintenance and energy optimisation.

As energy costs continue to rise and Government increases pressure on building owners to measure and reduce carbon emissions, Tridium will showcase how its industry-leading NIAGARAAX Framework can provide an effective smart services solution to meet these requirements.

Energy saving specialist Marshall-Tufflex Energy Management will be exhibiting its full portfolio of products at the Energy Event, including its newly launched domestic voltage optimisation system and a wireless sub-metering solution, both of which have already created much interest in the market.

Endress+Hauser’s two new EngyCal energy managers provide high-precision recording and billing information for steam mass, energy flow, plus heating and cooling in liquid heat transfer systems will be on show at The Energy Event. For a simple, scalable automatic meter reading solution in energy monitoring applications, EngyCal is the answer.

Consumers can now reap the rewards of flexible energy purchasing with enhanced risk management protection thanks to next-generation technology from ENER-G Procurement. ENER-G Procurement’s new RiskManager software monitors wholesale market prices in real time, automatically tracking, recording and reporting market movements as they happen to support decision making.

Sabien Technology will be featuring a live demonstration of its M2G intelligent boiler load optimiser, working with a boiler and BMS on the stand to demonstrate how significant energy savings are achieved by preventing dry cycling. Boiler dry cycling is caused when boilers fire to compensate for standing heat losses from the boiler without actively contributing to the building’s heating load, even when the plant is linked to a BMS or BEMS.

Acksen Ltd

Since the introduction of the Display Energy Certificate, the importance of improving energy efficiency has grown. Despite this however, there remains a level of uncertainty surrounding its application. The Display Energy Certificate (DEC) was introduced back in October 2008 following the mandatory introduction of the EU Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, which all EU member states were required to implement by January 2009.

Sources of energy waste lurk in almost every building. These overlooked energy drains have a high financial and carbon cost. Nicola Martin makes the case for energy audits. Energy is wasted every day in every organisation, and identifying how and why that energy goes to waste can unlock the potential for substantial financial savings and vital carbon reduction. For this reason, the free Carbon Surveys initiative provided by sustainability advisory body, the Carbon Trust, was hugely popular among businesses.

Steven Daniels, Director of Matrix explains how organisations can manage energy in the most efficient and cost-effective way.  The use of energy is something that concerns every organisation across the country and efficient businesses are always looking for ways to manage energy as effectively as possible. Using energy efficiently is a challenge for all companies – from single site operations, to organisations that have a portfolio of properties across the UK.

Rising energy costs, particularly for multi-site businesses and anyone managing a property portfolio, is an increasingly significant issue, but retro-fitting a wireless energy management system could be the ideal solution, says Ivan McKeever, Director at WEMS International.

Geoff Halliday, Head of Sales at Power Electrics considers generator selection in the context of the functional building environment of today.

In recent years the loads required to be handled by generating sets have become much more complex. Consequently more care has to be exercised in selecting the generating set to ensure optimum performance. It was quite common and it is still often the case even today that the generator was over sized. Given the current economic situation where budgets are very tight, a more scientific approach needs to be adopted.

Chris Irwin, Regional Director at Tridium Europe explains how through the convergence of building automation with information technology systems at a network level, a smart services solution can bring added-value for property owners of stand-alone buildings, groups of buildings or entire nationwide estates.

Managing the CRCEES necessitates an effective process for measuring and managing energy performance. Building services engineers have an important role to play in selecting the best systems, suggests David Bell of Causeway’s Sustainability iQ division.

Stephen Andrews, Technical Manager at Danfoss Heat Pumps, looks at the reasons why increasing numbers of engineers are choosing to enhance their skills in the renewable sector.

When you consider the opportunities that the renewable sector offers over the next 10 years, it is little wonder that engineers are increasingly seeking to extend their skills to heat pump technology.

The green agenda dominates the UK building and construction sector and is being driven by the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme. The CRC is the legislation that penalises those organisations that don’t cut their greenhouse gas emissions. The legislation is designed to reduce the carbon emissions made by larger commercial and public sector organisations by 1.2m tonnes of carbon per year by 2020. If organisations do not start putting carbon reduction strategies into place immediately, it could put a huge cost burden on them.

Fläkt Woods has built a reputation for large chilled beams projects in Europe, but this technology is still relatively unheard of in North America, so it was a demanding test to prove to some initially sceptical building owners that chilled beams, when used with advanced energy recovery, would work in a leading architectural university in Pennsylvania.

A hydronic system relies on many factors to ensure that it works effectively and efficiently. One point that can greatly affect the efficiency of a waterborne system is the state of the water it contains. Achieving a turbulent state is the ultimate goal of those responsible for designing, operating and maintaining any system. This will help to make control and measurement far more accurate, resulting in better efficiencies.

The mandatory Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficient Scheme, which came into force in April 2010, will make companies consider emissions reductions targets. The CRC covers large business and public sector organisations and around 20,000 organisations in the UK will be affected by this regulation; however it’s not just users that can make a difference. Manufacturers have a responsibility to provide energy efficient solutions for a commercial environment yet still deliver on occupant comfort to provide users with a pleasant setting.

Stephenson College in Coalville, Leicestershire, is a leading provider of renewable training and was one of the first educational institutions to cover alternative heating solutions.

Thanks to a partnership with the Baxi group, the college offers state-of-the-art working examples, including wood biomass and air source heat pumps, complemented by solar thermal, rain and grey water harvesting. A new addition is a research project to monitor the energy and money-saving affects of small scale CHP.

Industrial and commercial energy use has been thrown into sharp focus by the introduction of the Carbon Reduction Commitment, which demands that all facilities falling under its remit record, register and cut their energy bills.

The deadline for registration has passed and theoretically participants will now be meticulously monitoring their half-hourly electricity consumption in readiness for purchasing carbon allowances next April. Or maybe not. Research suggests that almost 75% of business leaders questioned were unsure if their organisation should be registering – a worrying statistic at such a critical point.

There was significant hype surrounding when the NHS reached its 60th birthday two years ago and not without good reason as today it is the world’s largest publicly funded health service. With a staff of 1.7m people, this means that only the Chinese People’s Liberation Army, the Wal-Mart supermarket chain and the Indian Railways directly employ more people. The number of patients that the NHS deals with is equally staggering – on average one million patients every 36 hours, which is equivalent to 463 people a minute.

The Government’s first Private Finance Initiative outside the UK involves Johnson Controls looking after all the facilities at the British Embassy in Berlin. The company’s Regional Operations Director in Germany, David Munro, outlines the challenges and how they were overcome.

Every building brings its own challenges when it comes to ensuring it provides a comfortable and safe working environment. Internal conditions are determined by its shape and size, its thermal characteristics, the processes it houses and the uses made of different areas.

Power correction technology came under the spotlight when performances could be claimed to challenge the micro-renewables for reliability to reduce energy usage. CLM Managing Director Paul Caddick describes why it is important in building services to make some voltage checks.

The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme (CRCEES) is a carbon cap and trade scheme that is designed for non-intensive energy users in the public and private sectors. It is a complex piece of legislation that exposes a number of potential conflicts. Making it work will depend on input from facilities management specialists, such as the collection of data and energy efficiency advice and implementation.

As energy costs continue to rise and climate change legislation starts to bite, enterprises of all sizes are affected.  Effective energy reduction strategies are essential to avoid considerable financial and reputational loss.  Claude Lyons' PowerSave Energy Saving Regulators can contribute significantly to such strategies, with electricity savings of up to 25% being possible. PowerSave also secures users against excessive mains supply dips, and its output, by being tightly phase balanced, can prevent equipment overheating and reduce maintenance costs.

The majority of renewable energy technologies are powered by the sun. The earth-atmosphere system is in such a balance that heat radiation into space is equal to incoming solar radiation; the resulting level of energy within the earths atmosphere can roughly be described as the earth's climate. The hydrosphere (water) absorbs a major fraction of the incoming radiation. Most radiation is absorbed at low latitudes around the equator, but this energy is dissipated around the globe in the form of winds and ocean currents. Wave motion may play a role in the process of transferring mechanical energy between the atmosphere and the ocean through wind stress. Solar energy is also responsible for the distribution of precipitation which is tapped by hydroelectric projects, and for the growth of plants used to create biofuels.

Section 3.3 of Part L2 of the Building Regulations states that ‘to enable owners or occupiers to measure their actual energy consumption, the building and engineering services should be provided with sufficient energy meters and submeters'.  The idea being that by monitoring power and lighting separately, operators can reduce energy usage by comparing actual consumption with targets, identifying unusual periodic changes and keeping annual records of seasonal consumption. 

The government as a whole is in a right old mess but before they went completely to pot they did manage to announce the UK's first ‘green' budget and include in that a target of making all buildings zero carbon by 2019.  Is this something we can be thankful for or is it another example of all mouth and no trousers? 

The need for businesses to become more energy efficient and cut energy bills is making smart meters an increasingly attractive solution for managing energy use. As the Government announces every home and business in Britain will have a new smart meter installed by 2020, Alan Roadway, product manager for ABB, explains what is possible with smart meters and outlines some of the benefits they can bring for commercial and industrial users.

To the point

Since 2005, the Ecodesign Directive has been one of the key enabling mechanisms to drive forward the European Union's policy designed to reduce the levels of environmentally damaging emissions and to increase the use of renewable energy sources.  The Directive establishes a framework to prescribe design principles to apply to energy using products and systems, together with any necessary labelling requirements under the Energy Labelling Directive.

It was telling that one of the first actions of Barack Obama on entering office was to herald a sea change in the US government's policy on climate change and carbon emissions. Within 100 hours of his inauguration he had announced that he expected federal agencies to make all government buildings far more energy efficient. He had a target in mind as well, hoping to achieve energy savings of up to $2 billion (£1.5 billion) per year alongside a reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming.