SE Controls Smoke and Natural ventilation solution for Airbus

A new 25,000m² office building for leading aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, is using an advanced smoke and natural ventilation system from SE Controls to provide a comfortable working environment for staff while ensuring that an effective smoke and fire control strategy can be implemented in the event of a fire.

The four storey building, which is part of the £70 million Airbus Aerospace Business Park development at Filton, accommodates more than 2,500 staff and brings together engineering, design and customer support functions that are currently located in several smaller buildings onsite into the new engineering and technology campus.

SE Controls was involved in the project from the early stages to clarify the ventilation strategy and provide calculations on the free area requirements for the smoke vents to ensure compliance and performance standards were met.

Four separate atrium spaces feature as part of the building, designed by AWW Architects, and each incorporates 84 Schüco AWS 102 projected top hung vents. The vents are automatically operated by a total of 336 SCCO 24 30 concealed actuators, which were supplied, installed and commissioned by SE Controls in partnership with specialist façade contractor, Norking Aluminium.

In addition to installing the actuators, the interface control panels were also supplied, installed and commissioned by SE Controls together with the fire rated cabling, which is completely concealed within the curtain walling.

During day-to-day operation, the natural ventilation system responds to signals from sensors linked to the building management system (BMS) to ensure that the indoor air quality and temperature are maintained within the pre-set parameters to maintain a comfortable working environment.

In the event of a fire, the building’s alarm system signals the natural ventilation system to automatically close all the vents as part of the smoke and fire control strategy. This not only restricts the flow of oxygen into the building to help suppress the fire but also allows precise control to be taken by fire officers via the system’s manual control points, enabling smoke to be cleared from the relevant atrium.

As SE Controls’ actuators and Schüco vents have been tested and proven to meet the European smoke vent standard hEN12101-2 and the Construction Products Regulations that came into force in July 2013, the ventilations system is CE marked and fully compliant.

SE Controls’ Commercial Director, Martin Oates, commented: “The Airbus project is an excellent example of how a fully compliant life safety critical smoke ventilation system can also be utilised on a day to day basis to provide a controlled natural ventilation solution that maintains comfort for Airbus staff.”

He added: “By being brought into the process at a very early stage, we were able to clarify the specification, assist the design team and help resolve any technical and operational issues during the build.”  

  

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling

 +44 (0) 1543 443060.

Precision Ventilation Control for Sheffield University NAMRC

Precision window actuators from SE Controls are being used as part of an energy efficient natural ventilation system at Sheffield University’s Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC) in Rotherham, to help maintain a comfortable environment for researchers and staff.

Work at the NAMRC focuses specifically on innovative research into metals and manufacturing engineering, rather than radioactive research and the new BREEAM Excellent rated building, which was designed by Bond Bryan Architects, is based around an open plan 5,000 m² workshop that incorporates cutting edge manufacturing equipment and facilities.

As the building already employs low energy and renewable initiatives, such as 320kW ground source heat pumps and a 900kW wind turbine, the use of natural ventilation was an ideal solution, as the temperature and air quality can be maintained within clearly defined set points while minimising the need for additional mechanical cooling.

To provide the high degree of control required, SE Controls, supplied, installed and commissioned a range of chain actuators, which are linked to the NAMRC building management system and are used to control the operation of the high and low level vents.

Twenty TGCO 24 15 actuators with a 350mm stroke length were installed on the building’s high level exhaust vents, while the need to protect against finger entrapment on the low level louvres prompted the selection of eighteen SE Controls’ TGCO 24 20 ‘Easi-Drive’ compact actuators each with 160mm stroke length.

SE Controls’ Project Manager, Darren Wainwright, explained: “It is absolutely vital that the natural ventilation strategy and system perform as designed to allow the right amount of fresh air to enter the building while ensuring that heat energy is not lost unnecessarily during the process. By using precision actuators to provide incremental operation of the system’s vents and louvres, it helps ensure that required performance is within the specified design parameters.”

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling

+44 (0) 1543 443060.

SE Controls enhances fire safety and comfort at flagship apartment development

Berkeley Homes’ flagship Woodberry Park apartment development in North London is using an advanced smoke and natural ventilation system from SE Controls to not only provide protection for residents in the event of a fire, but to also create a better environment by actively managing any excessive heat build up in corridors.

Located on Seven Sisters Road, Woodberry Park is part of the innovative Woodberry Down regeneration programme being undertaken by the London Borough of Hackney, Genesis Housing and Berkeley Homes, which will eventually create almost 4,700 homes, combining social and affordable housing with private residential apartments.

SE Controls was commissioned to design and install a SHEVTEC® mechanical extraction smoke ventilation systems within two separate low rise private residential blocks within Woodberry Park, which provide a total of 117 luxury apartments.

In addition to smoke ventilation, a key part of SE Controls’ project specification and design brief was that the system should also incorporate an ‘environmental ventilation’ mode, enabling it to monitor heat build up in communal corridors and lobbies while also managing the operation of automatic vents to reduce the temperature and introduce fresh, cooler air into the building.

SE Controls’ Project Leader on Woodberry Park, David Sawyer, explained: “Heat build up in corridors with multi-storey apartment buildings can become an issue as many developments use efficient distributed heating systems where pipework runs along the corridors to each apartment.”

He added: “The cumulative thermal gain generated by the pipework can make corridors, lobbies and communal spaces uncomfortably hot, which is why we originally developed the environmental ventilation mode as an integral part of our smoke ventilation system capabilities, to help developers overcome this issue and provide a better environment for residents.”

The comprehensive SHEVTEC smokeventilation and environmental ventilation system installed in the two residential blocks, which have between four and seven floors, includes both an extract shaft and air inlet shaft in each the building’s two cores, with smoke dampers fitted at each level.

In normal smoke ventilation mode, if a fire is detected by building’s smoke sensors, the SHEVTEC roof mounted fan sets will start, while staircase vents and smoke vents located on the fire floor will open, enabling up to 5m³ per second of smoke to be drawn through the extraction shaft and provide a smoke free escape route for residents.

Tamper proof manual control points are installed throughout the buildings and separate fireman’s control points are also incorporated as part of the system, enabling fire service personnel to manually control the operation of every damper and staircase vent as well as the smoke and heat exhaust fans.

In addition to the system’s fire safety role, it is also designed to operate in a ‘natural environmental ventilation’ mode, which allows temperatures in corridors, lobbies and communal areas to be maintained at comfortable levels and avoid the heat build up caused by the under floor heating pipework feeding individual apartments.

Each lobby that is served by the smoke shafts is fitted with a ceiling mounted temperature sensor, which triggers the roof mounted environmental ventilation fan to run when the temperature exceeds the pre-determined set point to vent the warm air and replace it with cooler air from outside.

As with the smoke ventilation operation, only the dampers on the over-temperature floor will open and once the temperature has reduced sufficiently, they will close again and the ventilation fan will switch off. External temperature sensors are also installed within the system, which ensures that the environmental ventilation system will not operate if the outside temperature is higher than that within the corridors.

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling +44 (0)1543 443060.

A fresh solution from SE Controls for Birmingham City Council offices

Birmingham City Council’s award winning office development at Woodcock Street is using an advanced natural ventilation solution from SE Controls to create a comfortable environment for staff and visitors while enhancing the building’s sustainability credentials by reducing energy consumption.

Designed by Associated Architects, the £38 million five-storey building provides a flexible working environment for around 3,000 employees and forms part of the local authority’s plans to rationalise its office portfolio and generate more an £200 million of savings by reducing its occupancy of leased buildings.

A key focus of the building’s design was the use of a wide range of sustainable technologies to minimise energy consumption and reduce its carbon footprint. In addition to rainwater harvesting, a ‘brown roof’ wildlife habitat and photovoltaic panels, SE Controls’ natural ventilation solution also played an essential role in helping achieve the energy reduction targets.

SE Controls supplied, installed and commissioned the extensive natural ventilation system, which involved 562 TGCO chain and tandem type actuators together with 101 OS2 type 22 controllers to ensure the precise operation of automatically opening windows and vents within the workspace and four atria, which are managed by the building’s integrated BMS.

The natural ventilation system’s operation is also enhanced by the construction methods used with the building. Using steel framed construction and steel floor beams with 200mm thick hollow cellular core concrete floor planks, the design optimises the building’s thermal mass to enable the temperature to be managed without additional external cooling. The natural ventilation system is also used to ‘night purge’ the building, allowing cooler air to enter and cool the hollow beams.

SE Controls’ Project Manager, Darren Wainwright explained: “The Woodcock Street building epitomises current thinking on sustainable building design particularly in commercial workplace structures.”

He added: “Our natural ventilation system provides a highly energy efficient ventilation solution and its effectiveness is enhanced by many of the other sustainable technologies used within the building, such as solar shading and even details such as energy saving automatic lighting, which limits the heat energy being put into the building.”

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or calling +44 (0) 1543 443060.

Indoor Air Quality In Schools – Is It Making The Grade?

The new Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) Facilities Output Specification, launched last October by the Education Funding Agency, proposes some significant, positive and welcome changes to school ventilation specifications, when compared to the existing BB101 standard.

Alongside ventilation and carbon dioxide levels, it also provides clear guides on specific performance standards for thermal comfort while recognising that indoor air quality, ventilation strategy, temperature, humidity and energy efficiency are all intrinsically linked.

However, given that the PSBP is aimed at renewing, repairing and refurbishing some of the country’s most dilapidated schools, the question has to be asked about what happens to those schools that are not especially out of date or in poor repair? Will schools that fall outside the scope of PSBP and its associated funding find that their pupils suffer as ‘legacy’ classroom designs struggle to meet the new standards, particularly for CO₂?

Classroom carbon dioxide levels exceed BB101

In the last quarter of 2012, we ran a pilot test with a small number of ‘non-PSBP’ primary schools in the Midlands and Northern Home Counties to gauge the actual level of CO₂ in classrooms.

Using our NVLogiQ room controller’s integral CO₂ sensor and data-logging function to monitor and record carbon dioxide levels for later analysis, it’s front panel display also acted as a ‘traffic light’ system for teachers, alerting them that the levels were increasing and they should manually open windows to improve ventilation.

When the initial data was analysed in January this year, the headline results raised some significant concerns and were as follows:

·         For most days, the daily average occupied CO₂ level exceeded the recommended 1500ppm figure in BB101.

·         In some cases the CO₂ figure was between 2500ppm and 3700ppm on every day of the week.

·         BB101’s maximum 5000ppm level was breached four times per week in some cases.

·         A maximum reading of 7200ppm was recorded, resulting in the CO₂ levels exceeding 5000ppm for almost 3 hours in one case.

While this is a relatively small pilot programme, the results appear fairly consistent and suggest that air quality in schools is probably not as good as it should be. It also raises some general questions about verifying the performance of building ventilation systems in schools.

Clearly the new PSBP output specification sets out to address the issue of CO₂ levels, but as some schools are already struggling to comply with the less stringent existing standards, it is evident that any PSBP compliant system must be designed correctly and controlled effectively.

Control is the key

In ‘post-test’ de-briefings, teachers said they were too busy to constantly monitor and respond to ‘traffic light’ signals, so relying on manual opening proved to be unviable due to the intrinsic lack of precise control

Unless automated ventilation solutions are adopted, such as window automation linked to dedicated monitors and controllers or a hybrid mixed mode system to provide additional backup, then it’s likely that children and teachers will continue to work in poorly ventilated and non-compliant schools with the inevitable result of reduced learning performance.

By utilising devices such as NVLogiQ, which can be configured to operate either as a networked system or be dedicated to individual areas, classroom CO₂ levels, temperature and energy efficiency can be managed as an integrated set of parameters to provide optimal ventilation while saving energy and money.

Performance monitoring and ‘Soft Landings’

While the value of effective monitoring and logging of CO₂, energy efficiency and other parameters provides a constant source of information for analysis and system ‘tuning’, the real benefits come from long term building performance and environment monitoring. This information allows consultants, contractors and school facilities mangers to understand and refine a building’s overall performance.

This facility has even more value within the framework of BSRIA’s Soft Landings programme, which formally establishes a process of managed and extended handover from contractor to owner or occupier to help create a culture of ‘shared responsibility and co-operation’.

A learning environment

PSBP provides a tremendous opportunity to bring our schools up to date with quality facilities and better, more comfortable energy efficient buildings.

It’s evident that the ventilation industry and the education sector have learned a lot since the original introduction of BB101, yet the issues identified in our classroom CO₂ pilot study suggest that while there are still some lessons to be learned, the ventilation solutions are already available.

SE Controls’ 30 years of experience in creating and installing natural ventilation solutions in a diverse range of sectors, alongside an ongoing commitment to rigorous academic research, equips us with skills and technologies that can help make PSBP work, while helping improve building performance overall.

Innovative solution for natural ventilation in schools control launched by SE Controls

The need to maintain precise control over carbon dioxide (CO₂), temperature and energy consumption is essential to create quality learning environments in classrooms and educational buildings and SE Controls’ new compact NVLogiQ room controller provides an innovative solution to meet these demands.

NVLogiQ constantly monitors indoor air quality, temperature and humidity and uses innovative algorithms, developed in conjunction with Loughborough University’s Building Energy Research Group, to control the automatic operation of windows, vents and heating to improve learning and comfort while saving energy. A manual over-ride option is also incorporated to provide additional versatility and direct control.

Capable of being used as a stand-alone classroom controller or networked throughout schools and educational buildings, NVLogiQ’s also incorporates integrated data logging to allow detailed analysis against pre-defined design and performance criteria on both new build and school refurbishment projects.

This ability also presents a range of opportunities for consultants, contractors and facilities mangers to not only verify a school’s natural ventilation (NV) design and performance, but also to enable accurate ongoing system evaluation to be easily undertaken.

As NVLogiQ has a compact and unobtrusive, with a footprint of just 160mm x 105mm, it can be located close to desks and work areas, allowing the precise monitoring of carbon dioxide (CO₂), temperature and humidity to maintain good indoor air quality and comfort levels.

SE Controls’ Natural Ventilation Division Manager, Nick Hudleston, explained: “There are clear guidelines of the volume of fresh air to be introduced into school classrooms, lecture theatres and other educational facilities to ensure that learning is not impeded by high CO₂ levels as well as elevated temperatures. NVLogiQ provides a simple, compact and powerful method of monitoring these parameters and automatically controlling the natural ventilation system to maintain a productive learning environment.”

He added: “For consultants, contractors and those responsible for managing educational buildings, the data logging facility can be used for detailed ongoing analysis, allowing the NV strategy to be ‘tailored’ precisely to the needs of the students and teaching staff, while optimising energy efficiency and comfort.”

CO₂ temperature and relative humidity readings are continuously displayed on NVLogiQ’s integral LCD screen while a red, amber and green ‘traffic light’ display gives a constant indication of indoor air quality. A manual over-ride capability is also built in to the room controller, allowing staff to temporarily open or close windows, louvres or other ventilation devices.

NVLogiQ’s versatile and powerful control structure has been designed to enable it to be used in a range natural ventilation strategies including cross ventilation and single sided ventilation as well as managing passive ventilation and night purging.

“From the outset, we designed NVLogiQ to provide an unrivalled mix of features, control and precision to help take indoor air quality, comfort and energy management of natural ventilation systems in education to the next level,” continued Nick Hudleston. “The innovative operating algorithms, integral data logging and the unobtrusive design, enables it to address a range of NV control and educational building management requirements in a highly versatile package.”

SE Controls specialises in the design, project management and installation of advanced smoke ventilation and natural ventilation solutions to meet the needs of architects, contractors, building services engineers and facilities managers worldwide. Further information on SE Controls’ products, solutions and projects can be obtained by visiting www.secontrols.com or by calling +44 (0) 1543 443060.