Story

 

Profab Access has launched a revolutionary certified frame system that sets a new standard for innovation, fire performance and functionality, making installation on site safer, faster and simpler.

The only product of its kind currently available, the expertly engineered PRECISION adjustable frame completely transforms the installation process for construction professionals and streamlines the specification process for architects and specifiers.

This is achieved through the product’s unique construction, which enables the frame to be fully self-adjusting to the specific dimensions of each structural opening, ensuring the installation is fit for purpose providing the highest standards in accuracy and removing the requirement for plastic packers for a safer, faster and simpler installation process.

Factory applied intumescent strips to the outer frame also eliminates the need for intumescent mastic application as a secondary operation on site when installing the frame.

The PRECISION frame dramatically reduces fitting times and eliminates the risk of using non-compliant components throughout installation, which may not have been tested in conjunction with the riser door itself.

The patent pending PRECISION adjustable frame is now supplied as standard with Profab Access’ high quality steel INTEGRA 4000 Series Fire Rated Riser Doors.

Profab Access was the first UK manufacturer to have its concealed Riser Doors bi-directionally fire tested and certified by an accredited third party. The PRECISION adjustable frame has also been bi-directionally fire tested as an entire doorset with the INTEGRA 4000 Series Riser Door for up to 120 minutes, receiving the CERTIFIRE accreditation for installation in unlined shaft walls and solid wall construction.

This provides architects, specifiers and contractors with a completely certified solution, as both the frame and the riser door have been bi-directionally tested as a single doorset and are supplied with comprehensive documentation to evidence their performance credentials and adherence to all relevant regulations, including BS EN 1634-1:2014 +A1:2018.

Marcus Parnham, Commercial Director at Profab Access, said: “As one of the industry’s leading manufacturers, we have a responsibility to push the boundaries of this product category and ensure every access solution we supply delivers the highest standards in performance and compliance.

“Our new patent pending PRECISION adjustable frame represents a real step change for the industry, supporting professionals in fulfilling their duty of care by going above and beyond current legislation in delivering the highest standards of due diligence and achieving constant compliance for the entire doorset, including the materials used throughout the installation process. The frame is the result of our unwavering commitment to innovation and providing the built environment with the very highest standards in access solutions.”

The PRECISION adjustable frame is constructed with an all-in-one smoke, intumescent and acoustic FS1000 seal, eliminating the need for additional intumescent mastic when installing the frame into a flexible or solid wall construction. This cost efficient and sustainable material contains no halogen compounds and will not emit toxic gas when heated, ensuring the safety of building occupants in the event of a fire.

As an official Made in Britain member, Profab Access’ comprehensive portfolio of Riser Doors and Access Solutions are manufactured at its headquarters in Atherstone by its experienced team of design and engineering experts.

For further information on Profab Access and its range of riser doors, access panels, and steel doors, call +44(0)1827 718222 or visit www.profabaccess.com.

View Access 360's profile:

• 

Story

‘Good Ventilation: Heat Recovery Systems And The Role They Play’

Vortice ‘Brand Leader’ Interview Podcast Series – Transcript to support learning

Every effort has been made to flawlessly transcribe the interview to support learning but please consider the recorded audio of the interview as the actual source of information for learning purposes.

Hi this is Mick de Leiburne for BusinessNet Explorer

And welcome to the – second out of six – in our ‘special edition’ series of ‘Brand Leader’ podcasts, where we discuss how Good Ventilation can be achieved in the home and in the workplace – with Vortice thought leadership and product solutions.

Well, as the world recognises the role of Good Ventilation, Jennifer Quinn, Marketing Manager at Vortice joins us today – to talk about Heat Recovery Systems and the role they play…

Jennifer joins us on the phone…

Hi Jennifer, good to get another chance – to tap into your knowledge – on the key areas of Good Ventilation on the BusinessNet Explorer podcast and today we are focussing on Heat Recovery Systems.

Hi Mick, yes I am looking forward to discussing all about Heat Recovery today and the features of it.

Well let’s start today with ‘What are heat recovery systems?’

A heat recovery unit is a centralised mechanical ventilation system which recovers the heat and energy contained in stale indoor air before extracting it, by passing it over a heat exchanger and then adding the recovered energy, be it warm or cold back into the rooms.

So, are heat recovery units actually all about energy efficiency?

That’s part of the story yes, the units are designed to recover the air energy within a building, be it warm or cold, and then the units put a percentage of that back into the home, therefore your heating doesn’t have to work as hard and therefore heating bills are lower which is a cost saving. There are also huge additional benefits too.

In a post-pandemic world, the importance of good ventilation and indoor air quality has had a spotlight shone upon it – heat recovery units not only bring fresh air continuously into the building, they also filter the air that they introduce.

What sort of heat recovery units does Vortice offer?

VORTICE offers a whole collection of heat recovery units – domestic, commercial, industrial – specifically designed to assist with good air quality and filtration whilst ensuring the best of our energy efficient features. The family of heat recovery units offered by VORTICE includes filters which can take out many of the pollutants in the atmosphere.

Because the VORTICE heat recovery unit filters the fresh air being introduced into a property, it helps to protect the health of the occupants and reduce the risk of transferring viruses. People spend up to 90% of their time indoors and with growing evidence of airborne pathogens and viruses moving around our buildings, it is really vital to ensure a building has effective ventilation.

*Good Ventilation is increasingly becoming recognised as a ‘must have’. How would you summarise – the need for Heat Recovery – and the product solutions you have developed at Vortice?

Good ventilation, specifically Heat Recovery, is fundamental in reducing the spread of bacteria and virus and a continuously running heat recovery unit ensures a constant supply of fresh filtered air into the home. Our range covers domestic heat recovery units from our small HR200 unit, to our Passivhaus accredited Avel 450 D. We also have a wide range of commercial and industrial heat recovery units like the Vort Invisible Mini, which is Void mounted, ideal for hotel rooms.

Government advisors have been reiterating the important role that ventilation plays in our health during this recent pandemic and the VORTICE heat recovery systems can certainly impact upon the quality of the indoor air in our homes.

This week, the British Heart Foundation have done ‘Love Your Lungs Week’ which is highlighting the fight for clean air so its really appropriate that we are talking about this today.

Yes, it is a fantastic initiative. Well Jennifer thank you again for joining us today on this – second in a series of six – special edition BNE Product News ‘Brand Leader’ interview podcasts with Vortice – discussing best practice in Good Ventilation.

Thank you Mick, thank you for your time today

Always a pleasure.

For more information about the Vortice range of products, please go to www.vortice.ltd.uk

View Vortice's profile:

• 

Story

‘The importance of Good Ventilation in the Indoor Workplace’

Vortice ‘Brand Leader’ Interview Podcast – Transcript to support learning

Every effort has been made to flawlessly transcribe the interview to support learning but please consider the recorded audio of the interview as the actual source of information for learning purposes.

Hi this is Mick de Leiburne and welcome to this special edition of the BNE Product News ‘Brand Leader’ podcast for the Construction & Building Services industry, where we look at product innovations that meet the evolving specification needs for product specifiers.

Well, as the ‘new normal’ starts to take shape, lockdown eases and people are encouraged to return to the workplace, there’s a huge emphasis on how to make buildings healthier places to be and nothing more so, than how important good ventilation in indoor spaces is to mitigating the spread of airborne viruses, micro-organisms and bacteria and also to the wellbeing of the occupants helping people to feel more invigorated in the workplace. Better for workers and better for employers with everyone feeling protected and revitalised by a constant flow of clean air in the room.

Well, one way, dependent on where your workplace may be, is to open a window or vent or alternatively you can tap into the possibilities that advances in technology offer, like Vortice, a brand that is focussing on Air Purification as a solution – and we are lucky enough to have Jennifer Quinn, Marketing Manager at Vortice with us today to explain how that works and how effective it can be in making people feel safe and great in the workplace environment.

Jennifer joins us on the phone….

Hi Jennifer, thanks for joining us today for this BNE Product News ‘Brand Leader’ podcast – I know how busy you are

Hi Mick, thank you for inviting me today to talk about ventilation.

Well Jennifer, let’s start with ‘Why is ventilation in our indoor spaces important’?

At Vortice, we’ve always had a strong focus on the health benefits of good ventilation, people spend around 90% of their time indoors and unless we take steps to ventilate our homes and workplaces correctly, the quality of the air we breathe can be 50 x more polluted than outdoor air, with all the associated health risks. Symptoms like dizziness, watery eyes, fatigue, headaches coughing.

We also only need to contemplate the number of cleaning products we use within our houses, hair sprays, paints, air fresheners, carpets. All of these things we bring into our buildings that are feeding our indoor air quality. This can cause issues like condensation and mould which can worsen skin allergies and possibly respiratory conditions. Also, today’s new build buildings tend to be extremely airtight, which has its benefits in terms of heating bills and insulation, but does cause issues with fresh air coming into the property.

And why now, in particular, would you say – it is more important than ever – in the indoor Workplace?

As everyone is aware at the minute, the current pandemic, with Covid, its never been more important now to think about the air you breathe, especially indoors and the Government have given a raft of information supporting the needs to ventilate properly, and they explain things like in poorly ventilated rooms the amount of virus in the air can build up increasing the spread of Covid, especially if there is a lot of infected people in the room. The virus can also remain in the air after the infected person has left, so bringing fresh air into a room and removing older stale air that contains virus reduces the chance of spreading Covid 19. The more fresh air that is brought inside or [older stale air] extracted out of the room the quicker any air borne virus will be removed.

What are the key products that can help to achieve these goals would you say?

Vortice believe there are 3 fundamental factors in helping reduce the spread of Covid 19. They are Ventilation, Purification and Sanitisation. So first stage is to make sure your room is well ventilated by means of an adequate fan to remove the stale air or to open a window. The next stage would be to make sure the air is purified, so we have a range of air purifiers called the Depuro Pro and these include HEPA filters which are able to retain up to 99.995% of pollutants and reduce the risk of pathogens such as virus and bacteria There is also a version with a photocatalysis UVC lamp which also sanitises by removing bacteria and virus which makes this extremely effective against the spread of Covid and other viruses. We’ve had excellent feedback from these units used in hospitals, care homes, gyms, nurseries. And then the third stage would be to sanitise. Other than having a range of hand dryers and soap dispensers we’ve recently launched a UVLOGIKA SYSTEM, which is a germicidal UV-C lamp, which is ideal for disinfecting surfaces. Its radiation quickly eliminates up to 99% of bacteria, virus and other pathogens that are deposited on surfaces.

Well that’s a fantastic range that seems to cover all the bases. And finally, how do you see this product range developing in the next few years – the increasing focus on the need to improve the quality of the air that we breathe indoors, in such a variety of settings, must provide a great scope for product development ?

Yes, so we are always continually looking at expanding our ventilation, purification and sanitisation range and we are looking always to grow our product ranges in Domestic, Commercial and Industrial. We have recently just acquired a Spanish company, Casals Ventilation, which is going to enable us to expand our industrial offering on the market, so going forward we really want to be innovative and pro-active in regards to product development to the environment and issues that surround us.

Well Jennifer, thank you again for joining us for this BNE Product News ‘Brand Leader’ podcast today. Vortice are clearly one of the leading lights in the world of ‘clean air’ ventilation ‘product research, design and development’, with an innovative range of products available – that are designed to help us all to stay safe and feel good – as we return to our shared indoor workspaces!

Thank you Mick – thank you for your time.

It’s been an absolute pleasure.

For more information about the Vortice range of products, please go to www.vortice.ltd.uk

View Vortice's profile:

• 

Story

 

 

Original Crittall windows have been replaced and upgraded on the main street frontage of one of Leeds’ most historic quarters.

Briggate is a pedestrianised principal shopping street in the city centre containing many historic buildings including, tucked away from view in Lamberts Yard, the only remaining Elizabethan timber framed property in the City dating back to circa 1600.

The walkway leading to that heritage enclave passes through No. 162 Briggate, a 1950’s

 vintage commercial and residential block where Think Architecture has installed replacement Crittall steel windows.

“No.162 had original Crittalls and, as with all the buildings around Lamberts Yard, things were in various appalling states,” said Simon Smithson, director of Pudsey, West Yorkshire-based, Think Architecture.

The original single glazed windows in the three-storey no.162 were replaced with double glazed lookalike Homelight windows. The building now houses new apartments and a ground-floor commercial premises.

“I have to say,” added Mr Smithson, “ that the Crittall windows are a wonderful system. Several years ago we did a job and used what was described as a ‘Crittall-like’ system. Well, that was very disappointing whereas the Crittall system is a great system, so well made.” www.crittall-windows.co.uk 

 

View Crittall's profile:

•