Will Perkins - Managing Director.
According to some of the latest reports from the Construction
Products Association, (CPA), building construction has seen a
reasonable growth from the beginning of 2010 compared to 2009. With
the deep spending cuts being implemented by the Coalition
Government, growth is unlikely to be maintained during 2011. During
a recent Council for Aluminium in Building seminar, a major UK
contractor warned that if the banks continue to hold back loans and
funding for new projects there is little chance of any growth
appearing in the foreseeable future.
Whilst new building investment will be slow to materialise, funding
is still readily available to upgrade existing buildings to an
acceptable standard in order to extend their life expectancy. Taking
this further, more involved refurbishment of existing structures
will have a positive impact on reducing C02 over new-build and it is
thought by some that refurbishment of our building structure will
form a larger part of the industry in years to come with Government
lead tax incentives to do so.
For
adaptive natural ventilation and
smoke control systems to
perform, windows are normally fitted with actuators linked to a
controller which takes inputs from various data gathering devices
and operates banks of windows to allow ventilation of natural air
into the building and the exhaust of stale air or smoke to the
outside. All refurbishment projects will entail some form of
structural changes to provide enhanced services, it is therefore
vital that a specialist smoke control and/or adaptive natural
ventilation specialist is consulted at a very early stage of design.
This can lead to significant savings as often the correct siting of
improvements to the structure work hand in hand with ventilation
provision.
Selecting which systems to choose should be based on the following
criterion:
1. Upfront consultation and design services
2. Product life expectancy - quality and warranty
3. Low use of energy - energy efficiency
4. Commissioning and confirmation that the system meets
specification
5. Aftercare and on-going maintenance provision
What is crucial is experienced project management from the smoke
control and/or adaptive natural ventilation specialist to ensure
that all parties are providing work to the correct specification for
ease of final fixing and commissioning.
Commissioning should include some form of empirical testing to
ensure the design does meet specification. Depending on the building
variables, the specialist may have already used computer modelling
to simulate air movement at any given set of circumstances. Once
fully operational, handover complete with training and operation
manuals should be provided to the building owner or client.
Depending on the systems installed maintenance is vital for long
term effectiveness of the systems. In the case of Smoke Ventilation
systems, maintenance takes a preventative view, ensuring that
products are maintained to ensure trouble free use for a given
future period. This is now a legal requirement for the building
owner to protect the lives of the tenants or building users.
With the reduction in cost of electronic systems and the
corresponding increase in reliability systems are becoming more
intelligent. With improvement in materials and designs, actuators
are becoming, less obtrusive and more energy efficient. Monitoring
devices in the case of Smoke Control, are now more intelligent and
can now alert building management systems that a fault has occurred.
Engineers can then be called out for a repair which could save life
in case the system is needed in an emergency.
Failure of Smoke Control systems can often be put down to building
occupiers. The operation of Smoke vents on a roof has been
compromised by roof clutter in the case of penthouse apartments.
Vertical smoke shaft doors damaged or obstructed and even vertical
smoke shafts used for storage by building occupiers restricting or
blocking the escape of smoke. Education and inspection is crucial
and with sophisticated monitoring devices, our buildings will be a
safer place to live, work and play.
Safety systems, such as smoke ventilation now fall under the
Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (RRO) legislation, this
is the responsibility of the Management Company or Owner of the
Premises. Stipulations state that all Fire Safety equipment must be
maintained in efficient working order. In the event of a fire
maintenance records may be called upon for both legal and insurance
purposes. Regular preventative maintenance can prolong the life of
essential life-safety systems and ensures that any defects are found
before a critical situation arises. Failure to comply with any duty
imposed by the Order, or any notice issued by the enforcing
Authority, is an offence and prosecutions are on the rise.
SE Controls provide preventative maintenance visits to conform with
the British Standards Institution Schedule BS 7346:1-1990, BS
5588:12-2004 and The Buildings Regulations Approved Document B,
indicating that where natural or powered, smoke and heat exhaust
ventilation systems are concerned it is essential that they are
serviced regularly and maintained in good working condition.
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