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Group's landfill waste now equivalent to ordinary British household's

Multi-environmental award winning Hambleside Danelaw, which manufactures insulated GRP rooflights and other roofing materials in Inverness and Daventry, has been certified as Planet Positive™ by leading carbon solutions company dcarbon8.

The Group is also on track to achieve by the end of 2007 a reduction in its total landfill waste from 904 tonnes in 2001 to approximately 3 tonnes – the latter being equivalent to the waste of the average British household. This achievement should be measured against the fact that Hambleside Danelaw is manufacturing circa 1.5 million square metres of roofing materials each year.

Hambleside Danelaw has gained Planet Positive™ certification because its design and production processes already embody an environmentally responsible footprint which is imperative to receiving certification. The Planet Positive™ mark will inform contractors that Hambleside's business carbon footprint, the volume of greenhouse gasses generated by the company's manufacturing and distribution processes, is more than offset by activities that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The certification relates to the processes behind all of the Group's building products and Hambleside Danelaw is currently the only UK rooflight manufacturer to carry the Planet Positive™ mark. Other leading companies in the building industry, who are members of dcarbon8 and are working towards Planet Positive™ certification, include CA Group.

As well as meeting high environmental objectives, dcarbon8's off-site projects around the developing world seek to improve the social and economic well-being of the local area. This can be done in many ways, for example, reducing energy costs, improving employment, education, health or saving habitats and wildlife.

Hambleside Danelaw has chosen to support two of dcarbon8's selected projects: the first is a hydroelectric power plant connected to the national grid in Guatemala, which provides a constant source of renewable energy that has significantly reduced the country's demand for fossil-fuel generated electricity. The second project aims to install solar panels into remote, rural schools in the Eastern Cape of South Africa with the additional installation of much needed ICT and internet facilities.

Robin Jeffery, Hambleside's vice-chairman, said: “The Planet Positive™ certification is perhaps the strongest indication yet to our clients that we wish to be seen as a market leader for environmental responsibility in the building industry. A major attraction of being a dcarbon8 member is that we can work with the company's experts to constantly source further improvements in our sustainability performance.”

Janet Kidner of dcarbon8 said: “I saw on my recent visit to the Group's manufacturing facility in Inverness the significant steps that Hambleside Danelaw has taken to set a carbon footprint benchmark which, in our experience, only a few others in the building industry currently match. But dcarbon8 is encouraged that the sharing of best environmental practice in the sector is really starting to gather pace.”

Hambleside Danelaw is now working with dcarbon8 to certify their products as Planet PositiveTM; this will include a detailed carbon footprint analysis of its products. When this process is complete, contractors who purchase products from Hambleside Danelaw will be given dcarbon8 carbon credits to select rigorously approved carbon offset projects for further investment

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An international colour workshop held by Eternit Germany, the sister company of the UK's leading manufacturer of cladding and roofing materials Marley Eternit, reveals huge differences in the colours preferred by architects in the various EC states.

Some may be as obvious as flamboyant French architects preferring pink and the more conservative English preferring more muted, natural colours. However, what they all agree on is how important colour in design is to them.

This importance was reflected in the fact that four European architects accepted Eternit's invitation to spend a day discussing colour in design, reviewing the company's cladding portfolio and touring the group's fibre cement factory in Neubeckum, Germany.

UK architects were represented by Cany Ash and Robert Sakula from Ash Sakula Architects in London. They were joined by Konrad Wohlhage from Leon Wohlhage Wernik Architekten in Berlin and David Trottin from Peripheriques Architectes in Paris and were complemented by five architects working within Eternit companies in Europe.

These are Shane O'Toole from Tegral, Ireland, who is architecture correspondent for the Sunday Irish Times, and Prof Jan Krause of Eternit Germany, who is Professor for Architecture Media Management at the University of Applied Sciences in Bochum, as well as Eternit architects in Spain and Italy.

Conducted in English, the workshop focused on a discussion of Eternit versus competitor products and future development of Eternit's portfolio of fibre cement cladding panels.

Accompanied by 10 other senior Eternit sales and marketing personnel from all over Europe, the architect consultants reviewed the colour ranges and sales figures of each participating country before Jan Krause spoke about the use of colours in architecture, showing recent architectural works with natural or industrial facade materials.

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Modern building design incorporates the latest technology, combining contemporary cost-effective construction techniques with consideration of ongoing energy and operating costs. These principals apply to the whole building and the products and systems, which make up the Building services, play a vital part in the overall plan.

Every Design, Facility and Energy Manager knows that the basis of good management and control is effective measurement, to provide a picture of what's happening, feedback on actions taken, demand trends and actual consumption! And in the area of Liquid flow, heat and energy measurement a comprehensive Sub-metering system is vital to energy management of the building.

Micronics Fixed “Clamp-On” meter solutions based on non-invasive, ultrasonic technology offer a cost-effective alternative to conventional meter installation with established savings of up to 90%! They can make a significant contribution in a comprehensive sub-metering system and they are simple to service and maintain with no need for system drain downs, facilitating fast repairs and minimum down times.

They are in short a modern tool for contemporary building designs with advanced building services. And these clear benefits have been recognised by the incorporation of “Clamp-On” non-invasive meters in major developments such as London's ExCeL exhibition centre and more recently Heathrow Terminal 5 where “Clamp-On” meters form a significant part of the Terminal's sub-metering system.

So if your design requires a fixed flow or heat measurement/metering solution the “Clamp-On” alternative should be a must consider option particularly for large pipe-work installations!

Micronics offer a comprehensive range of fixed “Clamp-On” meters to cover a wide range of Building services applications. And they also offer flow measurement and analysis services, combining their product range with Flow Analysis software and expert staff to conduct flow and pump efficiency surveys.

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Mapei UK Ltd's Little Black Book Range is now available to download free of charge at www.mapei.co.uk.

Both Ceramic and Flooring ranges are available in easy view pdf versions, enabling a snapshot of Mapei UK's product portfolio at your fingertips.

The Ceramic Black Book contains information on the range of paste and powder adhesives, latex additives, waterproofing systems, screeds, levelling compounds, grouts, primer and sealant.

The Flooring Black Book includes information on the UK range of screeds, levelling compounds, surface membranes, primers, adhesives, sealants and tools, and includes the successful ECO Range – a portfolio of products with virtually zero emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds.

For your free glance please visit www.mapei.co.uk

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Sentinel, the UK’s leading water treatment specialist, has highlighted that energy efficiency – and complying with Building Regulations – not only makes sense from a green perspective – reducing emissions of CO2 and reducing energy bills – it actually makes good business sense for installers from an income point of view. In fact, adopting an energy efficient approach to being an installer, is a business in itself.

Sentinel is committed to reducing the environmental impact of domestic heating systems and has commissioned independent research, carried out by GASTEC-CRE, that has shown that a poorly maintained system may experience a 2-3% reduction in boiler efficiency and up to a 15% reduction in overall system effectiveness. For the householder that isn’t funny.

Sentinel’s Sales Director for UK and Ireland John Lynch says that for many installers, using Sentinel products to clean and inhibit the heating systems they install or service can – on average – add around £100 to their income each week. That’s an additional £5,000 a year and that’s not to be sniffed at: “It’s a significant amount. It’s simple to use and it’s not a cost that will cause problems when billing a customer,” he says. “Increased awareness of the need to be energy efficient – to reduce emissions of CO2 and to address the problems associated with global warming – has made many consumers keenly aware that they can have a direct and positive impact on helping to reduce energy usage in their homes. The lower fuel bills are often the key driver, but if an installer raises the issue and gets the customer onside, the cost of chemical water treatment products is not going to be a problem for householders.”

Sentinel has launched its new Energy Efficiency Campaign with a view to hammering home the facts about water treatment in domestic heating systems, adding further credence to the benefits of doing the job properly: “We know that there are still a significant minority of people claiming to be installers out there who are cutting corners and leaving their customers with incomplete installations, and systems that will very rapidly lose the efficiency levels that new high efficiency boilers can provide,” says John Lynch. “They do the quality installers no favours at all. Cleaning a system properly, either utilising a manual flushing with Sentinel X400 or for heavily scaled and clogged systems, a jetflushing, using our heavy duty, one visit X800 cleanser, followed by proper inhibiting of the system using X100, to keep it the way, it will ensure that the boiler and the system operate at optimum efficiency levels and provide welcome reduced energy bills for the householder and a system that performs as it should, responsible for significantly less CO2 emissions than a dirty, untreated system. It’s a very simple way forward and as we’ve proved already, it can add a healthy chunk of profit to an installer who uses Sentinel products, even just 3 times a week.”

Installers simply have to go to the Sentinel web site, click on the ‘energy efficiency’ tag and sign up for a range of freebies and information. Just by signing up you will receive 10 free Sentinel Quick Test kits, a number of customer leaflets explaining the benefits of water treatment – ideal for popping in with quotes, a £10 discount voucher for the Sentinel Water Treatment Training Pack and that’s not all! You’ll receive regular energy efficiency updates from Sentinel and automatically be entered into a free prize draw for Premiership Football match tickets.

The recently launched takeaway pack for installers – the Building Regulations Compliance Pack – that includes everything an installer needs to comply with the Building Regulations in England, Wales and Scotland – X800 cleaner, X100 inhibitor and a CombiGuard unit, required by Building Regulations to address the problems of limescale in a domestic hot water system in areas of the country where hardness of the water exceeds 200ppm – will help installers to make increased profits too. The installation of a CombiGuard unit with its twelve month polyphosphate cartridge, allows installers to return every twelve months to replace the cartridge and check the status of the inhibitor in the system, helping to build the customer relationship as an on-going one from year to year.

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ATG Access has been short listed for an award at the Institute of Highways & Transportation (IHT) awards 2007. The awards which are run in conjunction with Corus and the National Security Advice Centre (NSAC) were set up to celebrate and reward the remarkable achievements of those working in highways and transportation.

ATG has been short listed in the “Security in the Public Realm” category for its work at Paradise Street bus station in Liverpool. The location of the station left a nearby building vulnerable to vehicular attack and ATG's SP1000 rising bollard system closed that gap.

The SP1000 has been crash tested as part of the production of the PAS 68 standard, various tests have been carried out, the most impressive of which saw a 7.5 tonne truck impact into a single bollard at 50mph. The truck was stopped dead and the bollard continued to function.

Rated to exceed the criteria in American standard K12, the SP1000 is a masterpiece of engineering and protects government facilities, embassies and high profile stadiums around the world from the threat of terrorist attack.

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