BESA’s new President Rab


Fletcher


However, he said contractors needed to think beyond “just being compliant” – pointing out that there were big business opportunities on off er because clients will be more mindful of why they should only employ competent fi rms.


“Our ambition should be to


always improve and deliver of our best – that is as true now


in the wake of the pandemic and the Grenfell tragedy as it has ever been. And this requires investment in training and skills development.”


Learning wave


Fletcher pointed to the BESA Academy, which was launched during the pandemic “to catch the online learning wave” as an example of how the sector needed to adapt to ensure its skills and technical competencies kept pace with changing demand. “The Academy will be an increasingly important support to members as


they seek the new skills needed to address the challenges ahead,” he said. “Its format of ‘blended’ learning refl ects the changing times and the new ways we need to present our training and knowledge – and the importance of reaching a much wider slice of the population. “There is so much to do – not least as we work towards net zero targets and look to make buildings more infection resilient in the wake of the pandemic. All of which must be underpinned by high technical standards.” He reminded members that they worked in the sector that “brings buildings


to life” – and that their expertise was going to be in increasing demand as clients tried to make their buildings “safer and better for the health and well- being of all”. The new President also announced that ‘Bringing Buildings to Life’ was the title chosen for this year’s BESA National Conference on October 20th, which is taking place at the Novotel London West. It will feature a wide range of speakers considering how the industry can


make buildings “fi t for people, fi t for purpose, and fi t for life”. The one- day event marks a return to an ‘in person’ format after two-years of virtual conferences and will bring together representatives from across the building engineering supply chain to consider the big topics of the day including how to attract the right range of skills to deliver better building safety, sustainability, and health. The BESA National Awards will also take place at the same venue that


evening and are hosted by the award winning comedian Zoe Lyons. To celebrate the return of the in-person format, BESA launched several


new categories open to both members and non-members including Net Zero Initiative, Product Innovation, Diversity and Inclusion, Competence and Compliance, and Women in Building Services. The Awards, which were free to enter, celebrate individuals, teams, and


companies responsible for delivering projects, products, innovations, and initiatives that demonstrate excellence in building services engineering.


To fi nd out how to attend this year’s BESA conference and Awards go to: www.theBESA.com/conference


ViewPoint W


Switch to natural refrigerants By Jonny Hancock, product manager at NIBE Energy Systems


e all know that we must limit global warming. We must take a holistic approach to meeting Net Zero by 2050, ensuring that products are


sustainable throughout their lifecycle. It is clear that heat pumps have a big role to play in


decarbonising home heating. They off er signifi cantly reduced carbon emissions which is fantastic, however like fridges


and freezers, many heat pumps on the market use fl uorinated greenhouse gases (F-Gases) as a refrigerant. We are committed to ensuring that our heating solutions have minimal impact on the environment, so we have recently launched an air source heat pump (ASHP) with a natural refrigerant. European law restricts shipment of refrigerants with GWP. That law requires


all manufacturers to reduce GWP by 79% by 2030. Although the UK left the EU, the new UK regulations came into eff ect on 1st January 2021 transferring the requirements of the current EU regulations directly into UK legislation. Refrigerants have since been measured according to their GWP, which is a


measure of how much the gas contributes to the greenhouse eff ect, compared with CO2. A low GWP is better for the environment than a high GWP. Refrigerants are used in heat pumps as they are one of the most effi cient


ways of providing heating. All NIBE heat pumps have hermetically sealed refrigeration circuits. From when they are manufactured, the refrigeration components are tested for being airtight to a higher pressure than the systems operate to. Natural refrigerants have the lowest GWP


values, while also being suitable for use in diff erent types of heat pumps. One of the best available natural refrigerants is R290, which at NIBE uses in several of our exhaust air heat pumps. The heat pumps using R290 are highly effi cient and can deliver high temperatures. Our new S2125 contains the R290 refrigerant and has a GWP of only 3 which is almost negligible. Diff erent interests and ambitions to curb the eff ect of GWP are decisive. A


good example of this is the extensive research and hard work that has driven the development of some of the key components within our products, to ensure compressors and heat exchangers are right for natural refrigerants. Our ambition is to introduce more products using natural refrigerants to help our customers reduce the impact they have on the environment throughout the whole product lifecycle. We are fi nally seeing a wider range of suitable components for natural


refrigerants making the switch easier. By choosing the NIBE S2125 you are getting ahead of the game and helping your clients reduce their environmental impact even further. It is critical that as a conscientious manufacturer, NIBE not only provides heat pumps that are effi cient, but also the refrigerants used in our heat pumps must not have a dramatic eff ect on our planet. Heat pumps are the way forward in reducing our dependency on fossil fuel burning appliances. At the same time, the refrigerants manufacturers use within their products must be of a standard which has as little impact on the environment as possible. To reduce the greenhouse eff ect, we all need to pull in the same direction. By using low GWP refrigerants like R290 in heat pumps, we consciously manufacture systems to heat our homes whilst also helping to protect the environment.


www.nibe.eu


DOWNLOAD THE HVR APP NOW


August 2022


9


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