Are your climate control systems really still fit for purpose when it comes to enhancing comfort and production levels in the hot summer months?
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Are your climate control systems really still fit for purpose when it comes to enhancing comfort and production levels in the hot summer months?
Read MoreTopics: Productivity, Climate Control, Overheating
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.
Topics: Climate Control, Evaporative cooling, adiabatic cooling
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?
Read MoreTopics: service, smoke control maintenance
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.
Read MoreTopics: Smoke Control, Smoke Containment, Regulations
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?
Read MoreTopics: Smoke Control, Regulations, service
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.
Read MoreTopics: Factory Survey, HVAC, Energy saving, Climate Control, Overheating, Evaporative cooling
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: Factory Survey, Energy saving, sustainability, Heating, Air Leakage
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
