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EJOT Colorfast chosen for Kingspan’s highly sustainable new Asian factory

 

More than 120,000 EJOT Colorfast self-drilling fasteners have helped Kingspan to create a thermally superior, visually-appealing building envelope for its first purpose-built manufacturing plant in South East Asia.

The 16,000 sq. m factory at Phu My Town in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam, will enable Kingspan to grow its presence in the wider Asian region by providing a state-of-the-art plant to manufacture its market-leading Quadcore and mineral fibre insulated panels. It marks a strategically important step in the development of the Kingspan Group, helping it to unlock the potential of a new and expanding market with a total investment of more than £21 million, and this is reflected in the building’s very high specification.

As a ‘greenfield manufacturing facility’, which means it was created on a site where minimal or no existing infrastructure was present, architects IntES and Kingspan were able to take advantage of a ‘blank canvas’ to design and build a facility with exceptional eco-credentials. This included adopting LEED Platinum Version 4, one of the world’s most demanding green building standards, which will support Kingspan’s goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions during the plant’s operation in line with its 10-year global sustainability programme, Planet Passionate.

How Colorfast supports zero carbon goals

EJOT Colorfast fasteners in White and Poppy Red were used to achieve a visually appealing, high quality result.

Installed by main contractor TUAN LE Construction, the building envelope features a total roof area of 14,500 sq. m, formed using Kingspan Quadcore KS1000RW insulated panels and KS1000DLTR (Day-Lite Trapezoidal Rooflight) polycarbonate rooflights.

All of the 120,000+ fasteners used to create the envelope were EJOT fasteners, mainly Colorfast (CF19 JT3 D6H) which feature a 19mm aluminium/EPDM vulcanised sealing washer and utilise EJOT’s JT3 bi-metallic self-drilling screw. These were coloured in White for the main roof fix and Poppy Red with storm washers for the rooflight detail. EJOfast fasteners with a 15mm washer (CF15 JF3 2 5.5 x 25) were used for the side and end laps, while CF19 JT6 2H 6.3 x 30/10 secured the rooflight laps.

The reasons for their specification, however, went far beyond the simple functional objective to attach the roof to a structure. Colorfast was able to make a positive contribution to the long term performance of the building envelope and, hence, the sustainability of the factory as a whole.

As an FM Approved fastener, Colorfast has been independently assessed and its performance verified under a globally-recognised certification scheme. The stringent testing undertaken by FM Approvals considers fasteners within a complete assembly, rather than in isolation, which was extremely important to the architects on this project. They sought assurance that the products would deliver on their promise to comfortably match the design life of the envelope’s panels and minimise thermal transfer once the building was operational.

Key to Colorfast’s performance is its ability to provide a consistent seal above the sheet, maximising insulation and air-tightness as well as reducing the risk of water ingress. The fastener’s head is formed by over-moulding a nylon compound which is precisely formulated to offer reliable UV stability for lasting visual aesthetics. The head can be matched to around 400 colours in line with recognised colour matching system such as RAL, NCS and Pantone, as well as the British Standards (BS) colour palette – the colour system on which Colorfast was first developed.

Thermal insulation optimised

The JT3 Colorfast fasteners were specified in bi-metallic stainless steel as this material is more suitable for the hot, humid Vietnamese climate than carbon steel fasteners. Stainless steel has the obvious longevity benefit in that it is more resistant to corrosion, but this material choice also offers lower thermal transmission values, meaning heat transfer from the outside to in and vice versa is reduced.

Colorfast’s nylon moulded head provides further resistance to thermal transmission, which would not have been the case if powder coated or painted screws were used. The small gains achieved at individual fixing locations added up to a significant benefit over the thousands of penetrations across the roof’s surface.

The end result was the creation of a building which will benefit from a stable internal environment with the lowest levels of energy consumption. This is not only important to the Vietnamese government, which has pledged to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, but also to Kingspan as it creates the infrastructure and production facilities required to meet its Planet Passionate goals.

This programme aims to have a positive impact on three big global challenges, climate change, circularity and protection of the natural world, and will support Kingspan to achieve its own net zero carbon deadline of 2030.

In addition to strategies for reducing water consumption, cutting landfill waste and utilising only renewable energy to power its operations, the specification of Kingspan’s existing facilities and new buildings will be enhanced. One of the ways this will be achieved is through the use of advanced building materials and components as the new Phu My Town factory demonstrates.

Supporting the expanding SE Asian market

The Colorfast and Kingspan combination used here has enormous potential to be applied in other industrial and commercial projects across South East Asia to support governments and businesses to achieve their sustainable building goals. It is particularly suitable for cold storage facilities and data centres where the internal climate is critical to the efficient running of the building, two sectors that are fuelling a rapidly growing construction industry.

Vietnam is the best performing construction market in the Asia Pacific region with a growth rate of 5.59% according to figures from the first half of 2022. The country is actively encouraging inward investment through an ongoing programme to study and develop the necessary mechanisms, policies and solutions aimed at encouraging and attracting foreign investment into its real estate market.

EJOT Group is one of the European companies responding to serve this growing market, not only in Vietnam but across South East Asia. The Group has already recently invested in opening an office in Singapore and it will shortly be creating a presence in Vietnam to offer local support backed with global technical expertise.

This model has been instrumental in Colorfast’s evolution from its initial purpose as a UK market-focused product when it launched over 30 years ago, into a fastener with appeal in construction markets around the world. One of the reasons for this is the increased adoption of European building performance standards, which have traditionally been regarded as the world’s most demanding, in other continents, particularly Australasia.

 

CLICK HERE to find out more about EJOT Colorfast

 

 

 

 

 

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FUSION: Next Generation Packaged Electric Water Heating From Adveco

The next generation FUSION range from hot water specialists Adveco is a complete range of packaged electric and packaged renewable electric water heaters for commercial projects. FUSION is a modern, future-proof system that embraces electric water heating and the option to incorporate air source heat pumps (ASHP) to lower carbon emissions in line with government calls for net zero.

As an all-electric system, it uses familiar technology that is relatively simple and quick to install, cost-effective and reduces carbon emissions. With an increased heating capacity over first generation Adveco FUSION systems of up to 34 kW, the next generation of FUSION systems offers greater versatility for meeting domestic hot water (DHW) demands across a range of commercial properties. Projects with small to medium basin and sink-led hot water demands – such as cafes, restaurants offices or gyms – taller buildings with basement plant rooms and organisations that depend on 24/7 hot water provision for continuity of service all gain advantages from using FUSION.

The packaged format enables flexibility to specify from a range of cylinders, primary electrical heating, air source heat pumps for pre-heat, and immersions for back-up all supported by Adveco’s bespoke controls to ensure optimal, efficient operation.

FUSION cylinders (ATSI & ATST) come with dedicated mounting points for the ARDENT electric boiler, simplifying and reducing the chance of installation errors. By mounting the electric boiler directly to the cylinder FUSION is a more compact, space-saving option when specifying or having to refurbish an existing plant room. The cylinder connections and clean-out plate are all arranged on the front of the tank for easy access when connecting pre-built pipework with a choice of left- or right-hand side connection, and for regular maintenance. This arrangement also enables FUSION to be situated tightly into a corner, again maximising available space.

The use of the 9, 12 or 24 kW ARDENT electric boiler replaces the use of a single immersion for primary heating. ARDENT, with multiple immersions inside its sealed storage tank provides automatically balanced usage to prolong system life. The typical cause of immersion failure is the creation of limescale in hard water areas, production of which is accelerated by the higher heat intensity of electrical water heating. This is avoided in FUSION, as the ARDENT is used in a sealed ‘primary’ loop to an indirect coil in the system’s cylinder. The ARDENT electric boiler heats the same water continuously so there is only a small, finite amount of scale in the system which will not damage the elements, effectively eliminating damage to the immersions by limescale.
FUSION cylinders offer single (ATSI) and twin-coil (ATST) variants with capacities ranging from 200 to 500 litres.

Single coil cylinders (ASTI) are used for standard electric indirect water heating with an ARDENT electric boiler (FUSION-E), and the option of an immersion for resistive heating ‘directly’ to water in the cylinder (FUSION-Eplus). Dual-coil cylinders (ATST) enable the addition of a 6 or 10 kW FPi32 monobloc air to water heat pump. The ASHP is connected to the lower coil and supplies indirect pre-heat to the vessel, while ARDENT is connected to the upper coil to provide primary indirect heating (FUSION-T & FUSION-Tplus).

FUSION E systems come with a thermostat and overheat thermostat as standard, but for renewable variants featuring dual-coil ATST cylinders and ASHP, optimisation within the FUSION system comes from Adveco’s purpose-built FUSION Control Box. This smartly balances the two heat sources enabling the water in the cylinder to be heated in the most efficient way. The heat pump’s contribution is maximised, achieving a working pre-heat flow temperature of 50°C under UK weather conditions, even if the ambient air temperature drops as low as -25°C.
With the cylinder water pre-heated by the ASHP, the ARDENT boiler is not required to work as hard to raise flow temperatures to the 65°C demanded by commercial applications. Electrical demand on the boiler is reduced by as much as 30%, delivering operational savings and reducing carbon emissions by up to 71%. This variant is perfect for organisations seeking to invest in a water heating application as part of a decarbonisation strategy without losing sight of higher operational costs associated with all-electric systems compared to equivalent gas-fired water heating.

Where hot water demands become a business-critical service, such as in restaurants or GP’s surgeries, FUSION will also support the addition of an Adveco backup immersion providing additional resilience ensuring there is no single point of failure for assured service provision. When only used as an emergency heating source, or during periods of unplanned excess demand, the inclusion of an electric immersion can be extremely advantageous. For FUSION systems incorporating the additional backup immersion (FUSION-Eplus & FUSION-Tplus) controls are further extended to incorporate SMS output to advise building managers of a fault scenario and automated engagement of the immersion back-up to guarantee business-critical hot water supply.

For commercial organisations specifying a hot water system for new buildings faced with regulatory changes on new gas connections, or planning to move from existing gas-fired systems to electrical alternatives FUSION provides an impressive range of choice whether cost, sustainability or business security are the driving factors for specification.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

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RINNAI INTRODUCES 12 YEAR WARRANTY AND OPENS PATHWAYS TO NET ZERO

PRACTICAL, ECONOMICAL, TECHNICAL

SOLUTIONS TO HYDROGEN READY HEATING & HOT WATER

 

Rinnai is creating practical, economical, and technically feasibility pathways to lower carbon emissions. A major part of these low carbon pathways is the introduction of a comprehensive 12-year warranty on all its fully certified I2HY20 continuous flow hot water heaters which are suited to installation as standalone gaseous water heaters or as Hybrid hot water systems supporting solar thermal or heat pump technology.

 

These Rinnai UK product ranges are ‘hydrogen blends ready 20%’ – meaning that units will accept the proposed 20% blend of hydrogen/natural gas. Rinnai UK is one of the first manufacturers to display the I2HY20 gas category certificate for all its products.

 

This is an addition to the other services offered in support of all I2HY20 Rinnai products – Full Technical Support Service; System Design Service; BIM & CAD drawings & Schematics; Life Cycle Analysis & Carbon footprint; Comprehensive – and FREE – Training Courses & CPDs.

 

 

 

 

 

Rinnai offers H1, H2 & H3 solutions to the energy question and the cost-of-living squeeze which are all potential pathways to NetZero.

H1 – Hydrogen blends ready, renewable liquid fuel ready and electric water heating equipment.

H2 – Hybrid hot water systems – Including heat pumps, solar thermal, and electric.

H3 – Market leading, Low GWP heat pumps.

 

 

 

 

For Rinnai Chris Goggin commented,

“The introduction of our 12-year warranties are specifically designed to give all heating engineers, contractors, consultants and end-users a solution that is practical, technically and economically viable, whilst enabling the ability to lower onsite carbon when blending commences. When these continuous flow water heaters approach end of life, it is expected within policy documents that 100% Hydrogen could well be entering the grid system and we shall be ready to ease this transition.”

 

In 2022 Rinnai announced the global launch of the world’s first designed and developed 100% hydrogen combustion for continuous flow hot water heating units and systems for both domestic and commercial applications. This development complements the company’s current range of water heaters which are all hydrogen blends ready right now – and able to use both BioLPG and rDME without any adjustment.

RINNAI’S H3 DECARBONISATION OFFERS PATHWAYS & CUSTOMER COST REDUCTIONS FOR

COMMERCIAL, DOMESTIC AND OFF-GRID HEATING & HOT WATER DELIVERY

CLICK HERE

 

Rinnai’s H3 range of decarbonising products include hydrogen / BioLPG ready technology, hybrid systems, and a wide range of LOW GWP heat pumps and solar thermal. Also, within Rinnai’s H3 range is Infinity hydrogen blend ready and BioLPG ready continuous flow water heaters which are stacked with a multitude of features that ensure long life, robust & durable use, customer satisfaction and product efficiency.

Rinnai’s range of decarbonising products – H1/H2/H3 – consists of heat pump, solar, hydrogen in any configuration, hybrid formats for either residential or commercial applications. Rinnai’s H3 range of products offer contractors, consultants and end users a range of efficient, robust and affordable decarbonising appliances which create practical, economic and technically feasible solutions. The range covers all forms of fuels and appliances currently available – electric, gas, hydrogen, BioLPG, rDME solar thermal, low GWP heat pumps and electric water heaters.

Rinnai H1 continuous water heaters and boilers offer practical and economic decarbonization delivered through technological innovation in hydrogen and renewable liquid gas ready technology.

Rinnai’s H1 option is centred on hydrogen, as it is anticipated that clean hydrogen fuels will become internationally energy market-relevant in the future; Rinnai water heaters are hydrogen 20% blends ready and include the world’s first 100% hydrogen-ready hot water heating technology.

Rinnai H2 – Decarbonization simplified with renewable gas-ready units, Solar Thermal and Heat Pump Hybrids. Rinnai H2 is designed to introduce a practical and low-cost option which may suit specific sites and enable multiple decarbonisation pathways with the addition of high performance.

Rinnai H3 – Low-GWP heat pump technology made easy – Rinnai heat pumps are available for domestic and commercial usage with an extensive range of 4 – 115kW appliances.

Rinnai’s H3 heat pumps utilise R32 refrigerant and have favourable COP and SCOP.

Rinnai is a world leading manufacturer of hot water heaters and produces over two million units a year, operating on each of the five continents. The brand has gained an established reputation for producing products that offer high performance, cost efficiency and extended working lives.

Rinnai’s commercial and domestic continuous flow water heaters offer a limitless supply of instantaneous temperature controlled hot water and all units are designed to align with present and future energy sources. Rinnai condensing water heaters accept either existing fuel or hydrogen gas blends. Rinnai units are also suited for off-grid customers who require LPG and BioLPG or rDME.

Rinnai products are UKCA certified, A-rated water efficiency, accessed through multiple fuel options and are available for purchase 24/7, 365 days a year. Any unit can be delivered to any UK site within 24 hours. Rinnai offer carbon and cost comparison services that will calculate financial and carbon savings made when investing in a Rinnai system. Rinnai also provide a system design service that will suggest an appropriate system for the property in question.

Rinnai offer comprehensive training courses and technical support in
all aspects of the water heating industry including detailed CPD’s.
More information can be found on Rinnai’s website
and its “Help Me Choose” webpage.

 

CLICK HERE TO VISIT RINNAI

 

OR HERE TO EMAIL DIRECT

 

For more information on the RINNAI product range CLICK HERE

 

 

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Could achieving net-zero disrupt business as we know it?

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With government legislating for net-zero by 2050, what does this mean for UK energy markets and business models?

Getting to net-zero will require economy-wide changes that extend well beyond the energy system, leading to rapid and unprecedented change in all aspects of society.

Research published today by the UK Energy Research Centre shines a light on the level of disruption that could be required by some sectors to meet net-zero targets.

With many businesses making strong commitments to a net-zero carbon future, the report highlights the stark future facing specific sectors. Some will need to make fundamental change to their business models and operating practices, whilst others could be required to phase out core assets. Government may need to play a role in purposefully disrupting specific sectors to ensure the move away from high carbon business models, facilitating the transition a zero-carbon economy.

Sector specific impacts

The in-depth analysis presented in ‘Disrupting the UK energy systems: causes, impacts and policy implications’ focuses on four key areas of the economy, highlighting how they may need to change to remain competitive and meet future carbon targets.

Heat: All approaches for heat decarbonisation are potentially disruptive, with policymakers favouring those that are less disruptive to consumers. Since it is unlikely that rapid deployment of low carbon heating will be driven by consumers or the energy industry, significant policy and governance interventions will be needed to drive the sustainable heat transformation.

Transport: Following the ‘Road to Zero’ pathway for road transport is unlikely to be disruptive, but it is not enough to meet our climate change targets. The stricter targets for phasing out conventional vehicles that will be required will lead to some disruption. Vehicle manufacturers, the maintenance and repair sector and the Treasury may all feel the strain.

Electricity: Strategies of the Big 6 energy companies have changed considerably in recent years, with varying degrees of disruption to their traditional business model. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to continue to adapt to rapid change – or be overtaken by new entrants.

Construction: To deliver low-carbon building performance will require disruptive changes to the way the construction sector operates. With new-build accounting for less than 1% of the total stock, major reductions in energy demand will need to come through retrofit of existing buildings.

The report identifies how policy makers plan for disruptions to existing systems. With the right tools and with a flexible and adaptive approach to policy implementation, decision makers can better respond to unexpected consequences and ensure delivery of key policy objectives.

Prof Jim Watson, UKERC Director and Professor of Energy Policy, UCL said “The move to legislate for net-zero is welcome progress, but we need economy-wide action to make this a reality.
This includes policies that deliberately disrupt established markets and business models in some sectors – and address any negative impacts.”

Prof Jillian Anable, UKERC Co-Director and Professor of Transport and Energy, University of Leeds added “The UK transport sector is nearly 100% fuelled by fossil fuels, with only tiny niches of electrified and bio-fuelled vehicles.

Whilst politically challenging, the sector can only hope to reach ‘net-zero’ through whole-scale change that involves reducing hyper-mobility and fuel switching. This will lead to disruption to actors, global networks, governance and lifestyles.”

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