Hotel Engineer Volume 19 Number 1 by Adbourne Publishing

THE

HOTEL ENGINEER OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING

PP 319986/101

Volume 19 Number 1 March 2014

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Publishers

The Hotel Engineer The Official Publication of the Australian Institute of Hotel Engineering

LETTER

elcome to the first edition of Hotel Engineer, 2014. As we reach the end of warm weather in much of the country we thought the timing was right to run a feature on pools. We have a series of articles from experts in the industry telling us about new developments and why hotels should renew their focus on their outdoor pools. Thank you to the contributors and particularly Alan Lewis for sharing his ongoing expertise.

Another topical issue is the increasing use of LED lights in hotels. These lights offer plenty of benefits such as being cheaper to run and more energy efficient. Like anything however, hotels need to avoid the pitfalls of this new technology, so we have Scott Gracie of Megaman to talk us through these. For more energy efficiency savings, hotels can look to commissioning their HVAC systems. Lasath Lecamwasam, principal engineer of GHD Canberra, looks at its benefits and how it can be done.

After focussing on water, we turn our attention to fire. A recent blaze at a well-known Melbourne restaurant means we need to discuss the importance of kitchen duct cleaning to prevent this from happening again. We talk to Rebecca Phelan of Kleenduct for more information.

We devote our centre spread to the AIHE Conference at the Outrigger Resort, Surfers Paradise on the 7th and 8th August. With up to 50 exhibitions from industry suppliers and 250 delegates attending, it will be an interesting and informative conference. Plus the keynote speakers will bring a lot of diverse knowledge to the table.

There has also been an update to the fire protection systems standard AS 1851. This standard contains the requirements for meeting state regulations related to Occupational Health and Safety and fire service provisions. Max Winter and Derek Hendry of the Hendry Group discuss the changes, while Neil McPherson of Watermark Services looks at some of the other updates.

Adbourne Publishing 18/69 Acacia Road Ferntree Gully, VIC 3156 PO Box 735, Belgrave, VIC 3160 www.adbourne.com Editorial Consultant Max Agnew Editorial Contributor Thomas Johnson

ADVERTISING Melbourne: Neil Muir T: (03) 9758 1433 F: (03) 9758 1432 E: neil@adbourne.com Adelaide: Robert Spowart T: 0488 390 039 E: robert@adbourne.com

With the Australian economy picking up some speed again, 2014 promises to be a good year for hotels. We hope you enjoy this issue, Neil Muir

PRODUCTION Emily Wallis T: (03) 9758 1436 E: production@adbourne.com Administration Robyn Fantin T: (03) 9758 1431 E: admin@adbourne.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Enquiries: (03) 9758 1431 Fax: (03) 9758 1432 Email: admin@adbourne.com

AIHE State Presidents Ian Crookston, QLD E: ian.crookston@ihg.com Anura Yapa, NSW E: Anura.Yapa@shangri-la.com David Zammit,VIC E: david.zammit@hyatt.com Tony Fioraso, WA E: tony.fioraso@burswood.com.au

Adbourne Publishing cannot ensure that the advertisers appearing in The Hotel Engineer comply absolutely with the Trades Practices Act and other consumer legislation. The responsibility is therefore on the person, company or advertising agency submitting the advertisement(s) for publication. Adbourne Publishing reserves the right to refuse any advertisement without stating the reason. No responsibility is accepted for incorrect information contained in advertisements or editorial.The editor reserves the right to edit, abridge or otherwise alter articles for publication. All original material produced in this magazine remains the property of the publisher and cannot be reproduced without authority. The views of the contributors and all submitted editorial are the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s views and are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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CONTENTS 6

AIHE State News

10 Benefits from Commissioning HVAC Systems 15 Why You’re Not Told Everything About LED... 18 AS 1851-2012 and your building 22 Cooling Water Systems 27 Risky Business

30 Successful Integration 34 Regulation Update 38 Back of House 46 Plumbing and Fire Services Systems 49 Overcoming ‘Technophobia’ 52 Perfect Pool 55 Environmental Friendly 66 Pollution Solutions 70 Ghastly Gases

72 Secondary Disinfectant Systems (SDS) 75 Little Fins Swim School 78 Guest Laundries 81 Product News

THE

HOTEL ENGINEER OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING

Front cover shows: SKYCITY Darwin. The ultimate travel destination for discerning guests seeking a truly five star beachfront experience in Australia’s extraordinary Top End.

PP 319986/101

Volume 19 Number 1 March 2014

AIHE STATE

NEWS NEW SOUTH WALES Greetings from the NSW Chapter. It is hard to believe that we are almost through our first quarter of 2014. The AIHE NSW Chapter has been working hard and is looking forward to another successful and prosperous year. I would like to welcome our new members who have recently joined us and thank all our long standing corporate members and hotel engineers for your continual support.

2014 To begin the year, our newly elected NSW Chapter Committee gathered late January for a catch up at the Shangri-la Hotel Sydney’s famous Blu Bar. We discussed the 2014 event calendar, locked in key dates and allocated responsibilities amongst our committee members. The evening was enjoyed by all as we shared a few cocktails and admired the view across Sydney harbour.

The first President meeting for the year was held at Crown Perth on 21st February. I would like to thank Tony Fioraso, our WA President, for coordinating the day. For all our Hotel Engineers, we decided to do things differently and held our first Engineers meeting at the Phillips Foot Restaurant for a BBQ Dinner. We welcomed both new and existing members and it was a great night for everyone to catch up and touch base. Prior to the dinner, 2013 financials were discussed along with a snapshot of the 2014 calendar and events. All in all our first quarter took on social occasions, which were deserved and enjoyed by all. We are currently in the process of organising membership renewals and updating membership information at an admin level. We have arranged for a single email account to be used for the majority of the NSW Chapter Admin. We intend to centralise our database and monitor all incoming and outgoing correspondence. Moving forward, all monthly meeting invitations and updates will be sent from this account. Based on the steady attendance we are receiving from our monthly Hotel Engineer meetings, we have decided to continue with our current schedule, third Wednesday of every month and the meeting to commence at 5pm.

Snapshot for 2014 For 2014, we thought as a committee we would try and do things a little bit different this year and change it up. Our regular Hotel Engineer meetings will now be categorised and themed. Across the 12 months we will hold site visits, information nights, corporate presentations and a round table discussion. We are also offering sponsorship for 2 to 3 Hotel Engineers to attend this years’ Update Conference on the Gold Coast in August. Details have been sent to all regarding selection criteria and covered costs. We think this will be a great opportunity for our hotel engineers to network and engage with the industry specialists. Anura Yapa JP President – AIHE NSW chapter

VICTORIA Blah David Zammit President AIHE Victoria Chapter

WESTERN AUSTRALIA Blah Tony Fioraso President AIHE Western Australia

AIHE STATE

NEWS QUEENSLAND Welcome everyone to the first report in 2014 and trust you had a great Christmas/New Year and for those lucky ones that got a good break over this period I am sure are back to the grind stone. This year has again had the months go in another mighty blur. Our first meeting for the year was in February with a presentation being held at RACV Royal Pines Resort. From Bio-Zone we had the General Manager Jeremy Kronk, present to the members on their PowerZone units which actively work to rid hotel rooms of

unwanted odours like tobacco smoke, mold or bad food odours. The units come in a couple of sizes to meet the total room areas desired. We also had “Waste to Water” General Manager Andrew Gibson and Nicolette Woodfield give us an insight into their products. Firstly the Waste to Water Machine converts food waste into water suitable for disposal down the trade waste drain. Andrew demonstrated how their enzymes break down the food in less the 48hrs. Again come in different sizes best to suit the needs of your operation. Most units have been placed with in the kitchen allowing the chiefs to through their food waste straight into the waste unit and cutting out the need to be binned and moved for disposal. IceZone is another of their products and has been proven to inhibit slime in even the most challenging environments, providing superior ice machine sanitation results. Nicolette discussed all the benefits: • Huge reductions in cleaning and related expenses • Increased quality of ice • Reduced technical malfunctions • Increase in the lifespan of the Ice Machine The night concluded with thanks to the presenters followed with some delicious finger food and drinks again kindly hosted by Waste to Water & Bio- Zone. March will see the Qld Chapters AGM being held at the Watermark Hotel Surfers Paradise. With most of the committee now deeply involved with the preparation of the forthcoming Update Conference in August. It is expected that most of the committee positions will remain the same. Nationally we are looking to resolve the ongoing problems with the AIHE Website and hope to have corrected in the very near future. If any one is wishing to join the Institute I request that you please make contact with one of your State Committee Members until the Website issues have been resolved and appreciate everyone’s frustration and ask for everyone patience, just a little longer. Ian Crookston AIHE – Qld Chapter President

AIHE STATE

NEWS WESTERN AUSTRALIA Happy New Year and greetings from Western Australia, I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable time over the Christmas and New Year break. The Western Australian chapter celebrated Christmas at the Windsor Hotel with over 40 members attending. It was a barmy Friday night with temperatures staying up over the 25oC with high humidity. This did not deter most members staying late into the night. There were no meetings held in January as most people are away on annual leave. February’s meeting was held at the Novotel Perth Langley Hotel with two guest presenters and over 30 attendees: Infinite Energy Simon Hawkins and Steven Richards delivered subject matter on the following: • Solar PV Case Studies

• Media player • Interactive in room television signage • Electronic event management Special thanks to Viran Yapa – Chief Engineer – Novotel Perth Langley Hotel. The quarterly Presidents meeting was held in February at Crown Perth with the main topic discussed- this years conference in August on the Gold Coast. Support for the conference is very positive and all states are looking forward to attending in early August. We all acknowledged the hard work Queensland has done in promoting the conference and all states agreed to contribute to ensure its success. Guest speakers have been locked in and the details of each subject matter and profiles will be sent out to all members and potential attendees in the next month. Western Australia’s next monthly meeting is at the Rydges Hotel in March which will be our Annual General Meeting with all positions declared open. I would like take this opportunity to thank and acknowledge my committee for all there support during 2013.

• Is Energy Storage viable?

As I mention in all these updates we are always looking for more hotel engineers to join so please contact me directly if you would like some more information on the hotel engineering association.

• Energy Monitoring Solutions

Regards

• How Solar can both reduce the volume of electricity you buy and the price at you pay

• Retail Energy Jadran Cetinic from Electek presented on:

Tony Fioraso President – AIHE Western Australia

• Sign Box-CISYSTEMS • Digital signage for Hospitality

View The Hotel Engineer online now! Visit www.adbourne.com and click Hotel Engineer 9

Benefits from Commissioning

HVAC Systems

Lasath Lecamwasam I Principal Engineer – Building Services, GHD Canberra

Background

otel Managers are increasingly under pressure to focus on reducing energy costs whilst improving building performance to maintain premium levels of guest comfort. New hotels are increasingly targeting to achieve high environmental performance standards with NABERS ratings available for hotels, and proper commissioning is essential to deliver high performance. However, the vast majority of hotel facilities are older buildings, some of which have never been commissioned properly, have been poorly

maintained, or have had ad-hoc fit outs and changes carried out over the years. Such buildings typically operate inefficiently and would benefit significantly from re-commissioning or retro-commissioning. This article addresses the commissioning of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, which typically consume the highest proportion of energy in hotel facilities. Commissioning represents one of the quickest and most cost effective opportunities to increase energy efficiency because typically, 20-40% of energy in older buildings is wasted. Even in well-managed buildings, there is scope to improve energy efficiency by 10-15% through commissioning and implementing ‘energy smart’ control strategies. Information from the United States indicates that payback periods from retrocommissioning existing buildings can be less than 1 year. No equivalent data is available in Australia, however, if a facility has a fairly modern controls system (which can be re-programmed with energy smart features), the HVAC equipment is less than 20 years old and the system performance has not been verified and retuned over the years to take account of poor initial commissioning and/

or subsequent ad-hoc system alterations, then similar results should be achievable. Benefits from good commissioning include reduced energy costs, better indoor air quality, improved guest comfort, lower maintenance costs due to enhanced reliability and longer life expectancy of plant. Overall, well commissioned facilities have higher asset values. Commissioning of HVAC systems and controls is an area which has often been perceived in the past to be ‘too difficult’ or has delivered poor outcomes. This is due to a lack of awareness of its cost effectiveness, poor design, inadequate specifications and engaging unskilled commissioning technicians offering the lowest price. This has resulted in safety issues, energy wastage and poor performance. In response to requirements for better environmental performance, the HVAC industry is now becoming more aware of the importance of good commissioning for the delivery of energy efficiency and optimal performance. Facility Managers have an important role to play in accelerating changes that ensure new facilities are commissioned thoroughly and older buildings are re-commissioned or retro-commissioned to improve energy efficiency. An awareness of what constitutes proper commissioning and the implementation of processes that will deliver a good outcome is important. Proper commissioning requires a good specification (or commissioning brief), planning, coordination across different trades and the allocation of sufficient time. It is important to engage skilled commissioning technicians who are familiar with current technology and commissioning standards and have access to good

instrumentation. An established track record is essential and checking references for relevant projects is important through contacting clients, design consultants and installation contractors.

What is Commissioning? Commissioning is a Quality Assurance process for setting up equipment to work safely, efficiently and in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations whilst meeting the building’s performance objectives specified by the services design engineers. Proper commissioning covers a range of activities by multi- discipline trades that include tasks such as installation checks, pressure tests, proving of safety and functional controls, setting up of flow rates for fluids such as water, air and refrigerant. HVAC systems typically have water and air distribution networks consisting of pipes and ducts respectively. For systems to work efficiently, the setting up of the design flow rates for water and air through key equipment and the distribution network across the building is important during the

commissioning process. This is referred to as ‘balancing’ the system. Unless systems are properly balanced, water and air flow will occur through paths of least resistance and this could lead to occupant discomfort due to either a lack of (or excessive) heating or cooling. Poor balancing can also cause energy wastage, noise and premature plant failure.

When to Re-commission Re-commissioning (or re-tuning) is carried out in older buildings, which have been in operation for a number of years. Recommissioning essentially restores system operating parameters to the original design intent, which should be available in the operating and maintenance manuals. Re-commissioning should rectify issues that have occurred over the years and have an adverse effect on HVAC system performance and efficiency. These typically include: • System changes caused during building alterations (fit outs) due to poor trade practices. These include squashed or

extended flexible ducts that increase system resistance, ductwork with open ends that cause air leakage, partitions erected that affect air distribution to rooms, location of office equipment that affect temperature sensors and cause poor control and alteration of regulating valves and damper positions that affect system resistance. • System changes caused due to a change of occupancy. Examples include the conversion of office type areas to meeting or conference rooms, with significant changes to occupant density and office equipment and excessive afterhours use of HVAC by some occupants can lead to poor performance. • Wasteful operational practices such as ad-hoc adjustments to control set points and plant set to operate manually (rather than automatically) by staff and maintenance contractors as ‘quick fixes’ to complaints, resulting in issues such as simultaneous heating and cooling, which are very wasteful.

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• Deterioration of equipment such as sensors drifting out of calibration, faulty field items such as leaky dampers, valves and malfunctioning actuators. • Inadequate maintenance. Examples include blocked strainers, dirty air filters, fouled heat exchangers, leaking ducts and pipes. The need for re-commissioning can be identified through an increase in energy consumption, occupant complaints of discomfort or interrogation and trending on the building management system (BMS). Re-commissioning should be periodically carried out in buildings typically every 5 years. Calibration of sensors that operate key functions such as the economy cycle, chiller & boiler flow temperature control and sequencing, air handling unit static pressure and CO2 monitoring should be carried out more often, typically every 12 months, as routine maintenance. Also, Facility Managers must put in place measures to prevent poor fit out practices affecting the performance of HVAC systems. Interrogating and fine tuning the BMS is also an important element of re-commissioning, which typically is very cost effective since it only involves programming changes. Maintaining a facility in optimal performance requires ongoing monitoring of key parameters and continuous attention, similar to an athlete maintaining physical fitness through regular training. Facility Managers should ensure that the energy performance is continually tracked and key performance indicators (KPIs) are set on the BMS that provide warnings of a loss of efficiency and the need for re-commissioning.

Retro-commissioning Retro-commissioning goes beyond re-commissioning with a view to enhancing some of the original system operating parameters. Retro-commissioning typically involves making major improvements to BMS control strategies as well as air and water flow rates. Typically, retrocommissioning is beneficial in the following circumstances: • Where the building use, operation or the building fabric has undergone a significant change. • Where the original BMS had very limited functionality (perhaps it was a pneumatic

system) which has been replaced with a more modern system but ‘energy smart’ controls strategies were not included. Examples are- optimum start and stop, economy cycle, night purge, critical zone re-set, chilled water re-set, heating water re-set, condenser water re-set, cooling tower wet bulb tracking and dynamic set points for fan and pump speed controls have not been programmed. • Hotels have large proportions of guest rooms and back of house areas which have variable occupancy and original control strategies may not have included features for automatic set back control of temperature or outside air (for instance in conference rooms), for energy efficiency. • In older buildings typically designed prior to the 70’s when energy costs were not high, system design parameters such as air and water flow rates are likely to be conservative and not conducive to energy efficiency. For example constant flow systems and dual duct systems with set temperatures for hot deck and cold deck. Retro-commissioning is an opportunity to re-assess the air and water flows and to implement variable flow control strategies that save energy. • Where equipment such as chillers have been replaced with modern variable speed machines, which have the capacity for introducing new control strategies that significantly improve part load performance. Similarly, the replacement of conventional boilers with high efficiency condensing type boilers requires alternative control strategies for optimal performance. • Where major changes have been carried out to the air or water systems. E.g. conversion of a constant volume re-heat or dual duct system to a modified VAV system, conversion of constant volume chilled water and heating water systems to variable flow. When re-commissioning and retrocommissioning it is important to obtain the original commissioning documentation and functional descriptions for controls and to determine what changes need to be made. Where no existing information is available from operating and maintenance manuals, it is important for Facilities Managers to seek specialist advice and to ascertain the key system parameters including air and

water flow rates to which a system is to be commissioned.

Further Information: References 1 to 3 provide general information on commissioning and benefits. References 4 to 6 are internationally accepted guides for those tasked with commissioning HVAC systems and should be appropriately referenced in commissioning specifications. 1. Guide to Best Practice Maintenance and Operation of HVAC Systems for Energy Efficiency. Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Free download from http://ee.ret.gov.au 2. A Retro-commissioning Guide for Building Owners. US Environmental Protection Agency/PECI. Free download from www.peci.org 3. The Cost-Effectiveness of Commissioning New and Existing Commercial Buildings: Lessons from 224 Buildings. National Conference on Building Commissioning 4. AIRAH DA 27 Building Commissioning. The Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating. www.airah.org.au 5. CIBSE Commissioning Codes: Air Distribution, Boilers, Controls, Commissioning Management, Refrigeration & Water. Chartered Institution of Building Services UK. www.cibse.org 6. ASHRAE Commissioning Guidelines 0 and 1. American Society for Heating Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. www.ashrae.org 7. BSRIA Commissioning Guides. Building Services Research and Information Association UK. www.bsria.co.uk Lasath is a Chartered Professional Engineer having 28 years’ experience with building services design and maintenance management in England, Scotland, New Zealand and Australia. He was the lead author of the Guide to Best Practice Maintenance and Operation of HVAC Systems for Energy Efficiency published by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. One of Lasath’s projects – 4 Mort Street, won the AIRAH 2012 Award for Excellence – Best HVAC and Refrigeration Upgrade, presented by the NABERS team. Lasath has carried out Energy Audits at major hotels in New Zealand and in Australia and in this article explains potential benefits from commissioning.

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Why You’re Not Told Everything

About LED...

scott gracie

Many LED products in the market place promise to deliver long lifetime and high output without anything more than a Sales Person’s promise or some form of creative marketing to lure and reassure an unsuspecting customer into buying a less than perfect or not fit for purpose product for their home or business.

fter not much research into LED, one might consider themselves well informed and ready to go that step fur ther onto making a purchase but as technology’s reach broadens, so does the marketing creativity of various LED suppliers vying to get their product noticed on various internet blog sites and media publications. More often than not, mistakes are made by these LED distributors that are easily picked up when you know what to look out for. A big red flag should also be noticed when it comes information being advertised about how marvellous and well suited an LED is to your par ticular project but not having all the information about the product or if they seem to lack information, which if known to the customer at the time may have changed the decision to purchase until more information was acquired. This article is about a real, large scale LED project of retrofit and new downlights with over for ty thousand LED globes and how the experience of LED products went from the idea of a simple energy efficient lighting retrofit, into a commercial retail environment four teen month trial with a very steep learning curve for the Project Managers involved... David Jones depar tment stores are renowned for quality and style. Just by walking into one of their stores you are experiencing many years of experience selling face to face with the public.

The separation between the well laid out retail floor and products, with polished staff ready to assist, differ from the back of house day to day running and is not unlike a well-run hotel with staff obligations to make a warm, inviting and memorable experience that the customer will remember and be happy to return to.

Not only did they need a high colour rendering LED lamp but also one that didn’t shift in its white colour over the life of the lamp. They needed stability.

Lighting is also plays quite a large role and contributes to the customer experience and as David Jones’ commitment to sustainability grew and with the consideration of massive energy saving potential, it was easy to see that changing the store lighting was an easy option to lessen the impact on the environment as it was a key contributor to energy consumption

The project then commenced and a huge amount of effort went into the planning, distribution and installation of more than 40,000 LED downlights in 23 stores, with some stores having two or three levels to complete.

When it came time to find an LED that would suit the department store, it was obvious that a trial needed to be done in order to work through to find the best possible choice of LED downlight and what started as a small and simple process soon became a 14 month long trial of many LED products from different manufacturers and distributors in the Australian market. This was due to the fact that many other elements are involved when choosing LED... not just how bright the LED is but also colour temperature, colour rendering and a subjective “look and feel” test. Being a high quality department store, David Jones didn’t want its blue product looking purple or orange colours looking brown.

After the trial and tendering process was over, the project was awarded to an LED manufacturer.

Now, two years after the first stages of installation, David Jones has reduced its total energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 3-4 % and reduced maintenance costs, without impacting the quality and look of the stores or the customer experience but it wasn’t without a steep learning curve and as was found out, not all LED lamps are the same. Following are some of the items to look out for and ask your LED supplier about. Wattage – When comparing two or more LED lamps most people compare the wattage, simply because we are led to believe that wattage is used to measure the output of an LED lamp, however this is not totally accurate because while wattage is a measure of power, it is actually a measure of how much power is being used and not how much light is

coming from the globe. To put it simply, an eight watt LED lamp or fitting may produce more light than a ten watt LED lamp. This just means that the eight watt lamp is more efficient at producing light. When acquiring samples for the test, it was thought that a lamp with higher wattage on the packaging was better but in reality it just meant that more would be paid for electricity. The formula for determining how efficient an LED lamp is as follows (lumens/Watts = Efficacy) so you will get a result of how many lumens per watt the lamp is producing. Over the course of the trial this was found out to be true because while the light output from the LED lamps tested did have some correlation to wattage, there were some that were more efficient than others. Colour Rendering – Over the duration of the trial it was noted that some LED lamps did not colour clothing properly and as a result some colours appeared to be a different shade to what they should look like. It was also noted that when standing under some of the lights on test, that skin appeared to look pasty and not normal. It was discovered that some LED lamps did not have the ability to produce proper primary colours from the LED chip which resulted in the colour of clothes and skin looking not quite right. It was also noted that some of the LED lamps colour rendering ability deteriorated over a short period of time and what appeared

to be a great lamp in at the start, ended up in the rubbish pile at the end. I know from experience and can tell many a story of bathroom lighting and women’s makeup and how important it is to have good colour rendition. Everything can look different in different types of light and what looks good in front of a mirror or in a store may look terrible under the lighting in your home or out in the sunlight. Lamp Output Over Life – Another very large concern discovered about light output from an LED is that it does not remain constant over the life of the lamp, instead as the LED ages, less and less light is produced but because this can happen over a period of time, quite often it goes unnoticed. Information about lamp output over the life of the lamp should be known be the company selling the LED product and generally it might be something like 90 percent of light still being produced at the end of rated life. Obviously a lamp that has much less light coming out of it even halfway through its life may be useless. Measured Lumens – The 14 month LED trial also brought into focus a number of discrepancies when it came to the lumens that were supposed to be produced by the LED lamp. It was discovered that lumens are not the correct measurement for a reflector lamp such as a downlight where light is being aimed in a particular direction. The correct measurement for a lamp such as this is in candela (cd) and cannot

be measure standing under the light with an ordinary light meter. Very few of the LED lamps on trial had the candela measurement on the packaging and many didn’t even know what the candela measurement was. To sum it up, lumens is a measurement for a lamp where light is coming from all around the lamp or not focused by any other means of housing or reflector. A 60 watt GLS globe or CFL equivalent is measured in lumens, so is a T8 or T5 fluorescent lamp and so is an LED chip. You see what happens is, the manufacturer of the LED chip measures only the chip output on a test bench without the reflector or housing that makes up the lamp. This information then gets passed doesn’t the line and eventually ends up in LED catalogues but in actual fact it is mostly useless because the chip now has a reflector or lens and housing around it and so the output has changed and the light all the light coming from the chip is focused in a par ticular direction or beam angle. Overall the project was extremely successful but if the project managers were not educated in the pitfalls of LED it may not have turned out that way and could have ended very badly. There are other questions to ask your current or potential LED supplier that they may not be able to answer and have them disagreeing but the facts are there, it’s just a matter of educating yourself against overzealous sales people and the pitfalls an LED product can have.

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AS 1851-2012 and your building Derek Hendry I Managing Director, the HENDRY group

Introduction

s building owners, property managers, facility managers and facility engineers are well aware, safety measures in buildings such as fire protection systems and equipment need to be tested, serviced and maintained in order to ensure they are able to function as designed when they are needed. AS 1851 is the Standard available to address the routine servicing of fire protection systems and equipment in Australia, and most building owners are required to comply with AS 1851 – 2005 or the newest Standard, AS 1851-2012. What are the features of the new 2012 Standard, and will the Standard apply to your building? Geoff Vick from Essential Property Services (a Hendry Group company), investigates.

History of AS 1851 AS 1851 in its various forms, has a long and chequered history, appearing first around 1939 and expanding to multiple sections through the 1980’s and 1990’s. The 2005 version (currently used in a majority of instances) was completely re-written and appeared as one document in September 2005 as “AS 1851-2005 Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment”. This version has since had amendments in July 2006 and again in May 2008. In theory, the stages introduced in AS 1851-2005 represented a logical progression in the evolution of the Standard but in practice, regulators in the States and Territories had serious issues with the complex and costly operational requirements interpreted with the Standard. The second round of amendments released in May 2008 saw the removal of some of these requirements. Since further amendments were deemed too substantial however, the Standard had a major revision, and AS 1851-2012 was released in December 2012, as “AS 1851-2012 Routine service of fire protection systems and equipment”.

A Summary of key changes to AS 1851-2012 Key changes in the redesign of the new Standard AS 1851-2012 were: • A simplification of the Standard structure, making it easier for stakeholders to understand • Restructured documentation requirements for reporting. • A more concisely defined relationship between initial installation, routine service and annual regulatory compliance. • A critical appraisal and refinement of routine service technical requirements. • An overhaul of the general requirements of Section 1. • Easier to interpret tables in Sections 2 to 14 (tables changed from type based to frequency based, and yearly service separated from supportive routine service schedules). • The clarification of the requirements for system interface testing. • A clarification of the role of commissioning and baseline data as part of the approved design. • A distinction made between critical defects, non-critical defects and non-conformances. • Extensively revised records (logbooks, tags, labels and summary records) and reporting requirements. • The removal of the ambiguity relating to current design Standards versus the design Standards applicable at the time of original approved systems installation, (that is, the approved design). • Several new appendices have been included to expand on Section 1 content— baseline data. The Standard establishes a systematic basis for minimum routine service activities, and as such, it may be used to form the basis for developing specific routine servicing regimes. The Standard requires evidence in the form of records and reports, with the documentary

evidence intended to support responsible entities in satisfying regulatory obligations.

Regulatory requirements in States and Territories Currently each Australian State and Territory Government is responsible for establishing the requirements for the servicing of fire protection systems and equipment for buildings and land under their control, or for privately owned buildings and land. The Federal Government is responsible for Commonwealth land and buildings, regardless of which State or Territory the land is located. Each State or Territory establishes this control through an Act of Parliament (Act), and this is their primary form of legislation. These Acts in turn, can authorise the making of Regulations to administer the Act. Put simply, the Act established the principles and objectives for compliance, while the Regulations detail how these objectives are achieved.

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Regulations in turn, can reference external documents such as Codes or Standards in whole, in part or in modified form, and this allows for documents such as the National Construction Code (Building Code of Australia) and Australian Standards to form part of the regulatory regime of State or Territory governments. An Act can “reference” Regulations, which in turn can “reference” Codes or Standards. Where Regulations, Codes or Standards are referenced, (or partly referenced), there is a lawful requirement to comply with the provisions, or with those provisions that are referenced. Where Codes or Standards are not specifically referenced, they are not compulsory. This is commonly referred to as the hierarchy of legislation. Since each State and Territory have their own legislative and regulatory framework governing safety measures (of which Fire Protection Systems and Equipment form a part) they also have their own terminology. State or Territory

Defined Term for Fire Protection Systems and Equipment

Commonwealth – National Construction Code (Building Code of Australia)

Safety Measures

Australian Capital Territory

Active Fire Safety Systems

New South Wales

Essential Fire Safety Measures

Northern Territory

Safety Measures

Queensland

Fire Safety Installations & Special Fire Services

South Australia

Essential Safety Provisions

Tasmania

Essential Safety and Health Features / Measures

Victoria

Essential Safety Measures

Western Australia

(No specifically defined term)

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The requirement to use a particular edition of AS 1851 in each State or Territory jurisdiction may be enacted through: • A direct reference to a specific edition in their legislation • A variation or addition to I Volume 1 Part I of the Building Code of Australia • Regulation referencing a Code, Standard, Practice Note, Policy or other document specifying maintenance provisions, or • A reference to a specific edition in an Occupancy Permit or Certificate, (which specifies safety measures maintenance requirements and makes the use of the edition mandatory). Implementation of AS 1851-2012 in your State or Territory The following provides a summary on the adoption and use of AS 1851-2012 in your State or Territory based on the primary legislation operating in your jurisdiction. Note: This is basic information only - for full details refer to the relevant regulatory authority in your State or Territory

AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY Testing may be carried out to the previous suite of AS 1851 Standards, AS 1851-2005 or AS 1851-2012. Currently there is no mandatory requirement to test to any particular AS 1851 Standard.

NEW SOUTH WALES Testing may be carried out to the previous suite of AS 1851 Standards, AS 1851-2005 or AS 1851-2012 providing documentation is provided in accordance with EPA 2000. Currently, there is no mandatory requirement to test to any particular AS 1851 Standard, as emphasis on annual certification is system capability based, not maintenance based.

NORTHERN TERRITORY While not directly prescribed within the Northern Territory Fire and Emergency Act or Regulations, the Northern Territory has a variation to Part I Equipment and Safety Installations of the BCA, which details the maintenance to be carried out to safety installations within a building. These generally nominate earlier versions of the Standard.

QUEENSLAND MP 6.1 states it is mandatory for testing be carried out to AS 18512005 or older versions as appropriate. Queensland Development Code and Regulations would need to be changed to nominate AS 1851-2012.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA Buildings are required to be maintained in accordance with Minister’s Specification SA 76 in force at the time of Building Rules consent. The current version of SA 76 lists pre-1851-2005 editions.

TASMANIA Tasmania has adopted AS 1851-2012 by way of an amendment to the Director of Building Control’s Specified List. The Building Act 2000 and its Regulations provide for the Director to prescribe certain matters including time periods and documents to be provided with applications. They are contained in the Director’s Specified List. The newly amended list applies from 1 September 2013.

VICTORIA Testing to AS 1851-2005 may only be used if this Standard is nominated on the building Occupancy Permit or Certificate of Final Inspection (building approval documents), or for buildings constructed before 1994. It is expected that testing to AS 18512012 would require amendment to existing building approval documents to permit testing to the new Standard.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA There are currently no restrictions on which version to use. In summary, the body charged with the responsibility of ensuring AS 1851-2012 meets community and stakeholder expectations has made the necessary improvements to ensure that the key objectives of the revision were met, while the revised testing, servicing and maintenance frequencies, and the clarified fit for purpose as designed requirements have made it easier to understand and implement the requirements of the Standard. Integral to the successful uptake of AS1851-2012 will be how readily the States and Territories formally adopt the new Standard. For now Tasmania leads the way, and time will tell if this Standard achieves acceptance across the nation. Jurisdictional differences in the adoption and implementation of regulatory compliance regimes costs the property industry millions of dollars each year, and the time for national harmonisation in regulatory compliance is long overdue.

About the HENDRY Group Derek Hendry is the Managing Director of the HENDRY group of consulting companies that include HENDRY Building Surveying Consultants, HENDRY Disability Access Consultants, Essential Property Service, Emergency Plan and Work Place Safety Assessors. HENDRY pioneered the private certification system of building approvals in Australia, and the consultancy assists clients nationally in all facets of building control and disability access compliance, essential safety measures audits, emergency planning and occupational safety requirements. HENDRY publish an e-newsletter entitled ‘Essential Matters” and BCA Illustrated, which provides over 3000 illustrations that interpret and explain the BCA as it applies to your building. http://www.hendrygroup.com.au

Cooling Water Systems Corrosion Monitoring Audits

Steve Powell I Victoria/South Australia Account Manager, Independent Monitoring Consultants (IMC)

aintaining a constant satisfactory balance between microbiological control (especially Legionella) and metal wastage by corrosion in cooling water systems is not an art – it is cold-blooded science, with possible dire consequences if control of the balance is lost even for relatively short periods. The two processes are interactive – for example, some biocides are aggressive to metals commonly found in cooling systems – and corrosion product is a Legionella food source. On the other hand, and apart from Legionella control, Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) is to be avoided.

Small organisms found inside a tubercle. Each is about 0.13 cm high. The organisms have segmented, fibrous stalks and bivariate heads.

Measuring the absolute values and assessing the trends of corrosion is not just a valuable tool in assessing the overall performance of a chemical supplier – nor is it just another Key Performance Indicator (KPI); it is a Critical Management Strategy (CMS) for assessing the average life expectancy of cooling water systems whilst being proactive with equipment performance and, at the same time, providing a biologically safe working environment and surrounds.

Corrosion and corrosion product deposition profoundly affects equipment performance – especially heat transfer efficiency. Given that the relationship between the heat transferred (Q) through a chiller tube for example is the product of the Coefficient of Heat Transfer (U), the Heat Transfer Area (A) and the Temperature Difference (∆T) across the heat transfer surface (Q = UA∆T) the only variable is U. Add a layer of corrosion product to the bare chiller tube wall and heat transfer efficiency suffers.

Real Time Corrosion Measurement The linear polarisation-resistance (LPR) technique utilises electrode behaviour to rapidly indicate corrosion upsets. The most usual type has two electrodes – one being mild steel (anode), the other a copper based alloy (the cathode) between which is passed a very small voltage of 20mV. The resulting current generated from this applied potential difference gives a measure of the general corrosion rate in the vicinity of the electrode.

Retrospective Corrosion Measurement

Tubercles are mounds of corrosion product and deposit that cap localised regions of metal loss.

This picture shows perforation at a dish-shaped depression – a large tubercle capped the depression but was dislodged during tube sectioning. (Courtesy of National Association of Corrosion Engineers).

Practical corrosion monitoring techniques are classified as either real-time measurement or retrospective over time, and each category offers pros and cons of cost verses expense, ease or otherwise of installation and maintenance of monitoring equipment – and relevance of data. Either way, the objective is to avoid un-necessary cooling system plant internal inspections. Rather, practical monitoring “flags” a developing problem long before pipe wall perforation, allowing an audit to be conducted and corrective action to be taken.

Coupon corrosion studies are inexpensive and simple to perform. This is the most direct method, aside from inspection of the actual plant equipment, to determine the efficacy of the water treatment chemical program. Coupon evaluation allows simple comparison between different alloys which provide visual examination for localised attack, such as pitting, crevice attack, dealloying, or any other form of non-uniform attack, such as MIC. Pre-weighed and surface prepared coupons are highly susceptible to corrosion. A corrosion coupon is not a heat transfer surface; cleaning the coupon to make it more susceptible to corrosion helps compensate for the fact that it is not a heat transfer surface operating at elevated skin temperatures. Exposing the corrosion coupon to a cooling water stream for a known length of time for usually 90 days, and by then calculating the difference

Acceptable corrosion levels for mild steel should be less than 3mil and copper less than 0.5mil per year. Typical limits are mild steel 0.15mm, stainless steel 0.005mm (no pitting) and copper 0.005mm per year. (Imperial unit “mil”, one thousandth of an inch (1mil = 0.0254mm)

between the initial and final weight it is possible to express average corrosion rate per year for that system. The time of exposure for corrosion coupons in cooling water must be considered in the evaluation of any results. In summary, the shorter the period of exposure, the higher the corrosion rate will be.

Typical Corrosion coupon rig

corrosion and fouling may result from low flow rates.

Mild Steel (top) and Copper (bottom) coupons ready to be cleaned and evaluated.

The rate of corrosion represents an average metal penetration based on total weight loss and assumes 100% general attack. In many cases the type of attack or appearance of the coupon can provide more useful information than the actual corrosion rate obtained by weight loss. Even if the calculated average corrosion rate is low and all the attack is localised at one point on the coupon, the rate of penetration at that point could be 4 to 5 times the average rate of corrosion. Heavy deposits and tuberculation are sure signs of unstable corrosive water, regardless of the corrosion rates. Furthermore, coupons covered with heavy deposits cannot reflect system corrosion rates, due to the deposit covering the coupon. Some types of deposits will cause an increase in corrosion while other types will form a protective coating. For a corrosion coupon to provide useful data, it must be placed in a representative location in the system. Generally the best place is on the effluent stream of a critical heat exchanger (critical with respect to corrosion). Corrosion coupons installed on a common return line seldom are representative of critical system heat. It is important that the corrosion coupon rig flow rates correspond to the heat exchanger flow rates. Coupon rig exit flows that are high will usually result in cleaner coupons than the system metals. Excessive

Locating the corrosion coupon rack in the cooling tower pond recirculating loop mans that the coldest water in the system is flowing over the coupons – this is not duplicating the “worst case” scenario taking place in the hottest part of the system. As a general rule, each 8oC increase in temperature doubles the rate of chemical reaction.

The ability to successfully control water quality in cooling towers depends on the monitoring and analysis of the system on a continuous basis.

The Auditing Process The auditing process precedes corrective action and involves identifying the type and location of unacceptable metal loss and assessing the influence of all contributing variables, including: • system operational information • system metallurgy • best estimates of mild steel and copper surface areas in contact with system water • plant history • biological loading • corrosivity of make-up and system water • seasonal variations in make-up water analyses

As a general rule, each 8oC increase in temperature doubles the rate of chemical reaction.

A flow rate which is representative of system conditions is the only flow rate which will provide meaningful information. Corrosion coupons are a useful and meaningful evaluation tools which, when used on an ongoing basis and in combination with plant and equipment inspections will provide invaluable information on the chemical treatment programme and the level of protection that it offers. Coupons that indicate acceptable corrosion rates in a system which is experiencing severe corrosion are not properly installed or subjected to severe enough conditions. Coupons which reflect high corrosion rates in a corrosion free system are being subjected to too severe a condition assuming that the coupon environment is representative of the heat exchanger design parameters of flow and temperature.

• system water soluble and total corrosion products content • the lead-lag duty cycles if more than one cooling tower system is involved • the calibre of water treatment provider service reports • a review of any mechanical significant mechanical services performed, including tower cleans • a review of biological sampling results • a review of the chemical programs and control ranges • a review of dosing and control equipment • validation of any questionable data such as pH, free available halogen, cycles • a review of the current and preceding Risk Management Plan and Audit The auditing process should be a co-operative effort involving the key stakeholders – facility management, the water treatment provider, mechanical services – and the auditors. Generally,

observations and recommendations indicate dynamic data is necessary and that involves:

• Inhibitor dosage control via water meter or other mode selections

• Installation and removal of corrosion coupons monthly for three consecutive months

• Water Usage including Makeup, bleed and Backwash

• System water analyses monthly

• Dispersant dosage control via water meter or other mode selections • 4-20mA input for external instrument with programmable ranging and alarms

• A review of identified critical factors and changes to the same (controller settings, inhibitor level maintenance, pH etc)

• Data logging of all measures and outputs

• Monthly reporting

• 4-20mA output card for building computer connection of 8 measures and relay status

Modern technology allows us the opportunity to see the inadequacies in past control methods and understand and realise what is really important in maintaining a successful water treatment programme. What we now consider as the most important tools are reliable control, data recording of information and alarms to ensure benchmarks are maintained and confirmation that systems are treated proactively through a uniformed analysis of past performances. The selection and implementation of the correct control equipment with effective and professional management is pivotal to success. Characteristics of such equipment should include: • Linear Polarisation corrosion of two metal monitoring, logs and alarms • Automated velocity control to set point

• Remote control via GSM modem and Aquarius software

• Measure alarms, safety alarms with ORP and pH lockout alarm Information plays a huge part in the total care used to provide both a safe, effective and efficient cooling system. This allied with technologies that allow for a complete picture on a 24/7 basis using effective control methods and the monitoring of their affect on plant while introducing direct action capabilities through alarms and remote control coupled with professional management allow for a much improved and responsible management of treatment, water and energy. Several things can occur in a cooling systems treatment which can jeopardise control without notice and include:

• Conductivity measure and automated bleed control

• Contamination via exterior source

• ORP measure using APL control, with time control if required

• Equipment failure

• pH measure using APL control

• Water loss

• Secondary biocide with pre-bleed and bleed lockout function

• Empty chemical treatment tanks • Changes in make-up water quality Modern day property owners and managers are now recognising the need to better manage all parts of their business and are employing modern day technology to maximise performance and minimise costs.

About the writer Steve Powell is a Chemical Engineer specialising in industrial water treatment processes. He has held senior research and sales/marketing positions in multinational water treatment and speciality chemical companies operating within Australian and he brings considerable practical experience to address clients risk management security. Based in Melbourne he is currently Independent Monitoring Consultants (IMC) Victoria/South Australia Account Manager. Steve says,”IMC is aware of all of the impairments to quality service and servicing. IMC is a privately owned Australian company providing quality services since 1992, and was the first to introduce full independent sampling and testing to help clients manage the control of Legionella, system corrosion, Risk Management & Audits, indoor air quality, OH&S and duty of care obligations. These securities are all important to international hotel chains, major shopping centres, hospitals, and key Property Managers and Owners. IMC was the first full microbiological laboratory in Malaysia, and the first to be accredited by Standards Malaysia for both sampling and testing of environmental waters, indoor air quality, and food. IMC technical expertise and proficiency has been perfected during the past 20 years through our national and international experience, and with a combined total of more than 150 years of water treatment knowledge and experience in our senior staff IMC is the perfect partner”.

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RISKY BUSINESS

The Implications of Poorly Maintained Kitchen Exhaust System REBECCA PHELAN I GENERAL MANAGER, KLEENDUCT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

here has been a recent spate of highly publicised fires starting in kitchens and some specifically in greasy ducts. These events are a timely reminder of the importance of wellmaintained kitchen exhaust systems. Thankfully there have been no deaths or casualties, but for staff and patrons alike I cannot imagine a more terrifying scenario. Fires in restaurants/cafes can start for a variety of reasons and from a variety of sources. They are not always as a result of poorly maintained kitchen exhaust system, but often enough they are. 40% of all restaurant fires start in the kitchen. A common cause of fires in kitchens is accumulated grease being exposed to an ignition point. For example naked flame from char grilling or perhaps wok cooking ignites grease that has been allowed to accumulate in the filters. As the exhaust fan is switched on during cooking it inadvertently becomes a villain. It will be

sucking in another crucial element need to sustain a fire – oxygen and it will be “drawing” the fire into the ducts where, if there is grease present a disaster will happen. Another very scary element that contributes to the fire taking hold is that the fire detection and suppression equipment is heavily clogged and laden with grease and is therefore prevented from doing its intended job. The speed in which this type of fire can take hold is frightening.

The “Dodgy” Epidemic Our industry is changing rapidly and to highlight some of these changes I’ve done a bit of research (thank you Google and Australian Bureau of Statistics). Year

1999

Present

Number of restaurants/ cafes in Australia

11,500

40,000 (approx.)

Of course back in 1999 there were not very many duct cleaning companies around either and those that were successful back then usually provided a pretty good service. Now just about every man and his bucket has decided there is a quick buck to be made and our industry is flooded with unprofessional and often downright dodgy duct cleaning businesses, bringing our reputation into question. Extra care has to be taken to ensure that best practices are followed and that for your money you really are reducing your risk of fire.

*Not all Exhaust Cleaning Services are “Complete.” When contracting for cleaning services, it is important to ensure you get a complete cleaning of your entire system. Some contractors offer a “hood cleaning service which does not include the duct work or rooftop fan. While such services may keep the interior of the kitchen looking sharp, they do little to secure fire safety and reduce health threats. Only a complete cleaning of the system – from the hood in the kitchen to the fan on the roof – will reduce the risk of kitchen fires and ensure compliance with fire regulations. Many companies are available today to clean kitchen exhausts. However, most companies do not clean to any standards, or just clean to the bare minimum. With 40% of all restaurant fires starting in the kitchen, it is more important than ever to make sure you hire a qualified professional that cleans to the highest standards. *source; www.ikeca.org

Grease dripping from canopy

Kitchen fires can start and spread alarmingly fast

because when they come in the canopy is nice and shiny. It’s not until some of the following events occur that questions are raised;

Above: Complaints about grease dripping from the roof. Left: Bad odours (from rancid grease),

The most common trickery we have discovered is the unprofessional or “dodgy” duct cleaner feeding off those who know

little about their system. The customer believes they are getting a kitchen exhaust system clean

In some cases the customer has been paying for years for a service they believed to be complete, but in fact all they were getting is a canopy clean. And sometimes only a cosmetic canopy clean (not even behind the filters). It is up to the customer to learn something about the system that they are spending good money to maintain and ensure good value for money. This starts with hiring the services of a reputable company who are well placed to provide sound advice. IF YOU HAVE TWO QUOTES THAT VARY GREATLY – THERE IS A GOOD REASON FOR IT!

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This influx of “dodgy” duct cleaners has resulted in reputable companies being forced to change the way they quote in an effort to stay competitive. A variety of options are now being offered and the most important I believe to be the monthly photographic inspection of the system. These photos are taken in accordance with AS 1851-2012 recommendations and are a very effective tool in the prevention of fire. *Kitchen Exhaust Professionals Should be Able to Provide you with: • Company qualifications, including certifications • Start and completion dates for the project • Certificates of insurance and applicable licenses • References *source; www.ikeca.org

Kitchen Fires Will Become More Commonplace This “dodgy” epidemic will in my opinion contribute to more and more fires in kitchen exhaust systems in the coming years. The emphasis once again is on the customer to ensure that they have at least a rudimentary understanding of the system and the financial means to maintain and monitor it. After all no one should even contemplate opening or running any business if they cannot provide the resources to safely maintain it.

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the guest experience and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In short: “Saving Energy Today...for a Greener Tomorrow.” SHS has installed thousands of guestroom energy management solutions in some of the premier hotel flags in Australia including Accor, IHG, Hilton, Hyatt, Marriott, Sheraton, Travelodge and Meriton Serviced Apartments.

After showing over 60% reduction in AC kWh usage during winter testing, Meriton Serviced Apartments has expanded its energy efficiency program by choosing ECOSYSTEM for its Pitt Street property. ECOSYSTEM was installed in over 178 suites with up to three Optic G1 model Passive Infrared (PIR) sensors and three Portal G1 wireless door sensors. This project was managed by Smart Hotel Solutions (SHS). Doron Danon, SHS’s Managing Director, said, “I have worked with hotel technology for over 20 years. We took the opportunity to work with the ECOSYSTEM product because I know its founders well and trust them to deliver a good solution. We were given a big challenge with Pitt Street because these are very large apartments. Some of our previous wireless [energy management] solutions simply wouldn’t work here. The apartments were retrofitted with ECOSYSTEM with very high occupancy in just under a couple of months. This initiative by Meriton Serviced Apartments has resulted in a saving of close to 700,000kWh of energy annually. We look forward to servicing additional projects for them in the future.”

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SUCCESSFUL INTEGRATION

Hotels

Nigel Wraight I manager, Thomas Wraight Pty Ltd, Facility and Property Services

he argument we typically hear is “what’s the point?” “What’s in it for me as the Engineer Manager apart from more headaches and more things to go wrong?” “The cost far outweighs any benefit”. We can begin talking about technology and products, most of which we’re sure you have heard variations of the same thing, just wearing a different dress (you’d be surprised how much of it comes from the same place, in fact the same factory). That’s not we’re about, the sell here is to bring it all together, everything that has an electron running in its system can be integrated with other devices and equipment to reduce costs, not just energy costs, but efficiency and operational costs. A decent integrated system will save you time, and labour is the second greatest cost to a business, second only to Real-estate. You will save money on Energy too. Hotel Engineering managers are faced with managing greater volumes of technology in their Hotels as the pressure increases for buildings to perform with improved sustainability and without an improved

budget. More technology means more computers on a desk, or does it? In this article, we’re going to talk about integration of an Energy Management System (EMS) to your Building Management System (BMS), but there are a plethora of systems which can integrate your hotel to a single operational internal web site, integrating and reporting for disciplines such as: • Equipment Asset Management • Equipment Register • Guest room booking, • Function room booking, • Fridges monitoring and alarms • Vertical rise • Access control • Security • Lighting control • Maintenance Management • Work order management • NABERS data • Alarms • Automated call outs, and much more

EFFECTIVE SYSTEM INTEGRATION Integration of systems is not an expensive task and is the key to optimising existing and future technology to deliver results. We define results as reducing manual data handling and making Engineering management easier, more effective and more proactive. The key word here is ‘effective’, as you can integrate a huge building system and it does nothing. Integration completed effectively and in consultation with the Engineering manager,

and other team manager’s can save time, money and a lot of stress. Integration is only limited by our imagination in solving problems. To demonstrate, we’ll use a few examples (all of these are considered for existing operational buildings).

EMS AND BMS ECONOMIES Should we add an additional Energy Management System (EMS) over and above the Building Management System (BMS)? Should we extend the existing BMS to include an EMS? Should we replace the BMS and refurbish the system with a combined BMS and EMS? Technically, you should get the same results in terms of monitoring your energy, but there are some hidden gems of economies in the different methods. 1. An additional EMS There are several reasons for this consideration, such as: • there is no existing BMS • the existing BMS is obsolete and using a proprietary protocol, and • the existing BMS is a ‘captive single vendor system’.

Eliminating these reasons and integrating a combined EMS and BMS whole building system means a greater capital expense than just an EMS and this capital may not be available for some time. There is a way to help and assist with ‘future proofing’ an EMS when the capital becomes available. Any EMS considered should be an open protocol system. An open system will mean

the EMS can communicate with a BMS without the need for a gateway (gateways are often a source of communication errors – don’t go there).

open’ systems. They comply with the specification, but do not ‘like’ other vendors and will not communicate with them.

Integration between two systems that both have the same open protocol is seamless and effective as the BMS can ‘talk’ to the EMS and vice versa. Beware of ‘proprietary

For this discussion, we assume the existing BMS (or EMS) is an open protocol and the integration is straightforward in terms of extending the existing BMS network to

2. Integrating an existing BMS and an EMS

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include energy monitoring devices. This works well if all the devices are of the same protocol – that is, all devices are available in the same protocol and are competitively priced. But, this doesn’t happen. Vendors of energy monitoring devices have different pricing for different protocols and, if a very specific and unique device is needed, there will be a very narrow market and there will be less opportunity to obtain a device that uses the existing protocol. An open platform web server that can communicate seamlessly with different protocols and be accessed via an IP address is required to resolve this. In a nutshell, the web server lives at the top of the network tree and in open protocol systems, such as Lon, bacnet and modbus, the sub-networks all communicate seamlessly back to the web server and exchange data with the web server. No Gateways are used. (gateways are another topic altogether, generally speaking consultants don’t like them and we don’t like them; they can be a source of errors and poor communications, our recommendations is to avoid “gateways” if you can). Once all devices are communicating either on the same open protocol network or via a web server, it is a matter of programming the systems’ interoperability. What this means is programming the exchange of relevant data between the systems. We want data that is useful – not junk – for effective integration. For example, when the EMS notices that a power consumption set point has

been exceeded and that the outside air temperature is within limits (as sent from the BMS), the compressors’ start is delayed (the EMS flags the BMS to activate the delay part of the code for the A/C unit). There are infinite strategies like this – the only limitation is our imagination to solve the challenge. Ultimately, the results are reflected in the power bill and NABERS rating of a building. Ideally, the Engineering manager (or subcontractor) should be tracking energy usage in line with the strategies in place. The second option is to export the EMS data to Excel or a similar program. Energy meters can be separately exported to an Excel file and energy suppliers can email a building’s daily power usage to you in Excel form, showing not just the power consumption per feed, but the power factor as well. Extract outside air temperature, room temperature and other data trend logs from the BMS and export these to Excel. If you bring these files together, you can interpret the data to see where you can make improvements. The time to do this may not be available; however, if a BMS and EMS are well set up with trend logs, it is just a matter of training an employee or using an external supplier to help out. To be effective, an EMS and BMS need the ability to trend log. If a system doesn’t have this functionality it is highly obsolete and should be avoided. 3. Metering and sub-metering Let’s assume that an EMS has been installed and a large amount of data is now available from different electrical energy meters. What now? What do we do with this data? There are two options. The first is to add an additional software package that will display graphs programmed to provide the relevant information via an IP address. The programming of these graphs is critical to their usefulness.

There is no point in producing graphs without a comparison or verification benchmark that enables you to see whether results are occurring and whether the strategies in place are delivering data that verifies the return on investment of these strategies.

OTHER SYSTEM INTEGRATION ADVANTAGES Systems integration on site can provide a proactive opportunity for building management. For example, if the BMS is interfaced into the vertical rise system and a fault has developed in one of the cars at 7am, the system will send an email to the Engineering manager’s phone. The Engineering manager can then send a pre-set email broadcast to all teams to let them know that they are aware of the problem and that the service supplier has been notified to rectify the situation. This means that there won’t be any nasty calls to the Engineering/General manager, the supplier will be on their way and the teams will appreciate having a proactive Engineer managing their Hotel. The cost to implement something like this would be circa $5000 (subject to the site system). There is also an additional opportunity to add value when it comes to sub-metering as NABERS looks favourably upon this when an assessment is complete. Thomas Wraight is an independent company that can organise an EMS installation for you, source and implement a BMS/EMS upgrade, implement and manage the whole thing or do the whole thing. Our mandate is that all passwords are given to the owner at end of warranty; the owner owns the system and has full rights, not the Subcontractor/Consultant/Energy Company/Controls Company or anyone else. They can be contacted on 1300 920 752 or visit www.thomaswraight.com

Regulation Update

Tender Documents: Maintenance Costs: Essential Safety Measures Derek Hendry I Hendry Group

UST – Essential Property Services advises building owners, property managers and hotel engineers that sloppy and inadequate tender documentation for essential safety measures maintenance contracts for buildings in the end will cost the building owner a lot of time, worry and money and prevent them from confidently signing the annual maintenance statement.

• Leaving it to the maintenance contractor to determine the number of inspections or testing routines with insufficient compliance documentation.

We trust this article will bring to the building owner’s attention, the issues that should be accounted for under the Building Regulations for essential safety measures tender document.

• To stay in business contractors will often sign an annual maintenance statement. What credence can be given to the annual maintenance statement when it is left to the contractor to decide what does or does not comply?

Insufficient Information

• A signed annual maintenance statement by a maintenance contractor will provide little protection for the building owner in court. Building owners cannot delegate their responsibilities under statutory building regulations and will bear sole responsibility when receiving a building notice. The building owner’s agreement with the maintenance contractor, which is based on the contractor’s tender documentation for example, will substantially contribute to the outcome of the proceedings.

Insufficient information in a tender document for maintenance of essential safety measures is a recipe for disaster for all concerned. In a number of tenders it appears the primary focus is to ensure the cheapest possible quotation is obtained. These types of tenders do not ensure that the owner’s minimum duty of care or statutory obligations under relevant building regulations will be met. Most tenders do not contain a good quality control system or verification process to validate contractor’s maintenance compliance, even during the defects liability period which is usually twelve months. Obviously these processes add cost and are therefore left behind.

Tender Document Deficiencies Some of the following issues contain glaring deficiencies in essential safety measures tender documents. Advising maintenance contractors that it is their responsibility to ensure compliance with all regulations and Australian Standards relative to essential safety measures: • Not all building regulations and standards apply to the nominated essential safety measures. Therefore how would the maintenance contractor know? • In many situations specific statutory documentation (determinations, occupancy permits, essential safety measures schedules, notices, etc.) is issued by an authority for compliance, but not provided to tenderers, leaving a minefield of variations.

• Employees of maintenance contractors are not necessarily aware of all the regulations and again, token consideration to compliance is given when annual maintenance statements are to be signed.

Knowledge Documents that provide potentially unacceptable outcomes for the building owner are often drafted through ignorance of compliance building regulations and as such are solely driven by price. A tender writer can no longer rely on prior knowledge where building regulations provides the basis for inspections, testing and maintenance. The subject area is not broad, however the consequences of non-compliance for all stakeholders will be harsh. Although across Australia there are no uniform processes in place to ensure buildings are maintained to an acceptable level, you can be assured that local authorities will act when an emergency or incident occurs in a building, utilising the punitive provisions of their building regulations against the building owner where there is a lack of compliance. Maintenance tender documents must reflect the building regulations imposed on the building owner. They should specify the frequency of the inspections and delivery of statutory documentation (occupancy permit, essential safety measures determinations/ schedules) for accurate assessments to be made by the contractors,

or spell these conditions out in the scope of works, and nominate minimum qualifications for the operatives involved in inspections of essential safety measures in a building.

Discharge From Exits: Essential Safety Measures AUST – Essential Property Services advises that ‘discharge from exits’ is a provision in the Building Code of Australia to maintain a safe unobstructed path of travel from the ‘exit door’ of a building to a road or open space. Discharge from exits are always nominated as essential safety measures by the building surveyor/ building certifier.

Building Code of Australia Discharge From Exits The Building Code of Australia (BCA) contains a number of provisions containing clauses relative to ‘discharge from exits’ i.e. D1.7, D1.9 to D1.11, D2.13, G4.3, G4.6 and G4.7. The BCA requires the discharge from exits path (egress) to be at least 1m wide (must be wider under certain conditions), open to the sky for its full length, installed with bollards to prevent vehicles obstructing and its surface to be sufficient to accept foot traffic under a building permit. The following illustration from BCA Illustrated depicts a building’s discharge from exits. (Please note ‘Issues and Explanation’ not included).

measures schedules/ determinations. This shows the importance of ensuring paths of travel from the discharge from exits point of a building to a road or open space is vital in the protection of life safety. An essential safety measures auditor must check that no illegal works have taken place that can affect the discharge from exits safe evacuation, ensuring fire safety compliance and that exits are not blocked, bollards are in place if required, no obstructions exist in the pathway to a road or open space and that the ground surface has no trips or fall hazards. Any non-compliant items should be listed in the essential safety measures logbook to allow for signing the Annual Statement, Annual Certificate of Compliance, Annual Fire Safety Statement, Annual Maintenance Statement and Annual Occupiers Statement.

Annual Occupiers Statement: Prescribed Fire Safety Installations QLD – Essential Property Services advises that the Annual Occupiers Statement can be a building owner’s, property manager’s or Body Corporation manager’s nightmare. Property managers have obligations with regards to providing an Annual Occupiers Statement for fire safety installations to the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service (QFRS) Commissioner under the Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (BFSR). The BFSR and the Queensland Development Code MP 6.1 require that building owners, property and Body Corporation managers within Queensland ensure they prepare and lodge a copy of the Annual Occupiers Statement with the Commissioner of the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service each year. The Annual Occupiers Statement is a declaration that the prescribed fire safety installations are being serviced, maintained and tested as per the requirements and schedules detailed in AS 1851-2005 ‘Maintenance of fire protection systems and equipment’. Details of the prescribed fire safety installations (which are needed for the Annual Occupiers Statement) are listed on the building’s ‘Certificate of Classification’ which also details the applicable Australian Standards pertaining to the maintenance and testing of the building’s installed prescribed fire safety installations. The requirement for an Annual Occupiers Statement is applicable to all Class 1b, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 buildings.

The following is a part extract of Clause I1.1 for an Essential Safety Measure known as discharge from exits:

The Annual Occupiers Statement should detail the following; • Name and address of the building

Table I1.2 SAFETY MEASURES - MEANS OF EGRESS

Safety Measure

BCA provisions for determining standard of performance

Discharge from exits (including paths of travel from open spaces to the public roads to which they are connected)

D1.7, D1.9 to D1.11, D2.12

Essential Safety Measures Audit Discharge From Exits Some state authorities recommend building surveyors/ certifiers to nominate three-monthly inspections in their essential safety

• List of prescribed fire safety installations installed within the building • Applicable Australian Standards or relevant maintenance requirements for each prescribed fire safety installation • Condition of the prescribed fire safety installation i.e. any critical defect issued or not over that annual period, and • Date of rectification of any critical defects over the 12 month period. (Note: all critical defects should be rectified immediately after issue of a critical defect notice by a competent person, as defined within the BFSR 2008).

Building owners, property and Body Corporation managers should ensure they are provided with an annual ‘Record of Maintenance’ and ‘Condition Report’ from their approved fire protection contractors to enable the Annual Occupiers Statement to be accurately prepared for lodgement. Furthermore, building owners, property and Body Corporation managers should ensure that they are provided with ‘Records of Maintenance’ and ‘Condition Reports’ from their tenants with regards to the maintenance and testing of prescribed fire safety installations applicable to the individual tenancy fitout, to support the Annual Occupiers Statement. Building owners, property and Body Corporation managers are responsible to ensure that all base building prescribed fire safety installations are compliant with the relevant legislation and Australian Standards as detailed within the ‘Certificate of Classification’ or relevant ‘building approval documentation’ pertaining to the building before signing the Annual Occupiers Statement. Tenants, as mentioned before, are generally responsible for ensuring any prescribed fire safety installations are maintained and tested, which have been installed to supplement the base building prescribed fire safety installations, due to the tenancy fitout requirements. These should be allowed for when signing the Annual Occupiers Statement. However, while tenant obligations may be reduced or increased dependant on the contents of the lease agreement with the building owner or managing body, all must comply under the BFSR when signing the Annual Occupiers Statement. A template for the format applicable to the annual ‘Occupier’s Statement’ within Queensland is contained in the Queensland Development Code MP 6.1 Schedule 2, and this can be used to lodge with the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Commissioner under the BFSR as your building’s Annual Occupiers Statement.

20 - 22 May, 2014 Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre

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Arbs Exhibitions Limited

Back oF House

Neil Weenink

One’s first Hotel General Manger lays down the fiery mantle so to speak; and from there ‘tis all up hill, or on rare occasions, even down hill. Always dependent on the way the wind blows, and how his wife is feeling at the time.

homas Smithson GM was a case in point. In 1973 I arrived in Bangladesh with the princely position of Chief Engineer of the Dacca InterContinental Hotel. First job as a Hotel Chief begoora. For the life of me I can not remember the Housekeeper’s name – even that to this day we have the odd towel emblazoned with IHC in the linen locker. As many will doubtless be aware, the company name from April 2003 became InterContinental Hotels Group or IHG. Prior to that time IHC [the C here is for Corporation] was head-quartered in New York and was very closely aligned with Pan American Airways. So in the Letters which your scribe writes to the Hotel Engineer, you will often see mention of Pan Am and IHC as they once were. Aye. Kings of the skies and apartments for the rich and famous.

from European management and that for one quarter of the fee the locals could achieve parity or better. This situ is by no means new to many of you, and the results will be well known! Thomas Smithson is the only GM I have served who shed tears of sadness upon his announcing to staff that he was leaving. Mind, I should add that it was also on this tenure that I was obliged to fire [or sack if you prefer] my Assistant Chief Mr Chowdry again via the hotel owners. I can see the poor fellow as I write these notes. Terrible business for me certainly. For him, stiff upper lip and almost Prussian dignity. Wearing an immaculate 3 piece suit, back ramrod strait, awaiting the blade. Now it was my turn to shed the proverbial...

Thomas Smithson’s wife was newly demobbed from the Royal Air Force and in the days we speak of, accompanied Thomas on his various appointments with IHC. They were golden days if you discounted the lack of equipment parts, and the lack of real skill at the coal face. Madeleine and I would stand in for them when on the occasions they took much needed leave, and it was on one such break that Tom introduced me to pressurised Palmolive Shaving Cream. This was in 1973 and for a while there, we too were Kings in Glass Castles.

The Pan-Am saga was enormously interesting. Interesting? My goodness it was overwhelming!! You had the interface of Britains Frank Whittle, designing the first jet engine which would ultimately give the power for supersonic flight, and the huge capability of Boeing putting much of it together. A few years earlier when the 747 did its obligatory inter-continental flight, [pardon the pun] Madeleine and I were camped out beneath a hi-voltage pylon on the outskirts of Paris. It was our first sight of the great machine, seemingly crawling upwards from cloud to cloud levelling out at last in the stratosphere, in which the big jet engines surely thrive.

Sadly the Smithsons had to move on. The hotel owners reckoned enough was enough

Thus it was that last month, with my spouse, we took an 18 hour flight from Brisbane

to Dallas – Texas with connections to the cruise ship Carnival Magic home-ported in Galveston in the Gulf of Mexico. Here it was that I was brought up with a round turn in accepting a huge sea-change, as the ship herself was indeed operated along the lines of a large hotel! Glory be Maxine! Gone were all the beloved nautical descriptors, and gone was the opportunity to ‘go below’ and visit the 75,600 kW of Wartsila diesel electric power plant. Progress? Security? On one day we were anchored off and travelled by ships life boats to shore. To embark the life boats it was necessary to go well below the lower passenger deck, and thus to the bowels – well, not quite, as here at sea level within the ship was the immaculate white painted air-craft hanger sized [almost] staff way entirely without obstruction; and on the full length walls [almost] were vast plans of where and how to reach anything, as in a giant underground control room. I was hugely impressed. But of the 6 – Wartsila 12V46 4-stroke diesel electrics, darn it: sorry Sir you are not permitted. Which was a pity because I am a hardened adherent of rotary engine power, as opposed to the 4-stroke up and downer – only producing power on one of its 4 strokes. But so it goes. Stay well.. Neil

ADVERTORIAL

The Future OF REFRIGERATION

RBS 2014, Australia’s industry tradeshow for the air conditioning, refrigeration and building services industries, is holding a panel discussion on the future of refrigeration and a series of seminars about topical issues in our industry.

range of refrigerant gases. Panellists will discuss forecast changes in technology and sales volumes, rates of growth in different sectors, new skills required and so on between now and 2025.

With rumoured HFC phase down, a session from Michael McCann of Thinkwell and Peter Brodribb of the Expert Group reporting on the research they’ve been doing in this space for the Department of Environment will be educational. The phase down of HFCs will require the widespread adoption of new generation refrigerants such as HFOs. The research report is predicted to be published just prior to ARBS.

• R744: once thought to be a wasteful chemical requiring too much high pressure to be feasible as a coolant, environmentalists now hail R744 as an answer to growing concerns. Fans believe that R744 as a coolant for refrigeration and other cooling systems is the future for industrial equipment

The panel discussion – dubbed a “super panel” by ARBS organisers as it gathers together people from government, industry, regulators and standards bodies – will look at how our industry needs to adapt and prepare for handling and using a whole new

You’ll also hear about:

– Designation and Safety Classification system will replace AS NZS 1677:1986 Refrigerating systems. In separate sessions: • Steve Smith of TAFE NSW will discuss R32, the flammable synthetic that’s a precursor to some of the new refrigerants, and what you need to know to work with it.

• European F gas legislation and its implications for Australia

• Kevin Lee will discuss the new A2L low flammable refrigerants

• ISO 5149 and ISO 817 releases and adoption as replacements for AS/NZS 1677 Hear from industry and Standards Australia about the new ISO 5149 Refrigerating systems and heat pumps – Safety and environment requirements, and how it and ISO 817 Refrigerants

• Patrick McInerney will explain where government is at with the repeal of the carbon tax. A complete list of ARBS seminars is available at www. arbs.com.au and registrations are now open. ARBS 2014 will be held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre from 20-22 May 2014.

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The Samsung HG890 and HG690 series displays help to create a luxurious guest room experience, with Samsung Smart Hub1, Soft Ap, Samsung TV Apps2 and 3D capabilities3 on the HG890 Series. Highlights • • • • •

Help create a sophisticated viewing environment with designs that compliment premium luxury suites or rooms. Offer an enhanced guest experience with wireless connection to compatible personal devices. Customise important hotel content using the Samsung LYNK™4 Internet Protocol (IP) network.4 Help to protect content with Samsung LYNK™ Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. Offer guests a wide variety of channel selections with the built-in DVB-T2/C/S2 tuner without the need for a head-end system.

HG890

Images used for illustration purposes only. Samsung HTV utilise LCD displays with LED back or edge lighting. 1. Certain features not available without express consent regarding the collection and use of personal information. Some features may require additional peripheral devices which are sold separately. Certain advertised features, applications and services may not be available on all models and regions and are subject to change without notice. Internet connection required. Data and subscription charges may apply. Certain features require RF signal and only work on Free to Air channels. 2. Applications may need to be downloaded from Samsung Apps. Internet connection required. Data, subscription and other charges may apply. Usage may be subject to third party service provider agreements. 3. 3D glasses required to view 3D content. 3D glasses sold separately. 4. Internet connection required. Data and subscription charges may apply.

Contact Paul Yardley to discuss your Hotel TV options Delivery for all Samsung Hotel TVs is freight free to all Australian metropolitan areas and major regional cities.

T 1300 659 053 M 0412 974 878 F 1300 659 063 E paul@yardleyhospitality.com.au W www.yardleyhospitality.com.au

HG690

Exhibitor Prospectus

Outrigger Resort Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia 7th & 8th August 2014

www.AIHEUpdate.com.au

Exhibition of up to 50 key industry suppliers Up to 250 delegates in attendance Delegates include key decision makers in hotel engineering

Industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading body, providing hotel engineers from across the national with a forum for progressive thought and best practice standards.

25 Anniversary Update Conference

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF HOTEL ENGINEERING INC

AIHE

25 EL E B R ATIN 14 YEA 0 R S IN 2

ROOM DEAL

THE VENUE

THE EVENT

25 EL E B R ATIN 14 YEA 0 R S IN 2

AIHE Exhibitor & Delegated deal: From $135 per night Upon submission of your Exhibitor Contract, details and promotion link will be issued

Outrigger Surfers Paradise 22 View Ave, Surfers Paradise, QLD, Australia

The AIHE Conference is held bi-annually, bringing together the hotel industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s key decision makers and experts from across Australia and the world. AIHE Conferences have been providing inspiration and essential resources to the hotel engineers of Australia for 25 years (in 2014).

Founded in 1988, the Institute aims to provide its members with the latest developments in engineering, construction & technology. With a national membership base and chapters in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Western Australia - the AIHE brings together a group that offers diverse experience and an extensive knowledge pool.

Boulevard 1

46 13

45 14

Registrations / Tea & Coffee Official Welcome Keynote Speaker Trade Show Opening & Morning Tea Keynote Speaker Lunch & Trade Show Keynote Speaker Afternoon Tea & Trade Show Keynote Speaker Cocktail Party

Exhibitor bump in Exhibitor Welcome

THE FLOOR PLAN

THURSDAY 7/8/14

WEDNESDAY 6/8/14

THE PROGRAM *Program subject to change

Welcome Keynote Speaker Morning Tea & Trade Show Keynote Speaker Lunch & Trade Show Keynote Speaker Afternoon Tea & Trade Show Keynote Speaker Closing Address Gala Dinner

FRIDAY 8/8/14

Delegate Database

25th Anniversary Badge

12 month Affiliate Membership of AIHE (Value $110)

12sqm In Foyer

Photo

12sqm In Foyer

Photo

Banner & Slideshow

Brochure/ Merchandise

Sponsors Welcome

$5500

Gold (1 Avail)

6sqm In Foyer

Photo

Slideshow

Flyer

$4400

Silver + (11 Avail)

6sqm In Ballroom

Photo

Slideshow

Flyer

$3850

Silver (21 Avail)

900mm Sign

Table Top (1m Panel) in Ballroom

Photo

Slideshow

Flyer

$2200

Bronze (11 Avail)

SSS Events are a Gold Coast based leading regional business event display equipment hire company. Upon confirmation as an exhibitor you will receive an Exhibitor Booth Kit. All exhibitors must complete & return the Sign Upgrade & Furniture Order Form by 6/7/14. Freecall 1300 833 377 or email Expo@SSSEvents.com.au

THE EXHIBITION HIRE COMPANY

EXHIBITOR BOOKINGS CONTACT Bev Allen - AIHE Qld Secretary PO Box 5118 GCMC QLD 9726 Phone: 0403 208 981 (Ms Bev Allen) Email: Admin@AIHE.com.au

Booth Bundle - Trestle table, Cloth and 2 x Banquet Chairs. Additional exhibitor staff - $450 (includes one full delegate package) Prices inc GST. If paying by credit card, AIHE will absorb any surcharges or administration fees by merchant. Sponsorship categories are limited and will be allocated on a first in basis.

12sqm In Foyer

Exhibition Booth Size

Booth Bundle

Photo

Banner & Slideshow

Branding at Main Stage

Hotel Engineer Magazine

Brochure/ Merchandise

Branding in Satchel

Banner & Slideshow

Event Welcome

Gala Dinner

Exclusive Partnership

$6600

Platinum (1 Avail)

Tickets to Functions Including Worshops

$7700

Inclusions

Diamond (1 Avail)

Submit Exhibitor Contract & pay prior to 28/2/14 to receive 10% discount on below Site Investment. 10% non-refundable deposit required on signing of Exhibitor Contract to secure preferred site number and full payment must be received by 30/6/14 to guarantee all benefits.

EARLY BIRD BOOKING

THE OPPORTUNITIES

ING

0 R S IN 2

L E B R AT

YEA

7th & 8th August 2014

Queensland, Australia

Outrigger Resort Surfers Paradise,

UPDATE CONFERENCE

AIHE

_______

x ______

1 x 3 phase outlet @ $242.00

Tax invoices will be forwarded to successful applicants

Final Balance Due 30-06-2014

Deposit (10%) Due now

Phone

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Company Title Date

Authorised Person (please print)

Signature

I hereby acknowledge having read the terms and conditions of this Contract appearing within this prospectus, and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If I sign this Contract as an employee, servant or agent of this Exhibitor, I warrant that I have the authority to enter into this Contract on behalf of the Exhibitor and agree to be personally bound by the terms and conditions of the agreement.I acknowledge and understand that AIHE has Safety Management Systems and OH & S Guidelines and that all those associated with our participation will be bound by the guidelines within these documents.

DECLARATION

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/ Expiry Date

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Electronic Funds Transfer into account: BSB 084 462 Account No 205126424 Reference (invoice number or company name) OR

Cheque - Made payable to Australian Institute of Hotel Engineers

All payments must be made out in Australian dollars from an Australian bank account and free of all charges. Any cancellation of Contract must be submitted in writing. Cancellation of site Contract prior to 28-02-2014 will incur a 10% penalty for administration and delivery of services and Contract cancellations following this date will incur up to 100% of total site value.

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Preferred Site Number Site Size *Please Tick One Diamond 12sqm (6m x 2m or 4m x 3m) Platinum 12sqm (6m x 2m or 4m x 3m) Gold 12sqm (6m x 2m or 4m x 3m) Silver Plus 6sqm (3m x 2m in Foyer) Silver 6sqm (3m x 2m in Ballroom) Bronze 1m

Name of Insurer

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Exhibitors Listing Details

EXHIBITOR APPLICATION

exhibitor contRact

The Company • Reserves the right to vary the space allocated to the Exhibitor if to do so would be in the interest of a better Exhibition; • Reject any display that is not inkeeping with the intent of the Exhibition; • Reserves the right to cancel the Exhibitors right to occupancy and eject the exhibitor where the exhibitor breaches any of the terms and conditions.

The Exhibitor Shall: • Not assign or sublet any part of the space without the written consent of The Company. • Not remove any goods, displays etc from the Expo before or during the Expo, until official close time. • Maintain displays in keeping with the corporate standard expected within the Expo. • Hold timeless The Company from liability for any loss or damage by theft, fire, water or like causes to any of their goods, displays or tools of trade. • Comply with ALL legislation, regulations or by law in force under any federal, state or local legislation in respect of the conduct of the Exhibitor in the space. • Maintain a public and product liability policy of insurance for an amount of not less than $10,000,000 (ten million dollars) for the duration of the Expo. The Exhibitor indemnifies and will indemnify The Company, its agents, contractors and employees from all actions, claims, demands, losses, damages and expenses arising from the participants use of the site and without limitation • In the event of its breach of any of the terms and conditions hereunder, the Exhibitor forfeits all or any monies paid hereunder to The Company and be liable to The Company for all or any damages suffered by The Company in relation to such breach.

In consideration of the AIHE (herein referred to as “The Company”) accepting the deposit paid by the Exhibitor and allocating a space, the Exhibitor acknowledges accepts the terms and conditions of participation; not limited to the following:

After insurance Certificate of Currency must be received by 30/6/14.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Plumbing and Fire Services Systems

Neil McPherson I Partner, Watermark Services Group

In the last edition of the Hotel Engineers journal we looked at plumbing heated and cold water systems, relevant standards and materials and how they are generally to be installed and tested. In this issue we look at a specific hydraulic service and discuss the design and install practices. We explain the installation and whether it complies with those essential requirements of Australian Codes and Standards and what elements should be addressed in planned maintenance or repairs.

Fire Hydrant System is an essential service that may never be called upon to operate during the life of the building; and thankfully many buildings will never experience a fire emergency.The reasons being building owners, engineers and hotel staff are conscience of potential for fire, and so going about their daily work observe and report those likely fire risks relating to fire stairs, fire exit lighting and alarms etc. It is their diligence that helps avoid fires and ensures readiness. Fire hydrants pipework is hidden away in cupboards, ceiling space and wall, never to be seen or will be inspected.The requirement for testing hydrant systems relates to the Australian Standard AS1851 Maintenance of Fire Protection Systems and Equipment and AS2419 Fire Hydrants. It is within these standards that the prescribed deemed to satisfy test conditions apply.These prescribed provisions list the system components and the frequency of testing required by property owners or engineers. Seldom we fully appreciate those requirements related to ongoing inspection, testing and routine maintenance of fire hydrants. As engineers the question must be always asked, “what can we do to ensure our fire hydrant system is ready for operation in full fire condition”. And what things we can do to assist us.These may include;

• Purchase and become familiar with the current fire hydrant standards for both installation and maintenance. Attend industry-training days on fire engineering and risk prevention. • Display up to-date fire hydrant block plans, fixed to, or adjacent to the front entry to the building and fire boost assembly unit. • Conduct visual inspections of the system; look for any changes in the pipework condition (rusting) and or bracketing as you go about your daily work. • Engage the services of a competent fire engineer that conducts periodic testing and certification. Annual testing is a requirement of the fire standards. • Accompany the fire engineer inspecting the pipes and bracketing and ask the questions, will this system hold together under fire fighting conditions. • Plan for your 5 yearly hydrostatic pressure test and booster test of the system. Never leave it to the last minute to make any repairs or improvements. • Ensure the required tests which include the yearly and 5 yearly test is being carried out by persons having a quality plan and uses calibrated equipment.The operator must have proven competencies for the essential services test being performed. Many failures can be avoided with proper planning.

• Maintain a copy of all completed test certificates onsite.

Material, pipe supports and pipe anchors for fire hydrant pipework Galvanised mild steel pipe and fittings are mostly used today for above ground fire hydrant systems.They shall have a wall thickness as specified for a particular pipe size and coated with 300milligrams/per m2 of galvanizing. However there is many other factors influencing the longevity of the materials including, jointing systems and bracketing of hydrant systems. The factors most likely to affect the service life of system and materials are; • The quality of the pipe steel and manufacture. • The consistency of coating on the internal and external surfaces of the pipe. • The restoration of coating damage during the installation and throughout the service life. • The pipe end cuts are repaired with protected coating at the time of installation. • The type, quality of couplings of the joint assembly. Roll groove couplings must include

bolts of a specified size and have a coating that will prevent corrosion. • The environment in which the pipes are installed, moist, closed environments will accelerant corrosion of the external surfaces. • The frequency of fresh water entering the piping system, the increased frequency of fresh oxygenated (mains water) water will increase internal corrosion in the pipe system. • The quality of the pipe brackets, pipe supports and anchors. Pipe penetration through walls and floors if not sealed may lead to corrosion.The size and length of wall/ceiling anchors are listed in AS2419.1. Purchasing galvanised steel pipe made and coated in Australia is now nearly impossible to find, due the restraints on pipe manufacturing, the galvanizing and manufacturing cost has pushed this market off shore. Countries like China and the Middle East are now recognised as the major suppliers of galvanized steel pipe. When deciding on pipe material, check the pipe marking on the pipe and verify that the pipe meets AS2419.1 requirements. Pipe shall be marked with the following;

• Manufacturers name • Diameter (e.g;100mm ) • Thickness (e.g; 100mm pipe medium grade 3.04mm or Schedule 10) • Standard No (e.g; ASTM, AS1074) • Max working pressure (e.g; kPa) • List reference (e.g; Certification to CSORO, UL, FM and relevant standard number) • Galvanising specification (e.g; AS/NZS 4680) • Traceability number (heat number and date) The installer of any fire hydrant pipes and fittings should be supplied with certificates of material and test. Other material shall be similarly marked in accordance with the product standard.This includes; • Fire Hydrant valve AS2419.3 • Brackets and supports UL, FM At the completion of any new installation, repair and or extension of service, obtain from the installer all materials information sheets before accepting the system handover.

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Performance of a hydrant service A fire hydrant system is designed to satisfy AS24129.1 which is principally a charged water pipe system and capable of providing minimum water pressures and flows enabling fire fighters to operate the ancillaries, hoses and valve safely for the duration of a fire. The number of hydrants required will depend on the type and size of a building relating to a number of required hydrants to flow simultaneously.The flow requirement at any attack fire hydrant valve is generally 10 litres per second at a minimum pressure of 250kPa. However in some state and territories this design pressure may be greater. For feed hydrants (outside building) before a booster assembly is a minimum of 150kPa is specified in NSW and 200kPa in other states. When the system is operating by a fixed onsite pump the minimum pressure shall not be less

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than 700kPa at the most disadvantaged hydrant.There a requirement of a maximum pressure limitation of 1300kpa at any fire hydrant to ensure that operation of the system is safe.

Fire Booster Assemblies The fire booster assembly is what I refer to as the most likely place where a hydrant system failure will occur, for this reason I think of it is the heart of the system.These booster assemblies comprise of many parts and devices deliberately designed for a specific function. Including; • Isolation valve, locked open • By pass water meter assembly • Backflow protection device and test ports, to ensure contaminated water doe not entry the water utility mains. Isolation valves are installed on the inlet and outlet for testing. • Feed hydrant rise and valves, supplies water to the fire truck. Preferable with a pressure gauge (65mm diameter) installed. Note the angle of hydrants is facing downward. • Isolation and backflow device, installed between the feed hydrant riser and boost hydrant riser. • Booster valves with pressure gauge (65mm diameter) • Support blocks to take the pipe weight and structure • Hose tap to test flow at the booster valve Hotel engineers are charged with the responsibility to have a system installed and services ready for operational use.The importance can never be understated and for this reason we must remain up to date with all aspects of the system and its function.

Location of Fire hydrants Fire hydrants are classified as either internal or external and either attack/feed or attack hydrants. The location of hydrants is the main concern when a fire occurs, many hydrants cannot be located, they are hidden in bushes, not positioned in a building as required that provides adequate access and in many circumstances just do not comply with the standard. A hydrant valve must be operational at all times, easy to access and be supplied with a handle. In most states and territories hydrant valves are fitted with a storz and similar coupling to allow fast connection of hoses. The height of a hydrant valve should be between 750mm -1200mm above floor level and must have a clearance around the handle of 300mm.The requirements for positioning hydrant valves are clearly specified in AS2419.1 20012. Remember each valve must fitted with an identification number label of at least 20mm in diameter. Australian Standards has recently published A2419 Part 1 Installation of Fire Hydrants 2012, it is comprehensive and provides technical notes on the reason for the specified requirement. We recommend that all hotel engineers purchase this standard. Watermark Services Group is NATA Accredited to conduct independent inspections of installed fire hydrant and water supply services systems.We conduct material testing, pressure testing witness, thickness testing, flow testing.View our services at www.watermarkservicesgroup.com In the next edition of Hotel Engineers we will look at cold water systems, including storage of water and pumping for plumbing.

Overcoming ‘Technophobia’ Helps the Office Embrace New Solutions

Elizabeth DukeS

Facility Management Workplace Technology

ne main problem that facilities managers face is “technophobia” – in short, reluctance from some people to embrace new computerised solutions they’re not familiar with. Facilities departments today have countless reasons to introduce new software packages around the office. Doing so can help them optimise their workspace, improve efficiency, track data better and ultimately improve workforce productivity. Unfortunately, though, implementing new facilities management solutions isn’t always easy. One main problem that facilities managers face is “technophobia” – in short, reluctance from some people to embrace new computerised solutions they’re not familiar with. When you roll out new software, you’re likely to encounter a wide variety of reactions. Some people will embrace the new way of doing work, but the technophobes will resist it. Your job, though it might be challenging, is to get all of these people to come together. According to FM World, it’s hard to change the minds of the technophobic, but it’s not impossible. Iain Maclachlan, an independent consultant who advises FM companies on implementing new technology, says it must be done. When you roll out a new solution, you need everyone on board. “A well-run project that takes into account all the concerns of the end users and fully engages them in the decision-making process will lead not only to a successful

outcome but can strengthen the employees’ commitment both to their own job function and to the overall aim and aspirations of the organisation,” Maclachlan writes. With that in mind, you should set out to defeat technophobia. Here are a few tips that should help.

Connect with people early If you want everyone on your team to be on board with your new software solution, you should make sure to engage with people early and often. Be sure to communicate with the team as soon as possible about the software you’re deploying, what it does, and how it will be an improvement over the old system. You should also provide a forum for people to share their questions, comments and concerns. This might take the form of face-to-face meetings, email bulletins or chats via social media. In any event, people need an outlet to discuss any problems they might have with new technology.

Start from the bottom up There are two different ways to unveil a new solution. One is the “top-down push,” where you start with the people who are most eager to accept change, and then let the rollout trickle down from there. The other approach is the opposite – going from the bottom up. The latter will probably work better. This way, you tackle the toughest

technophobes first, and the rollout becomes easier as you move up the ladder to people who are more and more accepting.

Train people effectively If you want people to accept your new technology, you must train them well to use it. Robert Heverly, assistant director of Albany Law School’s Government Law Centre, told the Albany Business Review, that teaching well is the best solution to people’s reluctance. “Getting employees over their technophobia is essential to remaining competitive in the modern marketplace,” Heverly stated. “Using training, giving employees an opportunity to learn about the new technologies, supporting them in that use, and committing the entire office to the new technology may help employees jump the phobia hurdle and help your office move to the front of the technology-use pack.”

Stay continually engaged Keeping people aware of new technology is not a one-time project. You can’t just introduce a new solution and then walk away – you need to continually engage with people. It should be an ongoing effort to make sure people understand the software, know how to use it and are able to maximise productivity. First published in The Australian Hospital Engineer Volume 37 No. 1

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wave UV-C light is used to power this chemical reaction. Phoenix systems are generally composed of three modules: 1. Prefilter module 2. Oxidation module 3. Catalyst module The polluted air is first conducted through an aerosol filter where particles, moisture droplets, and grease are removed. The prefiltered air goes to the reaction duct, where UV light initiates a chemical reaction. Molecules of odours and pollutants are activated by the absorption of UVC-light at wavelengths of about 254 nm and abated by oxidation with the generated “activated oxygen”, an oxidative reaction gas. “Activated oxygen” is used here as a collective term for the reactive oxygen compounds that are generated by the photo-oxidation process. These can be oxygen or hydroxyl radicals and ozone molecules, i.e., a mixture of gaseous oxidation substances. These forms are chemically very reactive due to their high energy level and state of charge and they tend to combine with oxidisable such as organic and inorganic odour- and pollutant-compounds.

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Common Commercial Sense Mike Geddes I poolwerx

pool and /or spa facility is a blessing for its public appeal and a burden for the responsibilities that go with it. It is important that you have fully trained and qualified maintenance staff caring for your pool at all times under any situation, under any bather load to ensure that your pool is sparkling and healthy. With the recent announcement and released new swimming pool and spa certification program all pool service maintenance staff will now be able to qualify for a cert III and cert IV in swimming pool and spa maintenance service. This is a national qualification which is aimed to lift the quality and standard of care of swimming pools. Make sure those who are looking after your swimming pools are qualified. By preventing water balance problems from occurring, regularly servicing equipment and achieving an equilibrium that typically requires fewer consumables to maintain. You will be able to contain cost at relatively predictable levels helping prevent disastrous surprises and to also reduce your own labour requirements. Whatever the size of your operation, it is important that you consider your own complexes individual circumstances and needs. You should consider on an annual basis the following... 1. Internal audit – Have a full and complete assessment of your pools current condition, suitability and state of equipment, maintenance regime, staff induction and training procedures, and recording of status and procedures completed. As each state now

has varying legislation and guidelines, it is important you make sure that these audits are in line and cover the requirements of these. Have you thought about an energy audit of your pool equipment and how much you can save by upgrading your pool pumps to energy efficient models? 2. P ool Management Planning – It is important that you have a current pool and spa management program and identify any omissions or weaknesses in regard to the operation of your pool and plant equipment. 3. Equipment and Software – Pool and spa water testing can only be carried out using photometric, colourmetric and spin testing equipment. These can now also be linked via computer software programs which will automatically provide you with a far more accurate analysis of the results and also provide safe handling methods for applying the chemicals to the pool or spa. These reports can also be saved as a register of your testing and results for local authorities should they wish to inspect them at any time. 4. Training – With the recent evacuation of a Sydney 5 star hotel where by staff and guests were overcome by chemical fumes due to chlorine and acid being mistakenly mixed. This caused dangerous gases to enter the hotels air conditioning system,

putting many people in danger and some were hospitalised. It is a timely reminder that all your staff are fully trained in the safe handling of dangerous chemicals involved in swimming pool maintenance. PoolWerx can assist in this area and often run Commercial Pool and Spa Operator Training (CPO) courses and can also assist with further onsite training. The following training is important for your hotel: • Chemical supply and handling • Log Books • Inspection Reports – Australian Standards Best Practice • Pool Management Planning – Contingency Plans • OH&S Compliance • Water Testing • Pool Hygiene and Cleaning • Water Treatment and Balance

Duty of Care – No one wishes to operate a pool which is unhealthy or unsafe. Most pool operators do their level best – and beyond the occasional hiccup that appears to be adequate. Do you have a maintenance routine, pool rules, the requisite safety signage, first aid kit and so on? However, the reality is that given the increasing complexity of regulations governing the operation of commercial pools, your facilities might not pass a government inspection, or your pool management measures may not stand up in a court of law should an incident occur. Regulations vary by state and local council tend to change frequently – and the whole area is filled with shades of grey, virtually impossible for anyone but a specialist to decipher. Whatever their good intentions, most operators unwittingly risk fines, orders, shut downs, and litigation by uses injured or made ill. In essence this is an implication that management will act responsible and with all due care, to make sure the pool, spa, water falls or fountains, does not represent a danger to those likely to bath in it or drink the water. More importantly they must be able to demonstrate that they have records and monitoring systems, which show that correct procedures and tests were carried out regularly.

Common Issues of Operators A number of misunderstandings tend to surround management of commercial pools. A large part of the reason is the changes in regulation have outpaced dissemination of information, and what was current yesterday may be out-dated today.

Are the regulations clear? Many of the states and council regulations involve words and phrases like should or is recommended, suggesting operator discretion is permissible.

For example, it is not compulsory to have a formal pool and spa management plan put into writing, communicated to relevant staff, and readily on hand in case of an incident. However, it is universally regarded as reasonable and prudent to do so. In other words, you don’t have to have a formal plan, but you are vulnerable if you don’t.

Having the Right Gear In every state, regulations dictate that your pools and spa equipment must be capable of handling peak bather loads in any conditions any time of year. Some guidelines/legislation is provided however there are still potential issues here: • How confident are you that your equipment is still performing at the optimum level? • Have bather loads changed over time? • Is equipment becoming tired? • Replacing one piece of equipment, even above specification can reduce the efficiency of the system as a whole if it is not fully compatible. • Have you renewed equipment without attending to the pipes?

How do you stay up to date? Google your local government sites and download current regulations/legislation which will provide current and up to date information. Or contact your local PoolWerx owner to assist in this area.

Water Testing Test strips and 4 in 1 test kits are not regarded as acceptable analytical systems for commercial pools. Commercial pool testing must be photometric, or colourmetric. Even the smallest pool is expected to be tested at least a minimum of twice a day. Large pools with heavy bather pools may be expected to be tested hourly.

Microbiological Testing It is not well known that commercial pools must be microbiologically tested on a regular basis by an approved National Association of Testing Authorities Laboratory. PoolWerx can arrange regular microbiological testing for you.

Insurance If you check your public liability policy you are likely to find a standard condition along the lines that “You shall comply with, all laws, by laws, regulations and recognised standards for the safety of persons or property and maintain all premises, fittings, plant and equipment in sound condition”. In this case, if you are not fully compliant at any point of time, your insurance might be compromised.

100% Proof It is vital to be able to produce comprehensive evidence of care including hard copy log books, or computer records. Or even greater value is evidence that an expert 3rd party has been retained to oversee your swimming pools and spas.

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ENVIROnMENTAL FRIENDLY TRANSTHERMAL SYMUTECH DDC HEAT PUMP ENERGY TECHNOLOGY for Indoor Pools and Building Sevices Peter Savtchenko I Design Application Engineer, Director Colin Mason I DDC Programming Systems Engineer Director

Abstract

his advanced heat pumping technology utilising a multiple number & variety of heat exchangers that have the capability of transferring energy directly, alternatively and indirectly. Smart heat pump energy transfer technologies that reduce energy consumption for number demand requirements from natural ambient energy, waste energy and demand energy flows. This paper discuses the invention, design, implementation, integration of equipment and interconnected fans, compressor, pumps, mechanical services, inverters it includes other equipment that is employed for indoor pools and aquatic swimming centres. The thermal dynamics including additional family of applications for this technology are for heating ventilation air conditioning and associated energy systems that service the buildings, equipment and energy requirement’s. The direct digital computer control system is configured to service the criteria by utilising a network of programmability for dehumidification, ventilation, space cooling, pool heating, water filtration with water and energy recovery, all of which are vital to minimising energy use and achieving the optimum thermal output and for number of alternate high energy usage projects. Key Words: Transthermal, Heat Pump, Heat Exchangers, Heat Transfer Assemblies, Increasing COP Operational Efficiencies.

1 INTRODUCTION: The Heat Pump Energy Transfer Technology for Aquatic Indoor Pools Facilities & Alternate Energy Demand Management Advanced heat pump technology herein describes refrigerant control heat transfer assemblies that integrate superior, efficient, effective control of refrigerant flow for multiple heat exchanger systems incorporating Bi-flow (reverse cycle) and Tri-flow configurations to holistically minimise mechanical, electro mechanical, components, heat exchangers, compressors, refrigerant fluid dynamics etc. The heat pump refrigerant control heat transfer assembly, including a compressor, that delivers compressed refrigerant selectively to the first, second, third, fourth heat exchangers and or more, together with the first, second, third, fourth and/ or additional thermostatic expansion valves, which selectively delivers expanding refrigerant to heat exchangers with little or no pressure drop losses between them. The efficient control of bi-directional, Tri directional & mono directional refrigerant flows with control valve assemblies that direct the refrigerant so that a number of configurable heat exchangers are operative, while the other heat exchangers can be pumped down with refrigerant returned back to the compressor suction side, minimising the total refrigerant quantity and components required. The heat pump assembly removes the inefficiencies of single

purpose heat pumps and addresses the short comings of standard or reverse cycle heat pumps. The heat transfer system provides alternate transfer of energy or waste energy for other purposes and is the key factor in obtaining high fluid operational efficiencies with low pressure drop losses delivering high coefficient of performances (COP’S) when two or more energy needs are satisfied with one primary input of kWs (kilowatts). The controls system monitoring the “sweet spot” envelopes for high energy efficiency ratios (EER’s) and component needs to achieve the maximum return for each kW spent. Transthermal heat pump provides heating or cooling for water, air and/or both at the same time via multiple variety of air to air, air to water or water to water heat exchangers or a combination of different heat exchangers. The functions of different heat exchanger combinations seems endless, enabling the harnessing of energy from numerous resources such as a function of manmade waste process energy from power generation, co-generation, natural sources such as ambient, geothermal, aquatic thermal storage, sea, dam, river, resort pools, cooling towers commercial and industrial processes, Hydronic, closed cell & evacuated solar systems etc. All these energy resources are available to be transferred very energy efficiently, reliably, sustainably, economically and in a more environmentally friendlier manner.

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2 AQUATIC INDOOR POOL FACILITIES HEAT PUMP ENERGY MANAGEMENT Aquatic Indoor Swimming Pool Centre The science of indoor heated swimming pools with high operation costs: Figure No.1.1 Aquatic Indoor Pool Facilities Heat Pump Energy Management Sea Change Apartments, Gym & Sports Facilities. Concept designers for the project were looking for solutions for the indoor pool facility all year use as previous projects with individual prioritised combination of ventilation, dehumidification systems, air conditioning (A/C) reverse cycle systems & pool heating heat pump or gas have contributed to high equipment capitol, operational and maintenance costs. This has posed problems in conforming to Building Sustainability Index (Basix) energy performance rating regulations, now being disadvantaged for marketing purposes due to low building energy performance ratings, with high energy use. Design Considerations for Indoor Pools 1. Comfort Levels of space temperature, humidity and pool temperature. 2. Guests patrons and the levels of activity (bathers and spectators). 3. Moisture evaporating from the water and spill surfaces. 4. Fresh air unconditioned outdoor air being introduced. 5. Exhaust air ventilation humidity ingress & egress. 6. Building thermal dynamics design. 7. Air Conditioning space cooling & heating. 8. Dehumidification. 9. Pool thermal storage mass design, filtration, hydraulics and sanitation. 10. Water make up, back wash, water & energy retention. 11. Primary resources of energy and energy recovery. 12. Secondary contingency energy back up.

Applying separate combination of equipment apparatus which are generally designed to specific prioritised demands such ventilation, de-humidification system, air handling & air reheat using either electric element, gas & boiler heating, A/C systems, pool heat pumps & pool filtration and may include air to air handling heat exchangers which are very common place, a number of 6 individual energy consuming tasks which has a high capital equipment cost, with a very high cost to comfort ratio. Objectives focused on use of power and advantages of advanced heat pump technology reusing, recovering & recycling energy for space comfort and the best advantage of using natural energy resources to keep the conditions in the pool and indoor facilities under control. Advanced Heat Pump Design Solution to combined all elements for the fusion of refrigeration, air conditioning, air handling, air replenishment, heating & mechanical

services components into multi function heat pump system to be able to manage the change of seasonal heat load conditions. Combined & integration all equipment functions to process energy loads that maximise cooling and heat recovery from the multi heat exchanger assembly heat pump function cycles, that include the use of outside ambient air conditions as resources with filtration, pool water circulation & pool thermal storage mass for the indoor conditions of comfort, psychometrics and pool heating, so as to eliminate the use of multiple prioritised demand systems. Technical Design Criteria for Indoor Pool, Sea Change Apartments Aquatic Centre Technical design criteria were assessed using thermal heat modelling load evaluation to identify all requirements with consideration to holistic view of the facilities energy needs and solutions to reduce energy consumption and equipment to service the requirements:

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Buildings thermal design characteristics: Space heat and cooling @ 270C kW, Fresh inlet air replenishment air changes/hr. and exhaust outlet air changes/hr. Indoor energy loads requirements: Dehumidification @ 65% to 75% RH kW, Internal ventilation & sensible losses and gains kW, Pool Heating kW, Pool water filtration, back wash make upload and water heating circulation pump kW Pool Hall Operational Times: Heat retention blanket off @ 6 am and on @ 6 pm times. Outside ambient fresh air ventilation conditioning @ 120C & 350C

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Waterlilly Australia Pty Ltd Lovibond® Product Specialists

No.10 Ambient Air Volume Control for recovery or heat dissipation from remote Evap./Cond. (These are the network functions needed to provide management of latent and sensible energy loads). The Sea Change project was implemented with no previous collected data we would not be able to compare operating efficiencies to a system that doesn’t have a synergy of configurable combined and interconnected functions.

The homologated advantages of multifunction heat pump technology can only be quantified when a retro fit project can be sourced.The retro fit project for Aquatic Centre (a not for profit welfare association) is currently being completed so comparison of “old school” engineering and new heat pumping technology can now be studied and assessed. Technical Design Criteria for Indoor Pool, Aquatic Centre Technical design criteria were assessed using thermal heat modelling load evaluation to identify all requirements with consideration to holistic view of the facilities energy needs and solutions to reduce energy consumption and equipment to service the requirements: Pool Design: pool surface area = 550m2, Pool Volume = 700m3, Build Volume = 1260m3, Area of roof and walls = 1260m2, Thermal resistance of roof and walls (m2/K/w) = 0.5 Buildings thermal design characteristics: Space heat and cooling load kW’s @ 270C, Fresh inlet replenishment air changes/hr. and exhaust outlet air changes/hr. @ 120C to 350C Outside ambient fresh air ventilation air conditioning @ 120C to 350C. Indoor energy loads requirements: Dehumidification kW’s @ 65% RH, Internal ventilation & sensible losses and gains load kW’s, Pool Heating = 200kW, Number of swimmers /day, Pool water filtration, back wash make upload and water heating circulation pump. Pool Hall Operational Times: Heat retention blanket use, off @ 6am and on @ 6 pm times. The DDC control system with the capability of controlling all the equipment components and interfaced, integration of variable speed drives (VSD”s). Programmed to use the network function configurations to process the mixed staged operational programs, utilising the direct and reverse acting proportional bands, integral and derivative constants, dead bands and global points including time based sequencing for low tariff times from a number data logs, all data used for streamlining its use, reporting on the synergy of energy requirements. Objectives focused on use of power, reusing energy, space comfort & the best

advantage of using natural energy resources to keep the conditions in the pool and indoor facilities under control. It does this by, utilising waste energy from indoor swimming centres, ambient air, ventilation via outside supply air replenishment, return air energy recovery, cooling, heating, dehumidification plus pool heating energy recovery and condensation recovery. Assessment of energy use in the coming future to make comparisons will undoubtedly support the performance tests carried out by University of Sydney Thermal Research Laboratory MECH LAB Australia.

3 MULTI-FUNCTIONAL & MULTI-HEAT EXCHANGER, HEAT PUMPING TECHNOLOGY Figure No.2 is the first inception of a number proto types designed, built and installed into the residential homes. The system operates similarly to a conventional heat pump systems, although programmed functions minimise equipment components and the on and off operation cycles of the compressors, fans, pumps etc, that are required to provide all the seasonal functional demands for air conditioning, swimming pool heating & rapid recovery potable hot water with high temperature de-super heating. There was an immense wealth of operational knowledge & understanding gained from our heat pumping technology research, development and implementation experiences for developing the envelope of energy balance. The Envelope of Energy Balance The envelope of energy balance is provided by this network of functions. No.1 Space cooling using ambient air.

No.2 Space cooling with rejecting heat energy to pool water. No.3 Space cooling rejecting heat energy to the de-superheater, for high temperature hot water maintenance during either pool heating and/or air conditioning or both. No.4 Space heating using ambient air. No.5 Space heating and pool heating using ambient air. No.6 Space heating rejecting heat energy from the ambient to the de-superheater, for high temperature hot water maintenance during pool water heating or air conditioning. No.7 Pool heating utilising ambient air. No.8 Pool heating utilising ambient air, rejecting heat energy to the de-superheater, during pool water heating for high temperature of hot water maintenance. No.9 Hot water rapid ramp utilising ambient air. No.10 Pool and hot water circulation for heating, filtration and sanitation. Rapid Ramp Hot Water Heating, Condensing & De-superheating The rapid ramp network heating condenser function enables the volume of the tank to be ramped up quickly using the total heat rejected from the cooling cycle, or directly from ambient and high temp. desuperheating during space heating, to be transferred directly to the storage tank to the safety limit of mechanical and refrigerant envelopes. Additional higher temperature de-superheating engaged during any additional running hours to achieve required temperature sanitation levels.This is preferable to operating separate systems solely dedicated to providing the energy required.This function creates an advanced approach for hot water

numerous local and international standards to quantify the performance characteristics under various conditions, as set out in the report summary test data that follows. The performance testing of the proto type at the University of Sydney Thermal Research Laboratory MECH LAB AUSTRALIA Report Number: 700146b, to quantify the performance of the developed heat pump multiple functional heat transfer capabilities and we have been awarded the test results by MECH LAB AUSTRALIA With testing completed these and other systems would emulate very similar performance characteristics to this. Continuing progressive research and development for a number of other systems which are shown in the following Figure No.’s 1.1, 1.3, 2.1, 4.1, 5.1 and a number of other examples of multi function concepts which are not shown here.

4 THE ENVIRONMENTAL ADVANTAGE OF TRANSTHERMAL HEAT PUMP TECHNOLOGY The highest priority criteria for the design of advanced high technology heat pump energy management systems is focusing on the following advantages compared to individual oriented equipment performance operations and solutions for industries many energy waste problems. • Maximising & raising standards for energy efficiencies. heating with heat pumping technologies with a combination of solutions for hot water thermal de-superheating and condensing with nega energy cooling transfer with minimal energy consumption. De-superheat recovery has been used for many years as a method of energy recovery in some countries as a legislative requirement when installing air conditioning systems with quantifiable capacity. This has some disadvantages due to limited periods of operational hours and the volume of potable hot water to be heated. This has always dictated the by unpredictability of loads; due to the random demands of domestic use of air conditioning systems which have a large enough capacity for tangible kW’s of recovery in a short acceptable period of time, this is

generally not the case with normal de-superheating methods. The DDC computer controller monitors time & the temperature of the house, pool and hot water while the software macro provides strategic energy programs that have been developed to suit many different situations such as; pre-air conditioning of home, rapid ramp hot water with higher temperature desuperheating, pool heating prior to residents returning home after the day’s events or selecting modes for seasonal economy pool heating cycle or use all year usage with off peak low tariff time based sourcing for any additional energy from the ambient or from the pools thermal storage mass. Performance Test of Multi-Function Thermal Heat Pump Transfer Assembly The testing of the system would be very complex. It would need to be tested to

• Maximising recycled, recovered energy. • Environment impact reduction. • Conservation of fossil fuels and other energy sources. • Reduction in CO² emissions and other waste emissions. • Reduction in Ozone depleting substances. • Recovery of un-tapped, unharnessed totally discarded waste energies. • Reduction of running costs of operating multiple individual applications. • Minimising capitol equipment cost and maintenance costs. • Utilising ambient and alternate energy resources to reduce consumption.

5 CONCLUSION Energy the insatiable dependency that drives political economic and regulatory

mandates to invest heavily in primary energy solutions such as coal & gas fired, co-gen for electric power generation, wind, solar hydrogen cell, nuclear to name a few, for the answer to supply and demand management, which is very well supported as the method of cure, by investing in smart energy transfer technologies in the same manner would be in supporting our primary limited recourses energy bank the environment. Decreasing environmental impact and demand on society’s infrastructure. In order to support this implementation of many forms of new emerging heat pump solutions that have the capability of transferring energy directly and indirectly that reduce energy consumption for other demands is the answer. The heating ventilation air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) heat pump industry is at par point equilibrium with all suppliers’ manufactures now offering assimilated technology for high efficiency for prioritised systems such as inverters and variable refrigerant volume (VRV A/C) systems etc. New Heat pumping technology utilising a multiple number & variety of heat exchangers will provide advanced way

of achieving the optimum thermal output for number other energy requirements, this would be one of the best ways of over coming and achieve this paradigm. Designing and integrating equipment functions and interconnecting refrigerant thermal dynamics of heat pumps equipment load functions that are programmable and configurable, use of multi heat exchanger heat pump processing technology will provide this for global solutions for the heat pumping industries. Sustainability & unlimited growth, raising the bar for high energy efficiency transthermal heat pumping technology for an unlimited scope of industries for implementation into: Building services, Aquaculture farms, Horticultural grower’s enclosures, Food processor manufactures, Hotel Resort industries, Residential towers, Suburban heating & cooling loops, commercial, industrial and domestic applications. Many solutions are needed for societies energy needs, and ever growing global demand for energy. A family of very powerful advanced heat pump energy systems are needed that

will optimise this energy, with the control of natural and demand or forced energy flows with high efficiency with holistics to provided solutions for the transmission from other resources of energy.The call for action to focus on end uses technology, that will enhance the reduction in use of primary energy sources we use every day, this in turn will provide the next level of highly energy efficient, sustainable and economical ways to achieve the our ultimate goal of maximising return for each kilowatt spent and in a most environmentally friendlier manner. As we all want a little bit more for less. Multi function Energy Transferring Heat Pump Systems, can neither create energy nor destroy it but empower us to force a transitional change of state with operating system which will allow us to design and engineer energy transitional transfer very easily, for multiple energy fields and to open a new frontier for energy transmission for end use technology integration. I’m sure there are many of us who I share my passion and vision for securing our heat pumping and energy future.

Don’t let your guest dive into a nasty cocktail! Guests should be able to enjoy a cocktail by the pool, not feel like they’re swimming in one. With hospitality clients across Australia and New Zealand, PoolWerx understands that a hotel pool needs to be as clean and inviting as the rooms themselves. We ensure that your pools and spas are healthy and comply with legislation to fulfil your duty of care. Our services include: • 24/7 emergency hotline as well as free professional problem solving and advice by phone or email • Independent, expert third-party support in the event of litigation • Service all year round, with options to suit your seasons and location PoolWerx can do as much or as little of the work you require. As a Registered Training Organisation, we can also provide training for work you wish to be performed in house. Starting with a complementary on-site visual inspection, PoolWerx will then tailor a solution, keeping your current resources and budget in mind.

Call PoolWerx today on 1800 009 000 or email service@poolwerx.com.au 62

ADVERTORIAL

Australian technology

allows hotels and resorts to bid farewell to chlorine deliveries, handling and storage forever! Michael Griffin I CEO, Pool ranger

Award winning, EcoLine inline chlorinator produces safe, clean and sparkling pool water automatically

or Pool Ranger’s CEO Michael Griffin, the most popular response from hotel and resort clients after learning that the EcoLine chlorinator can produce safe, sanitised pool water, automatically and with water and power alone is, “Are you joking?” It is Pool Ranger that is having the last laugh however. The company, with over 40 years of water industry experience, is a proud distributor of Australian Innovative Systems’ (AIS) EcoLine, the world’s first inline, fresh water chlorine generator. The award-winning Australian designed and manufactured system produces chlorine via electrolysis and from the natural minerals and salts present in fresh water. The automatic, inline chlorination means that clients can bid farewell to chlorine deliveries, handling and storage forever. EcoLine technology is capable of disinfecting thousands of litres of freshwater per minute and is already operating in a range of leading Australian and international resorts and hotels, aquatic facilities and water theme parks. One of Dubai’s most prestigious resorts, the Grand Hyatt uses EcoLine where it is sanitizing a 2.5million litre lagoon at 415,500 litres per hour. The large Indonesian water leisure park, Waterbom Bali, trusts EcoLine to treat up to 6million litres of water in

multiple water features and slides, keeping the park safe and clean for thousands of users. One of Australia’s leading casino resorts, Darwin’s Skycity is employing the technology in their resort pool as are a number of Municipal swimming pools, aquatic parks and university swimming pools. Recently, Pool Ranger installed a new EcoLine system at the Warringah Aquatic Centre (WAC) in New South Wales. The centre has approximately 350,000 visitors annually and has hosted Olympic trials and Australian swimming titles. Pool Ranger understands the hospitality and leisure market’s water disinfection needs. EcoLine provides a safe, comfortable and enjoyable swimming experience for guests as well as substantially better air quality, particularly in the case of indoor swimming pools. EcoLine works with current control systems and can be installed or retrofitted in any application. Explaining some of the key benefits of the technology, Pool Ranger’s CEO Michael Griffin says, “One of the primary benefits of an EcoLine system is that chlorine deliveries and storage becomes a thing of the past. There is no need for chlorine tanks, bunded areas or dealing with the excessive

transport costs, particularly in the case of servicing inner city or remote locations. “Equally important is that there are workplace, health and safety benefits for staff and guests in that there is no requirement to handle or store potentially dangerous quantities of chlorine on site and chemical spills can be avoided.” Michael says that the benefits don’t stop there. “In our experience with EcoLine, hotels and resorts can expect a further decrease in plant and equipment costs and an increase in the pool’s concrete lifespan; due to the reduction of chloramines in the atmosphere.” The last word goes to WAC’s General Manager, Gary Penfold, “It almost sounds too good to be true, but we have site based data to show that the AIS EcoLine system has delivered on all counts. We have outstanding water quality, enhanced amenity and achieved cost savings across a range of areas all whilst keeping the pool compliant with Workplace, Health and Safety regulations. You can’t ask for more than that.” To enquire about AIS EcoLine, contact Pool Ranger 1300 731 905 (Australia wide) or poolranger@bigpond.com

POLLUTION SOLUTIONS

THAT BRING ENERGY, WATER, CHEMICAL, AND LABOUR SAVINGS alan lewis I pool consultant

ow that we know that we need to contend with many more pollution issues than we were aware of 20 or more years ago, it is incumbent on all involved in the Aquatic industry to address them with the most modern means now available to us. In many cases this will mean retrofitting in a fundamental way some of the most basic elements of the components of circulation, the filtration, the disinfection, and the ventilation. Where a new facility is being built – it will be essential to consider many new concepts in providing for problems of pollution which were hitherto unthought-of.

AIR TREATMENT IN THE POOL OR SPA HALL

RETROFIT SOLUTIONS Where there is no space below the pool deck for a duct, it has to be built or upgraded above the deck, The principle is to push the fresh air down and/or force the noxious gases through ducts which can be added on the wall side of the decks. One example of which is given in the diagram below. Schematic diagram of source capture and exhaust over an existing air handling system (Provided by Paddock Evacuator South Carolina.)

Knowing that elite swimmers, and pool staff, are suffering from continually breathing polluted air we must understand how best to remove that pollution safely. With a new design – by far the best way is to build deep gutters adjacent to wet edges so that the heavy gases residing on the water’s surface can be drawn or pushed through the grates and drawn off through the top-most area of the gutters while the water descends separately to the bottom of the gutters and continues to drain to either the balance tank or to a filter. From there the polluted air must be drawn or blown through a duct to the outside air in an area not frequented by passers-by.

Figure 1

Upgrading existing exposed ducts in the hall still requires changes in the direction of the flow downwards to force gases into a new duct (on the left in this diagram) which will carry the NCL3 out of the building.

A HYDRO-MECHANICAL SOLUTION FOR THE REMOVAL OF VOLATILE DBPs THE CHLORAMINE/CHLOROFORM STRIPPER

This new technology has been developed by Ole Gronborg in Denmark. Basically it emulates the action of swimmers splashing on the surface of the pool, thereby converting volatile liquid NCl3 and CHCl3 into gases. Air is passed up through the pool-water drops showering down. The airflow carries with it the unwanted gases from the stripper to the outside air and in this way “strips” those by-products out of the circulation thus saving the need for added chlorine or ozone to break them down. Careful planning of the plant room design can integrate the exhaust ducts of the gases from the pool gutter grates with the exhaust from the Stripper so that there will be no “smell” in the pool hall or anywhere else in the building.

POOL CIRCULATION, FILTRATION, AND THE ROLE OF THE BALANCE TANK In relation to the problem of skin cells in the pool very few designers around the world have attempted to design specifically for their prompt removal from the pool. Now that we are aware that the skin cells can be the primary ingredient for the production of chloroform, bromoform and other trihalomethanes (THMs), it behoves us to try and minimise these THMs, by filtering the skin cells out of circulation as quickly as possible.

Pool water drips through orifices in several plates as air is drawn up through the STRIPPER (in background) – to the outside air.

The specially designed Hydrotech drum filter, with a 5 micron membrane, can filter the water gravitationally. It also backwashes automatically (9 litres each backwash procedure) as needed. It uses only a small fraction of the water needed for the backwashing of a sand filter of comparative quality and speed. In this concept, the water flows from the gutters to the filter and the filtered water flows from the filter into the balance tank by gravitation. This provides a huge saving in energy because the circulation pump then only needs to draw the water from the balance tank and push it into the pool as described above. THE ROLE OF THE BALANCE TANK in this configuration is much greater than that of a catchment for excessive overflow from the pool. It also serves as a reservoir for the side loops of: the Stripper ( removing chloramines); the heating loop(maintaining a steady Temperature); and that of the chemical dosing described below. The balance tank should hold about 1/10th of the total volume of the pool. Now it also acts as a giant mixing bowl for the different waters that are returning to it from: • The pool via the filter to the balance tank • The Stripper • Either the Solar heater or the Gas heater • The chemical side loop

CIRCULATION

This must begin by injecting the returning treated water into the pool as in the diagram above, horizontally just above the floor of the pool. This design sweeps any skin cells that have settled on the floor into the gutters set in the pool wall edge above. Therefore the design of the circulation in the pool itself is critical in getting those cells filtered out of the circulation quickly.

Thus the preparation of the treated water has more time to attend to the disinfection process while it is in the plant room where we can allow for “superchlorination” in the CO2 serpentine and the Ozone mixing vessels.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY CHEMICAL TREATMENTS In this section I want to focus on when and why Primary chemical treatment alone is not adequate; and when it is time to consider the addition of a secondary treatment. In Hotel indoor pools one of the main problems is that in times of low occupancy very few people are using the pools while in the summer and other vacation times – the Hotel is full and the bather

loads are high. Every pool is - or should be designed for a maximum bather load. A) Depending on the size and pattern of use of the pool and B) Dependent on the particular disinfection system the pool is using. There is little doubt that Hotels which were built 20-30-40 years ago were not able to avail themselves of technologies which are now available. Nor were they necessarily built in a flexible way which would allow for easy upgrading to modern approaches in new design. We have already discussed the need for upgrading ventilation in the hotel â&#x20AC;&#x201C;in the previous sections of this article (and in previous editions of this magazine). However with the chemical disinfection system we should now examine ways of handling the extra bather loads that hotels experience in peak periods. The primary disinfection must always provide a constant residual of oxidant in the pool so that if more than one bather gets into the pool there cannot be cross infection between bathers. That is the essential element of every public pool anywhere in the world. In hotels this problem is indeed very real because one can never know what pathogens can be transported from other countries or states at any time. Because of this factor a primary disinfection system usually incorporates the use of liquid or granular Chlorine as the most cost effective and commonly used oxidant. Now we also know that chlorine in these forms is totally pH dependent and so the best way of keeping the chlorine effective and least noticeable in the water or the air, is by keeping the pH as low as possible. In many European countries the regulations allow operators to bring the pH down as low to 6.6 where the Free Active Chlorine known as Hypochlorous Acid (HOCl) will be close to 90% - the remaining 10% will be OCL (Hypochlorite) which does not contribute to the disinfection at all. The agent for this reduction is obviously an acid of one form or another. By far the most effective agent for pH reduction is CO2 gas as it does indeed support the carbonates in the pool water as well. These are essential for the better water balance in the pool. This means that the water will be neither corrosive nor scaling â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and thereby not contribute to the depreciation of the pool surfaces or the equipment in the plant room. To facilitate the dissolution of the CO2 gas in the heated pool water we need a device which I call the CO2 Serpentine. This serpentine allows the operator to be sure that the gas is dissolving properly into the pool water and is long enough (about 25 metres) to ensure that the pH in the pipes is brought down to around 6.3 well below that of the ambient water in the pool. The chlorine is injected at the end of this serpentine so that the liquid chlorine will produce around 96% HOCl. This makes the system highly efficient, and ensures that no gas is wasted. If you have a balance tank you can then send this water back to the balance tank where it will mix with the water about to be sent to the pool and bring down the pH in the pool as required. THE SECONDARY DISINFECTION should come into play when the bather loads are high and the residual of the chlorine in the pool is not able to cope with heavy bather loads. Here it essential to test and respond to the extra requirement of elevated

70XL centrifugal water filtration

INJECTION OF CO2 (blue hose on right) AND LIQUID CHLORINE (from below on left) INTO THE SERPENTINE

CO2 SERPENTINE

combined chlorine (chloramines – mono – di – tri). The general rule is that where the chloramines are more than 30% of the Free Available Chlorine (FAC). You are in trouble and you need a Secondary treatment system – precisely to remove or break down the combined chlorine (CC). Without this the chlorine demand will rise and with more chlorine in pool there will be even more combined chlorine resulting in a very unhealthy smelly pool. THE SECONDARY DISINFECTION SYSTEM can be either Ozone or UV, which are the most commonly used systems because they do not require the addition of other chemical oxidants. Recent scientific research has proven that a combination of the two (O3 & UV) can be more potent and can bring better control of the combined chlorine at one and the same time. You will find more details of this in another article in this issue. In conclusion it must be said that the operator of a Hotel Pool who does not have the flexibility of added disinfection systems in peak periods of occupancy, is in a very serious predicament. The only good answer in such cases is to dump a lot of the water in the pool and replace it with at least 30 litre of fresh water per bather every day. That is of course costly in water and chemical – but really the only alternative the operator has.

A revolution in pool filtration, MultiCyclone 70XL is a brilliant perfiltration device that works on the basis of centrifugal water filtration and is designed with no moving parts and no filter media to clean or replace.

Minimises filter maintenance and saves water No filter media to clean or replace Maximum flow rate of 90m3 / hr Compact size and ease of installation Suitable for new and existing commercial installations

2 S av e t i m e , wat e r a n d e n e r g y

NSW (head office) 02 9898 8686 Sa 08 8244 6000

Qld 07 3299 9900 Wa 08 9273 1900

vic 03 9764 1211 NZ 09 525 7570

www.waterco.com

Those wishing to discuss this are invited to contact me by email: Aquazure34@gmail.com

GHASTLY GASES T

he smell that pervades hotels that suffer from inappropriate ventilation in the pool hall or spa area, needs to be understood and addressed. These gases can spread throughout the building because they are heavier than air and thus remain on the pool or spa surface. They may spread if they develop in concentrations large enough to penetrate throughout the floor area of the pool or spa hall and the ancillary spaces. From there they can easily move to lower floors via the lift shafts of the hotel to arrive finally at, or near the main entrance, should the particular conditions of the building allow for that. The “eau de chlorine” smell is not actually a chlorine smell; rather it is the result of the reaction between the UREA in the sweat or urine of bathers, and the chlorine that is expected to disinfect or sanitize the pool.

UREA CO (NH2)2 Urine + Sweat + Chlorine ===> Nitrogen trichloride (NCl3) trichloramine

alan lewis I pool consultant

presence of the urea in the sweat and urine in the water. The Trichloramines are first formed as a liquid and from there the splashing and turbulence caused by the swimmers helps turn this chemical into gas which is heavier than air and hence remains on the surface of the pool unless the air circulation in the pool hall or spa room draws or pushes this layer off the surface of the water. That is why in indoor pools, lap swimmers, competitive swimmers, swim teachers, and deck staff all suffer throat and lung troubles, itchy eyes, runny noses, voice loss or bronchiolitis. That is also why the vast majority of Olympic swimmers in Australia and in the USA, carry Ventolin puffers to ease the inflammation in their air passages before a competition. From this it is easy to deduce just how undesirable it is for swimmers to urinate in the pool. Neither is it advisable to remove the perspiration on one’s body by diving in the pool instead of ensuring better hygiene for everyone by showering with soap before jumping in. This will prevent the formation of about half of the combined chlorine (chloramines) in the pool which leads to the development of NCl3. The Japanese practice this hygiene; and so do the Germans and the Austrians, the Danes and the Swedes as well as other European countries, so why can’t that happen here? Understanding these chemical realities should convince every bather to shower before entering the pool, even if they have just gone for a quick toilet break. The more swimmers there are, the more chlorine must be injected into the pool. The more chlorine there is in the pool the more NCl3 will be created, and the more splashing there is by the swimmers, the more NCl3 liquid will be converted to gas. The next chemical by-product we need to look at is:

CYANOGEN CHLORIDE CNCl (Cyanuric Chloride) Red – Oxygen

White – Hydrogen

Blue – Nitrogen

Black – Carbon

Urea or carbamide has a formula of: CO(NH2)2. Because there is Carbon in it – it is known as an Organic chemical. Chemicals which do not include Carbon are known as inorganic chemicals. From this you can see that it has 2 groups of amines (a derivative of ammonia NH3) bound to Carbon which in turn is bound to the Oxygen. This helps to understand that where there are “ammonia like” elements such as in our body amines, there is likely to be a smell; usually an unpleasant one. Where is the chlorine in this you might ask? Without going into it too deeply, the chlorine has actually developed through several inter-mediatory steps into Trichloramine (NCl3) because of the

Green – Chlorine

Black – Carbon

Blue – Nitrogen

This one is really nasty. When this enters the blood stream via the pores of the skin, it causes drowsiness, a runny nose, a sore throat, coughing, confusion, nausea, vomiting or convulsions. Of course the severity of the symptoms rises with its proliferation in the pool. In its

raw form it is seriously toxic and can cause death; something which thankfully has never happened yet in a public pool anywhere, to the best of my knowledge. Nevertheless even in minor quantities it is undesirable and is a sign of poor pool management. How is it formed? In recent laboratory tests, Uric Acid C5H4N4O3 found in urine, accounted for 24-68 percent of the by-product Cyanogen Chloride in pool water samples of busy pools. For the first time this very recent study (Lian, Yue, Li, and Blatchley 2014) has shown that roughly 93% of Uric Acid in swimming pools comes from human Urine. From this it has been shown now that the main precursor of CNCl is in fact URIC ACID. This makes peeing in the pool extremely undesirable from a hygienic point of view – for all involved in the aquatic industries and sport. Uric acid also accounted for about 3-4% of the trichloramines (NCL3) in pool water. Environmental Science and Technology 25 Feb 2014

NOTE: One further comment needs to be made here – In the diagram above, the production of CNCl is measured in Micro-grams per litre. While the chlorine dose is in milligrams/ litre. These are very high doses – presumably because pools with very high bather loads are creating a lot of combined chlorine and thus raising the chlorine demand in an ever expanding spiral. The big lesson from all this science is that there are remarkable hygienic benefits to be had, in both the water and the air of a public pool, from showering before bathing and abstaining from urinating in the pool.

CHLOROFORM CHCl3 TRICHLOROMETHANE Bromoform and other Trihalomethanes (THMs)

Green – Chlorine

Black – Carbon

Skin Cells + Amines + Free Chlorine ===> Trihalomethanes

Hypochlorous Acid HOCl > Chloroform; Bromoform; & others

We shed skin cells constantly throughout our lives. Certainly this continues when we are swimming in pools. The reaction between skin cells and free chlorine will continue regardless of whether the skin cells are on the body of the swimmers or they are lying in poorly circulated areas on the floor of the pool or are trapped in the media of the filter. Therefore the longer there are skin cells in the pool water circulation and a free chlorine (HOCl) residual is being maintained in the pool – the more disinfection by-products will be created which include some which are associated with Bladder Cancer and other illnesses. Some of Professor Blatchley’s research at Purdue University included comparisons of testing procedures. Clearly we have no practical way of field-testing of many of these by-products – particularly the organic ones. So this type of research is best done where a university laboratory is available alongside the well tried photometric testing procedures available to pool operators and managers. Blatchley has clearly demonstrated that there are considerable differences between the field tests of inorganic chloramines and the lab tests carried out with more sophisticated equipment. In many cases we need to consider further testing beyond the colorimeter testing done with photometers on site. In a country like Australia where no governmental funds are available for research of our local conditions, we are left to rely on that of the US and some European and Asian Universities for in-depth research. Using such research to extrapolate for Australian conditions brings with it highly dubious conclusions as to how to address the development of exotic by-products which in many cases have not even been clearly identified in our pools by local universities or our health departments. Even pools built in recent years and could used knowledge gained in other countries for improved pool water treatment, have no basis for the selection of equipment and /or chemical treatment. For example, we cannot know how our pool water treatments relate to the entirely different local quality of our water supplies. • Nevertheless if an engineer wants to improve on the treatment regime existent in the hotel pool under his/her care, much thought must be given to how to upgrade systems built 30-40 years ago. Not only must the water treatment be revised but even more important for the hotel owners almost without exception, the ventilation in the pool or spa hall will need to be improved in line with the latest research and the development of better equipment for indoor heated pools. The Model Aquatic Health Codes (MAHC) being developed now in the USA by the CDC and the NSPF will help guide Australian pools in upgrading the ventilation in such pools. These can be found at: www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/pools/mahc/ and nspf.org/resources/mahc.aspx

White – Hydrogen

SECONDARY DISINFECTANT SYSTEMS (SDS) In indoor heated public pools

David Brauer I Ozone 1

Why do we need Secondary Disinfectant Systems?

The Benefits of Ozone in the presence of chlorine

he answer to this question is the key to understanding, designing and applying an Ozone system precisely to reduce and control the Combined Chlorine(CC), in a public indoor heated pool where the daily bather loads are such measured CC in the pool exceed 1/3 of the free available chlorine (FAC) applied by the Primary Disinfection System.

1. O zone controls the chloramines levels in the pool to 0.25 mg/l or less.

Simply increasing the chlorine dose will not achieve the destruction of the Combined Chlorine (mono – di –trichloramines) because only part of the dose will go to achieving this while the other par t will be maintain the correct residual as dictated by the local jurisdiction regulation for such a pool. Thus the more chlorine and the more bathers there are the harder it will be to both reduce the CC and maintain enough FAC to meet those regulations. Par t of this has to do with the speed at which chlorine kills unwanted micro-organisms (disinfects) and oxidises the CC compared with the speed that Ozone does this (by oxidation) at one and the same time – immediately on its injection into the poolwater.

2. The need for super-chlorination is significantly reduced. 3. Ozone is roughly 200 time more powerful as an oxidant the FAC

4. O zone provides micro flocculation which improves the overall quality of the water, improves filtration, and is more pleasant to swim in, because the FAC can be reduced. 5. Ozone markedly reduces the chlorine demand and hence saves chlorine in keeping the disinfection at the required level. 6. Ozone contributes considerably in elevating the ORP (Oxygen Reduction Potential) so that it can also minimise the likelihood of Cryptosporidium outbreaks in the pool. 7. As a secondary disinfectant Ozone does not need to be expensive if the dose is kept to the level needed to oxidise the CC only and leaves the FAC

to keep the disinfection where it needs to be. Although this is often difficult to achieve. 8. The Ozone plant is very easy to maintain and needs very little maintenance compared to other SDSs which have ongoing maintenance costs. 9. The ORP reading at the point of introduction into the main return line can range between 750 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 900 mV before reaching the pool (AN ORP of 800mV results in roughly 0.2mg.l dissolved ozone (40 mg/l of Cl) in terms of oxidation and efficacy. 10. The retention time of dissolved Ozone in the pool can be up to 2 minutes in a hotel, therapy or swim school pool.

High Bather loads Ozone and UV can be used together to create a synergistic approach to water sanitation. This has been used for drinking water, food processing and waste water, this Advanced Oxidation Process (AOP) is used in commercial use today â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but as yet rarely used in public indoor pools due to high capital costs until now. The combination of Ozone and UV (AOP) effectively destroys all the organic proteinaceous material which is the basic food material for bacterial and fungi which will not multiply, Fur ther this combination effectively destroys virus. (AOP) + Free Available Chlorine (FAC) will ensure that Cryptosporidium are also destroyed faster than Ozone or UV alone.

ADVERTORIAL

New Instrument Analyses Pool Water Samples in Only 60 Seconds

esting pool and spa water can be a nuisance. Using current technology, it takes 15 minutes or longer to do it properly. And the process is finicky. Glass test tubes need to be cleaned and dried, tablets crushed, solutions mixed, and tests have to be done separately and in a timed sequence. All of this adds up to frustration for the people who have to do the testing and lots of wasted time (perhaps as much as 40 hours a week). Fortunately, there is now a new technology that makes water testing much easier and much quicker. LaMotte’s WaterLink Spin is a photometer that requires almost no effort from the tester and gives results and a full treatment recommendation in just 60 seconds. All the tester has to do is inject a small sample of water into a disc and insert the disc into the photometer. From there on the process is hands-free. By reducing the time it takes to test pool and spa water WaterLink Spin frees employees to the work they were employed to do. It also eliminates the frustration of ‘cocktail waitress’ water testing. And, importantly, by eliminating the many steps involved in testing the old way, WaterLink Spin substantially improves the accuracy of testing. Lastly, with WaterLink Spin you get tests for copper, iron, borate and phosphate at no extra cost in time or money. WaterLink Spin works hand in hand with LaMotte’s DataMate water testing software. The latest version of this software is hosted, which means the testing regimes of many different hotel or other sites can be monitored and managed from a central point. DataMate software was written by chemists to generate appropriate treatment recommendations that anyone regardless of skill is able follow. WaterLink Spin is available in a bench-top version and in a mobile version with carry case, battery and Bluetooth capability for use with tablets and smartphones. For more information call Vendart Pty Ltd on (02) 9450-0466 and ask for their wtechnical sales desk.

The mobile version of WaterLink Spin comes in a carry case, with battery and Bluetooth capability for use with tablets and smartphones.

LITTLE FINS SWIM SCHOOL

Kirrawee NSW choose BECSys3 pool controller & Pulsar 3 system Matthew Brown, co-owner of the new Little Fins Swim School in Kirrawee, NSW wanted a chemical dosing and control system that was simple to use for his staff, but also one that would assure the best possible water quality for his young patrons. Matthew’s pool builder, Hank Van THE POOL MAN, recommended the BECSys3 pH & chlorine controller and Pulsar 3 dry chlorine briquette feeder.

rotection of the new vinyl liner in the pool was an important consideration and the Pulsar system would achieve constant disinfection, in compliance with NSW Health Pool guidelines, using the The “Little Fins” indoor pool minimum amount of acid for pH correction. This is because Pulsar Briquettes dry chlorine includes a built-in antiscalant to make the Pulsar 3 feeder run smoothly, without the need for excessive acid dosing, as can be required with granular calcium hypochlorite feeders. The system consists of a booster pump to draw filtered water from the plant through a venturi eductor, taking chlorine solution from the feeder and effectively superchlorinating some of the pool water before redistributing it to the pool.

particle and metals removal, while protecting the plant and pool surfaces from corrosion or degradation.

The small amount of acid dosing required to correct the pool pH, against the close to ‘pH neutral’ effect of the Pulsar Briquettes, is added in upstream of the venturi for best results. Typical water chemistry of the pool is pH 7.4, total alkalinity 80mg/L, calcium hardness around 300mg/L and free chlorine 2.5mg/L. Pool TDS is run much lower than in a pool using liquid chlorine, by as much as 50-75% – keeping the water ‘fresher’ for longer. Overall Langelier Saturation Index (LSI) water balance is an ideal +0.1 and therefore bather comfort and optimal plant performance is assured. The elevated calcium level acts as a mild coagulant and assists the sand filters in fine Pulsar 3 feeder & Pulsar Briquettes, 20kg drum

New to Australia, but recognisable to many from it’s former name of ‘Strantrol System 3’, the BECSys3 pool pH and chlorine controller uses BECSys3 controller with Remote a heavy duty Control Module (RCM) ORPmV probe with a 2 year warranty and 5 year+ life expectancy to give continuous compliance with the latest ORP based NSW Health Department requirements for pools; ensuring disinfection at all times regardless of bathing load variations. Being the simplest to use of any controller on the market the Sys3 has a ‘CAL’ and ‘SETPOINT’ button, ‘UP’ and ‘DOWN’ arrow buttons and an ‘ENTER’ button. It is easy to use by any staff member and is protected by two levels of password access, if required. A reliable and very low maintenance direct free chlorine sensor for FAC based control is available as an option, if preferred.

Although the Sys3 is simple to use, it has a highly sophisticated, optional BECS-RCM remote control module connected, which enables remote two way communication and download/graphing of readings to an Ethernet connected PC, using ‘BECSys for Windows’ software. This BECS Technology designed software is extremely simple to use and is immediately familiar to any regular PC user, being both Windows Vista and Windows 7 compatible and having a well laid out ‘user interface’ control panel, for changing of setpoints and alarm points remotely. The graphing page is fully configurable to show not just readings of the various pool parameters (pH, ORP, temperature, free chlorine, etc), but also chemical feed events, access by operators, alarm events and so on. Where this recording comes into it’s own is if the pool needs to be superchlorinated at night and a record of this kept to prove this has been done, for example after a faecal incident occurring in the pool water. There are many benefits to assist the pool owner in compliance with the latest regulatory requirements. A useful feature is the automatic alarm callout to Matthew’s PC or

mobile phone if there is an alarm event of any kind. Matthew is extremely happy with his BECS/ Pulsar system and he has received many Little Fins Swim School, Kirrawee NSW compliments on water quality and bather comfort from the parents of his young ‘Little Fins’ patrons. The swim school is a great success with strong growth in patronage by 400% since it opened early this year. Having great water quality and a comfortable pool environment is a key part of the centre’s success. See Little Fins Swim School on their website – www.littlefinsswimming.com For more details please contact Tim Batt of Tim Batt Water Solutions (BECS Technology and Pulsar distributor for Australia and New Zealand) on ph 0438-889268 or e-mail:- timtbws@bigpond.com

Things to know about your pool

t this time of the year you should be planning your pool maintenance programme for next season. How old is your current sand filter media?

Sand on average lasts around 5 years. Are you looking at saving water – reducing your chemical usage – reducing your heating costs – cutting back on your power bills – the right choice of filter media can help achieve all these savings When you are making that choice look for a filter media which has the Smart Approved WaterMark – Save Water Tick of Approval and the W.A.Water Corp Water Wise accreditation . Choose a virgin product not a recycled product and look for a product that has a small carbon foot print. Another tip is – with so many people using lots of suntan lotion and block out you will get a build up of oil and grease which will shorten the time between backwashing – when this occurs it is time to de-grease the filter media. For further help and handy tips for running your pool contact Peter at Zelbrite Filter Media on rabbs9@bigpond.com.au

Our business is to deliver good quality healthy water for

BACKYARD POOLS COMMERCIAL POOLS SPRAY PARKS WATER TREATMENT PLANTS across Australia and in many countries around the world.

Zelbrite is a VIRGIN PRODUCT mined in Australia and is

NOT a recycled product such as glass and has a far smaller carbon footprint.

This unique filter media has received accreditation from

• Savewater • W.A.Water Corp • Waterwise • Smart Approved Water Mark

NO other filter media can make this claim. Unlike many other companies we don’t make claims that can’t be substantiated. Tests conducted by the Australian Water Quality Centre prove that Zelbrite will remove dirt particles as small as 2 microns.

Guest Laundries:

Front-Load vs Top-Load Washers Sean West I Laundry Solutions Australia

Considering the environment we now live in with a constant focus on saving water, when Hotel Owners need to replace or upgrade their guest laundry equipment there are a growing number looking for suitable (more efficient) front load washers and dryers to replace their old top-loaders.

elieve it or not they are hard to find! Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty of domestic frontload washers and dryers out there but you need to look a little harder to find the appropriate commercial grade that we know we all need. Some Hotels have made the switch in their guest laundries to front-loaders but have bought domestic style, thinking that is all there is available. This has lead them to some unfavourable experiences being wash programs running far too long, capacity limitations, reliability issues, and also disappointment when they find that the warranty that comes with their domestic style equipment is for domestic use only. Laundry equipment suppliers have not managed the transition from commercial top-load washers to commercial frontloaders very well. There needs to be more information and education out there so Hotels can make an informed decision just as they did when they invested in their commercial top-loaders some years ago. So for the sake of clarity, below are some of the main differences between commercial front-loaders and top-loaders:

Capacity An 8kg Front-load washer can truly hold 8kgs of washing. An 8kg capacity top-load washer holds far less than this (approximately 5-6kgs). This is due to the fact that the top-load washer has an agitator in it that takes up a large volume of the drum. So whilst the top-loader is marketed as an 8kg washer it is in-fact a 5-6kg washer.

Water Consumption A top-load washer needs to fill water near to the top of the drum in order to ensure that all of the laundry gets wet whereas a front-load washer only needs to fill to 40 percent of the drum as the drum is positioned horizontally thus picking up the laundry and dropping it back into the wash bath.

Wash Quality The process involved in lifting laundry up then submersing it again in water is by far the most effective way to clean laundry. This is what front-load washers do by design. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s no question that submersing laundry into a vertical drum of a top-loader and having agitators turning not only is less effective at cleaning but is more harsh on fabrics due to the twisting motion.

Space Front-load washers have an advantage that you can have a dryer stacked on top which takes up less floor space within your laundry. Commercial front-loaders can also come with a plinth (or pedestal) that raises the height of the door to make it more ergonomic. In some applications this space has also been used to save more water with a water re-use system located inside the plinth.

Drying time Front-load washers typically spin faster than top-load washers which results in less moisture to remove during the drying process.

General Features & Design One of the little known facts about frontload washers is that they are actually a simpler design. They donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a gearbox and actuators that the top-loaders have. These are the things that tend to fail first these days, because they are made with nylon gears (not steel like the old days). Commercial front-load washers have the ability for programs to be changed like water levels, time etc. This is something that is unique to commercial front-load washers and is not available on top-loaders or domestic front-loaders Commercial front-loaders can be setup with coin operation which is a major advantage for guest laundries.

Price competitiveness In the past this is the one area where the commercial top-loader has had it over the commercial front-loader. However this issue has changed simply through the laws of supply and demand. People are now seeing the price gap between these two types of laundry equipment close to one or two hundred dollars on washers and price parity on dryers. Given the fact that there is major savings on energy and water and a gain in efficiency indicate that you actually get better value from a commercial front-load washer than the old commercial top-loader.

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PRODUCT

NEWS

Pangolin Associates expands to include ACA and CFI carbon management National energy and carbon management firm Pangolin Associates welcomes Dr Sam Phua to the team. Dr Phua is a Registered Greenhouse and Energy Auditor. He brings extensive energy and carbon services experience, and uniquely in Australia, the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA) program. Pangolin will now offer the verification service to airports in the Asia Pacific region.

Smale adds, “We are excited about new services in 2014, particularly as Sam leads us into new offerings under the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI).” CFI is a carbon offset scheme set to continue under the Coalition Government. The scheme remunerates farmers and landowners for carbon credits created through actions such as sequestration and avoided deforestation.

Joint Managing Director Iain Smale says: “With Sam on board Pangolin will become the go to carbon management specialist for airports. Sam will also help us meet the increasing demand for a range of verification and assurance services that make up a significant part of our business.” Pangolin services include mandatory and voluntary schemes such as the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) Act, Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO), the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS).

Dr Phua is an expert in carbon origination establishment projects such as CFI. He is the lead author for one of the world’s first Improved Forest Management-logged to Protected Forests Methodology (IFMLtPF) under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS). He has also authored numerous scientific papers on climate change and various government and community environmental schemes and projects. Dr Sam Phua will be situated in Pangolin Associates’ office in the Brisbane CBD. For enquiries, email info@pangolinassociates.com or call 07 3103 2000.

The Next Generation of Electronic Pool Testing Has Arrived and IT’S A WINNER! The Scuba II wins the “Golden Wave” by Europe’s largest circulation pool & spa magazine “Schwimmbad & Sauna”.The award recognises the Lovibond® Scuba II as an outstanding product in design and practicality. Recognised for its innovative, ergonomic design and low cost. The key to this innovation: “Scuba II” makes it possible to carry out control measurements of pool water, immediately and accurately. Immersing the unit causes the integrated measurement chamber to fill with water. A reagent tablet is added and this generates a characteristic colour which is measured using the photometric principle and displayed as a figure on the screen. Five different parameters can be measured in less than 8 minutes Waterlilly Australia Pty Ltd, importers of the entire Lovibond® range of water testing instruments and reagents, are proud to introduce the Lovibond® Scuba II Electronic Pool Tester to the Australian and New Zealand market. Waterlilly’s Managing Director,Yvette Thommesen says “the new Scuba II fills an important gap in the commercial and residential pool industry for a low cost accurate instrument. It fits nicely into the hotel and motel market due to its simple, tried and trusted methods – it’s a great option from our more professional commercial kits and it’s a big step up from test strips or a 4 in 1 visual comparator. This Scuba II has gained immediate acceptance and it has become our most popular instrument for the discerning pool operator”. The Scuba II employs internationally approved test methods so it satisfies the Health Dept. requirements and guidelines for water

analysis”.The Scuba II makes testing of pool water simple and low cost.The Scuba II is supplied ready to measure free Chlorine, total Chlorine, pH value, Cyanuric Acid (stabiliser) and Alkalinity. The new Scuba II design introduces enhanced features and innovative design concepts to enable easy handling and operation – it’s child’s play, really. The Scuba II is eye catching with it’s ergonomic oval shape that fits comfortably in your hand and with its new large display area of 3 x 2.2 cm it’s easy to read measurements. And it swims…A great improvement in the development of the Scuba II is that it will float in water and is IP68 waterproof. Accidents can happen and these features ensure that the meter is robust enough to endure and can be rescued easily should an accident occur. For a quote or literature for the Lovibond® Scuba II Electronic PoolTester contact: Waterlilly Australia Pty Ltd Phone: 61 (0) 2 9798 9975, email: sales@waterlillyaustralia.com Visit us at www.waterlillyaustralia.com Australia’s Lovibond Product Specialists for over 20 Years

PRODUCT

NEWS

JBL’s Noble Install Fit For A King Bergstrom Architects have recently completed an extensive restaurant and bar fit out of an existing tavern in the Sydney CBD for JDA Hotels.The result is the launch of a new restaurant and bar: Noble Canteen & Cocktails and 50 Kings. TTE Group were contacted to design and install an audio visual system with the client and Bergstrom Architects requesting a system that would produce an even coverage of sound with enough headroom to maintain a good vibe for daily trade through to special events and functions. It was also important that the system was not visually intrusive. Upon receiving his brief Tim Teasdale, managing director of TTE Group, immediately contacted Rod McKinnon and the team at Jands to assist him in providing the best solution. “I have done many installations with JBL products and the client had used them before so we were both comfortable to use JBL again,” remarked Tim. “The size and the output of the speakers we used was just what we wanted. It’s not a large space so we didn’t want anything too over the top.” It was decided that to keep with the areas aesthetics and low profile nine JBL AC18 speakers and two JBL subs would be ideal for the main area of the main bar. JBL’s Application Engineered permanent installation loudspeakers, contains the performance and features that meet the needs of contractors and consultants alike. Incorporating the latest loudspeaker technology, a wide selection of models, high performance features, reliability, and a systems approach. AE Series has a loudspeaker for just about any challenge you might encounter.

“JBL’s AC18 are just the right size and look for the job, as well as providing enough coverage and level for the room,” commented Tim. “As the JBL subs are so small and discreet, it was easy to conceal them within the joinery behind decorative grilles.” The banquet seating and upstairs areas are covered by a selection of JBL Control Contractor pendant, surface-mount and ceiling speakers providing outstanding coverage while also providing superior voice and musical clarity to suit the venue’s acoustics. All speakers are powered by Crown amplifiers. Other areas have also been fitted with Control surface mount boxes and ceiling speakers. All speakers are powered by Crown amplifiers.

Audio processing for the site is handled by a BSS Soundweb London. “BSS is a really nice product to work with,” said Tim. “It worked well for this size venue and it really is a one-box solution handling all the limiting, level and EQ.” Control of the AV system is by AMX, with access to audio, video and lighting functions from two easy to use touch panels within the venue. Photos courtesy of Bergstrom Architects. For more information on JBL, BSS and Crown products visit www.jands.com.au or contact: Australia Sales: Jands Pty Ltd Tel: +61 2 9582 0909 Email: info@jands.com.au

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