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Easier flushing for those with reduced mobility
Delabie recommends that public washroom facilities include at least one toilet adapted for the disabled, and has recently launched two side-control flush solutions ‘to give people with reduced mobility more autonomy in public toilets’. It says of its Side control direct flush
system without cistern (pictured): “The absence of a cistern prevents the water from stagnating, considerably limiting bacterial proliferation. The side flushes are thus well suited to both traditional public buildings and healthcare facilities that may accommodate physically handicapped people.” Delabie added: “Both the Tempomatic
dual control WC and the Tempoflux 3 side control WC have a soft-touch remote push-button, to make it much easier for people with reduced mobility to activate the toilet flush, as it is positioned so it requires very little physical effort. With the electronic version, the user can also choose not to activate the flush, as it can be activated electronically when they leave.”
Delabie says its side flush solutions
are also water-saving: “Being cistern- less, i.e. connected directly to the pipe, considerably reduces the risk of leaks, and the need to flush several times thanks
Report highlights ‘striking lack of climate preparation from Government’
to the system’s powerful flush.” The units also have 3/6 litre flush volumes, adjustable to 2/4 litre. With the electronic version, the flushing is ‘intelligent’, i.e. the system can distinguish between the need for a small and a large flush volume. The ‘sleek lines and harmonious blend of brushed stainless steel and chrome- plated metal’, meanwhile, add to the side flush systems’ aesthetic appeal. The housing can be installed in a variety
of ways – including from the sides on plasterboard rails, from the front on a solid wall, or from the back on a panel. Both flush systems connect to a standard or ‘pipe-in-pipe’ installation from the outside of the housing. The backflow prevention device is inside the housing, while maintenance is undertaken from the front.
The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has urged the UK government to keep ‘a sense of perspective’ in the face of a growing row over the European Commission’s decision to speed up the phase-down of global warming gases used in refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. BESA says that ‘despite concerted pressure from industry groups’, the European Parliament voted to speed up the timetable for eliminating use of fluorinated gases (F-gases) in stationary refrigeration, air-conditioning, and heat pump systems, from the start of 2026. While applauding ‘the ambition of European administrators to show global leadership on tackling climate change’, BESA says this could have ‘potentially lethal consequences’, particularly in the developing world, and that if the UK decided to adopt the restrictions, it could undermine its programme for wider heat pump adoption, and thus compromise its decarbonisation targets.
14 Health Estate Journal May 2023
BESA calls for calm in face of F-gas ‘furore’ “The proposed new
timetable would require a dramatic acceleration in the adoption of alternative refrigerants,” said BESA Technical director, Graeme Fox (pictured). “This will increase the amount of flammable gas in use, creating serious safety concerns.” He pointed out
that the industry’s workforce is not yet fully trained in the use of flammable refrigerants, and that removing the option to service and maintain installed equipment with existing HFC gases would be ‘counter-productive’. He said: “Many installed systems still have a useful operating life of at least 15 years, and it would be putting the industry and its clients in an extremely difficult, and potentially impossible, position, if some of the proposed restrictions on the availability of refrigerants used for servicing these systems were adopted. Tearing out energy-efficient, perfectly serviceable equipment would make no sense from an embodied carbon perspective.”
A ‘striking lack of climate preparation from Government’, and ‘fully credible planning for climate change’ apparent in just five of the 45 adaptation outcomes examined, have been highlighted by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in its latest report on England’s adaptation progress, Progress in adapting to climate change: 2023: Report to Parliament. Alongside ‘a lack of credible planning’ for climate change – where the CCC says ‘nearly all the required policy milestones are in place’, the report says that in none of the 45 adaptation outcomes is there ‘sufficient evidence that reductions in climate exposure and vulnerability are happening at the rates required to manage risks appropriately’. Baroness Brown, Chair of the
CCC’s Adaptation Sub-Committee (pictured), said: “The Government’s lack of urgency on climate resilience is in sharp contrast to the recent experience of people in this country. This has been a lost decade in preparing for, and adapting to, the known climate change risks we face.” In the section on ‘Health’, the
report says heat-related mortality was ‘estimated to be at an all-time high in 2022’, driven by the record- breaking heatwave in the UK. It says: “Incidences of overheating are monitored within hospitals, but there is no regular recording of temperatures in other healthcare settings, such as care homes, domiciliary care, or GP surgeries. There is a lack of policy and funding to address climate risks in existing health and social care buildings. Adaptation planning across NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Systems, and social care providers, is needed.” The CCC acknowledges, however,
that a new Centre for Climate and Health Security within the UK’s Health and Security Agency has been created to lead efforts to protect health in the context of a changing climate.
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