Climate Center will supply an extensive range of high quality Toshiba air conditioning equipment, including residential and light commercial products, splits, VRF systems and air-to-water heat pumps to customers through its UK network of 46 branches.

Toshiba products will be stocked alongside Climate Center’s existing air conditioning ranges from Daikin and Fujitsu, completing the supplier’s offering in this important and growing sector of the market.

Star products in the Toshiba line-up include the company’s mini VRF system and the recently launched VRF Super Modular Multi-System Intelligent (SMMSi) heat pump, that are considered  the most efficient of its kind on the market with a SEER of 6.41 and COP of 4.68.

Launched in October last year, the SMMSi is a world-first in having three compressors each equipped with a dedicated inverter. This enables full load-sharing at all times and optimisation of efficiency savings as a result of part-load operation using all three compressors.

Climate Centre will also supply Toshiba’s recently launched high efficiency ESTIA air-to-water heat pump system, which has a class-leading COP of 4.61. This  will also be available through Pipe Center.

ESTIA has Microgeneration Certificate Scheme (MCS) approval, and is the only heat pump of its kind currently listed on the Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECA) register.

Ian Carroll, Climate Center’s National Sales Manager for Cooling, said: “Toshiba is a great brand, and highly regarded for the quality and technical excellence of its products. The combination of premium build, innovative engineering and brand popularity is a winning formula – which we believe perfectly compliments and completes our existing air conditioning ranges.”

David Dunn, Commercial Director at Toshiba Carrier UK Ltd, said: “We are delighted to have made the agreement with Wolseley UK Limited. It extends our supply network across the UK and Ireland, and adds a powerful new wholesale route to support and augment our established sales and distribution network.”

He added: “Climate Center has very experienced and knowledgeable staff and provides air conditioning customers across the UK with a high level of technical support. This is essential with today’s advanced systems, to make sure customers get the right product

“We look forward to working with our new partners at Wolseley’s Climate and Pipe Center to grow sales over the coming months and years.”

In the latest, the supplier won the coveted Merchant at the Year Award at the H&V News Awards for Excellence, held at Grosvenor House, Park Lane, London.

It follows the Wholesaler of the Year award, presented to the company last month by industry magazine ACR News, and Supplier of the Year, presented by leading contractor JS Wright.

Receiving the latest award, Scott Craig, Pipe Center and Climate Center sales and marketing director, said: “I am delighted to accept the award on behalf of the passionate and hardworking teams at Pipe Center and Climate Center.

“To win one award might be considered lucky. However, to win three in succession begins to suggest we might be doing something right. The truth is, it represents the culmination of a lot of hard work and creativity over the past two or three years on the part of our staff, and an unrelenting focus on putting our customers at the centre of everything we do.”

He added: “The approach is not only helping us win awards, but, more importantly, helping our customers succeed and grow their own businesses. We will be building on this winning approach for the future.”

In the latest award, the judges applauded the supplier for developing added value services, such as modular engineering and custom built refrigeration products, and restructuring to reflect the convergence in the market between traditional trades to meet changing customer needs.

They also commended the company’s investment in promoting renewable technology, as showcased in the £3.2m Sustainable Building Center, and its commitment to delivering “best in class” service, supported by a company-wide monitoring and incentive scheme.

Launched last year, Operation Service Excellence (OSE) is delivering concrete and measurable business benefits, reflected in increased customer loyalty and enhanced levels of repeat business.

The awards were launched earlier this year with the backing of industry and leading companies to reward and celebrate the best new advances in heat pump technology and outstanding applications in buildings and industry.

The national competition culminates in a gala event at the ICC in Birmingham on 23^rd June, 2011, where Pipe Center and Climate Center will present the award for Installation of the Year - Commercial Ground/Water Source.

Heat pumps capture free energy from the environment – from the air, ground or water – and harness it to provide low-cost, low-carbon heating for commercial premises, homes and industry.

The technology can be many times more efficient than conventional gas or electric appliances, dramatically cutting running costs, reducing carbon emissions and helping to safeguard the environment.

Scott Craig, sales and marketing director for Pipe Center and Climate Center, said: “The annual awards provide a national showcase for the latest developments in this vital and rapidly developing area of sustainable technology.

“It is a sector that shows great promise for the future. As a leading supplier in the market, we are keen to support innovation and spread best practice on effective design and application of heating systems based on heat pump technology. We believe it has the potential to become mainstream in the future.”

Awards categories will highlight the best new technology, applications and approaches coming on stream, covering both air-source and ground-source systems.

Excellence in installer training will also be recognised, and there will be a special award for a heat pump champion who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing the cause of the technology.

The award’s patron, the Heat Pump Association (HPA), has been joined by a growing list of organisations giving their backing to the event. These include the Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Institute (ACHPI), BEAMA, Federation of Environmental Trade Associations (FETA), the HVCA, the Heating and Hotwater Industries Council, and UHMA.

The closing date for entries is 4^th March, 2011.

The event is being organised on behalf of the industry by the publishers of Heat Pumps Today, ACR Today and Consulting Engineer magazine.

The issue was brought sharply into focus with the recent publication of the Energy Saving Trust’s report on heat pumps, Getting warmer. It’s an important piece of research, as it provides the first detailed picture on the actual performance of heat pump systems in the field.

For those who believe heat pumps are a potentially transformational technology, set to sweep aside conventional approaches to heating, it gives plenty of food for thought.

It’s not a dry academic study. The researchers rolled up their sleeves and got intimate with more than 80 live heat pump systems working in homes and small commercial premises across the country.

They wanted to see whether they delivered what manufacturers promised, and whether their owners were happy with them.

They discovered a wide variation in heat pump performance. The best installations were efficient, performed well and saved their owners money. At the other end of the scale, however, some systems did not perform as advertised, and were at best limping along.

Three big lessons emerge. First, we need improved training standards for heat pump installers. The technology may be good, and getting even better, but if it is not installed properly it will not perform as intended.

Second, it is vital to get system design right for each application. A heat pump is not a one-size, one-design-fits-all appliance that can be simply plugged in and switched on. It is capable of many things, providing heating, hot water, and even cooling in some cases, via radiators, fan coils, storage tanks, underfloor and so on.

The design needs to be tuned to the requirements and intended usage of each application. If it is not, it will not deliver.

Finally, the industry needs to educate end users on how heat pumps work. Unlike a boiler, which uses a flame to heat water and is easy to understand, a heat pump has a touch of black magic about it.

For a start, it delivers more energy than you put in. How does it do that? We need to explain how the technology works to end users, so that they can get the best out of their systems – and become advocates and evangelists, rather than heat pump poopers.

Critics of the report point out that many of the installations studied were early adopters, and that technology and application knowledge have moved on significantly. The picture now, they say, is much more uniformly positive.

This may be. However, the reputation of heat pumps in the market is being shaped now by the experiences of those who are using the technology, and by the skill levels of the people who design and install it.

We as an industry need to get this right. Or this brilliant technology will not fulfil its promise, and we will collectively have turned down the Beatles.

When complete, it will have 306 shops and 46 restaurants. Under the £2m contract, Modular Engineering will design, build and supply fully modularised, offsite-assembled building services modules containing all of the M&E requirements for the project.

It is estimated that the modular offsite solution will reduce the time taken to the complete buildings services for the project by up to 30 per cent compared with traditional onsite installation methods, and shave 10 per cent off the cost.

The modules include all water services - heating, chilled water, domestic water, harvest water, cat 5 water, plus electrical containment consisting of LV power, lighting, data, communications, BMS and fire alarm.

The units are being designed and assembled at Modular Engineering’s 30,000 sq ft state-of-the-art facility in Worcester. Once completed, modules will be factory-tested before being transported to site, located in position and connected up.

The project manager for the building services contractor at the development said: “The offsite modular approach can have significant benefits over traditional methods. It has major advantages in terms of on-time delivery and the quality of the finished result – obviously very important factors.

“We have worked closely with the Modular Engineering team throughout the project, and are delighted with their attention to detail and professionalism at every stage. I have no doubt that the modular solution for the new development will provide a superb finished result.”

Bob Hughes, general manager of Modular Engineering, who has pioneered the offsite approach, said: “This is a highly prestigious project and we are delighted to have been entrusted to deliver by the contractor.”

He added: “It provides a superb demonstration of the benefits of modular engineering, saving time and cost and ensuring a top quality result.”

It was trumpeted when the internet sprang from nowhere, and promised a direct and immediate communications channel between suppliers and customers.

It was heralded when the fashion for direct sales took off a few years ago, and many manufacturers began setting up “direct sales” teams. Remember that?

Academics even coined a new word to describe it - disintermediation – which translates, more or less, as “the death of the middleman”.

The online revolution has indeed provided a new channel to customers. However, its greatest impact has been felt in the business to consumer market, with retailers such as Amazon building mighty online businesses.

In our sector, the traditional offline supply route is still how people do business. Why?

The truth is that the design, installation and servicing of building services systems is a highly technical activity. We are not selling CDs. Products are complex and no two applications ever quite the same. The variables may not quite be infinite, but it certainly seems like that at times.

Faced with this complexity, good advice and expert technical support are paramount. Timely advice or a wise steer can save a contractor a fortune – literally – in time and money.

This open channel is only possible if people are talking directly to one another about what they are doing and what they need.

The distributor’s role in providing this expert support to the trade is, I believe, one of the reasons “disintermediation” hasn’t occurred.

The other reason distributors have not disappeared but continue to thrive is, I believe, that their traditional role as “middleman”, as someone who simply breaks bulk, is being radically redefined.

A new type of distributor is emerging that goes beyond the traditional model, by providing customers with added-value services that enable contractors to better meet the needs of their own clients.

I would include here the design and offsite assembly of modularised total building services solutions for buildings, prefabricated pipe work for major projects, and custom built air conditioning and refrigeration plant.

Such added value services are opening up a new frontier and helping to drive the industry forward.

At a time when pressure has never been greater to cut costs, improve quality and shorten lead times, forward thinking distributors, positioned in the centre of the supply chain with deep technical knowledge, are uniquely placed to deliver the added value services the industry needs.

The hi-tech green technology is being used to heat a new building, Lyon’s House (named after the school’s founder, John Lyon), set on a hillside overlooking London.

The four-storey brick and tinted glass-clad building is the first new House to open at Harrow in over 100 years. It uses several sustainable technologies, including a rainwater-harvesting system and solar panels.

Main contractor on the development was Osborne, M&E Contractor Norstead, and the heat pump system was designed and installed by Ecovision.

The ground-source heat pump is based on 6.6km of pipe, supplied by leading UK distributor Pipe Center, buried in trenches in fields on the hillside surrounding the building. It carries glycol solution as a heat exchange medium.

Neil Otter, operations director of Ecovision, says: “The temperature of the ground is remarkably constant below the surface. In this area of the country, at a depth of 1.2m it remains at a steady 10deg C throughout the year, even in the depths of winter.”

For every 1KW of electrical power consumed, the heat pump delivers around 4kW of energy. This is used to heat pupils’ rooms, kitchens and communal areas in the new building via low temperature radiators and fan coil units.

Harnessing this free and sustainable source of energy cuts running costs by around 30 per cent a year compared with a conventional gas-powered heating system.

Kirsty Shanahan, communications manager for the school, said: “Harrow is steeped in tradition. However, we are also very forward-thinking as an institution, and keen to embrace the best new approaches and technology.

“It is entirely fitting that Lyon’s House, named after the school’s visionary founder, makes use of state-of-the-art technology for harnessing sustainable energy and safeguarding the environment. It is something I am sure he would completely approve of!”

Neil Otter said:  “We are now working on projects the length and breadth of the country, from stately homes through hospitals and schools to office developments. In all of these, we rely on the excellent backup and support provided by Pipe Center. They are a key partner and, wherever we work in the UK, help us ensure we deliver for our clients.”

It is reported that he famously said: “Guitar groups are going out of fashion, Mr Epstein”, before showing the lanky Liverpudlians the door and ushering them up the road to EMI.

His story is a reminder of how close you can come to unimaginable success, only to see it glide by forever. In our own walks of life and business professions, it goes without saying that none of us wants to be the equivalent of “the man who turned down the Beatles”.

For consultants, this might translate into failing to recognise the merits of a revolutionary new approach to building services design that goes on to eclipse traditional approaches.

For contractors, it might equate to failing to equip your workforce with new skills required to deal with emerging systems or techniques.

In my own field, distribution, one of the key challenges is to stay ahead of the constant technological changes. As a major player, we take the subject very seriously indeed.

It is a daily issue, handling and assessing approaches from existing and potential new suppliers offering new technologies and developments on existing products.

With literally hundreds of thousands of individual product lines in our catalogue, this multiplies into a colossal and demanding task.

The rise of green issues and the drive to more sustainable solutions has added new impetus to the pace of technical developments. We are approached daily by suppliers and inventors from all parts of the world, with innovations and new products for which many claims are made.

In evaluating them, the requirement, as ever, is to strike a balance between innovation, proven performance, sustainability and cost-effectiveness. It is not always an easy balance to strike, but it must be done.

The issue came very much to the fore recently with the creation of the Sustainable Building Center, the working showcase of green construction materials and building services products based in Leamington Spa.

In the face of a tidal wave of technical innovation and creativity, and approaches ranging from global manufacturers to individual inventors working out of garden sheds, the question arises - what is the right basis on which to select new technologies to deploy and market?

On the one hand, you don’t want to “turn down the Beatles”; but on the other, you equally don’t want to go to market with a brilliant new technology that is untested, or you are unable fully to support.

Fortunately, greater minds than mine worked this one through. The solution is to cast as wide a net as possible, initially, to ensure all valid technologies are considered, but rapidly hone this down to products with verifiable proven performance and which are cost-effective and available nationally.

There will always be a risk that the Beatles may slip through. But, at the same time, it is heartening to learn that, among others, Dick Rowe did sign The Rolling Stones, Vera Lynn, the Bachelors and Tom Jones.

The H&V News Awards are the industry’s longest established and most prestigious awards. Their focus on excellence, in terms of both technology and service, reflects Pipe Center’s own approach to business. We are delighted to be supporting the awards as headline sponsor.

The drive for change across the industry has never been greater than it is today. From ever shorter project lead times, improved quality and right first-time fit, continued migration to offsite solutions, through to the sustainability revolution that is ushering in a new generation of low carbon technologies and approaches.

In all these areas, the awards play a vital role. They set a benchmark for quality and provide a national stage to recognise and celebrate the best new innovations and practices coming on stream.

I would urge everyone to get involved by entering or supporting the 2011 awards. They provide a marvellous meeting point for all sectors of the industry to come together to hear about and celebrate the best we have to offer. It is, without doubt, the highlight of the industry’s calendar.

For more information about the H&V Awards 2011 Click Here

The offsite assembled modular design covers pipe work for all heating, chilled water, domestic water and electrical containment systems required for the 2400 sq m Carclaze School now nearing completion at St Austell, Cornwall.

The new school will bring together the 420 pupils from the existing Carclaze infant and junior schools within a state-of-the-art building, with open plan learning and sustainability as key design factors.

Building services consultant EIC South West specified the modular approach from Modular Engineering due to its significant cost, time and quality advantages. Main contractor on the project is Kier Western.

Chris Trew of EIC said: “We are convinced of the benefits of modular offsite assembly. We have employed Modular Engineering on a number of projects to date, and it is proven to dramatically reduce the time required for installation on site, while ensuring an exceptional quality result. It is a transformational approach.”

He added: “The multi-service modules are built offsite in clean factory conditions, and pre-tested. This means that, once delivered to site, completed modules can be very efficiently connected up to create a fully tested system.”

Some 62 percent of the energy requirements of the school will be met from renewable sources, reducing energy bills and cutting carbon emissions.

The green services at the school include a low temperature hot water biomass boiler, serving an internal distribution system. There is also a passive ventilation system with ground air ducting to provide natural ventilation to areas of the building with limited external surfaces.

Further energy savings are delivered through the use of a solar thermal system and daylight switching for lighting controls. A rainwater harvesting system is also included.

Bob Hughes, who heads Pipe Center’s Modular Engineering facility, said: “Carclaze School provides another excellent example of how a modular offsite approach to building services can transform the speed and quality of the end result.

“Once clients see the compelling advantages of offsite modular engineering, they are convinced and there is no going back. With ever-shortening lead times on projects and pressure to increase quality, we believe that all commercial building services projects will one day be delivered in this way.”

Three days after arriving, one of them calls the office in despair and says, "It’s a complete waste of time, I'm coming home on the next flight. Everybody goes barefoot here."

At the same time, the other salesperson sends an email to the factory, saying: "It’s absolutely amazing here, the prospects are unlimited, gear up production. Nobody wears shoes!"

It reveals a truth about the thought processes behind contrasting styles of sales people. It also sheds an interesting light on how one’s approach to a market governs your future potential success.

The question we often face is whether the apparent status quo is a settled and immovable state of affairs, as our first salesman concluded? Or, has it been arrived at simply because no better solution has so far been provided?

If we conclude the former, we deny ourselves and our business a world of opportunities to do things differently and better for our customers.

In our industry, a tradition has grown up of specialist suppliers serving the various trades. The big division, of course, has been between the mechanical and electrical sides.

The distinction is mirrored in our trade bodies, training, career structures and, of course, in the supply channels that support the trades with the products that are the heart of the business.

It is my contention that this current state of affairs hinders the industry as a whole, and that a new approach is required.

From a supply perspective, bringing together the mechanical and electrical sides offers an immediate benefit to contractors and clients in terms of efficiency. We are already delivering this for some major customers, and they report overwhelming benefits.

For example, Lorne Stewart is rolling out a pioneering new low carbon approach to procurement following a successful trial.

We worked with the contractor to develop a “one-stop-shop” approach for a major government project.

Instead of many suppliers delivering a variety of M&E products and materials to site via fleets of vehicles, the approach provides a single vehicle with a consolidated delivery across all product sectors.

Following the success of the trial, Lorne Stewart is rolling out the approach on a selection of high-profile projects across the country.

As well as a big reduction in vehicle miles travelled and associated cuts in carbon emissions, the approach reduces road congestion, improves health and safety on site and provides a single point of contact for invoicing and administration.

As we enter a period when tight cost control is essential, and efficiencies must be garnered across the business, we believe it is a giant leap forward – with or without shoes.

An advanced ground source heat pump system that harnesses free energy from boreholes sunk beneath a rugby pitch is providing low cost, low carbon energy to heat and cool Wyke College.

The green initiative is part of a £20m development at the Hull-based sixth form college, culminating in the construction of a state-of-the-art new wing, the Oak Building.

The pioneering ground source heat pump system uses 50 boreholes, each 112m deep, sunk into the college’s playing fields. It provides perfect all-year-round indoor comfort conditions for students using the new college facilities, which include a library, theatre, sports hall, recording studio and lecture rooms.

A low carbon strategy for the building was developed by consultant Beverley Clifton Morris, using detailed Dynamic Simulation option appraisals. The solution selected has ground source heat pumps at the heart of the building’s services.

The heat pump system was designed and installed by Ecovision Systems Ltd, working with Neville Tucker Heating Ltd. More than one km of HDPE ground pipe work required for the project was supplied by Pipe Center. The main contractor was Hobson and Porter.

The project had to take account of the unique thermal conductivity and properties of the rock and soil at the site.

Out of this came the design specification for the heat pump system, which determined the number and depth of boreholes required.

Most of the energy needed to heat and cool the building will be provided by the boreholes and heat pump system – even in the depths of the harshest winter and hottest summer.Some 75 per cent of total energy required comes from the ground, with the remaining 25 per cent being contributed by electricity used to drive the four Glen Dimplex heat pumps.

The 50 boreholes, each spaced 10m apart, are arranged in an array about the size of a rugby pitch and took between one and two days each to drill.

Each borehole has a 40mm diam HDPE input and return pipe, joined with a fusion-bonded u-bend connecting flow and return at the base. The head of each borehole is linked to its neighbour by 75mm HDPE pipe set into a sub-surface trench.

Finally, flow and return for the entire array to the plant room is laid in larger-still - 180mm - HDPE pipe.

The boreholes are used in three ways:

• to supply energy for upgrading by the heat pumps for heating the building;
• to provide “free cooling” via an under-floor system, with heat from the building being transferred back into the ground during summer;
• and as an energy source to drive reversible heat pumps to provide refrigerant-based cooling via air handling units.

The normal temperature of the ground 100m beneath the surface is a steady 10ºC throughout the year. As a result of the boreholes and operation of the heat transfer system, this can fall to as low as -1ºC in winter, as a result of the removal of energy for heating the building.

In summer, energy is returned to the ground as the free cooling potential is tapped, with temperatures below ground rising at the end of the season to as high as 20ºC.

The ground pipe work is designed as a closed-loop system. It contains 5000 litres of glycol solution, which is passed through a brazed plate heat exchanger to extract and receive energy from the building. A 3kW pump on each heat pump keeps the loop circulating.

The entire heating and cooling system is under the control of a sophisticated Building Management System (BMS) that constantly monitors and ensures optimum use of energy sources at all times.

Ecovision’s technical manager, Mark Witzenberger, who designed the system, said: “It is a superb installation and a great example of what can be achieved. The savings over the lifetime of the building will be substantial. With the cost of energy rising all the time, the investment will pay for itself many times over.”

He added: “The service we have received from Pipe Center in the project has been excellent. They are a key supplier and we work with them on many projects now underway across the country.”

“People are waking up to the fact that natural energy sources can be harnessed to provide much of the needs of our buildings. Heat pumps have been around for some time, but their full potential is only now being realised.

“All it takes is a little imagination and a willingness to invest, and projects can pay for themselves quickly – with savings accruing over the lifetime of the building. We believe it is the future for heating and cooling buildings.”

With so much change happening in our own sector, it is of vital importance that we see and respond to the changes taking place around us. The important thing, of course, is to adapt quickly, and in human timescales rather than geological ones.
One of the most significant changes taking place in the building services sector is subtle and progressive. There are no volcanic eruptions, and it does not register on the Richter scale. Its effects over time, however, will be far-reaching and result in a complete reshaping of the industry.

I am talking about the convergence of the traditional building services trades. It has been happening for at least a decade – perhaps longer – but recent developments have hastened the process.

The arrival of new materials and technologies are redefining the time-honoured skills required by our trades. For example, the emergence of plastics pipe means that there is less reliance on traditional hot metal joining expertise.

The development of new technologies and approaches such as rainwater harvesting and solar energy, for example, open up new sectors that cut across traditional boundaries and require a combination of skills from different disciplines.
The emergence of the heat pump, and its entry into the mainstream as a major technology for both heating and cooling, is arguably the most important development in a generation.

The skills required to install and service heat pumps cut across conventional boundaries and training programmes. If the technology becomes mainstream, it could effectively redefine the trades that have traditionally catered for heating and cooling in buildings.

The ramifications don’t stop at new skills sets and trade definitions. It means a new training framework, the creation of new professional bodies and new assessment procedures. It also requires changes in the supply chain, to ensure that the right mix of new and traditional products is available to support the change.
For our part, Wolseley is well positioned to manage this new “cross discipline” approach, with all sectors sharing a common logistics and business platform. This is already resulting in ground-breaking new ways of working, as evidenced by the “total M&E offering” now emerging and the ability to act as a one-stop supplier to major contractors.

For those contemplating what these changes mean for their own business, there is really only one approach – embrace them. As someone once said, “When you are finished responding to change, you are finished.”

Climate Center customer Steve Taylor has landed top prize in a new service excellence competition run by the refrigeration and air conditioning distributor.

Steve, a refrigeration service engineer with Flowrite Services of Maidstone, Kent, was presented with £100 worth of High Street shopping vouchers by his local Climate branch at Crayford. 

As part of the competition, Steve provided feedback on the standard of customer care he received at the branch. 

"I have been using Crayford for many years for replenishing van stock,” he says. “They are a great team and always have everything ready to go when we arrive.” 

He added: “If an item happens to be out of stock, they are on the case right away chasing it up – and let us know when it’s ready. It’s an excellent service and much appreciated.”

Steve was presented with his prize by Crayford branch manager Kieron Armstrong and Regional Trading Director Geoff Stone.

What will he spend the vouchers on? “I think a shopping trip with the grand children might be on the cards in the not too distant future. I can always count on them for good advice!” he says.

The competition is part of Operation Service Excellence, a campaign to measure and further improve customer service at Climate and Pipe Center branches nationwide. 

Rate your branch and you could win £100 worth of high street vouchers.  

We really value your feedback, so hope to hear from you very soon. Click Here to rate your branch and for your chance to win £100.

There has been enough writing on the wall for some time to make unmistakably clear what our priorities as an industry should be – if we are to deliver what our customers and society want for the future.

Most would agree that the overriding objective is to deliver high quality lean, green buildings that are good for occupants and the environment. The debate that rages, of course, is how best to achieve this.

As an industry, we have legislation and standards coming out of our ears. Much of this, I hasten to add, is needed and welcome, particularly new benchmarks on sustainability and contractual fairness.

However, while you can legislate to set and control standards, it is a fact of life that you cannot legislate to make people more co-operative or collaborative in their approach.
I believe there is a key to unlocking the means to deliver the high quality, green buildings we need for the future. It doesn’t require Acts of Parliament or a new British Standard. It is simply this: effective and timely sharing of information.

How many problems arise during the course of a complex project because of missing or incorrect information? How much time and money is wasted because those with essential information do not communicate it in a timely fashion to those who need it?
Effective communication is an absolute pre-requisite to delivering on budget, on spec’ buildings. I have seen first hand the power of this approach in the remarkable project team relationships formed in our own Modular Engineering business.

Here, in order to deliver offsite manufactured modular building services, designs have to be scrutinised and reconciled before a length of pipe is ordered or a joint made. Problems have to be identified and thoroughly worked through before a boot lands on-site.

This requires incredible levels of co-operation and information sharing between the client, contractor and supplier. To observe this process at work is eye-opening, and highlights what can be achieved when the shared goal is clear.

The result of this collaborative approach is costs reduced by up to 30 per cent, shorter lead times, higher quality, reduced waste and happier clients and occupants. I believe it provides a model for the way forward – not only for building services, but for the construction industry as a whole.

Nowhere is this change more striking or important than in the growth in use of offsite modular building services solutions.

This is where all of the building services required in a building – from the simplest office to the most complex hospital – are designed and built offsite in controlled factory conditions.

There is now no doubt that the offsite approach is quicker, greener and more cost-effective than traditional methods of installation in the rough and ready conditions met with on-site.

It replaces multiple onsite trades, with all the related issues of skills, health and safety and management, with a dedicated workforce operating in pristine factory conditions.

Cost is often considered the primary driver in our industry. This is certainly a major benefit of the offsite modular approach, saving up to 30 per cent compared with conventional approaches.

However, those using modular solutions report other major advantages that are equally compelling. They find offsite solutions are invariably delivered on time and to an exceptional standard of quality and finish, which simply cannot be achieved by traditional methods.

In a market where projects are geared to ever tighter timescales, and pressure to improve quality has never been higher, offsite building services are seen to deliver – on time, every time.

This gives contractors a decisive edge in the marketplace.

Traditionalists maintain that conventional installation onsite is flexible and can better cater for the inevitable variables met with in the real world.

The truth, however, as demonstrated in project after project, is that issues can be ironed out beforehand during the design and planning stage – before a boot has landed on site.

The secret, of course, is close co-operation between the contractor and modular offsite engineering project team, from project inception to delivery. This constructive, detailed, almost - dare I say - intimate dialogue is central to success.

For our part, as one of the leading suppliers in the market Wolseley is committed to the modular engineering approach. We have invested in a new state-of-the-art facility in Worcester that is already supplying solutions for some of the biggest construction projects in the UK, from schools and offices to hospitals and major retail developments.

The offsite revolution is no longer a future prospect for our industry. It has arrived, and the benefits are available for all.

The Durapipe PLX pipe is being used as part of a refurbishment of the National Air Traffic Service (NATS) radar facility, which monitors and controls aircraft and collects weather data.

The emergency power system is designed to provide vital back-up in the event of mains electrical failure, to ensure the safety of domestic and international airplanes. 

 The refurbishment is part of a £127m programme to replace and upgrade the entire NATS radar network by 2012.

The installation was carried out by Ness Engineering, which undertakes specialist engineering and construction projects throughout Scotland’s highlands and islands.

Durapipe PLX pipe was specified to transport diesel oil from the storage tank to the stand-by emergency generator, as it meets critical requirements for integrity and reliability. It replaced existing steel pipework installed previously.

Available in sizes 32mm and 160mm, Durapipe PLX secondary contained systems have exceptional resistance to rapid crack propagation and long-term stress cracking. PLX is also highly cost-effective and much easier to work with than traditional metal alternatives.  

Pipe Center also supplied Ness Engineering with a bespoke railing system for the fuel pipework support structure.

Lindsay Crockett of Pipe Center’s Glasgow branch, which handled the order, said: “Ness Engineering sent us outline drawings for the project. We worked closely with Durapipe to assess the materials and component requirements and ensure everything was delivered on time – including a 6.30am ferry trip to the island!”

The design chosen was based on a dual containment pipe system. This has a primary inner fuel pipe running inside a larger outer pipe that encloses the primary inner pipe. In the unlikely event of a rupture, fuel flowing through the primary pipe is securely captured and delivered to the generator, ensuring continuous power supply to the radar station.

Key to the design is the use of electro-fusion jointing technology, used to bond pipe together. This uses an electrical heat induction process to create a simultaneous bond of both inner and outer pipes, to form a completely enclosed fail-safe system.

Components and jointing equipment, some sourced from Italy, were supplied to site via the early morning 6.30am ferry from the mainland to Lewis, arriving at Stornoway in time for work to begin.

Commenting on the project, David Williamson from Ness Engineering Ltd said: “This refurbishment of the emergency power supply was a large part of our development at Stornoway this year, and we required a product that we could be certain would deliver quality and reliability in the case of an emergency.

“We found the quality of Durapipe PLX excellent and were particularly impressed with the superb customer service we received during the project itself, as well as the after care and communication. We look forward to working with Pipe Center and Durapipe UK again in the future.” 

Following the success of the project, Pipe Center has orders for seven similar emergency power refurbishment projects in the pipeline.

As we all know, there is a revolution taking place in the construction trades. Nowhere, I would contend, is this revolution more striking or profound than in the building services sector.

We should perhaps not be surprised. Building services plant accounts for half of all energy consumed. As a result, the industry finds itself at the centre of a worldwide push for new, more efficient and greener ways of doing things.

The imperative is clear: to reduce costs, improve quality, shorten lead times and reduce environmental impact. This presents huge challenges, but also tremendous opportunities for the industry.

Alongside this, established supply channels are beginning to be redefined in the internet age. It is not enough simply to supply products or materials at competitive cost. There are many companies who can do this. The traditional role of “the middleman”, as someone who simply breaks bulk, is therefore changing.

The great challenge for the future is to add value to distribution. This means going beyond the age-old model, by providing customers with new services that transform their business in terms of cost and efficiency, and enable them to better meet the needs of their own customers.

It means helping our clients compete in the market, win new orders and develop their own distinct offerings. It means professions and interest groups working together in new ways – across the supply chain, to solve problems before they arise.

Key to this is recognising that traditional boundaries between trades are blurring and, in some cases, fusing, with new technical disciplines emerging. It means asking whether established training routes and, indeed, supply channels are geared to best meet the needs of the industry as it is now emerging.

Essential to this process is bringing together a lot of information that is currently spread far and wide through the supply chain, so that it can be reconciled and brought to bear in a timely fashion.

It is my contention that the distributor, positioned in the centre of the industry’s supply chain, is uniquely positioned to be such an agent of change.

We are connected to and in touch with the manufacturing issues for products and materials; we are plugged into and highly sensitive to the needs of contractors, clients and developers. If our antennae are switched on, and we are listening to what our customers and suppliers are telling us, we not only know what the market needs, we know what is possible technically and logistically.

This is a unique vantage point from which to bring people together, and act as an influential broker for change.

Over the next few months, I will be exploring this theme by highlighting practical ways in which the distributor can become such an agent for positive change in the supply chain.

We will be looking at the transformational possibilities around offsite fabrication; the importance of sharing knowledge; redefining supply chain relationships; the importance of training; integrating and streamlining the supply chain; and the potential of a more strategic and holistic approach overall to the delivery of M&E and building services.

There is a well-known saying that “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got.”

Today’s priorities are different to those of yesterday. For those in the distribution sector, the time is right for a new vision and a new purpose that helps move the industry forward.