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Crescent Lighting has recently supplied the EFO fibre optic lighting system to the Epping Forest District Museum to use as part of the total refurbishment of the ground floor archaeology displays. Eleven (?) new cabinets were constructed and fitted with the LBQR Lightbar linear fibre optic system with high intensity fibre grouping. These were powered by the CREAD068 EFO projector.

The Museum tells the story of the people who have lived and worked in this part of south Essex from the earliest inhabitants to the present.

Based in historic Waltham Abbey, in a building dating back to 1520, the Museum first opened in 1981and the collections have grown steadily ever since.

Artefacts are grouped by age, and include pre historic and Neolithic flint tools, pottery fragments, iron age tools & weapons, medieval coins and items excavated from a wealthy merchant’s house, dating from about 1600.

Exhibitions Officer Andy Hall commented “This is the first time that the Epping Forest District Museum has used this type of lighting in our displays and we are very pleased with the end result”

Note on the EFO system

Crescent EFO is a revolutionary new lighting system offering all the benefits of Fibre Optic Lighting with the added advantage of energy efficiency. Technological innovations from Crescents parent company, Energy Focus Inc., in solid core optical fibre and light collecting systems in EFO give crisp, white light with an efficiency way beyond what has been possible with Fibre Optics up to now.

The CREAD projector– revolutionary optics

The patented Compound Parabolic Collector (CPC) is at the very heart of the new EFO system. The CPC collects the light generated by the 68W DC HQI lamp directly from the arc tube, and, at the same time directs the light beams to the ideal angle (35 degrees max) to efficiently launch the light into the fibre.

The CPC non-imaging system mixes the colour and gives a much more even distribution. This in turn obviates the need for any mixing or randomising of the optic fibres in the port to achieve an even light output across the various tails of the fibre harness.

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JS Air Curtains has supplied a bespoke Rund air curtain for the entrance to the offices of Cadbury in Birmingham. The 2m slate grey air curtain has a round design and is held horizontally above the reception door by matching slate grey supporting posts.

The newly refurbished reception area was becoming cold from air ingress through its main doors. The air curtain was designed to tie-in with the architecture of the entrance and provides a barrier of warm air to create a pleasant and welcoming environment for staff and visitors to the office.

Paul Dennick, Implementation Project Manager at Cadbury, comments, “After a major refurbishment of this part of the building, the reception area was suffering from cold air being sucked in through the main doors. We needed an air curtain that was independently mounted, as it could not be fixed to the fascia or ceiling of the reception. Since the air curtain from JS has been installed the cold air problem has been solved.”

The Rund air curtain has many different mounting options. It can be suspended from a ceiling with cables or attached using arms to either the ceiling or wall. Alternatively it can be stood vertically at the side of a door or mounted horizontally on goal-post type legs, as it was at Cadbury. The air curtain will protect a doorway up to 3.5m high from air ingress when mounted horizontally or 7m wide when two units are stood vertically aside an entrance.

The electrically heated unit installed at Cadbury can provide up to 5,550m3/h airflow and up to 30kW of heating. The Rund is available in electric or water heated versions, and as a non-heated, air only model. Five lengths are available from 1m to 3m and they can be mounted end-to-end as one continuous unit, with up to ten air curtains being operated from a single controller. It comes with 20m plug and play RJ45 connection cable and can also be operated from a BMS system.

The centrifugal double-inlet fans provide high levels of airflow whilst being remarkably quiet in operation. The Rund air curtains can also accommodate other services such as motion detectors, CCTV, signage or emergency lighting enabling these features to be hidden or more inline with the architecture of an entrance.

JS Air Curtains supplies an extensive range of air curtains, as well as bespoke solutions, for all commercial and industrial applications. JS’ in-house project management division also provides a smooth, hassle-free installation service that walks the customer through from design specification to post-installed product training.

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SEAC’s Lamarite® composite roofing slates are engineered to offer benefits that cannot be achieved with natural slates yet retaining their authentic look. They are made from a composition of innovative materials that are robust, fire-resistant and enduring, using an exclusive compression moulding technique. Lamarite’s performance has been accredited by the BBA and is backed by a 50 year warranty.

More Benefits
In comparison to natural slates, Lamarites® are so lightweight they do not stress structures, this is especially useful for refurbishing old buildings. They can be securely and easily nailed in place at markings provided, and because they are more robust and easy to handle, they are faster to install saving up to 75% of installation time. Cost savings can also be made on rejects due to breakage, typically about 15% in natural slates.

More Choices The natural beauty of Lamarite® is offered in five classic colours*: Slate Green, Mulberry, Dusk Grey, Midnight Black and Terra Cotta. Shingle widths of 5”, 7” and 12” are available. You can either create a uniform appearance or vary the look with different widths, exposure lengths, and accent colours.

* SEAC only stocks Dusk Grey in 7” & 12” widths, others need leadtime of 7 weeks.

More Options
A variation of pre-cut Lamarite® shingles are offered as options and accessories to add even more beauty to the roof and also convenience for the installer.

• Scalloped and diamond-cut shingles for distinction
• Pre-cut hip & ridge shingles for a more authentic slate appearance
• Starter course shingles for faster installation and to help assure greater precision

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The West End Shopping Mall in Budapest, Hungary is one of Europe’s largest shopping malls. It houses over 400 luxury and brand-name stores, it is fully air-conditioned and its impressive futuristic design has won various architectural awards. However, maintaining the building and a comfortable shopping environment presents a major challenge for the facilities managers, as Hungarian summer temperatures often reach over forty-centigrade.

The site has 3 Baltimore TXV-500 cooling towers with total capacity of 9 megawatt, which work by the process of evaporation. So-called ‘wet’ cooling towers, they allow a portion of cooling water to evaporate into a moving stream of air. The cooling system experienced extreme limescale build up, which impaired the efficiency of the air conditioning system. This is due to the extreme water-hardness and high level of calcium in the region. This increased energy output, operating costs, and resulted in the system needing to be cleaned regularly using strong chemicals.

Monthly cleaning costs exceeded 2,500 Euros, plus the extra utility costs for topping up the system and the removal of chemical waste. Municipal drinking water was being used for topping-up the cooling towers because the hardness of the ground water, which therefore also increased the metered water costs.

To eliminate the high costs and the limescale problem, management at the site decided to trial Hydropath’s patented chemical free water conditioning technology in combination with a water filtration system.

Each cooling tower was installed with a Custom designed Aquaklear ‘P’ unit. A standard P unit was also installed on the side filtration, to enhance flocculation of the extra debris brought by air suction and to aid filtration. A HydroFlow C60 unit was installed to protect customer bathroom water systems.

Hydropath patented technology is unique as it treats all of the water in the system by inducing random varying electric fields into the water, which propagate throughout the entire system. The result is the production of nuclei everywhere in the water system. Without treatment, when water is heated the hard water salts deposit as encrusting limescale on the surface, blocking heat exchangers, pipes and components. With treatment, the limescale forms in suspension and is washed away with the flow. Hydropath technology prevents limescale forming and also reduces existing limescale.

The cooling system has seen significant improvements following the installation of the AquaKlear units. No new limescale had formed in the pipes of the cooling towers and the existing scale softened, which is easy to filter and wipe away – along with debris and algae. This has significantly reduced maintenance and energy costs at the shopping centre, removing the need for expensive chemicals and improved the efficiency of the cooling system. The HydroFlow C60 unit significantly reduced limescale build up on the self-pouring taps in the shopping centre’s toilets. The taps rely on sensors, which recognise when hands are placed underneath, which transmits a message to pour the water. The sensors were susceptible to scale build up, reducing their effectiveness. However, following the installation of Hydropath technology, this problem has now been eliminated.

A further benefit that West End Shopping Centre did not anticipate is that now they do not need to use the treated municipal supply water to run the cooling system, which is charged per usage. The cooling system now runs efficiently using ground water supply only. Louk van den Bosch of Hydroflow Magyarorszag Kft, who managed the installation of the units in West End Shopping Centre commented, “Water in the cooling towers is now crystal clear. Almost as good as drinking water – and that’s no joke!”

The HydroFlow ‘C’ Range and the AquaKlear ‘P’ Range is maintenance free and is simple to install by fitting to the exterior of the pipe. Additionally, The AquaKlear system also provides the additional benefit of killing bacteria and algae, therefore preventing bio-fouling. Units can also be used for smaller commercial and domestic applications such as swimming pools and spas, available to fit pipe sizes 60 – 200mm.

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Jacobs Ladder in Falmouth has had new handrails fitted with state of the art lighting to light up a flight of 111 steps.

The old handrails made up of crude sections of wrought iron work and cast iron pipe work have been replaced with a new high quality stainless steel handrail with light emitting diode (LED) light strips to the underside, which will enable the steps to be lit fully without the need to lay cables or disturb any ground, as all the cabling has been carried out within the central rail. The LEDs are fitted in such a way that in the event of a failure, the remaining LEDs will still operate, ensuring that sections of the steps will remain lit. LED strips provide a low maintenance and low energy lighting solution with a life expectancy of ten years.

The LED lighting strips will provide a uniform level of light along the entire length of the flight of steps which will have the benefit of allowing safe use in the dark and enhancing the appearance of the steps, creating an attractive architectural feature to a local landmark.

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Rockwool improves Nottinghams MP's green credentials

Nottingham MP, Alan Simpson has used Rockwool’s complete high performance external wall insulation, RockShield, to maximise the energy efficiency in his new, environmentally sound, self-build home in the city.

Converting an unused Nottingham inner city building into a highly sustainable family home was both a statement of commitment by Alan to his Nottingham South constituency and an opportunity to exercise his strong green principles.

In addition to some radical alterations, including the installation of the solar panels and a water recycling system, Rockwool’s RockShield was used to insulate the exterior envelope of the refurbished property.

Julian Marsh of project architects, Marsh and Grochowski, commented on the new build: “Sited behind a local pub, the building, which was previously known as the Lacemaker’s House, had been disused for at least 60 years and needed extensive work.

“The external walls are solid, two bricks thick with no cavity, so we needed to apply external insulation. We used 110mm of Rockwool RockShield, which was mechanically fixed to the wall and rendered over. Rockwool was chosen for its unrivalled sustainability credentials, thermal performance and durability.

“Durability is particularly important for this project because one of the property walls backs onto the pub car park, making it vulnerable to damage by poorly parked cars. Unlike rigid insulation materials, which would rapidly crack and deteriorate, Rockwool will withstand this kind of impact, without compromising its integrity or thermal efficiency.”

Rockwool Rockfloor was also used over the ground floor slab and Rockwool Flexi was used for insulating the roof space of the property.

Rockwool stone wool insulation is one of the most environmentally friendly and energy efficient construction products available and meets the highest standards of ‘cradle to cradle’ sustainability, energy conservation and recyclability.

It is manufactured using igneous volcanic rock, an abundantly-available resource. Over the lifetime of the building, the energy saved could be 100s of times more than that consumed to manufacture the Rockwool insulation.

Rockwool stone wool insulation has a low embodied energy of 16.8MJ/Kg and has zero Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP) and Global Warming Potential (GWP). Its excellent thermal properties significantly cut energy consumption in homes, reducing the need to burn fossil fuels and therefore helping to minimise harmful emissions of greenhouse gases.

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As a pioneer in the design and manufacture of decorative wiring accessories Hamilton Litestat has just introduced its redesigned Linea CFX Collection featuring super thin plate profiles, split finishes and secret screw fixings.

The CFX concealed fixing system affords seamless styling and sophistication to address specifiers’ more sophisticated requirements. Offering minimal depth for both modern and traditional accessories, its stunning appearance creates another facet within the interior design scheme.

The patented CFX Linea face plates have 4 pillars, with each pillar having a small metal clip which is designed to hold the face plate firmly to the back fame, neatly concealing the fixing screws. As the Linea CFX accessories incorporate a separate back frame and face plate they allow the specifier to choose whether to use the same finish on both elements or to use different ones to create a sublime contrasting option.

Utilizing the finest materials and production standards, Hamiltons offers six super finishes which are available for both the frame and face plate. These include polished brass, satin brass, antique brass, bright chrome, satin nickel and black nickel. In most cases, matching switch rockers are also available with either black or white surrounds to the switch inserts.

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Rockwool, the world’s leading manufacturer of non-combustible stone wool insulation, has developed a unique insulation system for a refurbishment project at the Grade II-listed Barbican Estate.

The project – which has been on-site since October 2008 – involves £40,000 of insulation product being installed to insulate the top three storeys in one part of the Estate’s buildings, which were being converted from offices into residential accommodation.

However, the tight radius of the Barbican’s barrel roofs meant that Rockwool, working in collaboration with its partners – the client; the roofing contractor, Delomac Roofing; and the membrane manufacturer, Sarnafil – had to develop a new kind of insulation system.

After designing, fabricating and trialling various alternatives, the team eventually settled on Rockwool’s 40mm Hardrock SPA roof insulation board (installed with Sarnafil membrane) with special grooves cut into the base of the board to allow for bending around the tight radius, fitting the roofs snugly.

David Adams, Market Development Director from Rockwool, said: “Barrel roofs are often difficult to insulate fully. Most insulation comes in boards, which is fine for covering vertical walls or horizontal roofs, but cannot always bend sufficiently to fit tightly – and therefore effectively – over a curved surface. Our bespoke product design will ensure the Barbican Estate roofs will be well insulated and as energy efficient as possible.”

Brendan McNulty from Delomac Roofing, the roofing contractor, said: “We have worked closely with Rockwool on developing this unique product. The installation is now well underway and reports confirm the system is performing precisely as intended.”

The Barbican Estate in the heart of London’s Square Mile contains a mix of urban residential accommodation and office space, as well as the Barbican Centre, Europe’s largest performing arts centre, which includes a library, concert halls, gallery, cinema and theatre auditoriums.

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JS Humidifiers has supplied, installed and commissioned three Neptronic SKE resistive steam humidifiers at the Royal Armouries Museum and the National Firearms Centre in Leeds. The humidifiers maintain the humidity around the 8,500 exhibits on display and in stores at the two sites. These exhibits include cannons, mortars and the largest collection of arms and armour on display since the 19th century.

Glyn Barraclough, Mechanical Engineer at the Royal Armouries, comments, “If the atmosphere becomes too dry it can damage the exhibits on display and in storage. The humidifiers maintain the atmosphere at 60-65% relative humidity preventing humidity-related damage to materials such as wood, fabric and hair. Incorrect humidity control can also affect the metals on suits of armour, causing concentric rings to appear.”

The Leeds Royal Armouries Museum is split into five galleries displaying different types of armaments from across the World. There is also a jousting display arena with seating for 1,200 people, a menagerie, a craft court and a “Hall of Steel” with a display of over 2,500 objects.

The Neptronic SKE is ideal for maintaining the correct humidity in museums and art galleries as it responds rapidly to a humidity requirement. Museums can be empty one minute and full of visitors in from the rain the next. Steam humidifiers are ideal as they can quickly increase or decrease their output accordingly.

The Neptronic SKE is a resistive steam humidifier that can deliver up to 80kg of steam per hour from a single unit and, unlike an electrode boiler humidifier, does not incorporate disposable boiling cylinders, making it much more economical to run.

The humidifier has an innovative scale management system that detaches the limescale from its heating elements and flushes it to drain during normal operation. This maintains the efficiency of the system and helps reduce required maintenance. The SKE is also the only resistive steam humidifier in the UK to have a two year guarantee on all components, including the heating elements. Its heating elements are robustly constructed from super alloy incoloy 825. They are protected from “element burn-out”, due to foaming in the water tank, with electronic water level sensors, internal and external temperature sensors, and an internal foam sensor.

A PureFlo reverse osmosis (RO) water filter was installed alongside the steam humidifiers at the Royal Armouries, which removes 90% of the minerals from the water prior to it being boiled inside the humidifiers.

This virtually eliminates limescale build-up in the units reducing the maintenance requirements to a simple check-over once or twice a year. An RO water filter also allows precise control over humidity to ±1%rH, as the mineral level in water tank does not need to be controlled through flushing and re-filling the cylinder. This results in a more consistent temperature level in the tank and a more consistent output.

JS Humidifiers is the UK’s largest humidification company with the widest range of products and offers a service of advice, design, supply, installation and maintenance. It also offers a comprehensive range of humidifier spares, not only for JS equipment but also for a large range of different manufacturers’ humidifiers, mostly available ex-stock.

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At 80 pages, Laidlaw Solutions’ 2009 Handrail and Balustrade Solutions brochure provides an invaluable guide to handrail and balustrade specification and design. It includes detailed information on stainless steel, nylon, timber and combination systems as well as uprights, infills and structural glazing. Guidance on key aspects of installation such as spacing and loading is also provided in relation to Approved Doc Parts M, K (England and Wales), R (Northern Ireland) and Non-Domestic Technical Handbook Section 4 – safety (Scotland). Coverage of Building Regulations and Standards includes specific reference to the newly updated BS8300 in respect of grip, dimensions, spacing, LRVs and visual impairment.

Diverse case studies for all key sectors illustrate how use of Laidlaw systems fulfils aesthetic as well as functional design requirements, utilising component based, rather than site fabricated systems. As market leader in the supply of doorsets and architectural ironmongery, Laidlaw, which is now Chas accredited, offers six handrail and balustrading systems:

• Nylon – using nylon-sleeved galvanised steel components Stainless steel – using stainless steel components
• Timber – using four basic types of timber in conjunction with either nylon-sleeved galvanised steel or stainless steel components
• Combi – using a combination of nylon-sleeved galvanised steel and stainless steel components
• 3kN – using larger diameter stainless steel uprights to resist the greater loadings required for certain environments
• Modu-line –an on-site, easy assembly component system

Specification clauses are available via NBS Plus or from the company’s Handrail department which can supply detailed technical support and guidance.

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