bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

bcia newsLeading industry associations join forces for 2016 Building Services Summit

“WE ARE DELIGHTED THAT SUCH WELL-KNOWN INDUSTRY

ASSOCIATIONS ARE PUTTING THEIR WEIGHT BEHIND THE 2016

SUMMIT BECAUSE IT WILL GREATLY ENHANCE OUR REACH AND

IMPACT.”

Three leading building services trade associations are working together on a major joint conference to address the challenges of designing, constructing and operating efficient buildings to meet clients’ current and future needs.

The Building Controls Industry Association (BCIA), the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), and the Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) are partnering to organise and host The Building Services Summit 2016, which will take place at the British Library on Wednesday 23 November.

The event will also include other supporting organisations, including the Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA).

The theme of the Summit will be the long-term operational efficiency of buildings. The associations are working together on an exciting format that will stimulate discussion and debate with the audience; with input from expert speakers, to tackle

the challenges faced by building services engineering companies and their clients.

Terry Sharp, Chairman of the BCIA’s Marketing Working Group is helping to coordinate the event and he says: “We are delighted that such well-known industry associations are putting their considerable weight behind the 2016 Summit. Working with the BESA last year gave us great reach into the industry, and working with the ECA will greatly extend that reach and enhance our content and impact.”

ECA Head of Specialist Groups Steve Martin comments: “The Building Services Summit is set to be one of the sector’s pivotal events this year, bringing benefits to both clients and contractors.

“The ECA is delighted to be collaborating with the BCIA and the BESA on developing

an engaging and interactive event which will put attendees right at the centre of the action.”

Problems linked to the ‘performance gap’ where buildings fail to meet the energy efficiency and carbon emissions targets envisaged by the design team are a key priority for the BESA, according to the Association’s Technical Director Tim Rook.

“This event is extremely timely,” he added. “Collaboration between different parts of the supply chain and the bodies that represent the key professions will be crucial to narrowing the performance gap, which will be under the spotlight during the Summit.”

He added that speakers would also consider the implications of minimum energy efficiency standards being imposed on all rented buildings from April 2018. “This will increase demand for our members’ expertise to upgrade services and improve the way buildings are operated and the services are controlled”.

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

FINALISTS FOR THE BCIA AWARDS 2016

Independent building controls and BEMS installer of the yearSponsored by Centraline by Honeywell

Associated Technology Services (ATS)BG Energy SolutionsComfort ControlsEconowise Drives and ControlsElectrical & Mechanical Controls (EMC)InTandem SystemsLinear Control SystemsSmith & Byford

Best service and maintenance providerSponsored by Western Automation

BG Energy SolutionsEdwards Modular ControlsImpact Control SystemsKendra Energy SolutionsLCSL MaintenancePentagon ControlsPowell Systems

Technical innovation of the year - projectsSponsored by Johnson Controls

Gatwick Airport upgrade for lighting and BMS - Beckhoff AutomationKeyes Building at Kings School, Worcester - Clarkson ControlsHilton Hotel Bournemouth - Comfort ControlsComplex control system for a blue chip London development - Econowise Drives and ControlsControls retrofit at Westminster Abbey - Electrical & Mechanical ControlsLiverpool John Moores University (STEM) - Impact Control SystemsJCT600 Audi Hull - Smart BuildingsTeesside University Conference and Teaching Facility, The Curve - SSE Enterprise Energy Solutions

Technical innovation of the year - productsSponsored by Modern Building Services

Distech Eclypse IP & Wi-Fi controllerJohnson Controls Metasys Access Portal MAP GatewayJohnson Controls VA-7480 Auto-stroke detection terminal valve actuatorMitsubishi Electric Living Environmental Systems MelcoRETAILNeptronic TUCB24C6X2CB Universal Wall Mounted ControllerProlojik Lightmatrix PoE lighting control systemSiemens Building Technologies Desigo CCSmart-VUE Cloud based integration dashboardSontay ModBus/BACnet smart communication sensor

Energy management awardSponsored by Priva UK

Dashwood House energy reduction pilot scheme - AIS BMS and NG BaileyHigh street bank energy performance improvement - Chartwell Energy SolutionsChaddesley Corbett Endowed Primary School heating system - Clarkson ControlsLangtry House integrated climate control solution - FAB ControlsJohn Lewis Bluewater BEMS upgrade - Next Control SystemsStandard Life House chiller commissioning team - RSP Consulting EngineersGlasgow City Council Energy ICT solution - SSE Enterprise Energy SolutionsRS Components BEMS installation - SSE Enterprise Energy Solutions

Contribution to training awardSponsored by Siemens Building Technologies

BCPA Assessment Centre - Clarkson EvansBespoke BEMS Development Programme - InTandem SystemsBuilt Environment Training Academy - Schneider Electric

Engineer of the yearSponsored by Trend Control Systems

James Auty - Priva UKSteve Betts - Econowise GroupPaul Canty - Kendra Energy SolutionsMatthew Price - Impact Control SolutionsSteve Reid - Siemens Building TechnologiesSimon Shaw - BG Energy SolutionsGavin Street - Comfort ControlsMatthew Turner - Clarkson Controls

Student of the yearSponsored by BCIA

Daniel Slack - Chartwell ControlsCaroline Thomas - Trend Controls

BCIA announces finalists for its 2016 industry awards

BCIA AWARDS

A

NN I V E R S A

RY

The BCIA Awards 2016 has received its highest number of entries ever, with a 57% increase on last year’s numbers.The Building Controls Industry Association Awards are now in their tenth year and they have developed to become the key event in the

building controls calendar. The Awards Gala Dinner will take place on 12th May at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham – representing a return to this popular and glamorous venue for the Association.

Tables are already on sale for the Gala Dinner, and filling up fast, so make sure you book your place as soon as possible. Full details at: www.bcia-awards.co.uk.

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

The BCIA Building Controls Training Courses are now available at venues around the UK. As well as continuing to offer courses at Penkridge, the courses are now available through selected Training Partners. They are Sontay in Kent and British Gas Rotherham.

Demand for the courses has grown in recent years, so this has been an important development to ensure that those who want to take the courses can access them.

The BCIA will also be appointing a Training Manager to help coordinate the different venues and ensure that courses are being delivered to the same standard at each location. This will also provide an opportunity to update some of the courses to reflect

BCIA Courses now more widely available

BCIA forges ahead with Trailblazer Apprenticeship plansThe BCIA Skills Group is developing the next stage of its BEMS NVQ Apprenticeship to meet new requirements set out by Government.

The Trailblazer programme encourages employer groups, like the BCIA, to develop and shape the content of apprenticeships to suit the needs of their industry. The aim is to put control of skills development into the hands of those who employ apprentices.

The Skills Working Group is looking to develop the content of the current course to reflect the fast-moving environment of building controls but also to provide a firm grounding in technical basics.

The aim is to ensure that the course is easily accessible to all and that it can be delivered widely across the UK. The Building Controls Professional Assessment (BCPA) will continue to be the end-of-course assessment for this qualification, as it has proved itself to be a robust test of skill and knowledge.

The Skills Group also plans to provide an approved prior learning (APL) route to an NVQ for controls engineers who want to add to their qualifications. Any BCIA member organisation interested in helping the BCIA Skills Group develop training in the controls sector can send a representative to the Skills Working Group meetings. BCIA Summer Party

sets sail againThe BCIA will be hosting its second river cruise Summer Event on 23rd June 2016. Bookings are now open for the event, which will see BCIA members and their guests boarding the Dutch Master at the Millennium Pier for an evening’s entertainment.

Last year saw around 100 members and guests, including many from the trade press, take to the River Thames for a summer barbecue, and we are expecting more to join in with this informal, fun networking event in 2016.

Tickets for the BCIA Summer Event are only £10 per head which includes a bottle of beer on boarding, as well as the delicious barbecue. Email leanne@bcia.co.uk to book.

today’s technologies and methods. Delegates taking the courses with Training Partners will gain the same Certificates issued by the BCIA. For full details on course availability at all venues, and to book your courses, please see www.bcia.co.uk/training.

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

Early in March 2016, the National Infrastructure Commission produced its report on how the UK can better balance its supply and demand for energy in the future. The report is called Smart Power and this gives some indication of what the NIC’s proposals look like.

The driver for this report is the fact that the UK’s energy supply industry is undergoing major changes. Two thirds of existing UK power stations, many fuelled by oil and gas, will close by 2030. The old approach to managing energy was for the power stations to increase or decrease their production according to demand. As the NIC points out, nuclear and renewable energy cannot work this way. The balancing act must change in order to embrace a modern and low-carbon energy system.

Three new approachesThe Smart Power report recommends three approaches to achieve this: • Connect the UK power network with neighbours in Europe and further afield.• Develope and use storage technology.• Encourage energy consumers to adopt demand flexibility.

The NIC includes a broad range of options under the heading of demand flexibility. This includes purpose-built generation on the distribution network to manage demand on the transmission network. NIC also mentions use of back-up generators at times of peak demand.

Those who have been in the controls sector long enough will know that the idea of demand management is not really new. Forty years ago, the practice of shedding load at peak times was popular.

This was before energy market deregulation, after which big users found it just as easy to manage their energy costs by negotiating contracts with suppliers. They were effectively encouraged to use more energy for a lower cost - we now need to use less energy.

Today, those involved with building controls and BEMS are most likely to think of demand flexibility as ‘demand response’ and this is

also very much part of the ‘Smart Power’ vision. For industrial and commercial energy consumers, demand response means changing demand for power from equipment for hvac or refrigeration. For example, power consumption can be lowered, or shifted to the use of off-grid energy sources.

Usually changes to energy use are only for minutes at a time, but as NIC points out: “These measures may only have a small impact at the individual level, but when aggregated together the effects can be significant.”

Potential of demand responseThis sort of demand response is already widely used in the USA and Australia. In the UK, DR is rising further up the energy agenda again. There are now services which bring together a number of smaller energy users to take part in group schemes.

NIC believes there is much more potential for this type of activity. National Grid already offers some financial incentive for companies taking part in demand response, but it has committed to increase its use of demand flexibility by 2030.

One of the key requirements for demand response, or any kind of demand flexibility, is good building energy management systems. It is vital for building operators to know exactly when their energy demand could be considered available for demand response.

NIC recognises this important factor: “There is an opportunity here for UK firms. We are a world leader in data analytics and software development that can be used to manage energy demand seamlessly…”

There are still barriers to take-up of demand response, one of which is encouraging business to view it as an opportunity. However, the publication of the Smart Power report should be welcomed by anyone involved in managing energy in buildings because it is opening a wider discussion on how the UK changes its energy use now that its energy production is altering so radically. Unless the two match up seamlessly, there could be some serious issues waiting down the line.

Demanding a change in approachA recent report highlights the need to alter how we manage and use energy because the way it’s generated is changing so significantly. We report on why controls and BEMS will play an important role in balancing demand and supply.

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

There isn’t much Malcolm Anson hasn’t seen in the building services industry. From teenage electrical contracting apprentice to managing director of his own controls company, the new President of the BCIA has progressed from the tools to top tier management.

It’s a journey that affords him a clear view of the differences in skills between electrician and controls engineer, and it’s a difference he is keen to help accentuate in his time as President. Malcolm sees the new BCPA qualification as a vital cog in achieving a higher standard of recognition for the controls profession.

“For many years, electricians have had the AM2 and ECS card. Controls engineers have had to make do with an electrical trades card, until now. The new Building Controls Engineer Gold card which is now linked to the BCPA tells the contractor on-site that our engineers know their stuff,” says Anson.

Recognising our skillsThe BCIA President is keen to emphasise the specialist skills of controls engineers, and to have them recognised by the wider construction industry. He also believes there is an argument to elevate the controls contractor to the same level as the mechanical contractor in the supply chain. Not just in recognition of the increasingly specific skillset needed by the discipline, but also to help achieve another of his goals – to end retentions and other onerous terms and conditions.

“There ought to be a minimum value of project below which retentions are not held,” says Anson, who sees retentions as harmful to cash flow in small businesses in the controls sector.

Some jobs are so complicated that the builders and mechanical contractors can’t assist with the controls in any way. In those scenarios, the controls engineers ought to be on the same contractual level as them, and not be reliant on the mechanical contractors to release payments.

MalcolmANSON

New BCIA President shares

his views on challenges and

opportunities for the

controls industry

Anson’s plan is to stage a collaborative campaign with other industry associations to fight the current status quo around retentions.

“We’ve been complaining about it for years but it needs a final push to bring it to a head and get rid of this problem. The ECA and FETA have been doing an excellent job on this. I think it’s important to recognise the needs of SMEs in the controls industry.”

Technology is also an area that offers potential opportunities and challenges for the controls sector.

“With web-based protocols and open networks, we’re able to get the AHU to talk to the boiler system and vice versa, so our skillsets are changing. We need to be experts at knitting products together,” Anson explains.

Keeping up with technology“But technology moves so quickly that if a web browser developer updates an operating system, it might be that your product doesn’t work anymore. You can have a system working perfectly well, then the client updates to the latest version and everything suddenly stops working. It could cost a lot to stay in step with the IT developers.

“So yes, the rapid acceleration of the industry towards web-based cloud platforms is good, but we must always be aware of all the implications of the update process.”

Anson also sees the BCIA as crucial in promoting controls as an energy resource.

“There’s a job to be done to raise the importance of controls in the context of energy-saving. It’s almost come full circle since the energy-saving campaigns of the 70s,” he says.

“We need to control energy to save it, not just drive down costs. Energy savings are needed, not just a reduction in the fuel bill. Buildings need controls set up by qualified engineers, and it’s our job get our members recognised as the specialist in that field.”

“SO YES, THE RAPID ACCELERATION OF THE

INDUSTRY TOWARDS WEB-BASED CLOUD

PLATFORMS IS GOOD, BUT WE MUST ALWAYS BE AWARE OF ALL THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE

UPDATE PROCESS.”

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

BCIA Members

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

Our mission is to promote the application and use of building controls for energy efficient, comfortable and productive environments. The BCIA provides a unique forum for manufacturers and systems installers to discuss technical, training and legislative issues.

We work to educate specifiers and end-users about building controls and liaise with other industry associations, professional organisations and government to educate the wider market about designing, installing and using controls to maximise their benefits.

To find out more about joining the BCIA contact Executive Officer Karen Fletcher: karen@bcia.co.uk

Benefits of membership

•Access to our unique Market Information Service on the UK controls sector

•Discounted training costs

•Regular meetings for networking with peers

•Influence on developments in our industry through BCIA Working Groups

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bcia news | issue 02 | 2016

How does the Technical Working Group benefit the BCIA and its members?The controls industry is all about technology, so this group is key to supporting members because it gives us a forum in which we can discuss technical issues with fellow experts. On a number of occasions we have run what we call ‘ConnectFests’ in which a number of our leading manufacturers and systems installers get together to work out the best way to ensure different systems operate together. The benefit to members is that we can try things out in an open forum, and help solve potential problems more easily that way. It has also helped technical experts across the industry build a network of contacts that they can get in touch with for advice.

What have been the Technical Working Group’s most significant achievements?We’ve been engaging with BIM through our focused Working Party and we are liaising with CIBSE on PDTs for our industry. We are also aiming to host a joint event later this year with CIBSE’s FM Group as part of our wider aim of helping to increase understanding about controls. In addition we are engaging with European groups on areas of legislation so that we can ensure there is good UK input to developments in those areas.

Controls are often considered a bit of a dark art by other areas of the construction industry and clients. How do you respond to that?It is true that because of the technical nature of controls and BEMS, it is a highly specialised area. Unless you work in it all the time, it is a challenge to keep up with new techniques and technologies. However, the Technical Working Group has recognised this issue, and we are working to publish clear, usable guidance for specifiers and end-users to help them get the most out of the BEMS. This includes guidance on how best to identify what they want from controls and BEMS, as well as best practice advice on handovers to contractors and end-users. It will benefit the whole controls sector if we help people understand what it is controls experts bring to the table in terms of advice on efficient building operation.

What are the key trends that you are seeing in building controls and BEMS?It is always difficult to predict where technology might go in the future. But I would say that the Internet of Things, in combination with cloud-based solutions, has the potential to impact how we connect devices within buildings, and how buildings communicate with energy managers and maintenance teams.

The possibilities of cloud-based solutions are almost endless and represent a real step-change in the way buildings will be managed in the future. It will not only make it possible but also common to analyse large amounts of data, the results of which are presented by building performance tools. These will aid facilities managers to better manage their buildings and decrease operational costs.

Furthermore people are more used to being able to use their smart phones to control heating and lighting at home, so I think this sort of usability is something that they will come to expect in the work space too. This will give building mangers, facility managers and maintance teams information at their fingertips when they want and how they want.

In the end though, the fundamental issues of cost-effectiveness and impact on long-term efficiency will continue to influence where and how controls technology is applied. There isn’t much that technology can’t achieve now, but it’s a question of helping clients identify what’s best for their requirements.

Our final question…The BCIA Newsletter goes out to potential members. What would your message be for them?Membership of the BCIA is an excellent way to keep up to date with what’s happening in terms of technology and legislation. As things move much faster all the time, companies need some way of ensuring they know what’s coming in the near future. Legislation on energy use is providing interesting opportunities for us all. Also, the Building Controls Industry Association is the best channel we have as businesses for influencing what happens in Europe and the UK, so our members have a much better chance of raising awareness of the benefits of controls and BEMS by working together to acheive this shared goal.

Working together: An exclusive look into the BCIA

ProfileName: Richard BushPosition: Chairman of the Technical Working Group for the BCIA and Technical Support Manager for Priva UKYears in the industry: 20Hobbies/Interests: Spending time with the family; supporting Bristol City; and an annual trip to Glastonbury Festival to enjoy the music and mud!

Formed to promote better understanding, application and use of building controls, the BCIA’s key purpose has always been to educate the industry. Working Groups are key to achieving this. Richard Bush, Chairman of the BCIA Technical Working Group, gives us a better insight into one of the groups helping to achieve the Association’s goals.