Laing O’Rourke is employed as the lead contractor on the scheme, and choose to procure a complete floor heating and screed package. After a successful interview, velta was chosen as the preferred contractor to provide a complete design. This included supply and installation of approximately 12,600m² of floor heating and screed, as well as providing the build with temporary boilers to provide a warm environment over the winter months.

The new school building is one of three schools being developed as part of the third and final phase of the Barnsley schools for the future programme. The new ALC will provide some 1700 students with a 21^st century learning environment.

Daniel Gill, Project Engineer at velta added: “We were delighted to be utilised on another education project. Our systems are quick to install, easy to maintain and energy efficient – making them an excellent choice for both new build and refurbished schools.”

Featuring projects in the healthcare, education and industrial sectors the newsletter looks at work carried out for Manchester Metropolitan University, Roseberry Park and the Royal Opera House.

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Lee takes over from Gerald Kemp, who has moved into a Uponor Group role of International Project Business. Gerald has many years of experience within Project Business from his velta time and is looking forward to taking International Project Business to the next level.

An integral part of the Uponor UK strategy, Lee will be working closely with both the velta and Uponor management team. Lee’s key objective will be to further develop the velta project business.

The world conference Sustainable Building 2011 (SB11) will take place on 18-21 October in Helsinki, Finland. The event will bring together 1,100 leading experts in sustainability of the built environment. It will provide an excellent overview of innovation and new technologies in the fields of environmentally sound construction, land use and sustainable communities.

Uponor is proud to be the main sponsor of the SB11 conference. This role reflects Uponor’s commitment to sustainability, both in its own operations and in supporting its customers’ and partners’ endeavours to improve the environmental performance of buildings and their associated infrastructure.

Uponor is continuously working to reduce its environmental footprint through its innovative and sustainable solutions. The company wants to enhance open dialogue between research and practice, and work together with its partners in the joint pursuit of more sustainable built environments in the future.

“A more sustainable future is within the reach of businesses and the people of the world, but this requires a roadmap and concrete actions. Uponor is focussing on two global issues – environmental impacts of energy use and the demand of clean water, and acting on the related opportunities. Because SB11 attracts leading experts in the field, it is the perfect setting for active interaction and technology transfer,” explains Ilari Aho, Vice President, Indoor Climate Business Group at Uponor Corporation.

Uponor is exhibiting at SB11 and welcomes conference participants interested in finding out more about Uponor’s sustainable and energy-efficient solutions.

Over recent years, ENCORD has recognised the need to build infrastructure and living environments which will provide for a sustainable future. ENCORD’s Sustainable Development Charter is the culmination of the work by its members to pull together the key principles under which member companies commit to develop their businesses and operations for the future.

The Charter recognises the key role that Research, Development and Innovation has in the construction sector, and how this will support quality and greater added value in the built environment. The Charter incorporates such fundamental principles as lifecycle development, social responsibility in local communities, ethical working standards, caring for our employees and engaging our stakeholders.

Uponor’s Ilari Aho, VP Indoor Climate and member of the ENCORD Council, remarked: “Sustainability is a key driver in our industry and will grow in importance in the future. Our involvement in ENCORD and its sustainability work gives us an opportunity to gain and share insight and knowledge within the construction industry. It is an excellent learning experience and a possibility to align our activities with those of our customers.”

Encord was founded 22 years ago as an innovation network of leading European companies in the construction sector. These companies realise the importance of research and innovation and the contribution it can make to sustainability and as a result integrate the principles laid down in the charter in their operations.

The signing of the ENCORD Charter is evidence of velta’s devotion to R&D for increased competitiveness and growth in order to consistently provide added value to clients.

The London Forum took place at the fantastic location of Lord’s Cricket Ground. Over 80 delegates from consultants to engineers and architects attended with many enjoying a tour of Lord’s beforehand!

velta’s Forum is a key event in the UK, dedicated to professionals in the commercial, residential and industrial buildings market and a meeting point for industry leading experts, specialists, government bodies, partnerships and associations.

The event provided building owners, managers, architects, contractors, consultants and M&E engineers with the latest knowledge in the development of TABS (Thermo Active Building Systems), including renovation solutions for the cooling and heating of offices.

Speakers from well known international organisations such as Dr. Rennie Chadwick from VINCI Construction, Professor Doug King of King Shaw Associates, David Firth of Sir Robert McAlpine and Professor Bjarne Olesen from the University of Denmark provided information on recent projects and offered the opportunity for question and answer sessions.

Sustainability is at the forefront of many political and environmental agendas. velta’s TABS allow existing energy to be utilised to provide environmentally friendly heating and cooling to many large development schemes.

Gerald Kemp, Managing Director at velta, commented: “Our first TABS event was such a success that we wanted to bring it to London. Lord’s is a fantastic venue and all the delegates that attended from across the UK as well as overseas, felt that it was a valuable and informative event within the specialist TABS field.”

The Climaspan Hollowcore units utilise the benefits of off-site construction, combined with embedded pipework to distribute water used for heating and cooling directly through the pre-stressed units.

Climaspan uses minimum energy and provides maximum comfort in large commercial buildings including, offices, universities and public buildings.

It is an energy efficient system with minimal environmental impact. Due to the low operating temperatures, the system lends itself particularly well to be combined with heat pumps, ground heat exchangers, solar energy and other alternative energy sources.

Held recently in association with Hanson, Stuarts and Creagh, the Forum focused on thermally active building systems (TABS) and gave delegates the opportunity to hear key case studies from the major players in the UK market.

Speakers from the following companies provided information on recent projects and the opportunity to ask questions:

Uponor
Hanson Building Products
Fielden Clegg Bradley Architects
Sir Robert McAlpine
Stuarts Industrial Flooring
Kelly Taylor Associates
Creagh Concrete Products
Vinci Construction

velta is looking into holding more similar events in the future and will be keeping all interested parties informed of any developments.

The Coolslab product is Hanson’s precast Omnia, Omnicore or Cobiax, activated by velta prefabricated PEX-a pipe modules to provide an integrated heated and cooled structural element.

Coolslab allows the water temperature to operate close to room temperature, optimising the efficiency of heat pumps, ground heat exchangers and other systems using renewable energy sources.

Coolslab delivers the additional benefits of off site construction with associated time savings during the building erection phase.

John Duffy, Hanson’s Floors and Precast Sales Director, said: “Working with velta has enabled Hanson to deliver a positive response to the needs of our customers who are constantly challenged to build more sustainably. Coolslab is an excellent sustainable heating and cooling solution that will help our customers achieve the highest standards set by BREEAM”.

Gerald Kemp, Managing Director of velta added: “We work to consistently push the boundaries of energy efficient and sustainable heating and cooling. Coolslab is yet another step forward in sustainable solutions.”

This is excellent news for velta clients, as the acquisition will further enhance the capability to deliver major heating and cooling projects. The innovative solutions which velta bring to the market will now be further enhanced by the Uponor international structure.

Managing Director, Gerald Kemp, said: “The aquisition of velta UK provides the business with the foundation of a firmly established global company. The international network of Uponor experts is available for the benefit of velta UK clients and partners. This will also enable velta UK to extend its system offering to the full Uponor portfolio, and to develop partnerships internationally.”