Can we protect staff, patients and visitors while reducing waiting times, saving money and targeting net zero in the NHS estate? NHS Scotland Assure’s Mike Ralph investigates innovative air cleaning solutions to combat healthcare-acquired infection
Category: Technical
Visualising whole life carbon: HVAC performance assessment tool
Hoare Lea’s early-stage selection tool calculates whole life carbon for HVAC systems, while providing 3D visualisations for each specification. Esam Elsarrag demonstrates the software by assessing the performance of seven different systems
Staying in the loop: identifying performance gaps
Feedback loops identify what is going routinely wrong in buildings and give valuable insight into how future building performance can be improved. Susie Diamond and William Box explain the concept, and discuss how it could be applied to ventilation
A golden age for smarter living: leveraging technology for comfort
As the UK’s population ages and climate warming intensifies, smart technology will be essential to ensure resilient and comfortable homes, says ABB Smart Buildings’ Kevin Lenton
Hot and bothered: Zehnder overheating survey
The risk of overheating in buildings is growing significantly as temperatures rise, but a new survey by CIBSE Journal and Zehnder Group UK shows that mitigating the risk is not always a priority in design even though respondents say it’s a hot issue. David Blackman reports
Low carbon, high safety: fire engineering and embodied carbon
The embodied carbon impact of fire safety measures is relatively unknown. Arup’s Grete Wilson and Dr Emma McIntyre have created a roadmap to establish how engineers can create low carbon designs without compromising fire safety
Out of site: modular heat pump solutions
With site accommodation contributing significantly to construction projects’ carbon footprints, engineers on a £227m residential scheme at Wembley Park have come up with a modular heat pump solution that cut operation carbon by 14 tonnes in six months, as Solaris Energy’s Daniel Large explains to Andy Pearson
Exploring the non-visual effects of lighting
The 2023 Jean Heap Bursary has helped fund an advanced eye-tracking headset, which is allowing lighting designer and researcher Simone Bonavia to assess how lighting affects people’s non-visual functions
Intelligent Solutions for Safer Water Systems
Continuous monitoring of water quality within HVAC systems plays a vital role in ensuring the long-term health and longevity of building networks
Safe and practical applications: natural refrigerants
The higher flammability of low-GWP refrigerants in heat pumps and air conditioning systems has to be carefully considered by designers and installers. Alex Smith reports
