The meltdown of British Airway’s IT systems, after a power-supply failure, demonstrates how critical data centres are to business operations. Andy Pearson looks at levels of resilience and explains why cloud computing is making firms more susceptible to power cuts
Author: Alex Smith
Emergency lighting standards
Revised emergency lighting standards now include sections on emergency safety and standby lighting. Atkins’ David Mooney highlights what this means for designers
Efficiency drive – Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine factory
Jaguar Land Rover’s new engine-manufacturing facility won Project of the Year: Commercial/Industrial at the CIBSE Building Performance Awards 2017. Andy Pearson explains why it deserves the accolade
Stretching Forth – Prefabricating services on Scotland’s new landmark bridge
Without BIM and prefabrication the services on Scotland’s new Queensferry Crossing would have been costlier and more dangerous to install. Andy Wall, managing director of SES Engineering Services, speaks to Alex Smith
High art, low energy – Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center, Greece
Arup’s design of Athens’ remarkable new cultural centre put sustainability on the agenda from the start, and the commitment and vision of the client and design team resulted in it becoming Greece’s first LEED Platinum building, says David McAllister
Interview with Paul Flatt – why engineers must add value
Building services consultants risk obsolescence unless they use their engineering expertise to extract value for clients, warns Hurley Palmer Flatt’s CEO, Paul Flatt. He tells Alex Smith that employee training programmes are key to creating the calibre of engineer necessary for his firm to succeed in an increasingly competitive market
The new Design Museum – engineering by stealth
The minimalist architecture of the Design Museum’s new London home meant its building services had to be silent and hidden from view. Andy Pearson explains how ChapmanBDSP overcame the challenges
Building services salary survey 2017
Salaries in the building services sector rose by a healthy 3.5% last year, according to the 2017 Hays salary survey, despite Brexit looming on the horizon. David Blackman reports on a jobs market showing strong resilience in the face of European uncertainty
How HIU performance testing will change heat network design
New codes and tests designed to root out poorly performing heat networks are shining a spotlight on the supply chain. Alex Smith reports on a new test for heat interface units that will have far-reaching consequences for designers and suppliers
Creature comforts – David Attenborough Building
How do you turn a brutalist, uninsulated, concrete structure – housing the University of Cambridge’s zoology department – into a naturally ventilated showcase of sustainability that encourages collaboration between conservation groups? Andy Pearson finds out