SE Controls invests in the future with five key management appointments

International smoke and naturalventilation systems specialist, SE Controls, has made five key management appointments to reinforce and expand its capabilities in core parts the business, including ventilation systems control and maintenance, fire engineering, project management and business development.

The new members of the management team are all highly experienced in their respective disciplines, each having worked for well over 20 years at a senior level within the building, construction and control systems industries with a number of UK and international companies.

Three of the new appointments, David Furneau, Stuart Coote and Nelson Godinho join from natural and powered smoke ventilation company, Airvent, taking up new roles within SE Controls as Project Manager, Business Development Manager, and Fire Engineer, respectively.

In addition to his time at Airvent, David has a long career in smoke control and project management having also worked for Colt International and GEC, while Stuart’s successful career in sales and business development in the engineering, electronics and construction industries includes periods with Colt International, and SMC Pneumatics.

Prior to joining Airvent as a fire engineer consultant in 2008, Nelson was a contracts engineer for Alstom South Africa, where he was directly involved in the design and management of a range of smoke ventilation and control contracts. At SE Controls, his role is focused on maintaining design and legislative standards across the smoke ventilation systems range, as well as liaising with fire engineering consultancies and specialists on relevant projects.

Simon North joins SE Controls as Service and Maintenance Division Manager from Honeywell Building Solutions, where he was responsible for energy and cost efficient life safety and natural ventilation solutions, while Paul Hunt takes up his post as Supply & Distribution Manager from Securistyle, part of the Assa Abloy Group, having also previously worked for the Newman Tonks Group.

SE Controls’ Managing Director, Will Perkins, explained: “We are constantly developing and growing our business in all the sectors and countries in which we operate through the design and installation of excellent solutions delivered by outstanding people. With these five key appointments we have not only increased our skills and experience base, but also created an even stronger platform for further development in key aspects of our business from customer service and systems maintenance through to product design and market development. “

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.

Fire safety and comfort cooling from SE Controls for new London apartment development

A six-storey apartment development in North London is using an innovative smoke control system from SE Controls to not only provide smoke-free escape routes in the event of a fire but also ensure that day-to-day temperatures in communal areas and corridors are kept at comfortable levels for residents.

The Notting Hill Housing Group’s 108 home development at Micawber Street in Hackney was handled by Ardmore Construction, which included the demolition of existing buildings and the construction of the new residential block, which also incorporates more than 2,500 m² of commercial floor space.

Initially, the building was designed with a mechanical ventilation system and a separate dedicated environmental shaft to help cool the building and address the overheating effect in multi-storey buildings, caused as a by-product of routing heating distribution pipework in building voids to optimise space.

SE Controls was invited to evaluate this system by conducting a thermal modelling analysis on the building and the results showed that it provided negligible cooling benefit, reducing temperatures by just one degree Celsius on only a few days in the year.

Working closely with the design team and Ardmore Construction, SE Controls engineered a combined smoke control and environmental solution, based on its SHEVTEC® system, which uses the existing smoke shafts to provide significant thermal performance improvements and enabled major cost savings to be made on the project.

SE Controls incorporated additional automatic opening roof vents and lobby vents into the design, allowing the smoke shaft is to be utilised as a fresh air natural ventilation system, which enables the lobby and corridors to be cooled and avoid overheating. This is achieved by the use of 0.5 m² permanently open louvres at roof level and within the stairwell, while also utilising the automatic smoke dampers on each floor to vent heat into the smoke shaft. Larger automatically opening roof vents, dedicated to the smoke ventilation system, were also installed and enable the natural ventilation system to be over-ridden automatically in the event of a fire.

In normal day-to-day operation, the natural ventilation design allows air to enter through the lobby doors, which are held open by electro-magnetic devices and flow across the lobby before being exhausted through the roof vents, with the lobby temperature being controlled by a tamper proof thermostat.

If a fire should occur, the lobby doors close automatically along with all the smoke dampers, except the one located on the fire floor. This allows smoke to be drawn from the corridor, through the smoke shaft and away from the stairwell to ensure a smoke free escape route is maintained.

The entire system is controlled by networking the smoke ventilation system’s smoke dampers on each floor with SE Controls’ OS2 controllers incorporating OS link network cards. In addition, the system also incorporates an SE Controls NVLogiQ room controller in the fist floor lobby core to monitor and log the system’s performance for future analysis and tuning.

Dr Chris Iddon, SE Controls’ Design Manager, explained: “Corridor and building overheating, particularly in multi-story residential projects is a key issue, as buildings become more airtight and the location of heating pipework in communal areas creates potentially uncomfortable levels of thermal gain, which can reach well in excess of 30 degrees C. In order to determine the most effective methods and provide a solution to this problem, we have carried out extensive studies and dynamic modelling of various ventilation scenarios, which show that natural ventilation is an effective solution to mitigate overheating risk.”

He added: “Also, dedicated cooling systems wouldn’t necessarily be considered for circulation spaces due to plant, installation and running costs for what are essentially non-profitable spaces. As smoke control systems are already a legal requirement within these spaces, our expertise can be used to adapt them to address both smoke and natural ventilation needs in a single, more economical solution. In addition, it can also be retro-installed to buildings with a smoke control system that are experiencing overheating issues with minimal disruption.”

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.

Climate change, hospitals and patient well-being

Dr. Chris Iddon of SE Controls

Comment on hospital overheating from The Climate Change Commission report

The recently reported issue of climate change causing overheating in hospitals with an associated increase in related deaths, not only highlights the risk to patient health from high temperatures and inadequate ventilation, but also questions current thinking on building design.

According to findings from forthcoming research by Cambridge University, headed by Professor Alan Short, around 90% of UK hospital wards are of a design type that makes them susceptible to overheating.

Extracts from the report released by the Climate Change Commission, led by Lord Krebs, indicate that building design and construction are key contributory factors to the overheating and patient health issue. In addition, the Commission has already suggested that the retro-fitting of air-conditioning plant would be uneconomic, so the immediate focus is already centred on cost effective and energy efficient measures of addressing the problem, such as natural ventilation.

While hospital overheating can be readily managed with natural ventilation solutions, the additional benefits, particularly in hospital wards, is that it can also reduce the build up of pathogens, viruses and associated infections by encouraging air movement and ‘flushing’ stale air from the building. Independent research undertaken by Dr. Cath Noakes of Leeds University shows that when windows are closed to reduce heat losses and energy costs, there is an increased risk of infection due to a four-fold increase in airborne pathogens.

Although air quality in critical health and clinical areas of hospitals needs to be of the highest standard, these principles, in many instances, have been compromised in other parts of hospital design. In pre-operation, recovery and general wards, the opportunity for ventilation is often limited to a 100mm wide strip of open window - a limit governed by essential risk directives to protect patients from harm and provide a safe environment.

However, simple modifications could readily be implemented to the ventilation solution, such as high-level vents or window opening, which would to not only maintain patient safety, but also provide adequate ventilation to manage temperatures and improve indoor airquality.

When the lack of cooling is linked to other building design issues, such as south facing glazing, low ceilings, thin walls and the cumulative heat build up from multi-storey structures, there will be and inevitable impact on hospital temperatures

Temperature data research and analysis that I have undertaken with Professor Kevin Lomas, as part of the wider Cambridge University team lead by Professor Short, reveals that in numerous hospital wards across the UK there are number of key factors influencing overheating risk. The work has not only highlighted the resilience of traditional, heavyweight ‘Nightingale wards’ to overheating, but also indicated that solar gain is the key cause of internal temperature increase.

Alongside improved ventilation and increased air movement through carefully planned vents to maintain patient safety, the introduction of measures to limit heat gain, such as the deployment of external shading devices will help reduce overheating risk.

Hospital overheating is a very real issue and this report highlights that most are not only incapable of dealing with any predicted gradual increase in temperatures that may result from climate change, but are also likely to be susceptible to heatwaves.

The links between building design practice and how regulations will need to evolve to manage overheating and assist infection control are likely to be a key outcomes from the research, which will impact all aspects of architecture and construction.

While some retro-fitted solutions can provide effective answers to overheating, the time to review building design standards, specifications and regulations, particularly for future hospital construction projects, is probably already here.

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.