BUILDING CONTROLS On top of the world for Durapipe
Buildings as a financial asset
By Ian Ellis, President of the Building Controls Industry Association
INSTALLATION NEWS
Expected to be one of Europe’s tallest buildings, The Shard at London Bridge Station, which is currently under construction, has been fitted out with the Durapipe Guardian dual contained pipework system.
Due for practical completion at the end of May 2012, the multi-use building will comprise offices, retail outlets, restaurants, a hotel, luxury residences and public viewing galleries and will be 310m tall. Consisting of 72 floors plus an additional 15 floors in the spire, the Shard replaces Southwark Towers, a 24-storey office building, and forms part of the London Bridge Quarter.
Unique system
Contractors, DJR Robson, required a dual contained pipework system to cater for the softened water system for Shard London Bridge and specified Durapipe’s unique Guardian system. Feeding the inhibitor and biocide chemical water treatment plant for the condensed water system, Durapipe Guardian will transport chemically dosed water from the chillers in the basement to the cooling towers on the roof at level 18. This water will service the air conditioning system used throughout the entirety of the Shard building.
As the purpose of the pipework was to
transport chemically dosed water, it was important that a system was selected that was not at risk of corrosion, and unlike more traditional pipework systems such as steel or copper, Durapipe Guardian could offer this security. In addition, the dual contained pipework system ensured the public and environment were protected against any potential leaks.
Safety benefits
Andy Dolan from DJR Robson, said: “It was important that we specified a pipe-in-pipe system that ensured the health and safety requirements of such a large public and residential building were met and maintained.
“Durapipe Guardian was ideal as it was easy to install, significantly reducing the installation costs through speed and ease of fitting. Its fixed internal fitting also offered additional safety benefits; with half the number of joints in the system, it significantly reduced the number of potential leak paths.”
No regrets for Royal & Derngate A
s we continue to face a challenging economy, the performance of buildings as a financial asset is rising up the business agenda. Property fund managers are leading the way in maximising the returns on their investment in buildings by being more energy efficient and sustainable, and there are lessons to be learned from their practices.
The recent 40% Symposium, held by BRE at the end of 2011, introduced speakers from leading financial investors such as PRUPIM and Aberdeen Asset Management. These fund managers oversee hundreds of buildings around the world. For example, the PRUPIM portfolio consists of 740 buildings worth £18.5 billion. These experts made it clear that understanding the performance of the buildings they manage is vital.
Even with this level of property investment, information on individual buildings is a matter of great interest. Collecting data has several functions at this level. It allows fund managers to prioritise assets for improvement plans and it enables the managers to identify good operational practice to implement in other properties. Hard data has real value for them.
Nina Jackson, Director of Sustainability and Environment at PRUPIM said at the conference: “Why measure environmental performance? Because you can't manage what you don't measure.”
This is a message that all building owners, FMs and energy managers should take to heart. The fund managers are well aware of the pressures of legislation. The CRC Energy Efficiency scheme is probably the most significant at the moment, as it now represents a tax on carbon and therefore on building energy use. Looking to the future, the large funds view a further tax on buildings rated F and G under the EPC scheme as highly likely.
This legislation affects all building management professionals, no matter how small or large their portfolio. Collecting data, and understanding how to turn that into useful information will become increasingly important. Sub-metering is key, but knowing how to get the most from a building energy management system is also vital. Make 2012 the year in which you focus on collecting useable data from your building about its energy use and other performance factors. It doesn't have to be complicated, but it is a very worthwhile project that will bear dividends in the long- term. If pension fund managers are interested in sub-metering, it's time to pay close attention.
10 BUILDING SERVICES & ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEER JANUARY 2012
Three years into a major lighting refurbishment to tackle energy savings across its electrical bills, Royal & Derngate is making significant headway. By exchanging its current fittings with a selection of LEDs from Collingwood Lighting’s extensive portfolio, the theatre has had a staggering 50% reduction in utility costs from when it commenced the project. Royal & Derngate is Northampton’s major theatre complex, housing two contrasting auditoria and visited by 300,000 plus people each year. Michael Chisholm, Maintenance Manager at Royal and Derngate Theatre explains: “For any theatre, the lighting scheme is crucial to enhance the visitor’s experience. Added to this, the large electricity bills a building of this size incurs meant we had to address the current lighting design. Over the last three years we have been installing LEDs from Collingwood Lighting around the building, which has culminated in a saving of over £32,000 a year already.”
The revamp of its lighting technology is still in progress as Royal & Derngate replace all the diochroic GU10 fittings across the building. The switch to Collingwood is intensive and already incorporates all of its foyers, bars, the Royal corridors and auditorium pass corridors.
The theatre has replaced its old dichroic 50W fittings with a combination of LED’s from Collingwood’s portfolio, including the LL030’s and LL090’s and 21W PowerLED ARIII light units, along with the replacement of 70W HT fittings with 18W LED linear bars.
In addition, strip lighting was substituted with high powered light source RGB flexible strip LED lighting.
Huge savings
“The size of our building is one million square feet and we are now fully into Band B rated 40. Three years ago we were in Band D rated 100, and this would of course be typical of a building of our size. From our latest electricity bill, it works out that we have a 50% saving compared with three years ago, which is tremendous,” says Michael Chisholm.
“Our next project is in the main auditorium, where we still have 100 50W dichroic lights. We are changing them to 6W Collingwood LL090 flood lights, which will save 4.4kiloWatt-hours over an 18 hour day. The pay back is quick - just by replacing 100 dichroics in the next space will save a further £3,000 a year on our bill.” The Royal auditorium is a Victorian theatre whilst Derngate is a large, modern and adaptable auditorium, which can be used for anything from pop concerts and comedians to large-scale touring musicals.
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