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Installation of a four pipe fan coil system at Royex House in the City of London included the use of 900 pre-fabricated valve sets, supplied to Axima Building Services by Marflow Hydronics. The valve sets were Marflow’s innovative Xterminator units, which combine a Filtermate isolation valve and Universal Xtra fitting with the company’s versatile Terminator commissioning valve.

Constructed for Scottish Widows as a speculative development, Royex House is a new 16 storey, 35,500m2 building in Aldermanbury Square, comprising predominantly office space with food and drink retail outlets at ground level.

In order to maximise onsite productivity, M&E contractor Axima Building Services decided to have the valve sets for the fan coil system fabricated off-site.

“Adopting a pre-fabrication approach enabled us to make optimum use of onsite staff and save a considerable amount of time on the installation of the fan coil system,” explained Axima’s Mark McManus. “As well as providing excellent value for money, Marflow worked closely with us and the other suppliers, providing expert advice and ensuring that deliveries were on time,” he added.

Pre-fabricated copper bends were supplied to Marflow’s production facility, where the Xterminator units and chilled and heating valve sets were mounted in tandem on a single bracket. The assemblies were then supplied to the fan coil manufacturer complete with a 2-port control valve and copper tails for direct connection to the fan coil units.

A further benefit of using Marflow’s Terminator Commissioning valve derives from its exclusive inter-changeable venturi system. This facilitates any future changes that may be made to the system, thus adding value for the end user.

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Hamilton Litestat?s Hartland wiring accessory plate is featured at the City Lofts Roberts Wharf development in Leeds. This major regeneration and new build project, cleverly combines residential use with commercial space to create 198 one and two bed apartments with 11,700 sq ft of office area, forming a living and working community and a more sustainable approach to the development. The scheme provides high quality residential and office accommodation in a prime waterfront location, which enhances and complements the existing mill buildings and local architecture.

These high quality accessory plates were chosen by the electrical contractors, Longcross Engineering, which was employed by the main site contractors Gleeson Building, as they were able to satisfy the developer?s requirements in terms of design, aesthetics and quality. ?In design and build projects the client is always looking for a Rolls Royce product? said Richard Arthurs of Longcross Engineering. ?With Hamilton?s product we have given them the type of product that they are looking for, at a competitive price. This not only meets their specification requirements but also provides all the switches, sockets and general accessories that we needed to address the installation demands of this application.?

Featured in a brushed stainless steel finish, to complement the contemporary feel of the development, these products were supplied through Leeds based electrical wholesaler WF. According to WF?s Christie Bate, Internal Sales, ?We offered the client the Hartland plate due to its high quality and contemporary feel. The combination of the satin chrome and the white insert looked stunning and created just the right sort of feel for this project.

?The client loved the product and so it was specified throughout this residential development. These products are of a very good quality and so there have been very few returns despite the large numbers supplied. Deliveries from Hamiltons have also been good, so the job has been able to run smoothly.?

The scheme, which has been designed by DLA Architecture, comprises the refurbishment of the Grade II Listed Roberts Mart ?Banks Mill? and the construction of two new residential blocks. Located overlooking the River Aire, the mill buildings have been sensitively transformed incorporating the existing brick vaulted ceilings, cast iron structure and timber roof trusses to create spectacular open plan living spaces. Elements of the new build blocks echo the rhythm and form of the existing mill, whilst offering a contemporary aesthetic utilising lightweight rainscreen cladding and glazing. The new build blocks are linked back to the existing fabric by lightweight glazed extensions, offering minimal interventions onto the existing elevations, whilst creating a coherent whole.

Since 1997 City Lofts has become a leading developer of urban mixed-use property schemes, mainly outside London, with a primary focus on residential apartments, usually involving the regeneration of brownfield sites in or close to city centres. Their marketing focus is on developing high quality apartments with strong brand recognition enhanced by the company?s close association with Conran & Partners (the architectural design service for Sir Terence Conran). This concept is creating well-designed residential and mixed schemes for a price conscious and discerning owner occupier or investor. The popularity of city centre living is growing and there is strong demographic and lifestyle evidence to support the view that this will continue.

?Due to the Hartland?s slimline plate and system versatility it is ideal for this type of development,? said Alison Hamilton, Director of the Hamilton Litestat Group. ?Unlike other ranges, this plate can be featured as box fit, or grid fix and has the option of secret screw fixings all of which are available in a whole range of finishes to create the ?look? that the developer requires. As grid fix is available we are able to manufacture special plates to suit the developer?s exact requirements. These plates can include power centres that feature switches and fuses for various pieces of kitchen equipment including dishwashers, microwaves, washing machines, fridge freezers etc., as well as media plates for Satellite TV installations.

?The availability of a suite of products that enables the cover plates to be matched across a whole scheme allows the specifier to choose less expensive box fix items in low profile areas and screwless plates in the more prominent areas. This type of wiring solution also enables the contractor to satisfy the developer?s requirements for the latest hi-tech devices, particularly as these plates can feature Eurodata outlet sockets which can be used for sound distribution and lighting control systems.

?All in all we believe the Hartland plate is well placed to address most of a developer?s requirements not just because of its extensive range, but also because of its good looks which addresses both the contemporary and traditional market sectors. We believe that its growing popularity in the market place does indeed justify this conclusion.?

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Bauder sweep the board at the FRA National Roofing Awards and walk away with six awards, the most for any manufacturer to date. Dominating with their green roofs they won Best Green Roof New Build Category with Bishop Justus School, Bromley and followed it with both second and third place for The Odney Club, a John Lewis Conference Centre and the Pines Caylx St. Margaret’s Bay, a much reported eco-friendly meeting venue. Bauder then further reinforced this by winning Best Refurbishment Green Roof with Portland Grove, a residential block of flats in London and the much coveted Best in Show with Bishop Justus School. Backing this all was a second place for Lord Grey School in the Best Refurbishment category.

Andy Mackenzie, MD Bauder Ltd said ‘We are really proud of the six awards we received. It is recognition of a great team effort by the eveyone at Bauder and our Approved Contractors that has clearly delivered the best roofs for our clients. We are very grateful to our clients for calling upon Bauder for their roofing needs and our network of Approved Contractors for working so well with us. I am especially pleased that we can continue to provide the highest quality roofs in the Industry whilst enjoying tremendous growth of our business’.

The Flat Roof Alliance National Awards are supported by all the major manufacturers entering their best projects. The FRA sets unprecedented standards in all aspects of flat roofing and the awards continue to recognise those who have made outstanding contributions within the roofing industry and whose own standards echo those set by the FRA.

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Space Airconditioning plc, the Guildford based Daikin Distributor, is re-launching its main website www.spaceair.co.uk as part of a package of corporate profile updates and enhancements. Commenting on the changes, Space Air’s Marketing and Business Development Manager, Mike Nankivell said, “the original website has held up well against its contemporaries, but the time had come to introduce a number of improvements, so we took the opportunity to redesign the whole thing. We were also conscious that over time we had developed a total of four very individual websites, we needed to create a common style, which indicated they were all from the same Space Air ‘family’, as a result our other three sites – www.daikinaltherma.com, www.siestaair.co.uk and www.ventyourhome.com are also undergoing a degree of re-working.

The new main Space Air site has a cleaner, fresher appearance more in line with our corporate image. The website still contains a wealth of information about Space Air, Daikin products and industry matters, however, the navigation process has been simplified and we have introduced comprehensive search and archive facilities for those with access to the area restricted to regular customers, greatly simplifying download facilities for our extensive library of Daikin product data”. Mike Nankivell continued “The updates to our other websites, includes www.siestaair.co.uk the website dedicated to the Daikin Air Purifier range.

Essentially this is a consumer site that visitors can use to make on-line purchases of this impressive product. We recently announced that on-line purchases can be made using PayPal, the global leader in on-line payment solutions. PayPal is the safer, easier way to pay and get paid online. The service allows anyone to pay in any way they prefer, including through credit cards, bank accounts, and buyer credit or account balances, without sharing financial information. Although we have never experienced payment security issues, our customers can now take comfort in a payment procedure that enjoys the status of the worldwide web’s most dependable service. All the revamped sites go ‘live’ toward the end of July and we hope that our clients will approve of the new look and improved contents.”

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Eaton has supplied about 500 of its new Halyester glassfibre reinforced polyester enclosures for use in low voltage electrical feeder pillars on the M1 motorway. The pillars will supply power to lighting and communications systems between Junction 6A (the M1/M25 interchange) and Junction 10 (Luton) where a major widening programme is in progress.

The lighting feeder pillars provide power for carriageway, interchange and underbridge lighting. A typical pillar is a 100A or 200A, nine-way three-phase unit feeding up to 27 single-phase lighting circuits. The pillars have been manufactured for the lighting sub-contractor, J. McCann & Co., by Tofco Limited, a leading manufacturer of street lighting and traffic furniture.

Halyester enclosures are also used in pillars manufactured by Tofco for DW Projects ? a division of David Webster Ltd. – who are responsible for installing the motorway communications systems. These include the gantries which provide variable speed controls and variable messaging systems (?Don?t drink and drive? etc.); communications and data links with the North and South transmission stations; traffic counting mechanisms and emergency roadside telephones.

The feeder pillars are produced in various sizes in 5mm hot dip galvanised steel. EDF power supplies are brought into a chamber with a separate rear access door. Separate enclosure of components such as isolators, contactors, fuses and terminals is required to give IP66 (dust-tight and water-tight) protection of these devices and to provide electrical separation for electricians working on the feeder pillars. Eaton?s recently-introduced Halyester range of glass reinforced polyester enclosures proved the ideal solution.

?It?s a very flexible system? explains Kevin Doherty, Tofco?s National Sales Manager. The modular design means that different box sizes can be mounted neatly side-by-side, or one above another, with openings for interconnecting cables in the top, bottom or sides. For example the lighting feeder pillars typically have a 100A or 200A main switch in one Halyester enclosure, this feeds three contactors (one per phase) in a second enclosure. These then feed fuse banks in separate enclosures and a terminal chamber in yet another enclosure. There is also a separate auxiliary services box which supplies the pillar lighting, anti-condensation heater and ancillary power outlet.

Visibility of the devices and wiring within each enclosure is a major advantage according to a McCann engineer. It is frequently possible to trace a cable from one component to the next without having to open both boxes. There is no need for steel cable trunking outside the enclosures. The availability of brass gland plates that will provide adequate entry for the large 25-30mm2 single-phase outgoing cables is also important.

?Eaton?s Halyester enclosures help us build a smart, safe, high quality panel that meets all the environmental and safety requirements of our clients? says Kevin Doherty. ?The flexibility of the modular design and the range of accessories such as gland plates is a major plus-point while the cooperation of Eaton?s own engineers has contributed to a satisfying end result.?

The M1 improvement programme between Junctions 6A and 10 is being carried out for the Highways Agency by Balfour Beatty Skanska Joint Venture.

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Sentinel, the leading water treatment specialists, are the only company in its sector to have funded an independent research programme into the benefits of chemical water treatment. The research was undertaken on their behalf by GasTEC.

This followed the changes in Building Regulations for Conservation of Fuel & Power (Approved Document L – England and Wales), confirmed in the Domestic Heating Compliance Guide that details how to comply with the new regulations. The guide specifically requires the use of chemical inhibitors for new build heating systems and when a new boiler is fitted to an existing heating system.

The guide says “Central heating systems should be thoroughly cleaned and flushed out before installing a new boiler. During final filling of a system, a chemical water treatment formulation should be added to the primary circuit to control corrosion and the formation of scale and sludge.”

This simple addition to Building Regulations saw an upsurge in companies entering the chemical water treatment sector, and sadly the arrival of some less than totally effective products on the shelves of merchants across the country. Clearly the effects of a quality, proven product like Sentinel compared to the effects of one that is 97% water and only 3% active ingredient will be very different. So Sentinel was keen to have independent confirmation that its products do 'exactly what it says on the can' – and differentiate itself from the less effective products that are available.

The independent research confirmed that sludge build up in radiators on a normal domestic heating system can reduce their overall effectiveness by as much as 15%. In addition, it says that proper cleansing of a system using a chemical additive to 'break-up' sludge deposits combind with a power-flush of the system will result in greater uniformity of radiator temperature and result in a reduced risk of system hydraulic imbalance. This is turn should lead to an increase in measurable overall boiler energy efficiency of 2%.

The brief for the research was to gain a greater understanding of the problems that inadequate cleaning and treatment of systems may cause, to quantify the loss in energy efficiency that may arise as a result and to quantify the consequential gain that can be expected from – and which is directly attributable to – correct cleaning and inhibiting of systems utilising the company's product range.

It is important to stress that the research relates to the use of Sentinel products – not chemical water treatment products per se – as many of the products on the marketplace were and still are recognised as being of vastly inferior quality.

The research project was based around a purpose-built replica of a simple domestic installation, comprising an 11kW condensing boiler and five radiators at two levels. The radiators were all extended surface single panel units and fitted with two lockshield valves. The hydraulic load of the system was accurately balanced.

The original concept of the research programme was simply to start with a clean system and determine its thermal efficiency, and then progressively foul the system by the addition of sludge taken from existing central heating systems. The effect of this on thermal efficiency was then monitored. A new boiler was then subsequently fitted, and the new efficiency level measured. This corresponded to retrofitting a new boiler without power flushing the system. The system was then power flushed and again the performance with the new boiler was measured. Finally, Sentinel X100 corrosion inhibitor was added and a long-term study of the performance of the system undertaken.

As a result of the research project, Sentinel now has indisputable proof that using the correct chemical water treatment products, in conjunction with a quality power flush system such as the Sentinel Jetflush 4 unit or the recently launched Jetflush Junior, has a significant and measurable effect on energy efficiency in domestic heating and hot water systems. Using quality products will provide an important extra efficiency boost to a system and added protection to a shiny new boiler.

Sentinel continues to introduce new products to its portfolio to help installers to do their job better, more quickly and with less mess! It's powerflush systems – the Jetflush 4 and the Jetflush Junior – especially when used with its award winning X800 Jetflo one visit cleanser, continues to return heating systems around the UK to as close to pristine condition as is possible. Its new Rapid-Dose dosing system has taken off in a big way, as the quickest, most flexible dosing system you can buy and its new system filter has been universally welcomed as a 'belt and braces' addition to an installers armoury, taking out metallic and non-metallic debris from a domestic heating system. And of course the X series of chemical water treatment products – X100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 800 and its leak sealer continue to be the UK's favourite chemical water treatment products.

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EES Data have produced a Comprehensive Book of Labour Installation Guide Times for the Electrical and the Mechanical Engineering industry. The Book in electronic format complete with small works costing software is available at a cost of just £145.00 plus vat.

This Electronic book of install times is also supplied with a Small Works Costing and Ordering system.

The above price includes the first years electronic updates which are issued Quarterly.

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Mapei system products were used in the refurbishment of the world’s most famous tennis arena – Centre Court, Wimbledon.

At the end of last season’s Championships, Mapei joined the development team for the full refurbishment of Centre Court, including the courtside hospitality and commercial areas.

Specialist tiling contractor and proud winners of the 2008 Tile Association Award for “Excellence in Tile Contracting” – Wilson & Wylie, successfully installed over 3,500m2 of tiling within the hospitality areas using Mapei levelling compounds, adhesives, grouts and sealants.

Due to the extremely tight completion deadline, a fast-track screeding system was initially required to provide a suitable substrate for the tiling project. Wilson & Wylie engaged CSC Screeding Ltd to apply Mapei TOPCEM – a fast-drying screed for the Centre Court terraces – an area exposed to high levels of foot-traffic, with around 470,000 people attending the famous Championships every year.

Domus Minerali DFM03 bush-hammered and smooth finish tiles were then carefully installed by Wilson & Wylie Contracts to the hospitality areas, internal restaurants, kitchen areas, debenture entrances, bar areas and the external terraces.

The areas demanded a fast track system of application, so Mapei ULTRAPLAN ECO ultra-fast hardening levelling compound was chosen to provide the base for the Domus Minerali tiles which were installed using KERAQUICK fast-setting adhesives with LATEX PLUS additive to increase flexibility. Mapei’s ULTRACOLOUR PLUS, in Medium Grey (one of 26 colours), was specially selected to provide a fast-setting and drying, flexible grout to the areas.

Mapei products have been used in many of the world’s most famous sporting arenas including Beijing 2008 and Wembly Stadium.

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

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Hydropath Holdings will be displaying their range of patented water conditioning products on stand 19 at this year’s Plumbing and Heating Exhibition in Chelsea. Taking centre stage will be the HS38, Hydropath’s domestic unit, which provides a simple and cost effective solution to preventing limescale problems without the use of chemicals. The HS38 unit is sold across 5 continents, and has particular success in America replacing water softeners, as the US has become more eco-friendly due to governmental directives.

The HS38 patented water conditioning system by Hydropath is unique as it removes limescale by transmitting randomly varying electric fields into the water and the entire plumbing system. The result is the production of nuclei everywhere in the water system. This causes limescale to form in suspension, which is then washed away with the flow. The treated water is normally able to dissolve existing scale in a few weeks.

The HS38 is suitable for use in most domestic applications including open vented combination boilers, condensing boilers, mains pressurized unvented and direct fired water heaters. The unit is simple to install, simply clipped onto the exterior of the pipe without the need for plumbing or incision. The HS38 also benefits from low running costs of only 90 pence a year, does not require any ongoing maintenance, has a 1 year ‘fit for purpose’ warranty and 3 year guarantee.

Two power supply options are available for the HS38; including a built-in supply, which needs to be wired in, or a plug-in style transformer that uses a mains power supply. Hydropath technology is recommended by British Gas and installed as an OEM by leading boiler manufacturers.

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