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27/03/2013
WINDOWMASTER HELPS DESIGNERS DELIVER ON COST AND PERFORMANCE
WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.co.uk) has produced a new white paper for specifiers and designers on how best to deliver cost effective, high performance controls for windows and facades in natural ventilation systems. The white paper can be downloaded free from www.tiny.cc/NaturalVent
Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions is seeking to help design engineers and specifiers make the right choices in setting out strategies for natural ventilation.
WindowMaster’s Tom Lymn said: “There is a widely held misconception that natural ventilation is not an adequate method of providing sufficient indoor air quality in buildings. The atmosphere is thought to be too hot, too cold or too stuffy. It is also said to create high energy bills and to give unpredictable results.
“These issues can often be solved by improving the operation of control systems and creating enhanced understanding and delivery of natural ventilation strategies. They can be addressed successfully by paying close attention to design issues on such things as cross, side and passive stack air flow paths. The effects of airflow into a building must be measured, understood and integrated into any natural ventilation design.
“Currently, performance specifications tend to be based around specific products and not on the building itself, its location or specific client needs. Designers need to take an holistic approach. Effective natural ventilation solutions must be aligned to these factors in order to deliver on performance.”
To help in the design process WindowMaster has developed a white paper which shows how the careful integration of natural ventilation into the design of building energy management systems (BEMS) is essential in the delivery of a compliant natural ventilation strategy.
In addition, the white paper offers advice on where best to focus design to achieve a comfortable indoor climate, improved energy consumption and sustainability.
Tom added: “WindowMaster helps designers and specifiers take into account such things as multi-speed operation, pressure safety, actuator position feedback, wiring routes, synchronisation and fault indication in order to deliver precise control within the first five centimetres of window opening. This helps to control temperature, carbon dioxide and noise, reduces draughts and improves building security.”
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18/02/2013
GUERNSEY SCHOOL CAN BREATHE EASY AS WINDOWMASTER TAMES THE WIND
WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.com), Europe’s largest provider of natural comfort and smoke ventilation solutions, has supplied natural ventilation control systems for the new Les Beaucamps High School in Guernsey.
One of three 'super schools' to be built on the island, the 500-pupil Les Beaucamps secondary school was designed from the outset to be naturally ventilated. WindowMaster worked with Winchester-based architects Design Engine (www.designengine.co.uk) to ensure that the window and fenestration design can achieve the required openings requested by M&E consultant Hoare Lea (www.hoarelee.com).
WindowMaster worked alongside an installation team comprising main contractor RG Falla (www.rgfalla.gg), M&E contractor JB Hopkins (www.jbhopkins.co.uk) and electrical contractor Lauren Lloyd (www.lauren-lloyd.com) to complete the project. It includes the installation and control of 444 motors in 79 zones.
Carl Sutterby, regional manager for WindowMaster, said: “The location of the site is massively exposed and will benefit from WindowMaster’s dynamic NV Advance™ system which allows the facade to be intelligently controlled in response to changes in wind speed and direction inevitable in an exposed coastal installation.
“This is why WindowMaster control algorithms, based on computational fluid dynamic (CFD) calculations, are so important. Wind pressures around the building can have a profound effect on the amount of air change within it. The controls reflect the dynamic nature of our weather systems and provide a finer level of responsive control which provides user comfort and aids energy saving.”
WindowMaster was chosen to provide the window automation system for Les Beaucamps because of its ability to provide a complete installation, in particular the central computer control system. The installation includes window actuators, various sensors and a weather station.
The weather station monitors external conditions around the building, including wind direction and speed, temperature and rain fall. Changes in wind pressure on the facades are also modelled. These parameters are programmed into the computer control system where they are analysed along with readings taken from the weather station and sensors fitted internally. Windows around the building are then precisely controlled and positioned to keep air quality within rooms fresh and the temperature constant.
WindowMaster’s NV Advance™ window automation system is the only system in Europe that intelligently monitors windows to prevent entrapment as an integrated function of the motor and control system. It can provide almost failsafe security against the possibility of injury while windows are closing.
If an object, or hands or fingers, becomes trapped in a window and prevents it from closing the amount of current drawn by the motor instantly increases. This is detected by the microprocessor which immediately reverses the motor to release the window, therefore preventing the possibility of serious injury.
The system can be retrofitted on many existing windows as well as being installed on new buildings. It can operate on a broad range of window types, including top and bottom opening, sliding and parallel opening. The system can also be used on windows for heat and smoke ventilation.
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13/02/2013
WINDOWMASTER OFFERS FLEXIBLE NEW APPROACH TO SMOKE CONTROL
WindowMaster (www.windowmaster.com), Europe’s largest provider of natural ventilation solutions, has launched its Flexismoke™ range of modular smoke control panels in the UK.
WindowMaster’s David Brown said: “This flexible new system is ideal for controlling automated windows in a diverse range of buildings from schools right up to large shopping centres, sports halls or office buildings.
Flexismoke™ has a number of features which make it the ideal choice for managing windows for smoke ventilation.”
• The panels feature a 3 ½ -inch LCD touch screen which means that installation, configuration and on-going maintenance can all be carried out in situ without the need to use a PC.
• The use of simple bus technology for the breakglass units means that the need for cabling and the additional costs associated with it are significantly reduced.
• The flexible system structure means that the modular smoke control panel can be easily constructed, extended or reconfigured by adding modules or by joining several panels.
• The smoke control panel can be set so that the opening and closing of windows are determined by wind direction and speed. This allows the facades to be used as part of the smoke ventilation without adding anything else to the system except a wind direction sensor.
• By combining several panels Flexismoke™ can be used in very large buildings.
Flexismoke™ is designed to work in conjunction with standard 24 volt actuators as well as those which include advanced MotorLink™ technology. MotorLink™ is a state of the art digital data communication technology which provides improved control and functionality where automated windows and natural ventilation are part of a building management system (www.MotorLink.org).
Richard Arnott, UK and Ireland market manager for WindowMaster, added: “Natural ventilation and smoke ventilation have moved to the forefront of building design in recent years with the increasing focus on energy consumption and sustainability. As a result, demand for automated and intelligent facades has grown.
“WindowMaster has used its years of experience to make the programming and operation of automated smoke ventilation systems as easy as possible. The new Flexismoke™ range of panels is very versatile and interfaces with building management systems using open bus communication standards including KNX, LON, Bacnet and Modbus and can be commissioned on site using the LCD touch screen.”
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