Contract News

AHU REFURB PROJECT IMPROVES ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RELIABILITY

Multi-specialist engineering contractor, ECEX, has completed a major air handling unit (AHU) refurbishment project in the Broadgate Quarter, London.

The company has refurbished two massive AHUs at 9 Appold Street, a unique business development between Liverpool Street station and Broadgate.

Both units – one providing a duty of 21m³/s and the other 16m³/s – are on the 10th floor of the striking building, which offers fully fitted Grade A space providing outstanding office accommodation. The two AHUs provide tempered fresh air to the entire building.

The work done by ECEX operatives included fan upgrade, chilled water-cooling coil replacement, replacing the large fresh air inlet dampers, and installing new ECEX air intake screens. The company also carried out general refurbishment comprising corrosion treatment, cleaning, painting, new latches and seals and new lighting circuits.

James Gafford, contract manager at ECEX, says: “The main logistical challenge in this project was that the installation of these large units was in the top floor of a building accessed by a goods lift that was significantly smaller than the AHUs. This meant that we had to build the coils – which were around 3m wide and 2.5m tall – in kit form in situ because they were too large to fit into the lifts.”

ECEX replaced old, belt-driven centrifugal supply fans with a high-efficiency plug fan array which allowed it to increase the efficiency of the system while also allowing for an element of redundancy in case of future failure.

The works completed by ECEX have effectively extended the working life expectancy of the air handling units and the new high efficiency fans have led to a significant reduction in energy usage which, through planned future BMS integration, can lead to close monitoring and management of energy usage.

ECEX, ecex.co.uk

PROJECT TO PROMOTE USE OF EVS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

HITRANS, the regional transport partnership for the Highlands and Islands, has attracted funding of £1.5 million to deliver the installation of a network of 24 rapid charging points on the west coast of the Highlands and Islands to break down the main barriers to ownership of electrical vehicles in rural communities.

Units will be installed in Lochaber, Skye and Lochalsh, Argyll and Bute and the Western Isles at locations yet to be confirmed.

HITRANS has tapped into a European collaboration to help deliver the FASTER Project – Facilitating a Sustainable Transition to Electric Vehicles in the Regions. The project will assist with analysis of the planning and procurement requirements needed to kick start a commercial charging service. Ireland and Northern Ireland are included in the project partners.

FASTER aims to ensure that the availability of charging stations is not a major obstacle to EV market penetration, with the proposal to carry out the design and analysis, procurement, installation and operation of 73 rapid chargers (50KW capacity) across the three countries. It will also provide an additional supportive, enabling environment for suppliers and consumers and provide increased confidence and reassurance in regional commitment to the emerging EV market.

Lochaber Councillor Allan Henderson, Chair of HITRANS said preliminary work has been conducted on possible locations for the chargers through the HITRANS EV Strategy, and discussions were ongoing to ensure locations were chosen wisely and in line with grid capacity and existing infrastructure. HITRANS, hitrans.org.uk

LUCECO SUPPLIES WIRELESS LIGHTING CONTROLS TO ‘THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE NHS’

Trafford General Hospital in Greater Manchester, managed by the Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, is known as ‘The Birthplace of the NHS’. Luceco Wireless Lighting Controls have been specified by SI Sealy in association with the Estates and Facilities Energy Division of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust.

Luceco Wireless Lighting Controls were seen as a flexible approach to introducing control into buildings that could be tailored to suit individual preferences whilst being remotely monitored. Luceco Wireless Lighting Controls also gave the energy team a very clear picture of where lighting was being used efficiently by utilising dashboards to scrutinise the graphic information and adjust settings remotely to improve energy efficiency.

As a result of the cost calculations of the lighting refurbishment programme for TGH Ward 15/16 Elderly Care being within the budget constraints, approximately 150 Luceco Wireless Lighting Controlled luminaires were installed including the LuxFrame, Epsilon, LuxPanel, Contour, Platinum and Element downlighters.

Richard Horton, Business Development Manager from Luceco says, “We have been advised when analysed, the reduction in energy consumed from standard fixtures to LED luminaires in TGH Ward 15/16 Elderly Care reduced consumption from 33KW/Hr to 14.85KW/Hr.” This has been further reduced by Luceco Wireless Lighting Controls to operate at 55% of output to 8.2KW, resulting in a huge and very welcome energy saving. Luceco, luceco.com

OFFICE LIGHTING COMPLETED FOR LONDON’S TALLEST TOWER

Future Designs has completed the office lighting for 22 Bishopsgate, the tallest tower in the City of London, standing at 278 metres high.

Future Designs has provided the 130,000m2 development, set to be Europe’s first vertical village, with GLOS, a contemporary and minimalist luminaire that results in a perfectly illuminated environment.

Wellness and its subsequent impact on productivity of workers is a high priority for the design of this office building, and Future Designs’ GLOS fixture was tested and proved to meet the wellness criteria. Luminaires were tested for melanopic lumen values, which is the percentage of the light emitted that is close to daylight in terms of colour temperature. Daylight colour temperatures are beneficial to health and well-being and form part of Wellness certification. 22 Bishopsgate has London’s largest cycle park and a state-of-the-art gym, complete with a climbing window, 125 metres above the ground on level 25, as well as a wellbeing retreat on level 41. It is also the first building in the UK to apply for the Delos WELL Building Standard.

This people-focused building is a complex, 22-sided, faceted glass structure. The design is built and managed to satisfy the changing nature of the City of London in terms of the type, size and priorities of companies based there, including demands for high standards of technology and sustainability. Emphasis has been placed on constructing a building with flexible floorplates, high ceilings and exemplary lighting that compliments the natural light flow, which is enabled with three metre high, triple glazed windows.

As well as providing a place for 12,000 people to work, creating a diverse business community, 22 Bishopsgate also provides a range of retail, bar and restaurant units.

Future Designs, futuredesigns.co.uk

J S WRIGHT LANDS £20M CONTRACT FOR NINE ELMS PARKSIDE

Mechanical and electrical building services specialist J S Wright has secured a £20 million contract to support one of the UK’s biggest regeneration projects.

The company, which has offices in Birmingham and London, is to fit out the mechanical services for all 894 apartments in two buildings (Blocks B and D) at Nine Elms Parkside in Battersea on the south side of the River Thames in London.

The build-to-rent development is being built by Telford Homes as main contractor for global rental housing developer Greystar as part of the Nine Elms regeneration project – a new neighbourhood stretching from Battersea to Vauxhall that will eventually contain 20,000 homes as well as cultural, retail and business facilities.

J S Wright will fit out the one, two and three-bedroom apartments at Nine Elms Parkside with underfloor heating systems, along with fan coil units for comfort cooling. The company will also equip the kitchens and bathrooms with hot and cold-water services, soil and wastewater disposal systems, sanitaryware and mechanical extract ventilation systems, as well as install above ground drainage services and fire sprinklers for both buildings.

J S Wright has just begun work on site with completion due in the third quarter of 2022.

Phil Leech, Managing Director of J S Wright, says: “We are delighted to have been awarded our first contract with Telford Homes to fit out what amounts to the largest number of apartments in our history at one of the UK’s biggest regeneration projects.” J S Wright, jswright.co.uk

HEAT FROM RIVER TYNE USED TO WARM HOMES AND SCHOOLS

After a competitive tender process, South Tyneside Council Cabinet has appointed Colloide Engineering Systems the contract to construct the groundbreaking Viking Energy Network at Jarrow. This district heating system is the first of its kind in the country and would work by harnessing low-grade heat from the River Tyne and exporting it to 11 buildings, including high-rise flats, schools and sheltered housing.

The multi-million-pound energy network would slash annual carbon emissions by an estimated 1,035 tonnes and save around half a million pounds a year.

Detailed designs for the system have now been drawn up and a planning application has been submitted.

An energy centre serving the network will be built on an existing council-owned brownfield site at Jarrow Staithes on the south bank of the River Tyne. The system plans to combine a river source heat pump, a combined heat and power (CHP) back-up system, a 1 MW solar farm, and a private wire electrical network with storage battery.

Water source heat pumps work by extracting heat from a body of water, compressing it to increase the temperature and then converting it into useful energy in the form of hot water in a network of insulated pipes connecting buildings. The solar farm would provide much of the electricity to power the heat pump.

CHP – which would be used on occasions when the solar panels hadn’t generated sufficient electricity – is a highly-efficient process that harnesses the heat that is a by-product of the electricity generation process and which would otherwise be wasted. Colloide, colloide.com