A major BRE study on biophilic office design will focus on how lighting impacts on the wellbeing of occupants. BRE’s Flavie Lowres describes the aims of the project
Category: Technical
High streetwise – SLL’s guide to retail lighting
The SLL has published its first guide to retail lighting. Jill Entwistle talks to author Simon Robinson about why it was needed and what it covers
Judicial renew – replacing heating and cooling at the Old Bailey
Fifty-year-old boilers at the Old Bailey are being replaced under the watchful eye of Lady Justice, in a major 10-year refurbishment. Andy Pearson speaks to the project team about the challenge of replacing heating and cooling without interrupting proceedings in 18 law courts
Reach for the stars – taking a lift into space
An elevator that takes passengers into space may sound like the stuff of fiction, but Dr Bryan E Laubscher’s keynote at the 9th Symposium on Lift and Escalator Technologies reveals that interplanetary travel by lift is rooted in scientific reality
Paradise forged – Heating and cooling at Center Parcs Longford Forest resort
Center Parcs Longford Forest resort required renewable energy generation, ventilation that didn’t harm tropical plants and a new €4.5m, 27km gas main. Andy Pearson reports
Object lessons – workshop on creating product objects for BIM
Ahead of the launch of a new competency scheme for manufacturers creating product data, CIBSE and the Society of Digital Engineering hosted a workshop that shone a light on the issues around creating product objects for BIM. Alex Smith reports
Chipping away at the data – optimising biomass plant at St Andrews University
A biomass district heating scheme is key to the University of St Andrews’ goal of being energy carbon neutral. Vital Energi’s David Wilkinson says operational data analysis is optimising carbon savings and ensuring a return on the £25m investment
Magnetic attraction – maintaining system performance with magnetic filtration
Helping to minimise the destructive impact of corrosion on heating systems will improve plant durability and efficiency. Adey’s Keith Thompson looks at the role magnetic filtration plays in maintaining system performance
Sounding the alarm – flammable refrigerant gas safety concerns
Air conditioning and refrigeration firms are becoming increasingly worried about the amount of flammable refrigerant gas being used by engineers without suitable training, writes Ewen Rose
Roundtable – key issues around smoke control regulation after Grenfell
Fire safety issues flagged by Dame Judith Hackitt after Grenfell were tackled by smoke control experts at a recent roundtable sponsored by Colt. Liza Young follows an in-depth debate on competency, guidance and whole life fire strategy