INDUSTRY NEWS Inbrief
When designing ventilation systems for schools and commercial spaces, specifi ers need to place more emphasis on preventing the common problem of draughts associated with old- style ventilation designs, warns SAV Systems.
www.sav-systems.com
Professional Plumbing Supplies (PPS) of New Malden, Surrey, has become the UK’s fi rst stockist of Giacomini’s new R146C dirt separator.
www.uk.giacomini.com
Heating, cooling, plumbing and infrastructure specialist, Uponor, has taken action to reduce the risk of Legionnaire’s disease in the UK with the launch of ‘Systems for Water Hygiene’, a CIBSE-approved CPD course.
www.uponor.co.uk
Elco Heating Solutions has appointed two new area sales agents to strengthen its position in the commercial heating market.
www.elco.co.uk
Condair will be present at this year’s Data Centre World exhibition from March 21-22 on stand D1060 at London’s ExCeL.
www.condair.co.uk
With changes due in April to the Building Regulations’ requirements for heating controls, BEAMA is reassuring installers that offi cial industry guidance will be available in advance of this date.
www.beama.org.uk
A new heat pump-based air curtain has passed independent tests by the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) with fl ying colours, and been accepted onto the Government-backed Energy Technology List.
www.bsria.co.uk
Ideal Boilers’ Logic, Logic+ and Vogue ranges have received the Good Housekeeping Reader Recommended status for the third time.
www.idealboilers.com
Ingersoll Rand has announced its acquisition of UK-based ICS Group Holdings (ICS Cool Energy).
www.icscoolenergy.com
www.heatingandventilating.net
INDUSTRY SPEAKS OUT ON ALDOUS RETENTIONS BILL
T
he First Reading of the Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill took place in the House of Commons in January. It was introduced by Peter
Aldous MP, with 11 sponsors drawn from across all parties. Numerous industry bodies have spoken out in support of the Bill, and the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ (SEC) Group stated that it has been just the latest stage in a long-running campaign to tackle the abuse associated with the practice of cash retentions in the construction industry. At the time of the Bill’s reading, SEC Group chief
executive, Professor Rudi Klein, said: “We now believe that this latest Private Member’s Bill has a good chance of being properly debated given the extent of cross-party support for the Bill. “We must succeed because the industry is losing almost £1m worth of retentions each working day because of insolvencies. This does not take account of the millions of pounds lost by way of the costs associated with waiting years for the release of the monies and chasing up the monies.”
Firms in SEC Group’s member associations and in other
trade associations, including the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) and the Electrical Contractors Association (ECA) carried out an extensive lobbying campaign in order to garner support for the Aldous Bill. BESA president Tim Hopkinson, who himself runs an SME, commented: “The pain that SMEs have felt for
many years is insurmountable. The importance of this Bill must not be underestimated. For BESA members to have certainty of cash is vitally important. Not just for us as member companies and operating entities but equally for the industry as a whole. We have to have a construction industry that can work properly.” Paul Reeve, director of business with the ECA added:
“Anyone who knows anything about doing business in any sector will know that cash fl ow means everything. Protection of the supply chain so that it knows where its money is coming from and it will be paid is absolutely vital.”
Meawhile a Nottinghamshire SME, A1Flue Systems, has
welcomed the proposed Bill which it believes could pave the way to it recouping more than £750,000. Director of the Ollerton-based company, TJ Duncan Moir, is delighted that the Bill might fi nally help to stop an issue that blights the industry and has put some fi rms out of business. Ms Duncan Moir said: “This issue has gone on for too long and is having a detrimental eff ect on small businesses like us. “For example, if we win a £1m project, £50,000 is held
as retention money by the construction company to be paid upon completion of the project. “However, most companies fi nd excuses not to pay it when a contract has been completed – and we have a real fi ght on our hands to get it. That £50,000 could be the diff erence between making a small profi t and making a loss on the project.”
A
NEW PROJECT TO DEMONSTRATE NEAR ZERO ENERGY RENOVATION
new €8.4m research venture to demonstrate how buildings can be renovated to use
‘near zero energy’ has recently been launched at Brunel University London. Featuring 17 partners from nine
European countries, and funded by Horizon 2020, ReCO2ST is a European Union Project aimed at addressing the challenges of attaining zero and near-zero energy buildings. The project brings together both
academia and industry in order to develop a ‘Retrofi t Kit’ that can be used to reduce energy consumption by 60-95% in renovated buildings. The Retrofi t Kit will utilise a number of advanced, cost effi cient, and energy saving technologies
– including smart windows with pre-heating and cooling technology, ventilation heat recovery, photovoltaic panels, and nature-based technologies – which can be fi tted 30% quicker than typical renovations. It is anticipated that
implementation of the technologies would have a payback period of less than 15 years. Four demonstration sites will
be created as part of the project, including one at Brunel, which will off er practical, real-world examples of ‘Near Zero Energy Buildings’ or ‘nZEBs’ retrofi t. Located in the UK, Denmark,
Switzerland and Spain, the sites will demonstrate the Retrofi t Kit’s eff ectiveness in diff erent climates,
using diff erent construction methods. Work on the retrofi t buildings will begin in summer 2019. Brunel’s Dr Harjit Singh will lead the development work of industry partners. Professor Maria Kolokotroni, leader of Brunel’s Resource Effi cient Future Cities research theme and technical manager of the project, said: “We’ve built an excellent team since this project fi rst began to take shape back in 2016, and it’s exciting to think that by the time we fi nish we will have demonstrated at a number of sites across Europe that it’s possible to massively reduce the energy usage of a building in a cost-eff ective way, whilst simultaneously increasing indoor environmental quality and decreasing installation time.”
6 February 2018
www.heatingandventilating.net
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