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 chose 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 4. 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 control 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.
Visit the SE Controls website for more information on Retrofit Solutions for Ventilation and Smoke Control Systems