The review from Dame Judith Hackitt concluded that the current legislation regarding fire safety equipment in the UK is not fit for purpose and that it needs to improve. Learning the best that we can from other countries while avoiding their shortcomings would be a good start. 

Ensuring high productivity and staff comfort and safety shouldn’t have to cost you the earth. Why then, is it always difficult to keep energy bills at acceptable levels when temperatures soar in the summer?

What are the responsibilities of the ‘responsible person’ when it comes to smoke control maintenance?  

The Government has produced an important piece of advice that is only three pages long and will tell you all the essentials you need to know. You can read it here. 

Are your climate control systems really still fit for purpose when it comes to enhancing comfort and production levels in the hot summer months?

Did you know that evaporative cooling systems can help you ensure that the air your staff breathe inside your buildings is actually cleaner than the air outside of it?

If you didn’t, keep reading to find out how evaporative cooling units could help you create a healthier, more productive workplace year-round.

What are the health benefits that evaporative cooling offers your staff?

Between 2017 and 2018, there were 801 residential high-rise fires attended to across the UK, with 73 fatalities and many more casualties recorded as a result of smoke inhalation and other injury.

Properly functioning smoke control systems are integral in helping to keep terrible figures such as the above mentioned at a much lower rate.

How do properly functioning smoke control systems help reduce the effects of a fire in a residential tower block?

We are often asked the fundamental questions of what smoke control is, how it works and what the benefits are of installing it. As these are important for building owners, managers and fire safety engineers to understand, we’ve put together this post to help the responsible individuals better understand why smoke control is so vital to protecting life, stock and buildings.

So, let’s start at the beginning.

On February 8th, the catastrophic fire that engulfed Ocado’s Andover Customer Fulfillment Centre (CFC) finally came to an end, after four traumatic days.

As the fire raged on, 300 firefighters battled on at considerable personal risk, while over 100 residents in the area surrounding the 24,000 sq. metre warehouse were evacuated. 

Statistically, more than 40% of businesses do not survive the consequences of a major fire and Ocado has already started seeing the effects of this one on theirs. Since February 5th, Ocado shares have seen a 14% decrease and the company has started preparing for massive hits to sales as it struggles to fulfill orders. The Andover CFC processed around 30,000 orders for customers each week, which represents 10% of the entire business’ capacity.

Now the immediate danger is over, the question of why this happened must be investigated. Was the repeal of the Local Acts in 2012 a contributing factor?

Evaporative cooling or ‘adiabatic cooling’ is a mouthful, we know. That’s why a lot of building owners and operators still don’t know about the effectiveness of these systems and the cost and environmental benefits they can deliver.

Many people don’t realise that if you manage a large industrial or semi-industrial facility where pinpoint control of temperature isn’t crucial, evaporative cooling can actually be a more effective choice than traditional air conditioning. Plus, have a look at the pros and cons associated with the different system types below – not only is evaporative cooling cheaper and more efficient, it introduces fresh air from outside avoiding poor health issues often associated with traditional systems.

Read on to find out what evaporative cooling is and why it could be better for your business than a traditional air conditioning system.

The first question that comes up when discussing a water based cooling system, such as evaporative cooling, is always about its safety and in particular about the control of legionella bacteria. In this article we will explain what you should be looking at if you are considering such a system, illustrating with examples of our approach to ensuring that our evaporative cooling systems are safe.

Smoke ventilation systems today require sophisticated control systems with highly complex sequences of operation. HVAC control systems could be seen as a viable solution, as they can be extremely flexible and offer a high degree of programmability. However, while they may be adequate for simple applications, there are a number of issues that mean they do not deliver on all the functionalities needed for more complex schemes.

Here are 5 reasons why:

With winter approaching, rising energy costs and environmental concerns put factory managers under constant pressure to optimise their facility’s energy performance. This doesn’t need to be a daunting task, so here are some ways to reduce energy costs this winter.