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Hambleside Danelaw Ltd, winner again this year of a Green Heroes award, says that commercial and public sector clients can save thousands of pounds in energy bills each year from the outset if they move into a building constructed with insulated materials and rooflights that cut the need for artificial lighting.

The British roofing products and rooflights manufacturer is urging specifiers and builders not to use current economic pressures as an excuse to source materials that deliver poor energy efficiency for the building occupier, purely on the basis that they may cost less.

Many in the industry already recognise that heating and air-conditioning costs can be cut by the installation of rooflights with low U-values, such as Hambleside’s own award-winning Insulator range. But now that it is becoming more common for rooflights to cover more than 10% of the roof area, more are also seeing a real difference in reducing artificial lighting bills as well as cutting carbon emissions.

Architects should therefore consider the benefits of rooflights in conjunction with the specification for artificial lighting and the reduced costs of using less artificial lighting when rooflight cover is increased. The Government’s ‘Switch it Off’ campaign has, for example, identified relatively small factories saving up to £20,000 per year in energy bills by keeping their rooflights clean and switching off the lights.

Academic research shows that increasing rooflight cover with the resultant inflow of daylight has a positive impact on those living or working in a building. It links natural daylighting to tangible work place benefits, improved retail sales, lower staff absenteeism, faster hospital recovery rates and improved school exam results.

Chris Avery, Hambleside Danelaw’s Managing Director, said: “The economic case for insulated building materials is just as strong as the environmental one, because investment in increased insulation performance has a relatively short pay-back period for the client. And don’t forget that the energy savings will accumulate year on year throughout the service life of the product.”

Green Heroes award recognises Hambleside’s adoption of environmental best practice

Chris Avery was speaking after Hambleside Danelaw’s environmental manager Ray Khan had been presented with the Green Heroes 2008 award by top botanist and TV personality Professor David Bellamy OBE in recognition of the company’s Planet Positive accreditation.

The Green Heroes judges commented: “As manufacturers of GRP structures, Hambleside Danelaw are aware of their environmental impact and have been actively reducing their impact for many years. They are now operating in a carbon positive manner by sustainable practice and carbon offsetting, supporting environmental projects across the world.”

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Leading pump and pumping system manufacturer Wilo UK has scooped another award – this time winning ‘Product of the Year 2008’ in the Building Services Awards for 2008, held recently at the Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane. The award was accepted by Wilo UK managing director Stuart Herritty and Sales Director Dan Wild.

The winning product was Wilo’s CC Booster, a water pressure boosting pump product that has found a wide range of uses and high acceptance levels providing fully automatic water supply and pressure boosting particularly in residential, and office buildings, hotels, hospitals and in industrial systems as well.

The Wilo CC pumps are used for the pumping of drinking water and process water, cooling water, fire-fighting and other process water supplies. Their primary usage has been to boost the pressure of drinking water to multi-storey residential accommodation and office buildings where drinking water supplied at normal supply pressures will not enable water to rise often above the second floor of a building. Wilo has been successful in installing a huge number of these pumps in high rise housing developments in London and the South East in particular.

Wilo UK Managing Director Stuart Herritty said: “It’s always nice to win awards of course but when they are in awards designed to acknowledge and reward excellence, innovation and professionalism, as these are, it’s a little bit special. We’ve taken some giant strides in the last few years at Wilo UK and the awards we are winning are testament to the quality of the team we have working in the company, as well as to the quality of the products Wilo manufactures. We’re delighted to add another award to our trophy cabinet!”

Full details of the impressive Wilo product range can be found at its comprehensive new web site at www.wilo.co.uk or you can call Wilo on 01283 523000.

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The Aquatic Centre in Atlanta; the Athletes’ Village in Sydney; the Velodrome in Athens; just a few of the many Olympic facilities and structures where, since the 1950s, Mapei’s products have been used. And this year is no exception; once again their high quality, top performance ranges have been chosen for the Beijing Olympics 2008.

Mapei’s flexible and durable adhesive, Adesilex G19, has been used to install the athletic track in the ‘Bird’s Nest’, Beijing’s National Stadium, as well as for the Indoor Stadium track. Developed specifically for the installation of floor coverings subject to heavy and intense traffic, the two-component polyurethane adhesive perfectly adheres to both the underlying substrate and to the synthetic rubber covering and can resist tangential stress when the tracks are in use. It is also resistant to humidity, heat and atmospheric aggression, vital attributes for the forthcoming Olympic Games.

Whether it be ceramic, porcelain or stone tiles, for covering floors or walls of hotels, stadia, airports or swimming pools, Mapei’s fixing and grouting products have also long been used; the Media Village in Athens and the Olympic Village in Turin are just some examples. This year, porcelain tiles in an indoor swimming pool have been fixed using Granirapid, an adhesive with extraordinary bonding and fast setting properties. The tile joints have been grouted with Keracolor GG in White, mixed with the liquid polymeric additive, Fugolastic, to improve flexibility and reduce porosity and water absorption and achieve the right resistance even under severe conditions of use.

The swimming pool, which has been built as a leisure facility for competitors, is part of Beijing’s ‘Shooting Range’ venue and it is here where 1,400 m2 of indoor tennis courts can also be found. Mapei Ultraplan an ultra-fast hardening self-levelling compound for 1-10 mm has been used to obtain a perfectly flat substrate, able to receive four coats of Deco Turf flooring.

With its comprehensive range of products, its technical assistance and commitment to research and development, it is no wonder that Mapei continues to give winning performances at the Olympic Games.

The new Mapei brochure ‘Mapei and Sports Facilities around the World’ is now available on request.

Mapei is the world’s largest manufacturer of adhesives, sealants and chemical products for building. With over 70 years experience, Mapei is a specialist in the production of quality products for the installation of all types of wall and floor coverings, and has a vast range of admixtures and repair products for concrete and building materials.

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A comprehensive and imaginative refurbishment programme has recently been completed by managing agents, LaSalle Investment Management on behalf of owners, Coal Pension Properties Ltd, to No 25 Victoria Street, London SW1. Property Consultants were Drivers Jonas. The ‘revitalised’ building, which includes over 47,000 ft² of grade ‘A’ office accommodation, has a good BREEAM rating and offers top of the range Daikin VRV heat recovery air conditioning as well as high quality finishes, new raised floors, suspended ceilings and reception area etc.

The complex comprises 8 open plan office plus 2 basement floors, which house services plant, storage rooms and car parking. A total of 15 VRV systems were installed by specialist air conditioning company RS Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Ltd, Cambridge, on behalf of mechanical and electrical services contractors, EMCOR Engineering Services Ltd, Hatfield, Herts.

The VRV systems have capacities from 40 to 101kW (cooling) and 45 to 113kW (heating) and supply both open plan and reception areas with conditioned air via 218 Daikin FXSQ ceiling concealed indoor fan coil units connected by low pressure ductwork to a combination of linear perimeter grille and multi cone ceiling diffusers. Each fan coil unit is able to operate independently, controlling local room temperature by means of a return air sensor located in the ceiling void. Fan coil unit installation layouts are configured such that each floor with the exception of the ground can be divided into 2 separate self contained tenant wings. All VRV outdoor condensing units are mounted on the roof of the building.

Fresh air for the fan coil units, tempered to 160 C (where necessary), is supplied from air handling plant fitted with run around cooling coils and heater batteries. Each floor is supplied at the rate of12lit/sec/person based on an occupancy level of 1 person/10m2 plus an allowance of 25% to cater for increased future tenant demand.

Internal temperature conditions are:
Summer 230 C +/- 2 deg C db
Winter 200 C +/- 2 deg C db
at an external ambient of:
Summer (max) 300 Cdb, 200 Cdb
Winter (min) -40 C, 100% RH

Five Daikin I-controllers, each allocated to the control of 3 floors, are linked to wall mounted remote room temperature controllers throughout the conditioned areas, the overall VRV installation being monitored and controlled by a Daikin I-manager located in the BMS office in the basement.

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Eric Anderson joins Electrium as National Sales Manager, Siemens Industrial, taking on the responsibility for selling and promoting a complete range of circuit protection devices, heating controls and intelligent building solutions. Eric has almost thirty years experience in the electrical manufacturing and wholesaling industry, having worked previously with a number of other major players in the European electrical industry.

Eric will be managing a growing team, and an extensive portfolio of products and solutions in his new role, and will be committing considerable energy and resource to achieving a very aggressive growth plan in the months ahead.

?The recent incorporation of Electrium within the Siemens group benefits both organisations, bringing World leading solutions within the product portfolio,? says Eric. ? I still intend to maintain the same tried and trusted route to market via distributors and system integrators.

The many challenges presented by the current universal need to save energy and reduce carbon emissions will provide great opportunities for the application of Siemens? products and technological expertise?

Eric is married with two daughters and currently lives in Shropshire.

For further information contact Electrium Sales on 01543 455000.

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A YEAR since its launch, Tensar International’s innovative TriAx™ geogrid has won a hat trick of awards.

Adding to its UK triumph at Civils 2007, where it was awarded the prestigious accolade of ‘Product of the Year’, TriAx has now scooped two further European wins just six months since the start of its international roll-out.

Gold medals were achieved at the Brno International Building Fair – marketed as Central Europe’s largest Building Fair hosted in the Czech Republic – as well as Autostrada 2008 in Kiecle, Poland. Out of the 800 exhibiting companies and eight award winners at Autostrada, TriAx was the only geosynthetic product to receive recognition within road construction and took home the coveted ‘Product & Technology’ category.

“The higher performance and cost advantage TriAx offers for ground stabilisation applications is becoming internationally acknowledged,” comments Jacek Kawalec, Tensar Regional Manager for Central Europe. “Its outstanding benefits provide engineers with a great opportunity to create better road structures for less cost and international interest has been intense”

Unlike conventional geogrids – comprising square or rectangular apertures – TriAx has a unique triangular structure which offers proven performance benefits for a variety of ground stabilisation applications.

Extensive research has refined TriAx’ unique design features, resulting in a new kind of geogrid that increases aggregate confinement to offer greatly improved soil stabilisation properties. Such performance benefits are ideal for projects involving unpaved roads and permanent paved roadways, as well as combating differential settlement on weak or variable sub-grades. Economies are achieved through either savings in aggregate layer thickness or extensions in pavement service life; with cost, time and environmental advantages.

Jacek Kawalec continues: “TriAx has been six years in the making and represents what we believe to be the most significant innovation in geogrid technology for decades.”

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Detectomat will be exhibiting its comprehensive range of modular Fire Detection and Alarm systems at the show including detectomat’s unique designer range of heads.

The stand will also feature – New radio/wireless system options across the range and the New Fusion detector utilising multi-sensor and criterior technology for faster detection of fast burning fires and reduced false alarms.

For New build or major refurbishment the detectomat Designer Range of Detectors can be selected to make a design statement, complement modern interior designs or blend in to more traditional interiors.

And for retrofit situations detectomat’s wire-free solutions can provide fast installation with minimum disruption and damage to the building fabric and decoration.

Small, Medium or Large applications, New build, Refurbishment or Retrofit installations – detectomat has an attractive cost-effective solution to fit the bill.

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ECO-Logic are the leading provider of electronic water controls, fittings and sanitaryware to secure markets in the UK. Our comprehensive range has been developed specifically to reduce the risk of self-harm and vandalism in secure environments whilst providing Total Management Control over water usage, lighting and other services.

Our range includes sensors, sanitaryware and outlets to control showering, washing and flushing – all with security options.

• Robust One Touch and Non Touch Sensors
• Run-time choice with autostop
• Tamper proof cut-outs and reuse delays
• Shutdown controls for critical areas
• Local and multiple manual lockout controls
• ECO BMS Computer Network links
• Screwless anti-ligature fittings
• Interface controls for call systems, lighting, heating and ventilation
• Remote control options
• Secure sanitaryware

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In response to rapid growth in the number of showers installed in new build homes, Mira Showers is introducing the all-new Mira Select. Sporting a brand new look with smooth shapes and easy to operate flow and temperature controls, the new Select mixer shower combines proven Mira technology and features to offer a quality volume product, competitively priced. The new Select, which carries TMV2 approval, has been designed specifically for house builders following extensive research and testing, and complements Mira Showers’ existing range of showers designed with and for developers.

Finished in hardwearing chrome, the separate flow and temperature controls offer the user more flexibility and a better shower experience, while an adjustable maximum temperature stop (factory set to 43°C) gives added safety. The valve’s full brass body and inlets, combined with tried and trusted Mira fittings and flexible installation gives the house builder, contractor, installer and end user confidence, while the thermostatic control and TMV2 approval give total safety and peace of mind, particularly in situations where the young, elderly and infirm are involved.

The Select valve is available in exposed or built in versions, with a choice of variable handset and fittings or rigid showerhead. It is suitable for all water systems and has a pressure range of 0.1 to 5 bar (maintained) and 10 bar (static). The valve can accept falling, rising or rear entry supplies, while the variable inlets on the exposed valve (149 to 154mm) aid installation.

The valve and fittings are sold separately which increases choice and helps installation and stocking. The fittings set comprises an adjustable spray handset, 1.25m hose, clamp bracket, soap dish, slide bar and hose-retaining ring.

Available now from merchants and stockists, the all-new Mira Select is guaranteed against faulty materials and workmanship for two years from the date of purchase and is backed by Mira Showers’ excellent Customer Care after sales service.

For full details of all Mira Showers products call 0845 600 6472 or visit www.mirashowers.com.

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The new North Kent flagship police station, opened last month in Thamesway near Northfleet, features more than 230 Titan 4 pipe chassis type fan coil units, manufactured by Ability Projects Ltd, Wimborne, Dorset.

The £30million, 4 storey 11,500m2 complex, designed around a central atrium complete with public rest areas and restaurants, includes a number of state of the art anti crime facilities including a 40 cell custody suit, vulnerable witness interview suite, and separate custody and front counter entrances. An environmentally conscious geothermal heating and cooling system – thought to be among the largest in the UK – is designed to help reduce energy consumption.

The fan coil units will be supplied with low temperature hot water (500C in and 440C out) from condensing boilers and some of the heating coils are re-circuited in order to achieve design duties at low temperatures. Chilled water is supplied via a chiller. The fan coil units have capacities of 1.3 to 3.2kW (heating) and 1.6 to 3.7kW (cooling), are fitted with free issue controls and multi spigots and have noise ratings of NR35. Installation is by Meica Services Ltd, Ashford, Middlesex.

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