Contract News

VAILLANT WINS CONTRACT TO SUPPLY OVER 230 AIR SOURCE HEAT PUMPS

Vaillant has been awarded the contract to supply 239 of its low carbon heat pumps to a new-build housing development in Swindon, which is being led by Nationwide Building Society.

Located on the outskirts of Swindon, the off-gas Oakfield development, a 239-plot development, is being managed by property developers, Igloo Regeneration, and construction partner, Mi-space, and the first homes will be available in 2022.

With a focus on sustainable living, this forward-thinking development features a range of properties from one bedroom apartments to two, three and four bed houses. In addition, the project has also committed to ensuring 30% of properties are allocated to affordable housing. All properties have been designed to run as energy efficiently as possible ahead of the Government’s 2025 deadline for the Future Homes Standard.

As part of this eco-friendly project, Vaillant will be supplying 221 of its aroTHERM plus air source heat pumps. The remaining 18 properties, which are in an apartment block, will use Vaillant’s aroTHERM split air-to-water heat pump. Here, properties located on the ground floor have had heat pump units installed on the ground, while the remainder have been installed on the roof of the apartment block. The aroTHERM plus and aroTHERM split heat pumps offer an ErP rating of A+++ and A++ respectively and are Quiet Mark accredited, meaning they were the ideal solution for the eco-friendly Oakfield project.

Working closely with Igloo and the project design consultant, CBS consultants, Vaillant has been involved in the project to ensure the heating systems selected were able to run as energy efficiently as possible both now and into the future.

Vaillant, vaillant.co.uk

BALFOUR BEATTY SECURES £68M LONDON RETIREMENT VILLAGE CONTRACT

Balfour Beatty has announced that it has been awarded a £68m contract by Audley Group to complete the new Mayfield Watford retirement village in Watford, London.

Responsible for the design and construction of the new retirement village, Balfour Beatty will lead the completion of 255 one and two bed apartments, alongside communal facilities including a health club, swimming pool, restaurant and a multi-purpose village hall with surrounding green spaces and parking.

To support the delivery of its sustainability strategy ‘Building New Futures’, Balfour Beatty will deploy safe and sustainable outcomes throughout the project lifecycle, including the offsite manufacture of the 180 apartment balconies, reducing the working at height risk as well as improving overall project efficiency.

Kevin Hudson, Construction Director, Audley Group commented: “The demand for our retirement villages remains at an all-time high, so we are pleased to be able to continue our work with Balfour Beatty. We know, through our long-term partnership, how the team works to deliver to our high standards. Across the UK there continues to be a chronic lack of quality retirement housing provision and we are accelerating our growth plans to help meet this demand. Working with quality construction partners like Balfour Beatty helps us redress this balance.”

Following the successful delivery of the pre-construction services works during the COVID-19 pandemic, early works are now progressing at pace with main construction works expected to complete in 2023. At construction peak, the project will employ a team of 300. Balfour Beatty, balfourbeatty.com

FIVE-FIGURE PROJECT COMPLETED AT LUXURY YORKSHIRE HOTEL

LED lighting manufacturer, CFE Lighting, has worked with electrical engineers from NEC Services to deliver a five-figure project at the first major new-build hotel development between York and the coast for over 20 years.

The company designed and manufactured 55 exterior lighting bollards, with these supplied to the luxury Sandburn Hall Hotel through wholesaler YESSS Electrical and installed by NEC Services.

The bollards are fitted with low energy, high lumen LEDs to provide wayfinding and emergency lighting along the main walkways which run around the front and back of the 40 bedroom luxury hotel.

Commenting on the project, Amanda Speight, national business development manager at CFE Lighting, says: “We’re delighted to have been able to support the development of what will be an incredible destination hotel for the region.

“The project enabled us to showcase the full breadth of our capabilities, from visiting the site to assess the requirements through to designing and manufacturing the bollards, using the very best components, at our production facility in Barrowford.”

Hotel director James Hogg says: “Everything about the design and build of this hotel is quality and that extends to the smaller details such as the exterior lighting bollards, with CFE Lighting creating a bespoke, British-made product that perfectly meets our needs.” CFE Lighting, cfe-lighting.co.uk

CONCENTRIC RECEIVES ELECTRIC COOLANT PUMP DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT

Concentric has received a new development contract to supply electric coolant pumps for a fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV). The customer, a global truck and bus OEM, will use the Concentric’s e-pumps for cooling the FCEVs on its new flagship bus application.

Buses for city and regional transport are the early adopters of FCEV-technology, with California now operating fuel cell buses for several years. The FCEV buses have a major advantage over their competition (diesel buses) because they produce zero CO2 emissions. This is particularly important in already heavily polluted, densely populated cities. When hydrogen is produced from clean, renewable energy sources, the fuel cell buses could make a significant contribution toward cleaner air in major cities around the world.

Cooling FCEVs requires the use of special coolants, which are aggressive to many metals. Concentric’s engineers have developed the e-pump to be able to pump these special fluids without reducing the durability of the product or service life.

David Woolley, President and CEO of Concentric AB comments: “This new agreement is another milestone in the development of Concentric’s e-pumps, as we strive for Technology + Innovation = Sustainability. We already supply e-pumps to many global OEMs for their hybrid and battery electric vehicles, and this important contract ensures we continue to support our customer’s needs as they design the zero emission vehicles of the future.” Concentric, concentricab.com

CITY OF SHEFFIELD TO PROTECT AIR QUALITY WITH ABB ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGERS

ABB’s rapid electric vehicle (EV) charging points are helping Sheffield City Council to promote ultra-low emission transport as part of a new Clean Air Zone. Specialist energy contract company, Franklin Energy, is delivering the infrastructure as part of a £1.2m project to deploy 27 charging points across 11 sites in the city centre. It selected ABB’s Terra 54 technology thanks to an excellent track record of reliability.

The new infrastructure will incentivise drivers to switch from diesel or petrol to electric vehicles, which will cut levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulates. The Clean Air Zone will focus on buses, light and heavy goods vehicles and taxis. Together, these represent around 20% of traffic but are responsible for half of air pollution.

Fifteen of the 27 chargers have contactless payment terminals supported by the ABB Ability Connected Services. The remaining 12 chargers are dedicated for Sheffield’s licensed taxis and have been set up to provide dedicated access to taxi drivers who have pre-registered with an app set up by Franklin Energy.

The Terra 54 chargers provide power rated at 50kW, which can add more than 100km of range in as little as 25 minutes. However, ABB has supplied them with an additional 43kW AC outlet, making them compatible with plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). ABB, abb.com

CUMBRIA ‘LED-ING’ THE WAY

Work is nearing completion on Cumbria County Council’s exciting street light replacement and improvement programme.

The County Council has invested £12.9m over the past seven years in this major countywide project to replace over 45,000 street lights with more efficient and cost effective LED technology.

The programme has enabled the Council to reduce its annual lighting energy bill by over £1 million, reduce annual energy consumption by 60% and save more than 9,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

As part of the LED replacement programme, the Council believes it will be the first local authority in the UK to use a newly-developed and adaptive LED street lantern which is Dark Sky friendly.

The new LED lanterns are manufactured by Thorn Lighting and use its innovative NightTune LED technology. The lanterns emit a blend of white and amber light which can be automatically adjusted to suit the time of night and level of traffic on the road. Visibility for drivers and pedestrians is not affected by the blended light colour and the scheme is fully compliant with the required safety standards for street lighting.

The luminaires, deliver light focused at ground level, preventing light pollution up into the night sky with no visibility of the LED, reducing any potential for glare.

The County Council will be piloting these NightTune LED street lights at five locations in Alston, Warcop, Dent, Glenridding and Ambleside, where lighting was due to be upgraded and/or is situated in a sensitive location. Each site has been selected to cover a diversity of communities and landscape settings, in areas bidding for Dark Skies landscape status nationally – the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales national parks and North Pennines AONB. Thorn Lighting, thornlighting.com

INNOVATIVE NEW CHARGING HUB OPENS IN BICESTER

A new electric vehicle (EV) charging hub has opened in the heart of Bicester, at Cherwell District Council’s Cattle Market car park.

The £5.2m Park and Charge Oxfordshire programme is among the first of its kind in the UK and is being delivered by a consortium of local partners, including Oxfordshire County Council and Cherwell District Council. The Bicester site is the first of 24 council-owned car parks to have an EV charging hub installed this year under the scheme. Motorists can park for free overnight and charge up using one of the 12 new ‘fast’ 7-22kw EV charging points, which will also provide much-needed battery top-ups to commuters and visitors during the daytime. Supporting the creation of green infrastructure, using low carbon, energy positive technology is a core principle of the Bicester Garden Town project, with Bicester firm Zeta developing a state-of-the-art charger for the scheme. Zeta is leading the Park and Charge project and will also be running the EV charging service on behalf of the councils under the trading name EZ-Charge. Built with ease of use and reliability in mind, the chargers can be operated by contactless payment, making it simple for EV drivers to ‘tap and go’, with no membership required. Zeta, thezetagroup.com

NEW COMMUNITY HUB TO COMPLETE NORTH EDINBURGH REGENERATION

Detailed plans have been submitted for a new multi-use community hub at MacMillan Square, as part of the wider regeneration of North Edinburgh.

The state-of-the-art building will accommodate an early years centre for 185 children, a new library and will provide additional space for North Edinburgh Arts and will ensure that it continues to be at the centre of a creative, connected and inspired community.

Complementing the Council’s new library, early years centre and affordable housing, the new hub will see arts and learning brought together under one roof in a striking new building offering the community in North Edinburgh an extensive range of services. This will include new enterprise, workshop, learning and creative studio space, alongside an expanded café, youth area and shared atrium.

Allowing for further design and procurement, construction is expected to start in early 2022 to complete mid-2023. Prior to this, enabling works will be carried out onsite including the demolition of the existing library.

The community hub will offer young people a place to develop skills, confidence and self-esteem, a safe and inspiring place for local families and children, and a place where older people will feel part of a connected and supportive community. This accessible, welcoming and much needed community space uses environment-friendly build and innovative design techniques. The re-developed and extended venue reflects current community aspirations, whilst being flexible enough to respond to future changes in demand. City of Edinburgh Council, edinburgh.gov.uk