SPARES AND ACCESSORIES
- excluding healthcare facilities - or transport infrastructure anywhere in the world”. That is not a happy conclusion and places quite a bit of responsibility at the door of our industry, but that does mean we now have an unprecedented opportunity to rewrite the rules and look at ways of making sure buildings can comply with better standards. Just like the Victorian water engineers did. There are many ventilation guidelines and standards already in place, but the focus has tended to be on reducing odours, keeping people warm or cool, and cutting heat losses to save energy. There is still nothing substantive on using ventilation to reduce the spread of pathogens. The Science paper’s lead author Professor Lidia Morawska from Queensland University of Technology in Australia, said: “For decades, the focus of architects and building engineers was on thermal comfort, odour control, perceived air quality, initial investment cost, energy use, and other performance issues, while infection control was neglected.” However, there are several things
happening in the UK right now that can help us seize this once in a lifetime opportunity: Building standards are being revised including Part F, a new British Standard is now in the works, and the proposed Environment Bill is due to come into force this autumn with, for the fi rst time, measures aimed at controlling indoor air quality (IAQ) – even if these measures do lack detail.
Blueprint The World Health Organisation (WHO) is also about to update its IAQ guidelines and its recommendations need to be swiftly adopted and written into domestic legislation, such as Part F. That should point us towards diff erent levels of air quality control depending on the type of building in question – it cannot be a blueprint for turning every building into a bio-secure facility. Measures must be sensible, proportionate and achievable at a relatively low cost if they are to become commonplace.
In fact, the scientifi c group suggested achieving good indoor environments should only add about 1% to the cost of a typical building. If you think about how much we are currently spending on mitigation measures for Covid-19, this would be money well spent and it would bring other longer-term benefi ts like improved productivity and wellbeing. Another helpful development is
the news that the British Standards Institute (BSI) has decided to fast track the creation of a new Standard for Building Performance Evaluation (BS 40101). It will now include very specifi c measures for IAQ developed by the group working on the Publicly Available Specifi cation (PAS) 3003. Upgrading the PAS to a Standard is a positive response to the current crisis and means measures that were previously to be little more than advisory will be given added weight. This will include directions for how design, installation, operation, maintenance, and ongoing monitoring, measuring, and reporting should be carried out. It may also create the benchmarks for a planned Wellbeing Performance Rating – similar to the idea proposed by the scientifi c group. So, the building services industry has learned a lot about how ventilation infl uences occupant health and wellbeing and, equally importantly, so has the general public. Something that was out of sight out of mind for most building users has suddenly become an important issue for everyone – not least parents and those caring for the elderly and vulnerable. If/when the pandemic fi nally starts to recede in our rear-view mirrors, we must not let the pressure drop so we are well prepared for the next indoor health emergency.
However, we must also take this opportunity to ensure people understand that this is not just about the transmission of disease, but the role ventilation plays in supporting physical and mental health; improving productivity and delivering comfortable conditions for all building occupants.
Download the ACR News app today
Supporting carbon reduction
W
hen recently asked to comment on the pump sectors inextricable
relationship with energy use reduction, Steve Schofi eld, Director & CEO at the British Pump Manufacturers’ Association, offered the following: “The crucial issue of securing maximum operational efficiency from our pumps and pumping systems, to help Government’s across the World reduce their energy consumption and meet the designated carbon reduction targets must remain a key objective for all those involved in the supply, installation and operation of pumps, whatever the application. "Advancements in pump technology will of course continue to play a role, as determined by the Eco-design Energy Related Product (ErP) Directive, but far greater savings will come through adoption of the Extended Product Approach, whereby the energy use of the entire system – pump, motor & control – is fully assessed, rather than just the pump itself. The BPMA, along with counterparts within Europump has been pushing this approach for many years, including the development of the international standard ISO 14414 – Pump System Energy Assessment. However, for these huge savings to be identified, and more importantly, realised, there needs to be a far stronger emphasis on the ‘systems approach’ and a commitment to make this happen from both the pump industry and its final end-users – those who will ultimately benefit from lower energy bills, and in the case of businesses, improved profits. "There is a raft of laudable
energy use improvement programs being developed around the world, with the Energy Efficiency Directive and Drinking Water Directive key amongst them throughout Europe. However, following the UK’s exit from the European Union, we seem to have a ‘watching brief’ in terms of how closely our Government will follow the EU’s legislative regime in relation to environmental issues. Some argue for a strong alignment, whilst others predict a degree of divergence, particularly in relation to water pumps, but either way, the BPMA will continue to play a significant role in lobbying all parties for the best possible outcomes for both its pump manufacturer members and their broad customer base.
"Indeed, the BPMA has recently endorsed the Betterworld Solutions initiative, which calls into question the UK Government’s 10-Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. Detailing clean energy, transport, nature, and innovative ‘new horizon’ technologies, the blueprint is intended to allow the UK to achieve its climate change obligations. However, the contribution of pumps to global warming is not being addressed in this ambitious plan. This is a serious oversight, given the high energy use of pumps and their critical role in maintaining our infrastructure, industrial productivity, and standard of living. We therefore believe the improved energy efficiency of our pumps and pumping systems should become the 11th Point in the Government’s plan, and receive the same levels of attention, support and surveillance."
www.acr-news.com • July 2021 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
