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In this BNE ‘Brand Leader’ Interview podcast, Dave Marshall-George, Sales Director at Condair, discusses how Adiabatic Humidifiers can be used in Air Handling Units to provide large volume, low energy Evaporative Cooling. The link to register for the CIBSE approved Webinar ‘Using humidifiers for evaporative cooling in AHU’s’ mentioned in this podcast is:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8287374696864322062?source=Podcast

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Marshall-Tufflex has announced that its PVC-U cable management products were manufactured using 74% recycled material in the last year. This milestone is a significant achievement for the company as part of its mission to drive positive change in the industry, towards a minimum of 50% recycled material in cable management products by 2028.

A pioneer of plastic extrusion in the UK, British based manufacturer Marshall-Tufflex has been using recycled material originating from waste PVC-U windows in the manufacturing of its products for over 25 years and in 2020, this figure reached an average of 74%. Impressively, all white conduit, mini and maxi trunking lengths from Marshall-Tufflex are currently manufactured using 100% recycled material. Thanks to the company’s ongoing recycling commitment, thousands of tonnes of recycled PVC-U are now used when manufacturing their white PVC-U trunking and conduit products.

This news comes in the wake of the decommissioning of the NHS Nightingale hospitals. Last year, Marshall-Tufflex supplied a number of the NHS Nightingale Hospitals with its PVC-U cable management systems and was recognised by the British Chamber of Commerce as a ‘UK Business Hero’ for its work on the project. Built to provide forecasted capacity for patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, some hospitals are now being closed and in keeping with the company’s recycling ethos, the trunking systems in some sites have been removed for recycling. The reclaimed PVC-U trunking was granulated and processed through a compounder to remove any impurities, resulting in recycled PVC-U material that will be used for new trunking or conduit systems.

To ensure consistent quality across all of its products Marshall-Tufflex take material samples from the production line every 10 to 20 minutes to check for consistency in colour and surface finish.

“At Marshall-Tufflex we believe that every individual has the responsibility to reduce their impact on the environment, and by pushing for higher recycled content in our products we hope to inspire others in the industry to join this vision that all PVC-U cable management products installed in buildings are manufactured using recycled material by 2028,” says Paul Mitchell, Managing Director at Marshall-Tufflex. “We are extremely proud to announce that our PVC-U products have been manufactured using 74% recycled material in 2020 and will continue to innovate and develop new ways to produce superior products that retain their high quality whilst reducing our impact as a company.”

Marshall-Tufflex is at the forefront of cable management innovation and is the UK’s foremost manufacturer and supplier of cable management solutions. For more information on Marshall-Tufflex and its work on sustainability, please visit www.marshall-tufflex.com.

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The spotlight is clearly shining on indoor air quality and in this podcast, VORTICE Marketing Manager Jennifer Quinn explains the role that heat recovery systems can play both in energy efficiency and in the filtration of air.

In conjunction with BusinessNet Explorer, this is the second of a series of podcasts covering key issues related to indoor air quality which is now recognised as having an enormous part to play in human health.  For more information about VORTICE and its products visit www.vortice.ltd.uk

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A former north London paints warehouse has been transformed into a mixed development of apartments and commercial premises with Crittall windows, doors and screens featuring throughout the project.

Bentley House in Dalston in the borough of Hackney dates from the 1950s when it was occupied by Leyland Paints. The building now houses 18 apartments on the first, second and third floors including a new roof-top extension with private terraces providing views over the London skyline.

Mezzanine levels within the ground floor plus a rear extension create more than 900 square metres of flexible workspace and a retail unit.

Work on the building, which is situated within the De Beauvoir conservation area, had to satisfy the requirements of the local planning authority that insisted that any amendments to the exterior elevations should be handled sensitively. MAP Architects specified Crittall to retain the industrial character of the building and its distinctive, black framed fenestration. Both W20 and MW40 windows were installed together with Janson ECO 60 CF doors. Internal spaces were divided using InnerVision screens.

Glazing varied from 16mm to 35mm and included solar control, acoustic solar control, clear sandblast and opaque depending on requirements.

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Humidity control specialist, Condair, has released an easy-to-follow 10-point guide to specifying humidifiers, aimed at HVAC consultants. The document presents an overview of the most important elements in designing a humidification project. It covers topics such as AHU vs in-room strategy, psychrometrics, product sizing, technology selection, installation and hygiene management.

Dave Marshall-George, Sales Director at Condair, commented, “We are delighted to publish this accessible guide to humidification for specifiers and consultants. It comprehensively walks a designer through, from the initial psychrometric calculations, to considerations around commissioning and maintenance. It includes some very useful rules of thumb and will prompt a consultant to review important aspects of a project they may not have otherwise considered.”

The free document can be downloaded from Condair’s website at www.condair.co.uk/guide

Dave continues, “The illustrated guide covers humidification of both air handling units and direct room humidity control, comparing all types of humidifier technology. The comprehensive advice it presents is unbiased and has been developed from experience across thousands of projects by Condair’s expert sales and service teams.”

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification and evaporative cooling, with energy efficient, hygienic and innovative technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

 

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Small improvements in productivity add up to large savings for the contractor. PAM have launched a new pre-assembly service for the Ensign cast iron above ground drainage system. Watch our video here to see how our pre-assembled Ensign cast iron stacks can make not only productivity savings (saves 60% time on site), reduce site movements but also minimise the impact on the environment and easily maintain social distancing on your construction site. What’s more, the beauty of them is they are preassembled at our Telford factory and delivered ready to install safely and quickly on site.

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As the UK population slowly regains the freedoms it yearns for, advice from ventilation systems supplier VORTICE is to ventilate, purify and sanitise to maintain good indoor air quality at home and at work and avoid the transmission of germs and viruses in indoor spaces.

Marketing Manager Jennifer Quinn reveals the company’s thinking in the first of a series of podcasts from VORTICE in conjunction with BusinessNet Explorer. Over the next few months, Jennifer will cover topics such as continuous mechanical ventilation, heat recovery systems, sanitisation using UV-C ultraviolet light and hygiene products such as hand dryers and soap dispensers.

Jennifer Quinn said: “We’re delighted to work with BusinessNet Explorer for its Brand Leader Podcast series. The importance of ventilation has risen to the fore since the pandemic struck and I’m pleased to be able to explain how good ventilation systems can bring health benefits to building occupants.”

For more information about VORTICE and its products visit www.vortice.ltd.uk

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As architects, designers and lovers of beautiful buildings prepare to celebrate the very first World Art Deco Day Crittall Windows is pleased to mark its contribution to some of the UK’s most iconic examples of this eclectic style.

Russell Ager, Managing Director of Crittall Windows, says: “ Our windows have helped to define some of this country’s best loved heritage buildings and are synonymous with the Art Deco period of the 1920s and 30s.”

Not only do the company’s slender steel frames feature in many of the surviving original structures but Crittall has also been called upon to supply like-for-like replacements where restoration projects seek to retain the appearance while upgrading to meet modern day thermal and acoustic performance requirements

Art Deco landmarks such as the Hoover Building and Battersea Power Station were designed with Crittall windows. In other projects such as Gateshead’s Baltic Flour Mill, steel framed fenestration was added when the building was saved and sensitively re-designed as a major arts centre.

Battersea Power Station was built with steel windows punctuating the brick clad elevations of the boiler houses, turbine halls and control rooms. The redeveloped site features Crittall windows in the first new-build bar and restaurant in the locality where MW40 windows and doors were specified precisely to reflect the area’s industrial heritage.

New Crittall windows were added to the north and south elevations of the transformed Baltic Flour Mill that sits alongside the River Tyne at Gateshead. Blending with the traditional architecture the full height fenestration now floods with daylight what was previously an enclosed space.

Less well-known Art Deco gems include Pegasus House, Bristol. Built in 1936 to house the employees of the Bristol Aeroplane Company, it boasted 430 Crittall windows, all of which were replaced with their modern equivalent – the Corporate W20 system – when the building was saved from its dilapidated state in a restoration several years ago.

And two housing estates, one in Wilmslow, Cheshire, the other in Richmond, south London, provide examples of Streamline Moderne, an offshoot of the Art Deco movement. The Grade II listed Appleby Lodge in Wilmslow, designed in 1936, features characteristic cantilevered balconies and curved cornices. During a recent refurbishment the original single glazed Crittall windows were upgraded with a mix of Homelight Plus and Corporate W20 systems.

By contrast, Litchfield Court in Richmond features layers of long horizontal white painted balconies that give the buildings the appearance of an ocean liner, also characteristic of the Streamline Moderne style. Crittall replaced all its original windows throughout the estate, including a few inappropriate installations that had been added in intervening years, returning the blocks to their pristine, original appearance.

www.crittall-windows.co.uk

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Firefighters at the new training centre of the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Services at Winsford are benefiting from a Condair dehumidifier to dry out their protective kit at the end of each wet training exercise. The equipment was specified by T Clarke, one of the UK’s leading building service companies, for the centre’s drying room as part of the new build project.

Equipment ensuring the strict control of moisture in a drying room is essential to save firefighters’ gear from the effects of water damage after a call-out or a training exercise. It’s vital that they have access to a drying facility to prevent extensive damage and potentially significant replacement costs for the fire service. Condair supplied T Clarke with a Condair DC 50W wall-mounted unit that had to be in place at the centre within one day of arriving on site prior to handover to fire chiefs. This timescale proved no problem as the dehumidifier was tailor-made for the job and was easily installed by the contractor’s engineers.

T Clarke’s Project Engineer, Doug Lumb, explained: “A new build project like this is really quite exciting with the scope to start from scratch. The Condair DC 50W dehumidifier was actually chosen by our designers, as it fit the bill perfectly for the environment. The unit size was based on the quantities of kit hung in the room to dry when the firefighters return to the centre at the end of their training exercises. It’s a reliable product and currently operating at the station just as expected, plus installation was really simple and didn’t take long at all, so all very good. I would definitely specify Condair dehumidifiers for future projects.”

The Condair DC 50W is part of a range of condensing dehumidifiers that offer powerful drying performance. It is easy to install and has an attractive galvanised sheet metal cover with powder enamel finish. The wall-mounted versions can be supplied with steel feet for extra stability. As well as the built-in digital user interface, the dehumidifier has an optional remote wall controller, which can be located up to 50m away. Remote mechanical hygrostats are also available.

The unit installed by T Clarke has a dehumidifying capacity of up to 49 litres per day (@30°C/80% RH). Capacities in Condair’s wider condensing dehumidifier range from 49 to 930 litres per day with airflows of up to 8,000m³/h. They can provide dry air directly to a room or be connected to a building’s ducted ventilation system. Models are also available with an external condenser that can expel the heat generated during the drying process remotely and therefore manage temperature control as well as humidity.

Winsford’s fire training centre offers the most up-to-date technology to ensure the best possible training for existing firefighters and new recruits, serving a large area of the North West Fire Services. After training the firefighters return to their allocated bases from where they operate a shift system of nine firefighters and officers crewing a fire engine, major rescue unit and incident response unit 24/7. The training centre operates Monday to Friday with high numbers of staff and trainees, and potentially a lot of clothing that needs drying out on a daily basis, so reliability is essential.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidification, dehumidification and evaporative cooling, with technologies for commercial, industrial and heritage applications. The company offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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Condair is hosting a webinar by Dr Stephanie Taylor entitled “Understanding Humidity’s Impact on Health”. The online presentation will take place at 2pm on 29^th April. Dr Taylor is an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer and qualified as both a medical doctor and architect, so is ideally placed to advise on health matters concerning the built environment.

During the 45 minute webinar, Dr Taylor will be reviewing the latest scientific studies to explain how indoor humidity affects the airborne transmission of viruses and how it impacts the defence mechanisms in our nose and throat. The presentation will be of interest to anyone in the building services sector, as well as those responsible for the safe operation or management of an occupied building.

Dr Taylor is a is a Harvard Medical School infection control consultant, a member of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force established to provide guidance on how to ensure buildings are prepared for future pandemics, a medical advisor to The British Standards Institution, Chartered Member of the Royal Society of Public Health and a Chartered Member of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers.

Dave Marshall-George, UK Sales Manager for Condair, who will be introducing the session, comments, “We are really delighted to be hosting this webinar and to have such a prestigious speaker as Dr Taylor. Humidity’s role in mitigating the risk of airborne infection is greatly under-appreciated, even though there is a wealth of science on the subject. This webinar is an invaluable chance for HVAC consultants, contractors and facility managers to review for themselves the role indoor humidity plays in the safe operation of buildings.”

To learn more and register for the session visit www.condair.co.uk/webinars.

The Condair Group is the world’s leading specialist in humidity control and evaporative cooling, serving commercial, industrial and heritage sectors. Condair is represented in the UK by Condair plc, which offers system design, manufacture, supply, installation, commissioning, maintenance and spares. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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