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With the increase in demand for high-rise accommodation across the UK, soil and drainage specialist Saint-Gobain PAM has utilised the latest in 3D design and printing, to create a new low connection multi-waste cast iron manifold, aimed at tackling the drainage challenges faced by contractors building high-rise structures.

The new manifold addresses the trend towards walk in showers and wet rooms, whilst also recognising the squeeze on distances between floors and smaller ceiling voids in which to fit services and make the necessary waste water connections.

Commenting on the development of its new manifold and its adoption of 3D printing for rapid product development, Mike Rawlings, Marketing Manager for Saint-Gobain PAM said:

“Our collaborative 3D design and print approach allows us to quickly address industry challenges across different sectors. We now have the ability to develop and test prototypes in a matter of days. This is achieved by producing a resin model and then using it to develop a mould for a cast iron component, so customers can physically see the solution.

By being able to collaborate with the industry in this way, we are able to dramatically cut down the development to production cycle, enabling customers to quickly benefit from new products like the low connection multi-waste manifold.”

The new low connection multi-waste manifold is available initially in 100mm diameter but will be closely followed by 150mm diameters by the end of March. The fittings offer up to six 50mm/2” BSP waste inlets and have been flow rate tested by CRM Rainwater Drainage Consultancy. The 100mm unit has been tested to a vertical flow of 1.8 l/s which is consistent with a 6 l/s WC flush and all six 2” waste inlets at a flow of 1 l/s at the same time. The manifold has an internal baffle to eliminate any cross flow.

Designed for easy installation, the 2” waste inlets comfortably fit in the ceiling/floor area and an extended spigot accommodates a floor slab of up to 400mm without the need to make connections. The spigot has 10mm cut marks to make it simple to cut to length. Both the 100mm and 150mm diameter manifolds minimise the core hole diameter, fitting into a 200mm or 225mm hole respectively.

The new cast iron low waste connection manifold is available in both the Ensign range with mechanical joints and the fast installation EEZI-FIT range with its push fit connections to product standard BS EN 877.

For further information about the low waste connection manifold, contact: Saint-Gobain PAM UK, Lows Lane, Stanton-by-Dale, Ilkeston, Derbyshire. DE7 4QU. Tel: 0115 930 5000. Email: Sales.uk.pam@saint-gobain.com Or visit: www.saint-gobain-pam.co.uk

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As a showroom partner, wood floor specialist, Bona, through twice daily talks, will introduce the Clerkenwell community to its new ‘Inspiration’ wood floor styles, designed to transform the look of tired, existing wood floors or to embellish unfinished new ones.

Created by Bona in collaboration with internationally recognised trend analyst, Cay Bond, each of the 17 new looks can be achieved using a combination of Bona’s sanding and brushing methods to enhance the grain, followed by treatments with the company’s waterborne lacquers, oils and colours. The styles, Nordic Shimmer, Garden Atmosphere, Malibu Dreams, Touch of Grace and New Modern, include everything from dark, rustic floors to floors with a pale, lacquered finish.

Floor owners are often simply not aware of how an existing wood floor can be transformed, giving a room or space a completely new look and feel. From a sustainability perspective it makes sense too – the old floor has already been manufactured and transported.

A campaign starts on June 1st using social media, print and online advertising to target and inspire floor owners. Contractors will be able to use the professional pages at bona.com to see how the individual looks can be achieved, and samples and beautiful inspirational brochures will also be available for designers, architects and flooring contractors to leave with their clients.

Register for twice daily showroom talks entitled ‘Inspiration through renovation – how to achieve contemporary trends on existing wood floors’ at this link – https://www.bona.com/en-GB/Professional/Support/Events/Clerkenwell-Design-Week/ or via Bona’s Showroom page at clerkenwelldesignweek.com

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Structural fixings manufacturer, Ancon, has won a 2018 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Innovation category, for the successful introduction and on-going development of its advanced composite, low thermal conductivity, Teplo wall tie range.

This is the third time that Ancon has been honoured in this prestigious award scheme that rewards outstanding achievements by UK businesses; it follows Queen’s Awards for International Trade in 2015 and Innovation in 2012.

Teplo wall ties are manufactured from continuous basalt fibres set in a resin matrix; a fibre-reinforced polymer that is 70 times more thermally efficient than steel. When used to join the two leaves of a cavity wall, this material virtually eliminates cold bridging across the insulated cavity. Launched by Ancon in 2010 as part its market leading wall tie range, Teplo has had a major influence on the growth of low energy housing in the UK and Ireland, and helped future-proof traditional masonry cavity wall construction techniques, by minimising insulation thickness and wall footprint.

Whilst Ancon’s first Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2012 recognised the company’s in-house development of a unique lockable concrete-connecting steel component, this second Innovation award has been won jointly with its external strategic partner in this advanced composite development, MagmaTech.

Head of Marketing and Innovation at Ancon, Annabelle Wilson, says “Ancon launches a number of new and improved structural fixing solutions every year and invites ideas into our innovation process from both inside and outside the company. We saw potential in this new material immediately, and over the last eight years have committed our business resources to improving and extending the Teplo wall tie range as part of the Ancon product portfolio, bringing the benefits of advanced composites to mainstream UK construction.”

Today, the Teplo wall tie range includes Teplo-L suitable for surface-fixing in timber frame construction, the Teplo-BF with moulded safety ends that improve buildability particularly in lime and other slow-setting mortars, and the Teplo-BFR which can be resin-bonded in existing walls for retrofit applications. Teplo has been used in numerous ground-breaking developments, including the UK’s first masonry cavity wall ‘PassivHaus’, the UK’s first zero-carbon retrofit and the largest building in the UK built to the ‘Passivhaus’ standard, the University of Leicester’s Centre of Medicine.

Ben Williams, MagmaTech’s Managing Director says “Ancon has proven to be an exceptional partner for cutting edge innovation. They embraced a concept that was potentially disruptive to their existing stainless steel business, promoting it with passion and commitment. Taking a truly innovative energy-saving product to this level of market acceptance in just a few years is a truly outstanding achievement, surpassing our expectations.”

Commenting on their latest triumph in the Queen’s Award programme, Ancon’s Managing Director, Stuart Maxwell, says “Winning three Queen’s Awards in seven years is an extraordinary achievement and reflects the level of professionalism with which Ancon employees, in all areas of our organisation, go about their daily business. Our focus on quality and innovation, combined with a single-minded determination to excel in everything we do, not only underpins our brand reputation in the UK but its growing significance worldwide. It is another very proud day for everyone connected with Ancon and I thank our employees – both home and abroad – our customers and our suppliers for their continued support.”

Later this year the Lord Lieutenant of South Yorkshire will visit Ancon’s head office and main manufacturing site in Sheffield and officially present the 2018 award on behalf of HM The Queen. Ancon representatives will also attend a royal reception at Buckingham Palace this summer, hosted by HRH the Prince of Wales and other senior members of the Royal household.

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Ever wondered how old PVC-U window frames are transformed into brand new ones? Well wonder no more as Richard Hardstaff, General Manager at PVCR, explains it all:

Q: How easy is it to recycle PVC?

A: PVC is very straightforward to recycle and can be mixed with virgin polymer to give it a whole new lease of life. PVC can be recycled up to 10 times.

Q: Can any recycled plastic be used to make new window frames?

A: The types of material we deal with at PVCR are best recycled into new versions of themselves – so old PVC windows are transformed into new ones, old water bottles are made into new water bottles etc.

Q: Which PVC window frames can be recycled?

A: Ideally we want good quality de-glazed window and door frames to ensure the recycled material is of a good standard. Laminated frames are also OK to recycle.

Q: What processes are involved in recycling PVC?

A: Firstly, the frames are broken down and put into a shredder to reduce the size of the material, and any metal is removed. Next, the material is put in water and essentially everything we want sinks. We then separate the material again using a vacuum to ensure any rubber or leftover metal is removed before it goes into the granulator.

The granulator reduces the material to 10mm in size, before its washed, dried and put through electrostatic separation to remove any remaining residue or organic material. Its then colour sorted before the clean, white PVC material is ready to send to REHAU’s factory in Wales.

Q: What is the PVC material used for in the manufacturing process?

A: After being cleaned and lab tested, the white PVC material is sent to REHAU’s factory in Blaenau, where it used to make TOTAL70 co-extruded profiles.

Q: Is there growing demand for recycled PVC?

A: We have seen a dramatic increase in demand and by 2019 our capacity will have doubled, if not tripled.

Q: What’s the reason behind this uplift in demand?

A: Consumer demand is the main driver. By using recycled plastic, businesses can meet the needs of eco-conscious customers, give their products a USP, and do their bit for the environment.

For more information and to see the process in action visit www.pvcr.co.uk

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Much has changed in relation to door and window technology over the past 20 years and this is reflected in the increasing popularity of features such as large span roof windows and bi-folding doors. Both are now used as an intrinsic element of interior design as they enable natural daylight to transform areas in which we live and work.

For walls, use of floor to ceiling glazing has enabled exteriors to be ‘brought into’ the living environment, capitalising on views provided and enhancing perceptions of space. Design engineers are now, however, able to maximise the functionality of timber and aluminium to produce far larger sash and frame profiles than ever before. This requires a level of precision beyond the capability of traditional manufacturing techniques while, in terms of design complexity, durability, security and thermal / acoustic performance all have been considerably improved.

The type of timber used for the weight of such windows and doors is critical so Fakro opted for pine, oak and meranti hard woods to provide a combination of high performance and a high visual aesthetic. They also provide long-term structural stability, a critical factor not just for the ability to withstand distortion but to retain energy efficiency and airtightness. This was the driving factor influencing design of the Innoview range, in which triple and quadruple-glazed construction is used with low emissivity glazing and a quadruple sealing system. With warm spacers between panes, the overall heat transfer coefficients in is as low as 0.68/W/m2K (with Ug values of 0.3W/m2K in quadruple-glazed units).

Designs in which windows of such a large span are specified inevitably necessitates manufacture of bespoke sizes for individual projects. In achieving the ability to do so, Fakro can now fulfil the same service it has been providing with roof windows for more than 20 years. This enables architects and interior designers to create homes and work places with a distinctive identity and character while also meeting specific technical aspects of performance.

With scope to specify colours from the RAL Classic Palette and use of close-grain timber from FSC-certified sources, the standard of internal finish immediately provides clear evocation of quality. Modern coating and lacquering techniques, matt or satin finishes and choice of sash profile enable the windows and doors to complement the most diverse interior design requirements. Appearance is enhanced by concealed hinges and invisible fixings while use of sliders in conjunction with a roller lifter and rotary cam ensure that positioning in the frame remains constant, regardless of usage intensity. Soft closure also slows the sash movement prior to positioning it in the frame. Such ease of operation has been described as ‘out of all proportion to what might be expected from windows of such a size’.

EPDM rather than silicone seals are used as they provide far greater long-term reliability through their shrinkage resistance and bond between glazing and frame. This not only gives far greater assurance of air and weathertightness but provides a greatly improved standard of finishing. Windows and doors have anti-burglary, multi-point locks and Class RC1 or RC2 glazing units (the latter optional extra providing nine locking points per window). The hardware also has sufficient strength to provide a load capacity of up to 150kg in standard door and window sizes.

Fixed, arc and multi-sash windows with movable or structural mullion bar, balcony doors with a low aluminium threshold and tilt or lift and slide doors are available. Widths of up to 12 metres and heights up to 2.8 metres as well as non-standard shapes can be accommodated with single or double sash lift and slide doors up to a weight of up to 400 kg.

In terms of design innovation considerable attention has also been paid to external appearance with powder-coated aluminium outer cladding providing a combination of high performance and lasting appearance. The potential to specify the required colour and absence of visible welds at corners provides seamless, contemporary styling.

Products such as Innoview HST doors have virtually no visible while PSK tilt and slide doors provide scope for micro-opening to provide room ventilation without reducing the level of security. Such developments can only provide further incentive to change the face of contemporary fenestration while providing scope to do so in designs up to Passivhaus standard.

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The renowned Swedish company Bona is setting the trend in floor styling with ”Bona Inspiration”, a unique concept in designing fashionable floor styles. In collaboration with the internationally recognized trend analyst Cay Bond, their sight is now set on the floor as a crucial design detail.

Interior design and home decoration has long been influenced and inspired by trends, but floor renovation has been lagging one step behind. Bona wants to change that, and in collaboration with Cay Bond who has more than 30 years’ experience of trends within fashion, design and interiors, Bona has created an entirely new concept –  to inspire and create on-trend styles and flooring effects.

Bona has been at the forefront of floor renovations and maintenance for a long time. This solid knowledge is now enhanced with inspiration and guidance in flooring trends to create the right ambience in the home.

– We have developed a concept which can create the right style and effect on a wooden floor using our products and techniques. With the right treatment, you can preserve the soul of the floor while producing a whole new look without installing a new floor. With Bona’s extensive product range, you can make magic from an existing floor in only a few hours, says Patrik Mellnert, Product Manager at Bona.

The Bona Inspiration concept includes an inspiration palette encompassing a range of interior design styles in which the wooden floors play an important role, and Bona’s sanding and brushing methods, varnishes, oils and paints can bring new life to a wooden floor. The future trends presented by Bona in their unique concept includes everything from dark, rustic floors to floors with a pale, lacquered finish. To restyle old wooden floors is not only sustainable, it’s also beautiful and a trend of the future.

The concept will be launched in Europe, USA and Asia in 2018.

For further information, please contact:

Bona Senior Vice President Product Management and Marketing,
Björn Saalbach,
+46736557557

Bona Product Manager,
Patrik Mellnert,
+46 40 38 73
 
 
 
 
 

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The Kinedo range of cubicles from Saniflo has been extended with an extra model in the Kinemagic range.

The Kinemagic Serenity Plus is a high quality, all-in-one shower cubicle that has been designed to fit in exactly the same space as a standard bath and can be installed with the minimum fuss and hassle.

It is particularly suitable for less mobile or older customers thanks to the innovative magnetic handset holder that ‘sticks’ to any part of the shower rail making it easier to handle for people with a weak grip. An integrated horizontal safety bar provides support along the middle section of the cubicle to provide extra security and peace of mind for those who need to hold on whilst moving along the shower. An additional durable grab bar is also placed at the entry of the cubicle on either the left or right-hand panel (depending on installation) to help the customer access the cubicle with ease. Further safety features include an integrated cool-touch thermostatic shower control to eliminate scalding if the user touches it by accident and a comfortable fold-down seat that takes up to 150kg.

Access into the cubicle is via a low entry shower tray that is just 30mm in height and has anti-slip flooring for the ultimate, safe showering experience. The tray has unique, adjustable feet for unbreachable and uneven floors to ensure a flat and even installation – something very important to those who are slightly shaky on their feet.

Customers love the Kinemagic because it’s easy to clean and maintain. With sleek glass internal panels, rather than tiles and grout, and Cristal Plus coating – a permanent, anti-limescale coating that minimises the build-up of calcium deposits and dirt on glass – the need to clean is reduced. The treatment encourages water to run off the glass without leaving streaks or water marks. Another small, but relevant feature is the sleek, smooth shower hose. It doesn’t collect dirt and grime like coiled hoses and can be washed in no time.

The quality of the unit is second to none and it is a sleek and stylish shower solution for any bathroom. After all, why should anyone compromise when it comes to their personal bathroom space?

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Condair is appearing at the forthcoming Data Centre World exhibition on stand D1060, at the Excel Centre in London from 21^st to 22^nd March. The company will be displaying the latest in adiabatic and steam humidifier technology, which provides in-duct evaporative cooling and humidification to data centres.

Condair has extensive experience in working with data centre designers and air handling unit manufacturers that need to incorporate evaporative coolers or humidifiers into their systems. Previous data centre projects have involved clients such as Facebook, Microsoft, Digital Realty, Hewlett Packard, Amazon and eBay.

Condair’s experts will be on-hand at Data Centre World to give advice on how the latest humidifier technology can reduce data centre operating costs through improved energy consumption and reduced maintenance requirements.

Products on display include the Condair ME evaporative humidifier that offers 0.68kW of adiabatic cooling to an air handling system for every 1kg of moisture evaporated into the air stream. As the humidifier can provide up to 1,440kg/hr of humidity while operating on less than 1kW, it presents significant benefits to data centres using free air cooling systems. The technology can be employed to deliver direct or indirect evaporative cooling to facilities in warmer climates or add massive amounts of low energy humidification to data centres using cold, dry outside air in cold climates.

Alongside its market-leading in-duct evaporative system, Condair will have the Condair RS resistive steam humidifier on its stand. The Condair RS offers steam humidification to data centres without the need to frequently replace boiling cylinders, as is the case with many on-board humidification systems supplied with CRAC units. The humidifier has a scale management system that allows lime scale that builds up in the boiling chamber to fall into a removable tank at the base of the unit. Routine scale removal can be carried out by in-house maintenance staff in minutes, saving costs on consumables and maintenance time.

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. Condair plc is the new name for JS Humidifiers following the organisation’s rebranding in October 2014. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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As the latest revision of the IET Wiring Regulations (the 18^th Edition) looms large, Dave Enefer of Crabtree asks whether RCBOs should be considered compulsory for all circuits in residential housing, especially given the evidence of the benefits of Miniature RCBOs to personal safety of occupiers & electrical operatives.

Public awareness of electrical faults and accidents has arguably never been higher. Even with all the advances in electrical safety technology and hardware there’s still room for improvement in take up of use of these technologies. Electrical dangers can come from many sources but when they do they shouldn’t bring with them added risk or inconvenience.

Why use Miniature RCBOs?
For any landlords, tenants, homeowners or those uninitiated in electrical products, RCBO stands for Residual Current Circuit Breakers with Overcurrent Protection. These devices are a combination of an RCD (Residual Current Device) and MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker) in one.

In layman’s terms, an RCD detects Earth Leakage, i.e. current flowing where it shouldn’t, switching the circuit off where there is an Earth fault current. The RCD element of the RCBO is there to protect people.

In housing installations it’s not unusual to find that one or more RCDs are used alongside MCBs in the consumer unit, all grouped together protecting multiple circuits. What commonly happens when there is an earth fault on one circuit is the that a whole group of circuits, including healthy circuits, are switched off.

In these instances, using RCDs and MCBs in groups goes against specific aspects the IET’s 17^th Edition Wiring Regulations. Specifically, Chapter 31 – Division of Installation, regulation 314.1, which requires every installation to be divided into circuits as necessary –

1. To avoid danger in the event of a fault
2. To facilitate safe inspection, testing and maintenance
3. To take account of hazards that might arise from the failure of a single circuit e.g. lighting circuit
4. To reduce the possibility of unwanted tripping of RCDs (not due to fault)

The above requirements cannot all be adequately provided for if groups of circuits are all connected to one or two RCDs in a consumer unit.

For instance, let’s take a scenario with an electrical shower, a common fixed electrical appliance in many homes. It wouldn’t be safe for the bathroom lighting circuit to be tripped off because of a single fault related only to the electric shower. The occupant would be plunged into darkness while in a wet and slippery environment. Both of these hazards being introduced following the reaction of an RCD to a single fault directly contravenes points 1 and 3 of avoiding danger.

Point 4 is more pertinent than ever these days as an increasing number of appliances place heavier demands upon circuits. Unwanted, or nuisance, tripping is far more likely to occur if we have one 30mA RCD protecting multiple circuits. As more and more electrical equipment is used within modern homes the likelihood of cumulative circuit protector currents (earth leakage likely to occur during normal operation) reaching a level sufficient to trip a 30mA device becomes a real risk.

Point 2, to facilitate safe inspection & testing is equally difficult to achieve. For instance is it safe if the lighting has to be off while the sockets are being tested. Clearly the most compliant way to accommodate Chapter 31 is to avoid grouping circuits on to one or even two RCDs and instead provide separate electrical protection by individual RCBOs for each circuit. Under these circumstances all healthy circuits will remain in service.

Go further by switching off line and neutral
Facilitating safe inspection and maintenance can be time-consuming for electricians, even with RCBOs, unless those RCBOs switch both Line & Neutral.

Typically with RCBO protected circuits, the outgoing cables and flying leads have to be disconnected and then reconnected when undertaking insulation resistance tests. This is very time consuming, but by using an RCBO with switched line and neutral it is not necessary to disconnect the circuit. Simply switch off the RCBO and the circuit is instantly isolated and ready for test.

For social housing landlords, having an obligation to regularly test large quantities of installations, this type of RCBO can save time, money and provide a safer environment while fully meeting requirements of the IET wiring regulations; in particular the need for maintaining power continuity under fault conditions. RCBOs that switch both line and neutral, either in the event of a fault or to facilitate maintenance, totally isolate the circuit in question. This provides the occupier with a safe environment while they await the emergency electrician, any fault is completely isolated and all other healthy circuits remain in working order.

Miniature means Miniature
Another area where developments in RCBO design can make a real difference is in their size. Miniature RCBOs are the same size as a miniature circuit breaker, one module wide and only 90mm tall. This gives installers almost 30% more wiring space within a consumer unit. When considered along with long standing Starbreaker ‘plug in’ technology this makes for a quicker, easier, safer installation.

As part of its commitment to improving user safety and installer convenience, Crabtree has now developed the Starbreaker Miniature RCBO.  This is safer because it switches both live & neutral, and at no extra cost. Totally isolated circuits cater for Health & Safety at work for electrical operatives whether they are conducting periodic testing, fault finding, replacing damaged accessories, extending or adding to circuits. Totally isolating faults provides a safer living environment for occupiers at times when things go wrong and the emergency electrician is on the way.

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Condair is launching the Condair RO-A reverse osmosis water filter, specifically designed for use with humidification systems. The Condair RO-A removes 95% of dissolved solids from a humidifier’s supply water in order to reduce maintenance, improve energy consumption and benefit ongoing running costs.

When operating on regular mains water, a steam humidifier will frequently need to drain hot water and replace it with fresh, in order to dilute mineral levels in the boiling chamber. This process requires more energy to heat the incoming cold water. It also impacts humidity control, as when the boiling chamber’s temperature drops so does the steam output. By operating a steam humidifier on reverse osmosis (RO) water from a Condair RO-A, these drain cycles are reduced by up to 97%. This in turn reduces energy and water consumption of the humidifier and enables a close humidity control of up to ±1%RH.

With the use of virtually mineral-free RO water, the lime scale build-up inside a steam humidifier’s boiling chamber is minimal, reducing humidifier servicing requirements. When used with evaporative humidifiers, this reduction in lime scale formation results in evaporative pads having a much longer lifetime. The required frequency of an evaporative humidifier’s water tank drain cycles is also reduced, saving water. Operating spray humidifiers on RO water prevents dust from precipitating into the atmosphere as the spray evaporates, improving the performance of the system.

The Condair RO-A has been designed to deliver water at an ideal quality for humidification systems, whilst minimising waste water from the RO process. Many standard RO water filters provide product water at a purity that is much greater than that required to benefit humidifiers. The high purity means more water is sent to drain during the RO process to achieve a very low mineral content. By typically removing only around 95% of the minerals, the filtered RO water effectively provides significant benefits to humidification systems with minimal water being sent to drain.

Four models are available in the Condair RO-A range, with maximum outputs of 40, 100, 200 and 300 litres per hour. The 40 and 100 litres per hour models have an integrated water tank and a single RO membrane. The 200 and 300 litres per hour models have two or three RO membranes and an external water tank with up to 100 litre storage.

An independent wall-mounted touch screen controller provides an intuitive user interface with comprehensive reporting features. Alternatively the Condair RO-A can be controlled from any Condair humidifier that incorporates a Condair touch-screen control panel.

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. Condair plc is the new name for JS Humidifiers following the organisation’s rebranding in October 2014. You can find out more by visiting the company’s website at www.condair.co.uk.

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