News

The annual global AV awards which will take place on Friday 29th September are now accepting entries.

Entries are open until 26th May

These awards are there to recognise best practice, reward innovation and celebrate excellence across the global audio visual industry.

They are looking for the best products, companies, projects and people.

Some of the categories include:
• Projector of the year – 4999 lumens and under
• Projector of the year – 5000 lumens and over
• Display product of the year
• Audio product of the year
• Breakthrough / start-up company of the year
• AV staging & rental company of the year
You can find more of the categories and the awards in general here.

It is reported that Avaya who nets $1 billion per year, owes seven years profits to repay the leverage heaped on the otherwise healthy company in a $8.2 billion private equity buyout in 2007.

In a recent Network World article, John Sullivan, vice president and corporate treasurer at Avaya, wrote about the Chapter 11 filing:
"After looking at the multiple options of how to deal with our debt, we decided it was a critical next step in our transformation from a hardware company to a software and services company and the best path forward for our customers, partners and employees. [The company faced] two choices: refinance at ever-increasing interest rates, creating an unsustainable expense burden, or restructure our debt."

With the company's announcement began an outward flow of energy. For some, the news presented opportunity. For others, the news created uncertainty. The balance will be determined by, as Sullivan wrote, "a legal system that allows companies to restructure their balance sheets and continue to operate as healthy businesses, providing jobs, technology innovation and value to customers."

Source: Network World

Latest government data has shown an increase of 19% in installed solar PV capacity to 11.46GW in the year up to December 2016.

Approximately 50% of that increase arrived in March 2016, as investors in ground mounted schemes rushed to beat the closure of the renewables obligation (RO) subsidy scheme.

To date:
~50% of UK solar PV capacity comes from large schemes.
1/5 of UK solar PV capacity comes from domestic applications.

There is still about 14.526GW of solar PV either operation or in the planning stage according to the Government's renewable energy planning database.

To see all the latest PV data, click here.

The Government report that has found that Asbestos in schools is a "Serious" problem that could threaten the health of children, has concluded that thousands of schools are failing to follow safety guidelines.

A voluntary survey was sent to schools by the Government between January and March last year, but only a quarter of schools responded. 1/5 of the schools which responded were found to be "not fully compliant" with asbestos procedures, leaving over a million children potentially exposed to dangerous fibres.

In a report published recently by the Education Funding Agency (EFA), found that around 20 per cent of schools were "not fully compliant" with asbestos procedures "in that they did not have fully documented plans, processes and procedures in place at the time of the data collection, or did not know if asbestos was present."

The EFA is part of the Department of Education and oversees funding for all schools, academies and colleges in England.

Also recently, a report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found that "asbestos is a significant, and potentially dangerous, issue in many buildings, including most schools". The NAO report also noted that "the department does not collate information on the number of school buildings affected".
A report on asbestos in schools by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Occupational Health and Safety in 2012 recommended that the Government set up programme to remove asbestos from all schools.

It concluded: "It is clear that, at present, there are serious deficiencies in the way that asbestos is managed in schools."

A DofE spokesperson said: "The health and safety of children and staff in our schools is vital – that's why we are investing £23 billion in school buildings by 2021. This will help ensure asbestos is managed safely and that the amount in school buildings continues to reduce over time.

"We have published updated guidance for schools on how to manage asbestos and the results of a survey which showed the majority of respondents have procedures in place. We have followed up with the schools which responded and did not have these procedures in place, and they have all provided assurances they are now compliant with Health and Safety Executive regulations."

At a major event held at the UBM offices in London in February 2017, the fire, emergency and security systems apprenticeship was officially launched with candidates expected to formally start their apprenticeships in September 2017.

The event was jointly organised by the apprenticeship employers group, alongside the Fire and Security Association (FSA), the Fire Industry Association (FIA) and the British Security Industry Association (BSIA).

Pat Allen, who leads the apprenticeship employers group, commented:

“The entire industry was able to collaborate and create a clear standard that will give apprentices the core skills and experience they require to become the engineers of tomorrow.

"The new apprenticeship will now provide an opportunity for employers within the fire, emergency and security sectors to work together and influence the future of our industry.”

The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers is encouraging people to apply for the Society of Light and Lighting – 2017 Jean Heap Bursary applications, where there is the opportunity to be awarded £4000 funding for lighting projects.

The panel looks for a specific piece of lighting study or research designed for the benefit of the industry and SLL members. The call for applications is open to everyone with an interest in lighting.

Applicants are asked to outline their proposed research project, including the specific topic to be researched, the methodology, the timescale and the clearly stated aims and objectives of the research.  The successful proposal will also include an outline of why the applicant needs further funding and how the additional funds will be used in carrying out their research. 

Deadline for entries is 30^th April 2017.

If you would like to register your interest in applying for the 2017 bursary, please email sll@cibse.org

You can read more about the opportunity here: http://www.cibse.org/society-of-light-and-lighting-sll/education/the-jean-heap-bursary

The CIBSE technical director, Hywel Davies, has said that the building services industry should assume that European regulations that currently affect the UK will still be in force immediately after Britain leaves the European Union (EU) in 2019.

In his annual legislation briefing to the CIBSE Patrons last month, Davies said the government's Brexit White Paper, which paves the way for its Great Repeal Bill, clearly states that UK law on the day we leave the EU 'would still be UK law the day after'.

'Leaving the EU will change nothing immediately – at least in terms of legislation that affects our industry,' said Davies, who supplied a list of regulations that would initially remain in force, including: Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs); minimum energy efficiency standards; the F-Gas Regulation; the Energy-related Products (ErP); Building Regulations; and the Climate Change Act.

'Several are a mixture of UK and EU law, which would be extremely tricky and counterproductive to unpick. The government has recognised this and provided welcome clarity on the way forward,' Davies added.

He pointed out that the government had also committed to carbon-reduction targets beyond 2032 and that the UK Climate Change Act remains in force, with the aim of a 57% reduction in emissions by 2030. 'Dismantling policies that are already contributing to these reductions would be illogical,' said Davies. 'And scrapping things because they are European would just create unnecessary work.'

Original Article: http://www.cibsejournal.com/news/brexit-will-change-nothing-about-eu-regulations/

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published its latest assessment of energy efficiency in UK Buildings.

BEIS recognises that lighting is the second largest area of energy consumption. BEIS shows that 28% of health space is lit by old, inefficient light and 44% of military estates too.

The department has found that 10930GWh/year of total annual energy savings can be delivered by modern LEDs and lighting technologies, and that in total over £1bn of cash savings can be made by installing more efficient light.

BEIS estimates more than a third of total energy savings available can be delivered with a private investment payback of three years or less.

BEIS recognise that the perceived barriers to energy efficiency are largely economic; low capital availability and investment costs. Other potential barriers are organisational barriers, barriers related to competencies and behavioural barriers like lack of interest in energy efficiency.

More people must now hear about this to encourage nationwide take up and investment in better, more sustainable, and cheaper to run offices and warehouse.

The forecasts by the Construction Products Association (CPA) suggest that the growth to 2019 within the construction industry, will be primarily driven by a 28% increase in infrastructure activity and a 6.1% increase in private house building. They expect that this growth will offset the expected falls in commercial and industrial construction.

Construction output is expected to grow by 0.8% in 2017, 0.7% in 2018 and 2.2% in 2019.

Noble Francis, economics director at the CPA, said: 'Near-term prospects for construction appear bright with industry growth boosted by several new billion-pound infrastructure projects across the country. A rise in infrastructure output is expected to ensure positive growth for the construction industry overall, if the Government can ensure it delivers on its announcements.'

House building is expected to remain a key source of output growth, with private house building starts rising at 2.0% per year between 2017 and 2019.

'Construction industry prospects should also be boosted by a positive outlook from major house builders, who appear willing to increase supply as they take advantage of rising house prices in an undersupplied market,' said Mr Francis.

'The exception to this is the high-profile niche of prime residential in Central London, where there is already an oversupply of properties and sharply falling prices.'

Despite the positive forecasts for infrastructure and house building, the CPA warns that substantial risks to construction growth remain, as the fall in the value of Sterling is leading to increased import and raw materials costs.

On the demand side, whilst the uncertainty post-Referendum has not impacted activity on site as yet, it appears to be affecting areas that require high upfront investment for a long-term rate of return, such as commercial offices and industrial factories.

"Despite these concerns, infrastructure and private housing are anticipated to ensure that the construction industry grows between 2017 and 2019, providing an extra £5.3 billion of economic activity for the construction industry and wider UK economy."

EnviroVent, is offering an NICEIC Certification accredited training and assessment course for installers of ventilation equipment.

The accredited training is valid for 5 years. The course takes 2 days to complete and will cover key terminology and regulations associated with domestic ventilation systems and the process of installing, testing and commissioning as well as techniques used for installation.

All installers are assessed against criteria in accordance with the relevant national Occupational Standards and approved by SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the building services engineering sector.

This training will allow installers to apply for NICEIC Competent Persons Scheme for Ventilation in order to self certify their work in England and Wales.

Assessment is in the form of theory and practical based exam.