Modern Building Services

6 MODERN BUILDING SERVICES MARCH 2023 INDUSTRY NEWS BESA President calls for crisis engineering The UK should look to its engineering community for solutions to many of the serious social and economic challenges it is facing, according to the President of the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA). In his presidential address to association members and guests, Rab Fletcher said: “The building services sector had a pivotal role to play in tackling the energy, climate change, cost of living and building safety crises confronting the country. “This year will be very tough for the industry but building engineers were in a privileged position because they could make a difference and influence the future. “These are big problems for the UK, but they are also opportunities for us to demonstrate the value of this industry and why our expertise matters. “BESA will continue to champion our role, drive improvements in technical and professional standards, and support training as we strive to create a workforce capable of rising to these challenges.” Optimistic Fletcher, who is also mechanical services teammanager at Fife Council, explained that there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic despite the general economic gloom. He referred to the first ever World Ventilation Day, which BESA helped to organise last November, as an example of how the industry could help to drive social progress. He said: “We worked with 21 organisations, including professional bodies, universities, and environmental groups from across the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia demonstrating how good ventilation can help to keep people safe from infectious diseases, improve sleep and reduce mould and damp in buildings.” He also paid tribute to the Honorary President of BESA’s Health & Well-being in Buildings group Rosamund Adoo Kissi-Debrah who has been campaigning for air quality and child health since the tragic death of her daughter Ella in 2013 and received a CBE in the King’s NewYear Honours for her services to public health. “She is a huge supporter of what we are trying to do about improving air quality in buildings,” said Fletcher. He added that last year’s highly successful BESA National Conference was another example of why members of the ‘BESA community’ should all be optimistic about the future. He concluded by saying: “We bring our industry together not just for the sake of it but to create positive change.” www.theBESA.com Daikin joins forces with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to ramp up decarbonisation Daikin has signed an agreement with Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) in a first-of-its-kind public and private joint approach to decarbonisation. The agreement was signed by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester and Masatsugu Minaka, Chairman of the Board of Daikin Europe N.V. and Senior Executive Officer of Daikin Industries Ltd. at the Mayor’s office in Manchester at the start of February. The partnership will provide GMCA with a dynamic purchasing framework to deliver Daikin air to water heat pumps for social housing across the city by 2025, making the procurement process more straightforward and cost effective. The installation of Daikin’s heat pumps will be a key part of GMCA’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, which will see up to a thousand heat pumps delivered to social housing across Greater Manchester. www.daikin.co.uk L-R Andy Burnham and Masatsugu Minaka BEAMA releases its latest underfloor heating efficiency test results BEAMA’s Underfloor Heating Group has released the latest results from its collaboration on the BEIS DEEP project at SalfordUniversity Energy House, providing further evidence that lower flow temperatures can support heat sources to operatemore efficiently. The tests are conducted on response times of various underfloor systems with the key aim of providing BRE and SAP with figures reflecting current installation practices. The test site at Salford University allows for laboratory-level monitoring of the system and room temperatures over current SAP standard time profiles. The data is derived from tests of three typical underfloor heating construction types in line with BS EN 1264. The data analysed so far has shown that response times of all floor constructions significantly improved on the current SAP assumptions for underfloor heating systems – coupled with the figures to prove that lower flow temperatures also result in the more efficient operation of the heat source. www.beama.org.uk Rab Fletcher, BESA President