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The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520: Complementing Essential Existing Technology for Airtightness Testing in the Built Environment

A new British invention, following the co-location of Coltraco Ultrasonics’ Physicists and Scientists at Durham University, a globally outstanding centre of teaching and research excellence, the handheld Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 is a completely unique technology able to compute air flow and air permeability, quantifying leak sites to complement an airtightness test. Designed during COVID-19 with support from UK Government COVID-19 Emergency Technology Funding and available for exporting globally now, the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 builds on Coltraco’s long history in watertight integrity monitoring for the Royal Navy to deliver the Safeship™ at sea, applying our advanced understanding of fluid dynamics at sea to air flow dynamics to deliver the Safesite™ on land.

The unique ability to detect, locate and quantify air leaks, non-disruptively and without the need for any room pressurisation, in a complementary manner to existing Door Fan and Pulse Airtightness Testing, will enable users of the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 to make sharper decisions, verify technical specifications, and reveal possible defects if design standards have not been met rapidly and reliably.

The Importance of Building Ventilation: Changing Standards in the Built Environment
Professor Catherine Noakes OBE, who sits on the UK Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) states that “if we do invest as a nation [in ventilation], there’s a potential big win,” with the “long-term payback [of] improved health and productivity, and lower energy use.”
COVID-19 is essentially an indoor air crisis. Whilst vaccinations are a crucially important tactical response, they must be complemented by longer term strategies. To ensure Human Air Hygiene, and safeguard that basic human right, a continuous and assured access to pure, fresh air, every public building must have a Ventilation Strategy.
In its most basic form, the challenge of building ventilation centres around increasing the number of air changes per hour. However, the integrity of air filtration, and or air purification, can only reasonably be assured if all unwanted air infiltration through gaps, is sealed. Air flow measurement devices, such as the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520, that allow for frequent and regular detection, location and quantification of unwanted air leaks must therefore be integrated alongside existing airtightness testing equipment, to ensure the success of building ventilation strategies.
In addition to Human Air Hygiene, Fire Suppression, Thermal Comfort, Acoustic Insulation, and Insect and Pest Control are all integral aspects of the Built Environment which require a certain level of airtightness to be maintained, either to deliver the minimum number of air changes per hour, restrict the supply of oxygen to extinguish a fire, or lower energy consumption and waste.
Indeed, in a post-COP26 global environment, addressing the effects of climate change and making buildings more energy efficient and environmentally responsible is driving the construction industry towards “Build Tight Ventilate Right.” Buildings are a significant producer of carbon emissions, accountable for 35% of total energy consumption.
Testing for air leaks and simultaneously testing for watertightness with the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520, as water ingress seriously damages buildings and destroys electrical equipment, will improve build qualities, and reduce the costs of operating and maintaining the Built Environment.

The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520: Unique Technology to complement Existing Airtightness Testing
During Coltraco Ultrasonics’ long history in watertight integrity monitoring for the Royal Navy they learned that it was one thing to be able to identify large and microscopic leak sites, but that it was quite another to precisely locate and quantify the leak site through the structure concerned to determine the water flow rate. These are the crucial pieces of information required to assess the damage control risk overall in a ship’s watertight compartment, watertight door or watertight Multiple Cable Transit Area between bulkheads.
The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 takes Coltraco Ultrasonics’ understanding of fluid dynamics at sea and applies it to air flow dynamics on land. They take the best ultrasonic technology in Coltraco’s hardware to identify leak sites with a microscopic level of accuracy and apply computer science to measure and quantify the leak-site by the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520’s algorithm, which also generates a value for the air flow rate through that leak and the building’s overall air permeability.
The ability to record and analyse these 4 factors makes the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520, a British lightweight, hand-held, and portable analytical instrument, a unique technology globally. The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 has been invented to complement existing airtightness testing, typically achieved using a Door Fan Test or a Pulse Test, that is essential for measuring the integrity of the Built Environment.

Integrate Dynamically with Essential Existing Technologies to be Better-Faster-Cheaper: Testing the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 at The Airtightness Testing and Measurement Association’s (ATTMA’s) Building Performance Hub
In January 2022, Coltraco Ultrasonics’ Daniel Dobrowolski (Senior Physicist) and Bernard Hornung (Head of Built Environment) joined Paul Jennings (Airtightness Specialist) and Dr Bill Bordass OBE (Building Scientist) to test the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 in a full-sized house. Testing followed a Pulse Test and a Door Fan Blower Test, both of which the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 is designed to complement.

The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 performed outstandingly, being able to identify and quantify leaks that had been found with traditional basic methods of leak detection such as thermal cameras, smoke pencils and anemometers, but most importantly finding leaks that could not be found with any alternative method. A significant number of leaks were identified in window and door seals.

The Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 allows the ultrasonic quantification of leak sites in a depressurised environment, which has never been achieved before. Door Fan Testing or Pulse Testing can then be conducted at an appropriate moment, once detected leakage points have been identified and repaired. Uniquely, during these tests, the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 allows the location and measurement of air leaks, facilitating remedial action that is precise, immediate, and often low-cost.

Furthermore, Buildings can be surveyed with a Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 before an air tightness test so that they have a better chance of passing and, if a building fails an airtightness test, the diagnosis as to why it has failed could include locating and quantifying air leaks with the Portascanner®.

These capabilities of the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 are even more important when one situates the device within the increased world-wide emphasis on airtightness in the built environment as a result of the dual pressures of COVID-19 and climate change. In the UK, higher standards on airtightness in the Built Environment are being encouraged by institutions such as the Passivhaus Trust, which forms a part of the global Passivhaus movement, and is the UK affiliate of the International Passive House Association.

Passivhaus builds are approximately ten times more airtight than the standard required of new-build domestic dwellings in the UK, meaning special attention must be paid to identify potential leakage areas in the building fabric and offsite-manufactured components during the final stages of construction. There are about 65,000 buildings worldwide which have achieved Passivhaus standards of comfort, health, and low energy consumption, with many more in the planning process.

Being able to use ultrasound to detect, locate, and quantify air leaks, eliminates the need for pressurisation, negative or positive. Therefore, the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 can test building components when they are manufactured, such as windows and doors, which is where most leaks manifest themselves, with the aim to eliminate leaks before installation. During the execution of a build programme, or in the case of offsite construction, during the assembly of building components, building control aimed at assuring a better build quality should include the frequent and periodic use of the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520.

Coltraco Ultrasonics’ technologies provide their users with the unprecedented visibility necessary to make sharp decisions and understand opaque issues. Integrating the Portascanner® AIRTIGHT 520 with essential existing Door Fan and Pulse airtightness testing will improve build quality, and reduce the costs of operating and maintaining the Built Environment, by improving Human Air Hygiene, Fire Suppression, Acoustic Insultation, Thermal Comfort, and decreasing water ingress and absenteeism.

www.coltraco.co.uk

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Omnie UFH Systems selected for Porthcawl church renaissance

A well-attended and progressive church at the heart of a Welsh town is nearing the end of the first phase of an ambitious refurbishment project intended to help it meet the needs of local families, across all age groups, with improved facilities and as part of the work, a new underfloor heating system featuring the use of two different OMNIE systems will provide a warming welcome for all.

Established nearly 150 years ago, Cilgal Baptist Church stands close to the centre of Porthcawl, a popular coastal destination, built in the traditional style from stone and slate, with a separate hall. Recognising however, that the spaces did not have the ideal layout or amenities, Gilgal’s administration began planning a three year programme of alterations to transform the main building – the Sanctuary – and then rebuild the adjoining hall. The changes within the Sanctuary include the creation of a function area with kitchen and new toilets, plus various adaptations for those with mobility issues. A modern main entrance will give access to an enlarged reception area, while a new steel mezzanine structure creates additional space for various activities. The work is being carried out by Cardiff based LCB Construction along with its group company, Tim O’Brien M&E installing the OMNIE Staple and TorFloor systems, along with a new 50kW gas boiler to improve the efficiency of the church’s heating and hot water delivery. Improved lighting and sound systems have also been included to make the interiors a better place for both worship and recreation.

 

Operations Manager for LCB Construction, Simon Baldwin, said: “The work involves removing cast iron pipework and radiators, which are being replaced with the Staples and TorFloor underfloor heating systems, while also fitting a new 50 kW gas boiler. Our group has employed OMNIE underfloor heating systems on a number of projects in the past including private schemes and in the case of a building like this, with considerable spaces to heat, they offered an ideal means of maintaining the design temperatures while avoiding taking up lots of wall area with traditional emitters.” A spokesperson for the Gilgal Baptist Church added: “The changes are intended to ensure our buildings are fit for purpose: to keep us abreast with modern worship trends, to serve our community better and to provide the type of flexible facilities that families will enjoy and benefit from a plan to make our church a place of glory to God.”

 

OMNIE’S Staples system, which has been used across a large proportion of the church and the adjoining function space as well as the office, is installed by clipping the continuous pipe runs to rigid insulation at 150mm spacings, itself secured across the concrete subfloor. The entire area is then screeded to make full contact with the pipework and achieve excellent levels of heat transmission to the occupied space, while OMNIE provides clients with a full table of heat outputs in Watts which will be delivered, depending on the choice of floor covering, including tiles, vinyl, timber and carpet with underlay. The specification switches to OMNIE’s versatile TorFloor system for areas like the kitchen, toilets and other parts of the church. Across all of the 10 zones which are fed from four multi-port manifolds measuring up to 920mm wide, the circuits are designed for a flow temperature of 55 C to give a return temperature of 48 C in order to maximise the performance of the condensing boiler.

The pipe spacing within the TorFloor panels is again 150mm, while the routed channels are covered by a temper aluminium foil diffuser layer to optimise output. Importantly, the TorFloor panels combine the ability to span upper storey joists or battens fitted across a ground level slab, to provide high efficiency underfloor heating and a structural deck in a single product. Thus saving both time and money on installation, while avoiding the need for separate particleboard or other flooring panels. This makes TorFloor an ideal solution for use in either new-build or refurbishment/retrofit situations, while the high output characteristics also means it suitable for connection to OMNIE’s air source or ground source heat pumps. There is also an acoustic version of TorFloor which has been developed to cut sound transmission between different floor levels, which is ideal for multi-storey residential conversions.

www.omnie.co.uk

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A. Proctor Group at St Dunstan’s College

The superior airtightness performance qualities of the Wraptite® air barrier system from the A. Proctor Group will enhance a new state-of-the-art development at St Dunstan’s College – a co-educational independent school in Catford, London.

Contractor Willmott Dixon will deliver the new Junior School, STEM building and Sixth Form Hub at St Dunstan’s.

Designed by Bond Bryan Architects, the new development will be sited adjacent to the existing historic Headmaster’s House and connected by a glass atrium. Phase one includes a new junior school with specialist facilities for art, music and performance, and phase two includes the construction of the STEM Centre and Sixth Form Hub.

A vital element of the design and construction is to maximise the energy efficiency of the new buildings: Wraptite airtightness membrane, the only self-adhering vapour permeable air barrier certified by the BBA, will form a crucial part of the solution.

The inclusion of Wraptite within the facade will ensure “as-designed” performance, narrowing the gap between as-designed and actual energy performance and reducing the likelihood of potential failures to meet required airtightness levels.

Wraptite is a self-adhesive breather membrane applied externally, quickly and efficiently as part of the rainscreen system. The self-adhesive Wraptite membrane fully bonds directly to the substrate, requiring no mechanical attachment and little seals or tapes to suppress air leakage around junctions or penetrations.

Wraptite combines the critical properties of vapour permeability and airtightness in one self-adhering membrane, providing high levels of protection to the building fabric beneath the cladding. As a result, the Wraptite system allows the substrate beneath to dry quickly and moisture vapour to escape and reduces the likelihood of mould, mildew, condensation, timber distortion and metal corrosion.

Wraptite is compliant with Part B regulation changes and also has BBA approval for unrestricted use in buildings over 18m in England and 11m in Scotland.

www.proctorgroup.com

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KEYSTONE LINTELS TURN ARCHITECTURAL VISION INTO REALITY AT POOLE HOMES

The thermal properties, structural performance and lifespan of Keystone’s standard lintels played a crucial role in the design of two bespoke modern homes in a prime coastal position in Dorset.

The neighbouring properties in the sought-after Lilliput area of Poole Harbour offer views over Parkstone Golf Club and have been designed to an exceptionally high standard. With double and triple-height ceiling voids, rooflights, high ceilings and over-sized doors, the five-bed homes have been designed by Trinity Architecture in collaboration with developer Towncourt Homes to offer residents a strong feeling of space and light. With the correct specification of lintels, a critical element of a project such as this, the design team turned to Keystone Lintels to meet their structural and thermal requirements.

Keystone provided comprehensive technical support and a fast turnaround to ensure the correct lintels were made available onsite via merchant Sydenhams. Manufactured from high quality grade pre-galvanised mild steel, Keystone’s single leaf BOX/K 100, BOX/K 75 and SK-90 lintels were specified in accommodating lengths and masonry loads to achieve the architectural vision.

 

 

The elevations of both properties are arranged to visually break up massing by the stepping up in scale from the left to the right when viewing the front elevations. The off-white render, TBS Portland Blue facing brickwork, timber horizontal boarding and aluminium power coated windows, roof and fascia helped to adjust the building mass and ensured the homes provided a positive contribution to the street scene.

Available in a variation of wall thicknesses and used for internal or external openings, Keystone’s steel lintels are specially designed with a steel plate on the underside of the lintel providing superior structural stability to avoid twisting of the lintel during installation. Keystone’s patented design enhances the structural performance of the lintel without compromising the thermal performance. The innovative thermal break plate features intermittent tabs that connect the outer leaf to the inner leaf resulting in a 90% reduction in thermal bridging. This simple yet brilliant innovation significantly reduces thermal bridging while adding vast improvements to the structural integrity of the lintel.

In an area of the Dorset coast synonymous with luxury homes, the twin homes in Liliput have made the mark architecturally with cost effective lintel solutions that meet the most complex structural requirements.

 

www.keystonelitels.com

 

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Kooltherm pipe insulation fitted on leading biomedical research building

The University of Warwick’s Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building (IBRB) is breaking new ground in building design. The £33m facility has been constructed with a cutting-edge offsite approach featuring Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation and Kooltherm Insulated Pipe Support Inserts.

The research building, designed by Hawkins/Brown and Fairhursts Design Group, will provide world-class facilities for over 300 biomedical researchers helping to deepen our understanding of the origins and mechanistic basis of diseases of the brain and body. Working closely with the project team, which included Willmott Dixon and Hoare Lea, NG Bailey has manufactured and assembled much of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing installations at its specialist offsite facility in Bradford. This specification included the installation of over 20,000 lm of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation and Kooltherm Insulated Pipe Support Inserts, with onsite fitout carried out by specialist contractor Insulation & Cladding Services Ltd (ICS).

The University of Warwick set a target to complete at least 50% of the building work using offsite methods. NG Bailey helped to achieve this with a bespoke, five-storey ‘megariser’, which contains all of the buildings’ primary wet and dry services. The riser was delivered to site in eight sections, greatly reducing the number of deliveries and disruption to neighbours and allowing the installation to be completed in two days compared with the 15 weeks it would have taken with traditional methods. The sections were constructed horizontally at the NG Bailey facility and were lifted and installed using a crane – cutting time spent working at height.

As with all offsite work, careful pre-design was essential to ensure the ‘megariser’ and services were aligned correctly once in-situ. The project team collaborated closely with the use of BIM technologies and this process was supported through the specification of Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation and Kooltherm Insulated Pipe Support Inserts. These products are supported with bespoke BIM objects which can be freely downloaded from www.bimstore.co.uk This allowed service engineers and designers to accurately plan and position pipework and supports. With their leading thermal performance, the products also contributed to the project’s sustainability targets.

 

Stefan Watson, Offsite Integration Manager, Midlands, at NG Bailey explained: “By using offsite manufacture to produce the MEP elements, we removed circa 11,000 working hours from the project and reduced deliveries by around 190 HGV vehicles. The Client set the challenge of at least 50% of the construction being delivered through offsite techniques – and this was achieved.

“This greatly reduced the carbon footprint of the project and the completed building is expected to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating. Building services play a significant part in reaching this target and we carefully developed a specification which will keep the building’s energy use to a minimum.”

Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation is one of the most thermally efficient pipe insulation materials in common use. This allowed the project team to effectively insulate the full range of pipe diameters on the project with a minimal thickness of insulation, supporting a faster, installation both in the factory and as part of the onsite work completed by ICS.
The project team also carefully addressed the risk of heat loss through pipe supports by installing Kingspan Kooltherm Insulated Pipe Support Inserts. The premium performance inserts effectively limit thermal bridging through the supports and form an effective vapour barrier. For larger diameter pipework, the inserts are supplied with a metal spreader plate which prevents insulation compression, ensuring the efficiency of the pipework is maintained over time.

The specification of the Kingspan Technical Insulation products also supported work to achieve credits within BREEAM assessment. An Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certificate for Kingspan Kooltherm Pipe Insulation can be accessed at www.greenbooklive.com. The product is also certified as Eurofins Air Comfort Gold, recognising it as having low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and both products are manufactured under an environmental management system which is certified to ISO 14001:2015.
With Kingspan Industrial Insulation’s free Pipeline Technical Advisory Service, which can be contacted on 0808 168 7363, clear advice and guidance can be accessed at every stage in a project.

www.kingspantechnicalinsulation.co.uk

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A GOLDEN YEAR FOR OFF-SITE

2022 will be a ‘golden year’ for off-site manufacturing as construction becomes more efficient
Written by Des Duddy, Managing Director at Protrade 

Back in 2011, a quite astonishing feat happened. 

In China, a prefabrication business, which proclaimed itself as the world’s fastest builder, erected the 30-story T30 Tower Hotel in a little over two weeks. That same company went on to build a 57-storey building in just 19 days in 2015, doing so by completing three floors of the structure every day.

Even more recently, it may be easier for you to recall the Huoshenshan hospital that was built in Wuhan in 10 days in 2020, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

All three of the above examples were extraordinary feats of construction over the last decade, with the latter drawing fascination from across the world as millions visited sites like YouTube to watch time-lapse videos of how it was achieved.

As remarkable as they were, they are the latest in a clear line of indicators of the route our industry is inevitably heading in.

MMC (Modern Methods of Construction) and off-site manufacturing are nothing new. However, its adoption as the primary method of working across the industry has been accelerated by the need for construction to be far more efficient after a rough couple of years.

Prior to 2022, the off-site construction of buildings, building elements and structures accounts for around 2% of the total construction market. Thanks to a perfect storm, though, we’re going to see MMC and off-site manufacturing boom and those examples of construction feats I alluded to will become the norm in the years to come.

In this article, we’re going to explore why MMC and off-site manufacturing will become invaluable to the construction sector as it enters a crucial point in its journey to return to pre-pandemic levels by 2023.

The three main benefits of MMC and off-site manufacturing beyond efficiency

There are several articles out there that document the basic benefits of MMC and off-site manufacturing and so I’m not going to go over old ground.

Focusing purely on the economics, though, there is enormous investment going into it in the UK, and for good reason too.

There are three obvious benefits to the country and the economy:

  • the first is the commercial gain
  • its ability to give companies a competitive edge
  • improve the sector’s capability to meet demand after a pandemic that saw multiple projects mothballed and kicked into the long grass during 2020 and 2021.

Off-site manufacturing techniques have progressed significantly over the last few years, moving it on significantly from a time when it held a tarred reputation and was used mainly as temporary accommodation; your portacabins and the like.

Instead, what we now have are buildings and structures that are produced to incredibly high and repeatable standards, as we saw with the hospital that was built in Wuhan in just 10 days.

A word on supply shortages, raw material price inflation, and demand… it’s only going to get worse

It’s no secret that the supply shortages and lead times construction has faced over the last 18 months caused issues with projects across the country, with housing associations and local authorities grappling with limited supplies as well as soaring prices that reached a 40-year high for the industry.

For context, we received notification during October that silicone, which is contained in a lot of sealants, was due to go up 39% in price. We’d already experienced price rises of nearly 60% earlier in the year. As a business, we don’t buy steel in its raw state, but we do buy fixings manufactured from it, and they have risen by at least 25%. Channel and bracketry used in steel building systems, has gone up over 60% since January 2021. If you also look at raw materials, like polymers and monomers that go into making PVA and acrylics, they’ve shot up by more than 40%, too.

The prices we’re seeing in the market are not going to change. The shortage that is being faced isn’t going to disappear. If anything, that demand and the inflation of price is only going to increase, especially with the USA’s historic infrastructure bill, worth an eye-watering $1.2 trillion, that was passed in November by the US Senate.

This, alone, is creating a new wave of competition and demand for labour and raw materials – one that will even outweigh the problems that were faced last year.

But, the reality is Britain needs to build and construction will continue to be a vital sector for the UK economy. It’ll simply cost more. In order to combat these ongoing problems, the onus is on construction professionals to shift to a more viable option.

That obvious alternative is off-site manufacturing.

Off-site manufacturing’s influence was growing in the new build market – now it will become essential

Back in 2018, the Government laid out its plans to combat the growing housing crisis in the UK. However, since the pandemic hit, off-site manufacturing’s role has been accelerated to a point where it, in my opinion, needs to be considered essential.

A report by Savills, one of the biggest retail estate agents in the UK, showed that the proportion of new homes built using MMC was currently between 6-10%. In the new builds market, that is going to increase significantly, especially with the Homes England programme, which is aiming to make a quarter of affordable homes from MMC.

We know Lloyds Bank has the ambition to become the biggest landlord in the country and as part of their intention to buy 50,000 homes over the next decade, the likelihood is they’re going to need to build some of those properties.

As well as dealing with those ongoing supply shortages and price hikes, using traditional building methods to fulfil their needs is not commercially viable. Missing out on rental income is a huge incentive for businesses and institutions to get the homes built rapidly, and there’s no faster construction method than off-site manufacturing, which strips away the myriad of factors, like weather, site access, permissible working hours, and noise pollution, that can impact a project.

If you could purchase a plot of land and know that the house would be finished and ready to move in within four weeks, the financial savings would be significant… not to mention the huge reduction in stress levels!

Concerns over build quality are no longer relevant, with many off-site homes now offering a mortgageable 60-year warranty. Even hospitals, schools and commercial properties are looking towards modern methods of construction.

Why? Because the possibilities are endless.

A case study: How fast-food brands like McDonald’s and KFC showed the importance of MMC and off-site manufacturing

Even prior to the three examples referenced at the beginning of this article, there has been what some have called a quiet revolution taking place for some time with MMC and off-site manufacturing, one that the retail and fast food sectors have been ahead of the game on.

This approach was actually made popular by brands like McDonald’s and KFC, both of which calculated the huge sums of lost revenue caused by not having a fully finished restaurant as each day passed during the construction process.

Talking as no expert on the finances of those two businesses, let’s say, hypothetically, it’s £30,000 worth of takings per day they’re losing out on as they’re waiting for a site to be built traditionally. That equates to £210,000 per week just for one location – a huge sum to be missing out on, even for the giant brands and companies of this world.

McDonald’s, in particular, uses prefabrication technology for its units and its that method that allows that business to complete new outlets on pre-existing groundworks in just 13 hours.

Once planning permission has been granted, the time to store opening is dramatically cut, all while it is creating savings in equipment, labour, fees and other expenses associated with a large scale build. The benefits are two-fold and this rise in interest in MMC and off-site manufacturing is generating jobs and bringing new skills and diversity to the workforce.

Fast turnarounds. Quality buildings. Minimal costings and materials. Restricted loss of earnings. That keyword again: efficiency. It is to see why this method is being adopted more and more.

Where do MMC and off-site manufacturing sit in as part of your strategy?

The facts are clear.

What we know is that off-site manufacturing is much more efficient and provides more accountability and the ability to control costs. The price of raw materials is going to continue to rise and the construction industry needs to find savings in other areas.

Again, efficiency is the keyword. Using the T30 Tower hotel, the 57-storey tower, and the Huoshenshan hospital as examples, they are three projects that, ordinarily, would have taken a year or two – possibly longer – to build traditionally and would have required huge funding from the bank.

All of that has been avoided and brought huge savings.

It will be these types of savings that will help to offset rising materials and labour costs and we’re going to be seeing far more examples of projects like these in the near future as the construction sector continues to climb back to its feet.

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Can H2 help conquer CO2?

Following on from his article about the energy crisis in the previous edition, Technical Journalist Bruce Meechan explains how a more reliable energy infrastructure might look.

When the Hindenburg crashed in May 1937 while trying to dock at its US base in New Jersey, the disaster claimed three dozen lives and effectively ended the travelling public’s love affair with the great airships of the era. What is more, not only did the eruption of fire from the hydrogen tanks – caught on newsreel footage – destroy the skeletal steel-frame structure in moments, it also branded the lighter-than-air gas for ever after as inherently dangerous.

As the RAF was soon to discover, the setback for air passenger travel did not deter German scientists’ developments in other branches of aviation, though the country’s politicians have at times shown a tendency to be risk averse regarding technology: most notably when Chancellor Angela Merkel reacted to the 2011 Fukushima tsunami by slamming the brakes on their nuclear power industry.

The outcome we’re witnessing is Europe’s industrial powerhouse being reliant on Russian gas supplies as well as demonised dirty coal. And while all the apocalyptic prophesies of the world’s elites at COP 26 were still reverberating around the media channels, a global supply crisis saw exponential rises in wholesale energy costs.

As I described in my previous article for this publication, wind and solar proved pitifully inadequate at meeting our needs during much of last year (2021) and can only ever be a bit-part player in satisfying the UK’s long term energy requirements. Hydrogen, ironically, is now moving from being dismissed as a “Fuel of the Future” to becoming a mainstream answer to keeping the lights on and traffic flowing.

In fact, it could be a crucial answer to the problem of storing the power produced by wind turbines, solar farms and even the off peak production of nuclear reactors.

As highlighted previously in Building Specifier, large scale battery storage of electricity has proved fraught with problems – including battery fires which are very difficult to extinguish – while creating more ‘pumped hydro’ water storage involves major civil and mechanical engineering projects which will inevitably suffer years of planning delays.

Hydrogen, while volatile, is already being successfully introduced into the UK’s mains gas supplies, with studies underway to determine whether the percentage concentration can be safely increased; and without the need to modify existing gas boilers. New generation boilers and dedicated distribution mains could allow natural gas to be phased out for domestic and other customers, while fuel cells present a technology which could transform the commercial transport industry.

Two of the Footsie’s biggest companies – Shell and BP – are permanently in the dross-hairs of environmental activists like Extinction Rebellion, when they can realistically claim to be doing proportionately more about decarbonising their activities than most nations and their politicians sermonising on the subject.

In fact BP recently announced plans to build a second major hydrogen focused production plant on Teeside, with the combined facility projected to account for some 30% of the UK’s total commitment by 2030.

HyGreen will be created alongside the already proposed H2Teeside and be capable of adding 60 MW/e of green hydrogen to the ‘blue’ output. The oil major is working closely with regional as well as national government and believes it is going to see the region become a key part of the UK’s hydrogen supply chain creating highly skilled jobs.

Shell, for its part, has recently begun to produce hydrogen at one of its plants in Germany using what is termed an ‘electrolyser’ supplied by ITM Power: a company that is also involved in a genuinely ground-breaking trial here in the UK, which promises to have a very real impact on cleaning up our domestic and industrial heat generation.

The pilot to replace 20% of natural gas consumed with green hydrogen is being carried out in conjunction with Keele University, which owns and operates its own gas grid supplying 100 homes and 30 faculty buildings.

Key to the sustainable credentials of the demonstration project is the use of ITM’s Proton Exchange Membrane technology to separate hydrogen from tap water with the use of renewable electricity from wind turbines and solar farms. Crucially the technology has the ability to respond rapidly when excess or off-peak power is available from such sources. And the hydrogen is produced at pressure and at a purity where a 20% blend can be used without adversely affecting any components in the distribution network or adapting existing gas boilers.

The £6.8 million trial titled HyDeploy is being funded by Ofgem and is led by Cadent and Northern Gas Networks; becoming operational early last year. The research required special permission from the HSE to vastly increase the proportion of hydrogen mixed with mains gas from the miniscule 0.01% currently circulated in our grid. If rolled out across the country the displacement would cut CO2 emissions by six million tonnes a year – the equivalent of taking 2.5 million cars off the road.

Dr Graham Cooley, CEO, ITM Power said: “I am delighted that this important pilot project is now operational. The increased use of hydrogen to decarbonise heat via the gas grid will perform a critical role in helping the UK to fulfil its ambitious climate change obligations. Indeed, the Committee for Climate Change has indicated that the UK will need between 6GW and 17GW of electrolysis in the next 30 years to store renewable power and provide renewable heat. Today’s announcement is a very significant step.”

Mark Horsley, Chief Executive, Northern Gas Networks, added: “Hydrogen is a key piece of the decarbonisation jigsaw, and this milestone allows us to take a huge leap forwards in terms of its use in meeting climate change targets.

“Customers are ready to embrace cleaner, greener solutions in their homes, and projects like HyDeploy give us the opportunity to start making a difference to emissions today. We’re very excited to be a part of it.”

While hydrogen also has great potential for fuelling motor vehicles, sales of electric cars are currently growing at a far faster rate and appear to have caught the public’s imagination as the way ahead. Where battery power falls down of course is on the critical issues of range, and the time it takes to recharge.

Far more likely then that we will see a growing number of hydrogen powered buses and lorries taking to our roads in the years ahead; not just keeping freight and public transport on the move, but ridding our urban areas of diesel fumes with their highly dangerous micro-particulates.

Another factor which is certain to boost hydrogen’s fortunes as a green means of storing electricity, is the recent realisation by the UK Government that nuclear power must play a part in our future energy strategy if we are to decarbonise the National Grid. While several new nuclear solutions have gained taxpayer backing, you simply cannot crank nuclear reactors up and down like a gas turbine; though the latest projects will be cheaper and more flexible than the late-running Hinkley Point, being built by our least reliable friends, the French.

In November UK engineering and aerospace giant, Rolls Royce, formally established its Small Modular Reactor business having raised £195 m funding in conjunction with BNF Resources UK and Exelon Generation Ltd; giving the group access to an additional £210 m UK Research & Innovation backing. Design assessment can now progress along with identification of suitable manufacturing sites.

Like BP’s hydrogen plant, the SMR programme is expected to be focused on the North of the country with some 80% of each reactor – capable of supplying power to a million homes – being prefabricated and coming from the UK supply chain. And as well as green hydrogen, the SMRs are expected to support the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels and district heating.

Business and Energy Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK to deploy more low carbon energy than ever before and ensure greater energy independence. Small Modular Reactors offer exciting opportunities to cut costs and build more quickly, ensuring we can bring clean electricity to people’s homes and cut our already-dwindling use of volatile fossil fuels even further.”

Already proving to be a true advocate for British businesses, rather than another apologist for foreign takeovers, the Business Secretary was also patriotically flying the flag for a home grown fusion power project, which promises to be the first commercially viable manifestation of the elusive Holy Grail of clean generation.

The prototype Tokomak reactor in Oxfordshire has been built with Government funding and private investment, to bombard a cloud of superheated hydrogen particles – plasma – with a beam of subatomic particles; turning the innards of the six foot diameter metal sphere into the hottest place in the solar system. Crucially though, this is contained using unique low energy electromagnets requiring only a fraction of the power consumed by rival experiments.

Tokomak’s backers are talking about success within a decade, which would mean virtually limitless, safe clean energy that could be used for distribution or transport. And of course fusion power could be used to produce ever more hydrogen to fuel UK manufactured fuel cells whose only waste output is water vapour.

 

Now that really would be a virtuous circle.  

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Turning down the heat: Futureproofing the homes of tomorrow

Authored by Mark Dowdeswell, Senior Category Manager – Domestic, at Uponor.

New homes will have to produce around 30% less carbon emissions as part of a major update to the Building Regulations this year. Under Part L1A, there will be a maximum flow temperature requirement of 55°C for new and replacement heating systems, meaning that more low energy heating systems must be used in today’s modular builds.

Underfloor heating systems (UFH) have a larger area heat emitter than traditional radiators, meaning they require a lower heat input in order to heat a room effectively. This allows them to work efficiently alongside renewable heating technologies, such as air source heat pumps (ASHP), which help to reduce a home’s operational carbon footprint.

 

With technology constantly advancing, both ASHPs and UFH now lend themselves perfectly to modular builds with limited space and high-quality design demands. Innovative low profile UFH systems, such as Uponor’s Minitec which stands at just 15mm build height, enable design teams to optimise available space, giving maximum design freedom. To ensure consistent quality of UFH installations in modular assemblies, Uponor also works closely with its partners to provide design support, continuous training and installation reviews, whilst simultaneously providing the largest product range of radiant heating and cooling systems of any manufacturer from under one roof, meaning that design teams do not have to compromise on their aspirations.

This vast product range also enables contractors, architects and specifiers to work alongside one manufacturer, rather than multiple suppliers, allowing them to rest assured that the systems used will not only meet building regulations and hit new performance goals, but that they will be fully-warranted and long-lasting, meaning that the homes built for today, will perform well tomorrow, too.

www.uponor.co.uk

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It’s time to be onside with offsite construction

 

 

As a global building products manufacturer, Sika is among businesses leading the way in terms of developing solutions that enable projects to be built more sustainably. This is reflected in its support of offsite manufacturers. The modular construction process is proven to be less impactful to the environment and more likely to result in a higher-quality, as-designed build that is notable for its energy efficiency. Simon Griffiths, Head of Offsite Construction at Sika UK, tells us about the company’s contribution to the modular market and his future hopes for Modern Methods of Construction (MMC).

 

 

Why is Sika particularly well-equipped for offsite construction?
Sika has ‘target markets’ which work in roofing, flooring, sealing & bonding, building finishing, concrete, waterproofing, and so much more. Sika also works in managing risk, which is a really important part of our business. Any offsite manufacturer looking to develop products and systems will be really interested in managing that risk. Therefore, from that perspective, we would be a great partner and well equipped for offsite construction.

What expertise does Sika bring to offsite construction?
Sika is a global business. We turnover 9.24 billion Swiss Francs per year. In each of our regions we have a team that looks after offsite construction, which brings great expertise to projects inclusive of an offsite element to them. We have regular conversations with the teams in each of our regions around the world, which helps to promote shared learning. We also employ over one thousand chemists worldwide. Their job is to not only develop our existing product portfolio, but it is also to innovate and bring brand new products to the marketplace; all of which will be of interest to the offsite market.

 

 

What is Sika’s offsite team in the UK?
The UK team comprises of eight people. We have specialisms across a lot of the aforementioned technologies. It is an expert team, and one that is really excited to be a part of this industry. Sika has an extensive R&D capability and global reach. We have a proven track record of working across international markets, many of which are on the pulse of offsite manufacturing’s innovations. Sika’s Offsite Division is utilising this global experience to guide offsite manufacturing companies towards unlocking new potentials. The division can offer a customised approach for modular manufacturers, especially where construction solutions need an industrial approach.

 

 

What type of businesses does the offsite team work with?
The key word for us here is ‘collaboration’, but another is ‘early engagement’. It is part of Sika’s mantra to work with every part of the contractual chain. If we can, we will work with clients to completely understand the vision they have for their projects, alongside specifiers to help them push the boundaries of design with our products. Just as importantly, we enjoy working alongside offsite manufacturers to ensure a project’s success. Historically, Sika has manufactured materials for a traditional construction market. Currently, we are working very closely with some offsite manufacturers to develop and tailor our products to how they build.

 

Why has Sika joined the Offsite Alliance?
We have joined the Offsite Alliance for one simple reason: collaboration. We understand that the only way to effectively push the MMC agenda is to collaborate not only with architects, but with offsite manufacturers, and our own competition in the form of other component manufacturers.

How important is offsite construction to delivering future projects?
Offsite construction is critical not only to delivering projects of the future, but also projects of today. We know that the Government has set some quite ambitious construction targets for 2025, including having to build 300,000 homes per year by that time. That’s quite some challenge. In the UK, only six to ten per cent of houses are currently being built using offsite construction. There are lots of benefits with offsite construction. It offers quality, reduces waste and helps address the all-critical building skills shortage.

In terms of offsite manufacturing and engagement with the building supply chain, what does ‘good’ look like?
Early engagement with the supply chain is an extremely significant part of the offsite manufacturing process. The sooner we can be involved with a particular scheme, the better. Architects, for example, can bring a design together, but unless they truly understand what a product does, the design will not be optimised. Trust is also important. It is a value we’ve institutionalised at Sika because it is such a vital part of any business collaboration.

What’s the biggest challenge in stopping us from achieving that early engagement?
One of the hurdles to engagement over the past two years has been COVID-19. It certainly hindered that all-important collaboration. An additional obstacle to bringing the building supply chain on board at the earliest stage of an offsite project is the mindset of component manufacturers. We need to start thinking slightly differently about how we can deliver products which are specifically developed for offsite construction.

What can be done in the future to help unlock the benefits of collaboration between offsite construction and the supply chain?
One solution would be for manufacturers to think differently. We’ve mentioned how products and materials can be developed to suit the offsite marketplace, but we also need to think about taking a different approach to the construction process itself. This would mean offsite manufacturers embracing companies such as Sika, so we can sit down and develop solutions together. When you have the capabilities of manufacturers such as those involved in the Offsite Alliance, there is the opportunity to start from scratch and develop a new solution that will be critical to the way we build offsite in the future.
Offsite has grown steadily over the past few years. Its benefits are widely known and increasingly understood. We are at a point where we believe that the use of offsite will accelerate to meet the demands of many public and private building projects. With extensive technical expertise and solid practical experience on every continent in many climates and environments, Sika is a highly-qualified, reliable partner for all manner of offsite and construction needs.

For more information on how Sika’s offsite division can help your next building project, CLICK HERE

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Offsite frameworks in action: Modular buildings transform car park into digital hub

Boho 8, the most recent phase of Middlesbrough’s Boho Zone, is the commercial quarter for the town’s digital media, digital technology and creative sectors located in Tees Valley.

Previously a car park, the £2.5million project, supported by the Local Growth Fund from the Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority, provides additional space for companies that are rapidly expanding elsewhere on the campus, and is intended to attract new digital and creative businesses to the area.
The award-winning concept by Seymour Architecture outlined high-quality facilities and a unique cantilevered design, with buildings ranging from 1,000 to 3,000ft². The buildings are complemented by a modern external communal space, with the aim of making it feel like a high street.

From concept to completion in just eight weeks
CPC worked closely with Middlesbrough Council and its partner Faithful+Gould through the  Modular Buildings (MB1) framework, resulting in modular specialists M-AR being appointed to deliver the project.
The ambitious modular offices project began in August 2020, with construction of the buildings being manufactured at M-AR’s site on the banks of the River Humber in East Yorkshire while the groundworks were being carried out.
Just eight weeks later, four office blocks consisting of 18 individual 49m² modules had been completed and quality checked. They were erected over a five-day period.
Amanda Grimbleby, partnerships and business development director at M-AR, said:
“This just demonstrates the speed in which off-site construction can accelerate the delivery of such projects, and this has all been able to happen during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The innovative design created by Seymour Architecture will provide light, bright and inspiring office spaces for ambitious and creative digital businesses in the region, and being part of making this happen is inspiring in itself.”

Collaboration is key
The working relationship between Middlesbrough Council, Faithful+Gould, M-AR and CPC contributed to the success of the project.
“It’s all about collaborative working and early engagement with the client and appointed company, to show what our Modular Buildings solution can achieve,” said Tony Maw, technical support manager at CPC.
“Our relationship provided a solid foundation in understanding how each other work, helping us to work in an effective manner to achieve the best quality results. I think Boho 8 is a great example what can be achieved by working side-by-side.”

Utilising procurement frameworks
Using frameworks for offsite projects allows relationships between clients and suppliers to develop and flourish over a longer-term period and sets out an integrated supply chain without any legal problems for procurement teams. Early engagement between suppliers and clients through the framework also ensures the risk load is shared more widely.
Mark Chicken, quantity surveyor at Faithful+Gould, said:
“CPC are very interactive, which is something you don’t get from most framework providers. This interaction gives you confidence in using their services, and you know there is always someone there to talk to for advice.”
The latest iteration of the framework, Modular Buildings (MB2), was launched in June 2021 and allows local authorities, social landlords and other public bodies to source preapproved specialist suppliers who can design, supply and install permanent, temporary, and refurbished modular buildings.
The MB2 framework can be used by local authorities across the UK through LHC’s regional hubs – LHC London and South East, SPA, WPA, SWPA and CPC – and will run until May 2025.

Offsite procurement frameworks
LHC has two additional frameworks that can support local authorities as they plan and implement offsite projects.
The Offsite Project Integrator (OPI1) framework can help to deliver an experienced and integrated supply chain. Launched last year to help authorities to find the technical support that can help with the planning and implementation of offsite housing schemes, the framework covers the preliminary stages prior to RIBA Stage 0 and then implementation to stage 7.
This framework sits alongside the Offsite Construction of New Homes (NH2) framework to offer solutions at every stage from design right through to occupation. It allows relationships between clients and suppliers to develop and flourish from the very early stages onwards and sets out an integrated supply chain without any legal problems for procurement teams. Early engagement between suppliers and clients through the framework will also ensure the risk load is shared more widely.
The Prior Information Notice for the third iteration of the Offsite Construction of New Homes (NH3) framework is live as of early February 2022. Companies can register interest in the NH3 framework and receive further updates by visiting LHC’s eTendering portal Proactis.

www.lhc.gov.uk

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