Baxi explains ErP (Energy-related Products) Directive.

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Baxi explains ErP (Energy-related Products) Directive. Due to be implemented from September 26, 2015, the ErP consists of new regulations to help the EU achieve its 20-20-20 target to reduce energy use by 20% and increase the share of renewable energies by 20% by 2020.

ErP will eventually affect all products that have an impact on energy during use, so boilers, water heaters and renewables will all be covered. In terms of boilers, the scope of ErP includes all domestic and commercial products with an output lower than 400kW.

It will apply to all 30 countries in the European Economic Area, and will be applied in the same way at the same time. It is likely to have a major impact in many European markets, as standard efficiency products (and some lower performing high efficiency products) will essentially be banned.

The Baxi leaflet explains all about the two directives within ErP: Ecodesign and Energy Labelling.

The Ecodesign Directive will apply to space heaters and combi space heaters with an output <400kW (Lot 1), as well as water heaters and hot water storage tanks <2,000 litres (Lot 2). The Ecodesign Regulations set the minimum energy performance required for products bearing the CE mark to be placed on the market.

The Energy Labelling Directive complements and works in conjunction with Ecodesign. Space heaters and combi space heaters <70kW will require an energy label, as will water heaters and hot water storage tanks <500 litres.

Baxi also explains who is responsible for ErP and the role of both the manufacturer and the installer.

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More Reason To Join The Plumbers’ Club

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paypalOffering its customers another reason to join The Plumbers’ Club, Graham Plumbers’ Merchant has partnered with PayPal in a bid to help ensure installers get paid in a timely manner.

With late payment problems a continuing issue among plumbers, Graham Plumbers’ Merchant has teamed up with PayPal, as part of its Plumbers’ Club offering, allowing club members to take full advantage of the benefits of working with an established payment partner.

Utilising PayPal Here, members of The Plumbers’ Club are given access to a simple and secure way of accepting payments on a smartphone. Consisting of a pocket-sized Chip and PIN card reader and a free mobile app, PayPal Here is a complete mobile payment solution that allows Plumbers’ Club members to accept PayPal, credit and debit card payments, log cash and cheques and even send invoices and receipts wherever they do business.

Debbie-Sue Price, head of customer programmes at Graham Plumbers’ Merchant, said:

“One of the biggest recurring problems that we hear about from our customers is the issue of late payment, which is why we’re offering members of The Plumbers’ Club access to PayPal Here as a matter of course. Offering more payment options, our customers no longer need to wait to be paid by their customers – not only will this help improve our customers’ cash flow but will also allow them to take on more jobs, without fear of payments being unnecessarily delayed.”
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B&ES Yorkshire donate to Sailfree

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donationThe Yorkshire Region of the Building & Engineering Services Association (B&ES) has made a £2,000 donation to the Sailfree charity at Otley Sailing Club.

Operating as part of Sailability, the charitable arm of the Royal Yachting Association, Sailfree provides some 1,000 sailing sessions every year to people with all types of disabilities and illnesses – allowing them to experience a level of freedom and independence they do not normally enjoy.

The B&ES donation was raised during the Yorkshire Region’s annual Charity Ball and Training Awards evening – which took place at the Cedar Court Hotel, Bradford – and was presented to Otley Sailing Club commodore Paul Karran, by regional chairman Daniel Ball of Imtech Engineering Services.

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Spirotech opens new UK headquarters

Posted on by Posted in Plumbing Industry News

spirotechSpirotech opens new UK headquarters, providers of total heating and cooling system protection and water treatment, as part of a significant investment programme.

Centrally located in Solihull, near Birmingham, the head office is home to a growing UK team, including the company’s new managing director, UK sales director and marketing support for the domestic business.

The new premises also house a spacious training centre, offering a range of courses from hands-on product training to sales support, across the company’s broad portfolio of domestic and commercial solutions.

Susan Kinnaird, European managing director for Spirotech’s domestic business, said:

“Our new head office is central to our UK growth plans in every sense. Our experienced sales team is based here and our new training centre was a key part of the move – we’ll be welcoming hundreds of heating professionals, building engineers and specifiers over the coming years to share our expertise and knowledge, and support them in finding the very best solutions for their building projects.

“The UK is a sizeable and growing part of the Spirotech business, and our new office marks another stage in our development plans for the UK.”

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Redeveloping existing NHS buildings could provide 77, 000 new homes in London

Posted on by Posted in Home improvement

NHS_hospitalRedeveloping existing NHS buildings to include floors of apartments above the service buildings could provide 77, 000 new homes in London, Shard engineer WSP has suggested.

A recent report by the London Health Commission found that £50m to £60m was being spent every year on maintaining NHS buildings that were either not used or not fit for purpose, prompting experts at WSP to analyse the opportunities for redeveloping the real estate.

WSP says that building apartments above NHS buildings could provide a minimum of 77,000 new homes in London. This would represent almost 20% of the 400,000 homes that the mayor has said are needed in the next decade. It would have the added benefit of redeveloping ageing and unused healthcare facilities at the same time.

WSP’s estimation is based on their analysis of 79 individual existing NHS buildings in London, allowing for 100m² per apartment and using a mixed height overbuild development strategy, with a combination of 6, 12, and 18 storeys. It only considers hospital buildings without A&E facilities, which would cause specific planning and construction issues. If all the new residential buildings included 18 extra storeys the strategy could provide 118,000 homes, more than a quarter of the estimated need.

There are technical challenges of building apartments over or alongside healthcare facilities, WSP acknowledges, including design issues around how to segregate the service areas and ensure accessibility, but WSP says these can be overcome.

Director Bill Price said:

“If private developers were allowed to invest in this land it would help plug the gap for more homes in London as well as provide state of the art healthcare facilities to replace those that need a facelift or are not currently being used. Obviously there are a few hurdles that would need tackling but this is done elsewhere in the world, for example the USA, and there’s certainly no technical reason why it couldn’t be done.

“However the point is not that we should go out and redevelop every hospital into an apartment block, but that we need to start thinking creatively about our housing woes, challenging the status quo and looking at how we use the land available to us.”

WSP’s initial analysis is a precursor to a wider study to be published in the autumn which will include an estimate of overbuilding on all appropriate municipal buildings in London.

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