Smoke control systems are designed to prevent smaller fires becoming the larger ones, as once there is a large fire, any smoke control system will generally be overwhelmed. Smoke control systems are installed to provide assistance in the early stages and thereby to reduce the risk of this.
Read MoreTopics: Smoke Control, Regulations, Webinar
Studies have shown that exposure to natural light can dramatically increase mental alertness, productivity and psychological well-being.
In addition, optimising the use of daylight can lead to significant energy savings. These are all compelling reasons to incorporate good day lighting in the design of your factory, but how do you achieve this?
Topics: Productivity, Energy saving, Solar Shading
As a designer or specifier you will set U value requirements for elements of your building in order to meet Building Regulations, ensure comfort and avoid condensation.
Suppliers will offer products to “comply” with your specifications and quote a U value. But is it the real U value?
Topics: Regulations, U Value, Air Leakage
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.
Read MoreTopics: Energy saving, Climate Control, Evaporative cooling
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:
Read MoreTopics: Smoke Control, Smoke ventilation, HVAC, Controls
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.
Read MoreTopics: Energy saving, sustainability, Heating, Air Leakage, Factory Survey
The upsurge in large-scale residential schemes and commercial towers with fire fighting shafts has created the need for much more sophisticated control systems with highly complex sequences of operation for their smoke ventilation schemes.
Topics: Smoke Control, Smoke ventilation, Controls
Whether your factory is relatively airtight or not, you have to consider the fact that nature doesn’t like a vacuum. If you try to extract air from an enclosed space and no air comes in to replace what you are trying to extract, nothing will move. So it’s not enough to install a ventilation system; you also need a path for air inlet. This blog post demonstrates that this needs careful design.
Topics: Productivity, Factory Survey, Natural ventilation, CFD
The debate on the pros and cons of open or closed protocols in the fire alarm and smoke detection controls market has been ongoing for many years. What is it all about and why does this subject provoke so much discussion in our industry?
Topics: Smoke Control, Smoke ventilation
As a property owner or developer, when you have to make a decision on the best control system for smoke ventilation in your building, you are faced with a bewildering amount of information and conflicting opinions as to the most effective approach. Should you opt for a fire alarm control system, an HVAC/BMS control system or one specifically designed for smoke ventilation? Should you choose open or closed protocol?
Topics: Smoke Control, Smoke ventilation, Controls
As a designer, specifier or building owner, you will want to be sure that your smoke ventilation system will provide fire safety in all situations.
It is all very easy to design on paper a system that provides a certain duty and airflow, but this often does not take into consideration the practical aspects of constructing a building. There are some potential pitfalls to avoid to ensure that your smoke shaft or pressurisation system will function as intended.
Read MoreTopics: Smoke ventilation, Smoke shafts, commissioning, Pressurisation
Steam and humidity are by-products of many industrial production processes. But they can have an extremely negative effect on working conditions.
Read MoreTopics: Productivity, Industrial ventilation, Humidity, Climate Control
Thanks to all those who attended my webinar last week on the design considerations when integrating smoke and fire curtains into a building. The webinar is now available as a recording, which you can watch at any time.
Read MoreTopics: Curtains, Fire Containment, Smoke Containment, Webinar
Smoke and fire curtains are usually controlled (either individually or in groups) by a zone control panel. The curtains are allowed to fall automatically under the influence of gravity when the power is lost, which can happen in a fire or during a simple power cut. However if there is an electricity outage where there is no emergency, this can be a nuisance, and it can be prevented by using either a local Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) or a Battery Back-Up (BBU).
Read MoreTopics: Smoke Control, Fire Containment, Controls, Curtains
With the arrival of summer, most of us will be looking forward to being outside in the sun, but will your staff feel the same about being inside when your building overheats?
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