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Envirograf have just launched Envir-e-flex the perfect answer to providing a 3 in 1 product for thermal insulation to L1B & L2B, airborne and impact sound and 70 minutes fire protection.
Envir-e-flex consists of a reflective fire protective panel with an attached non-itch sponge. The Envir-e-flex panels can be used in loft conversions between trusses requiring only a facing of 9mm plasterboard to achieve excellent U values. Envir-e-flex can be used between joists and also between floors in new build projects. Heat leakage in properties has become a crucial factor in trying to reduce the carbon footprint. Thermal improvements in properties have often resulted in excessive insulation being positioned to close to electric cables and therefore running the risk of electrical cables overheating and potentially causing a fire. Envir-e-flex is the perfect solution because it is produced in a depth to suit most joists and trusses whilst offering an important airflow for cabling and minimising condensation problems. Also new from Envirograf are Thermal Cavity Fire Barriers for improved thermal insulation and fire protection around doors and windows.

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High efficiency solutions for residential and light commercial projects

The extension of the Daikin inverter driven mini chiller range signals the company’s ability to cover any cooling/heating requirement up to 14kW for the residential and light commercial market. Furthermore, the new EWAQ/EWYQ unit returns some of the best ESEERs (European Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratios) and COPs in the industry today.

The mini chiller range is able to supply chilled water between 5 and 220 C and hot water at between 25 and 500 C at ambient temperatures of 10 to 450 C and -15 to 350 C respectively. Also, as well as delivering significant energy savings, it offers easy installation, compactness, quiet operation and the provision of constant room temperatures.

Enhanced energy efficiency

Underpinning Daikin’s concern for the environment, the mini chiller range is equipped with am inverter controlled scroll compressor offering maximum efficiencies, particularly in part load conditions. The 3 phase 9kW model for example, returns ESEER ratings up to 4.73 in cooling mode and COPs up to 3.48 in heating mode.

In addition to limiting stop/start cycles and thereby reducing energy consumption, the use of inverter technology ensures precise and stable water temperature control and higher comfort levels, as well as minimising peaks in power consumption, especially during start up.

Connectable to a wide range of indoor fan coil units, this extension to the Daikin mini chiller range gives the company a complete and highly competitive line of equipment that is ideal for installation in residential dwellings, large villas, guest houses, restaurants, small nursing homes, sports clubs and smaller residential outlets.

Additional benefits

An integrated hydronic kit, comprising circulating pump, expansion vessel, safety valves and a standard main switch, enable the mini chiller to become an easy to install ‘plug and play’ system. Other features include compactness (1420 x 1420 x 320mm), silent operation (64dBA sound power) plus multiple options such as evaporator heater tape and pump up to 90kPa available head. Daikin concern for the environment is reflected in a reduced refrigerant charge of less than 3kg.

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Bauder undertook the FM testing programme on its two single ply membranes, FPO & PVC, and used its ability as a manufacturer of both insulation and bituminous waterproofing sheets to combine all of the required elements of the flat roofing system from one manufacturer.

This means that Bauder are the only manufacturer to have a complete flat roof waterproofing system approved, rather than using component parts from different suppliers to piece together a solution. So from the self-adhesive bitumen vapour barrier or VB20 vapour control layer, with our high performance thermal insulation BauderPIR FA up to the synthetic waterproofing membrane in either FPO or PVC, all are now available from a single source manufacturer with FM Approval.

FM Global provides comprehensive commercial and industrial property insurance. Additionally, FM Approvals is a testing institute in which construction components, materials and systems are objectively assessed; it then recommends its clients to use the approved products and systems in any new build or refurbishment project

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Mitsubishi Electric’s green initiative targeted at helping everyone reduce energy consumption has been acknowledged at the SEE Awards in Brussels as part of the 3rd Annual EU Sustainable Energy Week in February.

“The Green Gateway Initiative® is not just about Mitsubishi Electric, it’s about helping anyone with a building reduce their environmental impact and it is very rewarding that this has been recognised at such a high level,” explained the company’s Green Gateway Manager, Martin Fahey.

Mitsubishi Electric was shortlisted in the ‘Market transformation’ category and Fahey explains that this is exactly what the environmental initiative is about: “As one of the country’s largest suppliers of heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, we know that our products consume energy. We also know that modern life and legislation demand a comfortable, controlled internal environment, so buildings must have some equipment.

“We are using our market position to call for people to examine this equipment and make sure that it is as controllable as possible and is working as efficiently as possible, all of the time. That way, they will achieve indoor comfort whilst lowering emissions and helping to cut their fuel bills.”

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The NEW Ashley J501 Downlighter Junction Box ticks ALL the boxes like no other Junction Box can!

The IEE Wiring Regulations state that terminals shall not be subject to undue stress, i.e. taking weight of cables or fittings. Currently a high proportion of Junction Boxes are installed behind Downlighters or decorative light fittings, where moving the Junction Box in to position after wiring could cause stress on the terminations.

With the NEW Ashley J501 Junction Box, these obstacles can be overcome.

Ashley can provide a quick and easy means of connecting fixed wiring to flexible cables of downlighter fittings based on 3 main benefits:

1. Easy to use
2. Wide application suitability
3. Compliance with latest regulations

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A recently completed self-build project in Suffolk has, quite literally, rolled back the barriers of roof design and product specification. Dubbed ‘The Sliding House’, it has just received the Grand Designs ‘Best Home’ and ‘Best New Build’ awards. Key criteria for the judges were use of innovative thinking and inventive use of materials, so the combination of sliding design and use of Flag Soprema’s red Flagon SV Single Ply Membrane really stood out. The project showed that single ply membranes provide flexibility way beyond waterproofing flat roofs and the occasional waveform and barrel vault profiles. Flag Soprema’s Sales and Marketing Director Steve Greaves commented, “This shows how single ply can be used to combine aesthetics and sustainability. It is very rewarding to see our membrane featured in such a high profile award”

The 50 tonne sliding roof/wall design rolls back some 16 metres to enclose a courtyard space and uncover a double height greenhouse-style conservatory. The Flagon SV membrane in red, despite being underneath the larch cladding, is an important architectural element of the build, having been selected to colour match other aspects of the scheme. It is visible beneath the timber and has been used to dramatic effect at reveals such as windows and doors. When the roof is rolled forward to cover the conservatory and patio, the full extent of the single ply installation on the main body of the house can really be appreciated, with the red membrane in full view.

The roof takes approximately six minutes to roll back, the 104ft long ‘railway’ moving at 0.2 mph.

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Mitsubishi Electric has launched an SMS version of its unique M2M wireless air conditioning controller, to bring advanced air conditioning control and monitoring to handsets everywhere.

The Micro M2M controller builds on the success of the GPRS version, which has already been offering customers a relatively low-cost solution for both smaller premises that do not have Ethernet connections and larger corporations which cannot allow outside systems to link into their security networks and across firewalls.

“This Micro version provides even more cost benefits for sites where simple controls and monitoring are needed and it puts that control on your mobile phone,” explained Sebastien Desmottes, Product Marketing Liaison Manager.

Each Micro M2M can control up to eight indoor units at once and will cost under £400, which makes it much more accessible to a wider range of buildings.

Installation of the unit is the same as the popular Mini M2M system with the small box wired to the indoor units and able to send warning, performance and temperature data to a mobile phone.

Simple control functions such as turning the systems off or on and setting the temperature can also be sent back to the system via text.

Mitsubishi Electric has also made registering the system straightforward as is the range of basic control functions. The system will also send detailed fault reports so that engineers are aware of any problems immediately and can take appropriate parts and spares on their first visit to site, thereby improving the service to customers and cutting down on travel.

“With the massive growth in text as a form of communication and mobile phones as a means of accessing these messages, it seemed a logical step to develop a simpler version of what is already an easy to use system so that we can provide customers with control at their fingertips, wherever they are,” added Desmottes.

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Grasslin:Tower has been supplying quality heating controls for more than 30 years to worldwide manufacturers in both the electrical and heating industries. In recent years they have been seeing rapidly increasing sales through the merchants direct to installers and contractors, and through specifiers for housebuilders, local authorities and housing associations too, who recognise that these controls do exactly what they want – at a competitive price.

The range of products available includes central heating programmers, thermostats – including specially designed versions for underfloor heating systems – and timeswitches, and include both timeclock type controls and the latest RF (radio frequency) wireless controls – and everything in between. In addition they supply a range of twilight and staircase switches and a range of plug-in timeswitches too.

There has been a massive increase in the use of radio frequency controls to provide ‘wireless’ installation in the past couple of years in particular. Building Regulations Part P now requires certification of much of the electrical work carried out in a home – RF systems can be very attractive in this respect, and can minimise or obviate electrical work in a property by pretty much eliminating ‘hard wiring’ requirements.

There has been dramatic growth in the use of RF types of controls in the last two years. This is largely due to the combined effect of the implementation of Building Regulations Part L and Part P. There are two main groupings of RF controls on the market: those which operate at 433 MHz and those which operate at 868 MHz.

433 MHz has been licensed for low-power domestic controls for many years, and consequently this is a fairly busy RF band. Numerous devices, as well as heating controls, operate at this frequency, including garage door opening systems, baby alarms and door bells. Protection against cross-talk – when one system inadvertently controls a different system – is by coding, so that devices on a common frequency only recognise their legitimate ‘partner’, but there are quite a few 433 MHz RF systems which only have a limited number of codes – perhaps just 4 to 16 combinations.

The 868 MHz frequency was more recently released for low power RF controls, and consequently, there is less RF ‘traffic’ at that frequency because there are, for the time being, fewer producers of 868 MHz systems. Also the licensing protocol limits the transmission duty cycle to 1%. This means that for any given period, 99% of the time is transmission free – allowing any other systems to operate without any conflict. Code combinations of the more sophisticated controls also run into thousands or even tens of thousands. The combination of a less intensively used frequency, with 1% duty cycle, and a more secure coding technique, means that 868 MHz systems have a significantly higher immunity to interference or cross-talk from other systems.

There are factors that need consideration when specifying or locating RF controls within buildings. Conventional domestic structures – including most homes – present little or no problem to RF signals for these types of heating control systems. It is not unusual to have two, three or even four dividing walls or floors between transmitter and receiver without any problem. Radio waves move, or ‘propagate’ freely through open air, and will penetrate solid materials, but as they go through things, the signal strength will weaken. The signal strength cannot be increased because regulations define the maximum strength permissible, and with which such systems must conform. Also – depending on the material – radio waves can be deflected or simply stopped. In the same way that visible light is reflected by a mirror, so radio waves will also be reflected by the same mirror.

Consequently installers specifying and fitting RF controls should take into account the presence within buildings of steel re-inforcing materials within walls or floors, foil-backed plasterboard or loft insulation, metallised decorative wallcoverings, mirrors and large appliances with steel casings. These materials should have an impact on the siting of RF transmitters (Tx) and receivers (Rx). For instance, a solid wall surfaced in foil backed plasterboard between Tx and Rx is likely to prevent signals from getting through. Even if there are no metallic barriers, large volumes of construction material can still absorb some of the signal strength. This is particularly true if there is any natural stone in the structure – natural stone frequently exhibits ‘paramagnetic’ properties which increase the ‘opacity’ of such materials to RF. To their advantage however, radio waves at 868 or 433 MHz only require a small gap or opening of 10 – 20 cm respectively in order to get through. Alternatively the radio wave can reach its target by reflection, so that the direct line-of-sight route may be blocked, but the wave can bounce off a surface and thereby reach its target. Generally, through appropriate location of Tx and Rx, and reduction or removal of metallic and construction material barriers, the opportunity for the signal to be received can be maximised.

So RF controls are a great step forward in easy-to-fit, user-friendly controls for heating systems. Whilst there is still a tendancy for specifiers to plump for timeclock type heating controls – we Brits still find change and progress difficult at times – the eventual move towards RF controls seems inevitable and unstoppable!

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Mapei products were recently specified for the refurbishment of the Harley-Davidson Showrooms in Norwich and Guildford. Lind who recently took on the famous motorcycle franchise, required a system of products in order to install tiling to the wall and floor areas within the showrooms.

For the installation of tectonic anthracite solid porcelain tiles within the main showroom in Norwich, Mapei’s Mapeker Rapid-set Grey was specified by local installers Cristy’s Ceramics, Norwich. Mapeker Rapid-set is a fast setting adhesive suitable for fixing all types of ceramic, porcelain and stone tiles and mosaics to internal and external walls and floors. These were then grouted using Keracolor FF 113 Cement Grey one of 18 colours. The durable water and dirt repellent grout was the ideal choice for showrooms subject to significant foot traffic. In order to create a false brick wall effect, MapeGrip Plus, a non-slip adhesive with high initial grab and high bond strength, was used to install Travertine brick wall tiling. Joints finished with Keracolor FF 130 Jasmine.

To facilitate the flexibility of the timber substrate, on which the tiling within the Guildford showroom had to be installed, Keraquick Grey with Latex Plus additive was specified. When mixed these products achieve S2 Flexibility, suitable for the most deformable substrates. Cristy’s Ceramics then used Mapei’s flexible, fast-setting and drying, Ultracolor Plus 113 (Cement Grey) high performance grout, for joints up to 20mm, to install the tiling.

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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