Hot-water boost to heat network efficiency

Jacobs has designed a Generation 4.5 heat network that uses an innovative boost electrode to deliver domestic hot water, allowing the system to operate efficiently at a 45°C flow temperature for 80% of the year. The company’s Adam Selvey FCIBSE explains how it works

Gateway to failure: building safety flaws uncovered

The Building Safety Regulator has published a case study that demonstrates some of the failures that are causing 70% of all designs to be rejected at Gateway 2 of the building control regime for higher-risk buildings

Clearing the smoke: firesafe materials in shafts

Gypsum-based systems may be wrongly specified for smoke shafts in high-rise buildings, as they are not tested for critical pressure and leakage conditions. Alex Smith summarises guidance issued by the smoke control industry

Weathering the heat: CIBSE Weather Data

CIBSE’s latest Weather Data Set enables designers to much more accurately model potential overheating in their buildings, helping them to provide comfortable spaces with minimum mechanical cooling. Zoe De Grussa reports

Air levels: passing the embodied carbon test

A review of a hybrid and active ventilation system in a secondary school aims to highlight the embodied carbon impacts of choosing one ventilation strategy over another. Mat Naccarato, of Savills Earth, describes the method and key learnings

Heat in transition: decarbonisation of heating

Experts laid out the case for accelerating the move from gas boilers to heat pumps at the CIBSE Decarbonisation of Heating and Cooling conference last month. Molly Tooher-Rudd reports

Chiller moves: predicting energy use

Traditional metrics are not always enough to accurately predict chiller energy use, say Cundall’s Peter Owens and Jakub Borowiec, who outline a practical modelling alternative that accounts for part-load scenarios and outdoor conditions