INDUSTRY NEWS


BESA URGES NEW PM TO ‘LISTEN TO ENGINEERS’


T


he Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has welcomed the appointment of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as an opportunity


to reset policy on Net Zero and energy security. It urged his team to consult with the engineering


community on the best way to speed up measures to adapt the built environment to deal with climate change and help manage rising energy costs.


“The recent turmoil in the fi nancial markets


proves that political leadership is important, and that the business community will swing in behind the UK if we make sensible decisions,” said BESA chief executive David Frise. “Our sector is an important driver for economic


growth, but it can also be a force for social good as our work provides safe and healthy spaces for people – while helping them reduce energy costs and cut carbon.”


Upgrades


David Frise, BESA Chief Executive


“We are ready and willing to work with the new government team to kickstart a comprehensive programme of building upgrades and retrofi ts that can help stabilise our economy and improve quality of life for millions,” said Frise. At the Association’s annual conference last week


speakers noted growing pressure from clients, planners, and developers for the industry to focus on


refurbishment and re-purposing of buildings rather than new build. “The industry needs to get its head around the fact


that refurbishment is where the market is moving,” said Frances Brown, associate director of consultancy Hoare Lea. “We now have developers and planners agreeing that we should not be building new but making the best of what we already have. “Clients want us to make their existing buildings work better for them and continue to make them money.” She said this could be quickly achieved with the industry’s existing skills by transferring new build teams onto projects that focus on “continuous improvement”. The Conference also noted the important role


played by the new Building Safety Act, which could drive a new ‘culture’ of higher standards and better outcomes for building users, but agreed that it would have to be supported by a more robust planning system that underpinned net zero policies and focused on ‘whole life’ performance. The return of Michael Gove to the Cabinet as Levelling


Up, Housing and Communities Secretary was also welcomed by BESA. His re-appointment will give him the opportunity to complete his ‘unfi nished business’ on building safety and housing reform, it said.


OVER 50% OF COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS ARE UNDER THREAT FROM CORROSION


H


evasure, the real-time water monitoring company, has identifi ed that over 50% of commercial buildings have potential


corrosion issues in their closed-systems – the essential pipework and plant which keeps water- based HVAC operational. In its new white paper, Behind the scenes of closed-system HVAC, Hevasure draws on the data it has collected over the last eight years from Low Temperature Hot Water (LTHW) and Chilled Water (CHW) systems. Collected using its Aquila cloud-based monitoring technology in over 80 commercial buildings throughout the UK, including London icons such as The Scalpel and The Francis Crick Institute, the company gathered a live picture of corrosive conditions, highlighting changes in condition that would have largely gone unchecked if sampling had been the sole means of review. The most common issue that sounded the alarm


was elevated dissolved oxygen (DO), a serious problem that leads to all types of corrosion and something that sampling can’t detect. Raised DO levels can be indicative of adverse


pressurisation or fresh-water demand due to a leak or unplanned drain down. Conductivity, one of the other parameters monitored, relates directly


to chemical dosing levels, providing an insight into whether there is too much or too little in a system. By measuring these parameters, the root cause of problems can be identifi ed and dealt with, compared to sampling which only represents a snap shot in


time and focusses on the symptoms of corrosion. The buildings in this study had Aquila monitoring technology installed, which meant in most cases the problem was identifi ed before corrosion took hold, with costly downtime and repairs avoided. Steve Munn, managing director for Hevasure


said: “The data we have collected highlights the threat closed LTHW and CHW systems are under, a threat that can be extremely damaging and expensive if left unchecked. For parties responsible for maintenance, breakdown can lead to litigation and repair bills that run into the hundreds of thousands. “For the fi rst time we have pulled this data together, providing a unique picture of closed- system health across the UK. What this white paper highlights, is the potential for catastrophic failure. What would have happened without real time monitoring? How many small issues would have slipped through the sampling net? How many of these ‘small’ issues would have turned into serious disasters? And if so, at what cost? “While real-time monitoring closed systems is


becoming industry best-practice thanks to recent recognition in BSRIA guides BG50 and BG29, there are still tens of thousands of commercial buildings not yet benefi tting from this approach. 455The picture we have provided should serve as a cautionary tale for all closed CHW and LTHW systems; what disasters are waiting to happen? Ignorance is far from blissful.”


6 November 2022


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