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The owners of the UK’s first R22 replacement system are still benefiting from lower energy bills nearly five years after the installation of the unique Mitsubishi Electric system.

When the owners of the small office block in Daventry were originally looking to replace their cooling-only air conditioning, they considered a number of options including an upgrade of their boiler and heating plant.

However, after a discussion with Chillaire Limited of Nuneaton and Mitsubishi Electric wholesaler Kooltech Ltd, the owners, St Clements Services Ltd, chose instead to replace the old air conditioning with a heating / cooling City Multi Y Series, using what was then, ground-breaking Replace Technology.

“We were delighted to be a part of what we knew at the time, was the very earliest stages of R22 replacement technology,” explains Chillaire’s Gary Fowler, who led the project for the installer. “The technical support from both Mitsubishi and Kooltech allowed our engineers to keep disruption to a minimum for St Clements who are one of our most respected customers.”

The Replace Multi system allowed Chillaire to keep the existing pipework and wiring and update the indoor and outdoor units, whilst removing the old, environmentally unfriendly R22 refrigerant.

Using the existing pipework significantly reduced the time it took to get the system up and running and allowed the new air conditioning to be installed in days instead of weeks. St Clements also benefit from increased performance and efficiency from the Replace system.

“The speed of installation was a key factor in our decision but increased operational efficiency and excellent core reliability were also needed,” commented Chris Wright, Chief Executive of St Clements.

“The system has met our expectations in full and we have continued to benefit as a result of the efficiency of the system operating in an age of rising electricity prices,” he added.

St Clements have remained a service contract customer for Chillaire since the installation and Gary Fowler has been delighted with the system’s performance. “There have been no issues with this replacement system since we installed it almost five years ago, which just goes to show its reliability,” he added.

Mitsubishi Electric has developed an entire range of R22 replacement solutions since launching its Replace technology in 2005. These can also be used to replace the R22 systems of many other manufacturers.

To help convince system owners of the benefits of upgrading from R22 air conditioning, the company has also developed a unique Audit Tool which compares the running costs and COP levels of today’s, modern systems with old, fixed-speed R22 units. This readily highlights the reduction in monthly energy bills that can be achieved with advanced modern systems.

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Triton approved contractors, Midlands based Dampco, used cavity drain membranes from Triton to waterproof the basement beneath a detached Victorian double bay property. There was already a basement beneath 60% of the property and Dampco was contracted to excavate and extend it over a further 30m². There were no existing lightwells and the Dampco team installed five, with the excavated earth being removed via the new ones at the front of the property.

Large areas of underpinning were involved with the earth taken down to achieve a 2.5m head height.   Two internal partition walls were built and some existing internal walls removed to suit the new internal layout.

Dampco used Platon P5 cavity drain membrane on the walls and heavy duty P20 membrane on the floor.  Cavity drain membranes work on the principle of allowing water to continue to penetrate the structure but control it in the air gap and divert it to a suitable drainage point. They do not allow pressure to build up against the internal construction and the air gap behind the membrane allows the structure to breathe. Once the membrane has been fitted, wall surfaces can be dry lined or plastered directly and floors can be screeded or a floating dry board system installed.

Drainage gullies were created on the floor slab beneath the P20 membrane to direct any water ingress to the three drainage system sumps, each containing an Aqua Pump. Any water directed to the sumps will be pumped to rainwater gullies/surface gullies. The walls were battened and boarded and chipboard was laid on the floor with hatches created to access the sumps. A wood floor was then installed again with recessed hatches over the sumps.

As part of the project, Dampco also had to remove the original brick stairs down to the basement and installed a new oak staircase to match the design of other stairways in the property. The new basement has provided a new space to accommodate a TV lounge/games room complete with table tennis table, a music room large enough for a drum kit and a utility room for freezer storage etc.  To create an impression of unity with the rest of the property, the door and door frame at the top of the stairs down to the new basement were removed.

The Dampco team also removed all garden plants from where the new lightwells were built, potted them up and then returned them to the garden when the project was completed!

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A unique combined busbar tap-off unit and fused cut-out distribution board has been developed by Eaton engineers to provide power for dwellings in high-rise apartment blocks. It has been designed in collaboration with engineers from a London Borough for a refurbishment programme Each tap-off unit incorporates the supply authority’s cut-out fuses for up to 21 flats.

Special sliding joints have also been developed so that the in-line tap-off units can be removed easily from the riser if necessary for maintenance or upgrading at some future date.

Traditionally, specifiers call for separate enclosures incorporating R-Type fuses as service cut-out units. These are then connected via multiple cable runs from the ground floor or from busbar risers. By combining the tap-off unit and supply authority’s fuse distribution board into a single unit, installation time is reduced and less space is required.

The approach also means that the cut-out fuses are located outside the flats in a secure enclosure, accessible to authorised persons only. The enclosures are fully shrouded and sealable, and are themselves housed in locked riser cubicles.

The cut-out units were developed initially for 1960s apartment blocks comprising more than 90 flats spread over more than 20 floors. Four Eaton 400A Mempower MP busbar risers, two at each end of the building, distribute power throughout each block. Tap-off units are located at every third floor, providing supplies to that floor and the floors immediately above and below.

To meet supply authority requirements, the enclosures incorporate terminal shrouds and sealing facilities at two points. A common 350mm wide enclosure will house varying options from three to 12 ways while 500mm wide enclosures will house from 15 to 21 ways. The fuse bases are rated for 100A and fitted with 100A BS 1361 30mm diameter RL-Type fuses. The enclosures have removable gland plates top and bottom and are IP54 rated.

The success of the new units has led to further orders from the same authority and interest has been shown by other local authorities and private developers.

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The unique Lossnay heat recovery ventilation system from Mitsubishi Electric has been re-approved and re-listed on the Government’s Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) scheme making energy efficiency more financially achievable in almost any situation.

The ECA scheme enables a business to claim the complete capital allowance on their spending on qualifying plant and machinery, with Lossnay listed under the ‘energy saving plant and equipment’ scheme.

Changes to the product criteria for air to air heat exchangers previously removed all heat recovery ventilation products with moving parts from the Energy Technology List. However Mitsubishi Electric’s commercial (RX5) and residential (DC) Lossnay systems now qualify under new definitions of the product criteria because of their special Hypercore.

This Hypercore is the secret of the Lossnay system with a unique, specially-designed, paper heat exchanger at its core. This allows the highly efficient transfer of heat energy through the supply and extract airflows, and enables Lossnay products to surpass the minimum performance criteria required to list the product on the ECA scheme.

“Businesses can now write off the whole of the capital cost of their investment in these technologies against taxable profits in the period during which they make the investment,” explains Philip Ord, Product Marketing Manager for Mitsubishi Electric. “This can deliver a cash flow boost, a shortened payback period and allows companies to benefit immediately from reduced energy bills.”

Developed and refined over the past 30 years, the Lossnay system has perfected the recovery of waste energy. The unit reduces overall energy costs by extracting stale air and then recovering its heating or cooling energy to either warm or cool the incoming fresh air.

By utilising this recovered energy, the Lossnay system can also save up to 30 per cent on initial capital costs of the heating and cooling plant.

The microscopically small pores in the Hypercore at the heart of Lossnay have been reduced in size even further in the latest Lossnay models allowing improved exclusion of unwanted odours from gases such as ammonia and hydrogen, whilst aiding the transfer of moisture for improved energy efficiency.

The ECA scheme is designed to promote the use of the most energy efficient products to UK businesses in a selection of key product areas.

With the introduction of Part F and L2 of the Building Regulations and with new Part L3 due at the end of the year, modern buildings are becoming more airtight, in addition to needing to be more energy efficient.

However some basic ventilation systems still mean that all of the energy spent heating or cooling an interior is simply thrown away when fresh air from the outside is introduced. The Lossnay product range fully meets these challenges due to its unique design and efficient heat recovery.

Both residential and commercial Lossnay units extract up to 70 per cent of the energy from the outgoing air which means the incoming fresh air needs much less energy to make it match the room temperature.

The Residential DC Lossnay system has also recently achieved SAP Appendix Q Best practice; the product was independently tested and validated to this important and prestigious standard by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) at their test facilities in Hertfordshire, England.

“In our built environment, we face increasing demands for energy conservation yet at the same time occupants rightly expect the highest standards of air quality,” explains Ord. “The ECA listing of Lossnay makes fresh air achievable for almost any building whilst ensuring the best levels of energy efficiency possible.”

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Anticipation is growing for the 2010 Brick Awards which look like being the most successful event in the Awards’ history, with the highest number of entries ever received.

The Awards, which first took place in 1977, are one of the top design and construction awards in the country – and the definitive showcase for what clay brick can do. There are 15 awards split into three categories: housing, building and landscape, and technical and craft.  There is also the Supreme Award – the Brick Development Association Building of the Year, judged to be the best overall project from the 15 award winners.

The calibre of entries was extremely high, making the judging process very difficult for the judging panel, chaired by Bob Allies of Allies and Morrison.  The shortlist can be viewed on the Brick Development Association website, http://www.brick.org.uk/awards/2010.

The Awards will be presented at London’s Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel on 3rd November.  To book tickets and/or tables at the awards, please contact The Brick Development Association on 020 7323 7030 or email brick@brick.org.uk.

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A key environmental feature of the new £20 million state of the art Aberystwyth Regional Office of the Welsh Assembly is the inclusion of Matrix I EC-DC cooling only fan coil units manufactured by Ability Projects Ltd, Wimborne, Dorset.

Opened late last year by the Rt Hon Rhodri Morgan, First Minister for Wales, the building comprises 7,700 m² of open plan office accommodation with meeting rooms and break out spaces etc on 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor levels with plus ground floor public area and staff restaurant and is designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

The Ability Matrix fan coil system is unique in the UK in providing infinitely variable speed control of the entire fan coil unit as well as each fan within it, enabling each air duct to be balanced for air volume through fan speed alone, thus removing the need for costly, noisy volume control dampers and their time consuming installation. Matrix I fan coils are also designed to adjust the overall air volume according to room occupancy, thermal demand or a combination of the two.

The fan coil units were selected to meet NR31 standards and were supplied complete with Trend IQ212 controllers with sensor and remote sensor setpoints supplied and fitted by third party on site. Fan coil unit capacities vary between 0.71 and 3.37kW against an environment 0f 30 Pa Pascals resistance. Other engineering services, installed by Mitie engineering Services, Cardiff, include natural ventilation, biomass boiler, solar panels, briese soleil natural shading and intelligent lighting controls.

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Tensar International Corporation’s innovative TriAx™ geogrid, and the technical developments it represents, has won one of civil engineering’s most prestigious awards, from the International Geosynthetics Society.

Tim Oliver, Tensar International Vice President Marketing, explains: “The IGS Award is all the more significant because it is presented for achievement in the period since 2005, not just the best in one year. Entry is by invitation following nominations from the industry, so Tensar’s TriAx™ has obviously already made a genuine impression on an international stage.

“Judged against submissions from a very wide field of categories, from construction methods to products and testing equipment, TriAx™ stands out as a significant advance.”

The TriAx™ citation for the IGS 2010 Award, presented at the IGS 9th International Conference in Brazil in May, stated: ‘This IGS award is given to Tensar for the development and implementation of a triangular geogrid intended to display properties not achievable with conventional square or rectangular geogrids. The triangular geogrid has the capacity to develop more isotropic stiffness and this is expected to provide potential benefits across many applications.’

Robert Vevoda, Tensar International President and Managing Director, added: “This prestigious award underlines the effort and investment we have made to demonstrate TriAx™’s in-ground stabilization performance. Our research and development programs in the USA UK and elsewhere are already building on the significant leap forward we have made.”

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Hager’s Ashley J501 Junction Box has won the Electrical Industry Awards for the most “Innovative Residential Domestic Product of the year” for 2008.

The judges said: “The Ashley J501 Junction Box is designed to ensure more secure terminations and to be easier to access for inspection. The judges feel that it was a tidy innovation that would offer contractors the chance to make significant improvements on current wiring practice.”

Launched at the beginning of 2008, the new Junction Box has taken the market by storm. Sales have exceeded four times projections and it has had extensive coverage in the trade press and been the subject of many online forums.

It helps electricians meet the needs of the wiring regulations and Part P by ensuring that terminations are secure and accessible for inspection.

Says Ashley Product Manager Jane Yorke: “A loose or disconnected cable is a hidden danger with Junction Boxes. Recognising that Junction Boxes are used to supply the connection between fixed wiring and downlights, we developed a new type of Junction Box to help meet the needs of the regulations.”

The new J501 Downlighter Junction Box is torpedo shaped to fit through a 58mm diameter hole in the ceiling. The cables are all securely clamped and exit from either end of the Junction Box. This is in contrast to traditional Junction Boxes where the cables are generally not clamped and often exit at different angles making it hard to push or pull them through the hole without risking damaging or loosening the connections.”

Since its introduction Hager has developed a second Junction Box, the Maintenance Free Junction Box, again to meet the needs of the regulations. Appendix 15 of the 17th edition states that Junction Boxes with screw terminals must be accessible for inspection or use maintenance free terminals.

This new range from Hager contains sprung push fit terminals that do not relax and therefore do not need to be accessible for future inspection. It again provides an easier and faster to install alternative than other methods prescribed by the regulations such as soldering or crimping.

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Strengthening its online presence even further, Triton Showers has launched eight ‘Good Clean Fun’ viral videos to encourage the nation to ‘get daft, get messy and get filming'. And there is a £1,000 stake on offer for those ready and willing to take up the challenge.

Each of the clips, which can be seen on YouTube, Triton’s website or on the Triton Showers Facebook Fan Page, show people of all ages finding simple ways to have ‘Good Clean Fun’ – before setting the challenging for people to create their own fun videos.

Clips include students sliding through curry to someone waterskiing through a muddy field behind a quad bike and children enjoying their party food on a bouncy castle – all in the knowledge they can get clean in their Triton Shower afterwards.

Those inspired to make their own films can simply upload them to www.tritongoodcleanfun.tv. The video with the most views by 31st August 2010 will scoop the fantastic £1,000 prize.

Lorna Fellowes, managing director of Triton Showers said:

“As more people turn to the internet as a source of information and entertainment, Triton’s ‘Good Clean Fun’ viral campaign aims to engage with our customers, installers and merchants on a new level. We hope to encourage people to break from their routine and simply have fun, without worrying if it means they get a bit messy.”

The ‘Good Clean Fun’ campaign brings a fun and engaging element to the 2010 campaign and follows Triton’s investment in the development of its new look website, You Tube channel, Facebook fan page and Twitter feed.

please use this link to view an example 'Good Clean Fun' video: http://bit.ly/Triton_I_D

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