Modern Methods of Construction and offsite initiatives are growing exponentially across the UK. To highlight this, earlier this year, the Crown Commercial Services selected 29 firms to be part of the £10bn Offsite Construction Solutions framework, with public sector buildings across healthcare, education, justice and defence all expected to swing toward modular construction.

Our Prefabricated Solutions service is an ideal solution for specifiers and contractors working on commercial building projects of any scale. Fans and ancillaries, such as acoustic equipment, mounts, panels, flexible connections, fan controls and more, can all be assembled offsite and delivered as a compliant assembly, ready for crane lifting that results in quick, efficient installation. The ventilation and air movement manufacturer is one of the first in its sector to offer this across its entire range of fans.

Colin Moss, Car Park & Smoke Control Manager, has pioneered the service and elaborates on the multiple benefits specifiers and contractors can gain by going down the prefabricated assembly route. He said: “Installing individual components on-site can be a cumbersome and time sensitive task. It requires ample storage and working space, leading to congestion on busy sites and increasing the potential for site safety issues. The collection and assembly of various parts can also be time-consuming, causing delays to projects.

“Not only this, but site time is costly, and labour costs can quickly add up when dealing with unnecessarily complex, site installations. With Prefabricated Solutions by Elta, these challenges are a thing of the past, and you can manage these expenses and have better quality control of the finished product.”

A key benefit of the new service is the provision of sound and performance data associated with acoustics ancillaries. For all acoustics components in the fan setup, acoustic performance data is also supplied at the initial stages from our Noise Control Specialists to help simplify the process for specifiers and contractors, so they do not need to re-select or re-calculate separately were they sourcing these components from elsewhere.

This service means units are built to the highest standards within a controlled factory environment. We hold ISO 9001 accreditation for quality management, guaranteeing that finished products are reliable, durable, and ready on time.

Luke Hammond, Applications Specialist (Smoke and Fire), explains that prefabricated assembly of fans also unlocks a host of other benefits. These include a more streamlined design process, offering simpler compliance with both ‘The Golden Thread’ and environmental requirements while reducing disruption to the local community, and other related site activities.

“Gone are the days of waiting for single components to be delivered to the site, which can get lost or damaged while other elements of the project are in transit. With our Prefabricated Solutions service, all necessary components are packaged together, ensuring a hassle-free delivery,” said Luke.

“Preassembled units also mean other costly, disruptive activities on-site, such as crane lifting and road closures, can be minimised. Shipping materials like pallets, packaging and strapping is all reduced as well, and with better overall coordination, Prefabricated Solutions allows workforces to focus on boosting productivity in other areas.”

For more about our Prefabricated Solutions service, visit eltauk.com/prefabricated-solutions

When specifying an AHU, the first consideration that needs to be made is whether the project needs you to take the bespoke design route, or opt for a more standard offering. While a bespoke AHU is capable of delivering results tailored to site-specific circumstances, standard units can offer a number of benefits. Here are just a few:

1. A Swift Solution
Due to having a fixed set of features, standard AHUs can be produced for significantly shorter lead times for customers. The length of a project, from design to completion, will determine whether a standard product initially specified is still suitable and compliant, or if it needs changing to another size or to a completely bespoke solution. For a quick turnaround of your mechanical AHU project with general comfort ventilation requirements, the standard PURA units are a perfect fit.

2. Spec, Build, Repeat
Opting for a standard solution essentially means that one product ordered today will be the same as one ordered tomorrow. The combination of features, performance and footprint are fixed for each size of the product range, which makes them ideally suited for projects which require equipment of the same specification, such as schools or office blocks. Nevertheless, ‘standard’ doesn’t equate to average, as the PURA units are built to high standards of quality and airtightness, fitted with the latest technology that promotes good IAQ and maximises energy efficiency.

3. Simple Specification
With a standard solution, you are presented with a set of features which meet with general requirements for mechanical ventilation, well ahead of a project taking place. Performance, footprint and pricing information can be easily obtained from a manufacturer’s product brochure ahead of specification, and standard products such as the PURA range are supported by BIM models, making the specification process even simpler.

4. Stay in Control

What’s great is that the use of advanced controls has been streamlined for the PURA units without compromising on its future operation and capabilities. The Kinairtico Controller in Air Design’s PURA range is an IAQ and energy recovery management device, offering various modes of operation according to pre-set parameters. These can be set and re-set for standalone, scheduled operation, or fully interfaced with a building’s Building Management System (BMS). Its sensors are able to detect alterations in occupancy levels, and adjust the ventilation of the occupied space accordingly. Its intuitive design, including a built-in screen, ensures it is easy to operate.

Whether a bespoke or a standard offering is more suitable depends on the project itself, and it’s important to be aware that what may start as a standard solution may become bespoke should circumstances dictate it. To discuss which solution is appropriate for you, please visit:
https://air-design.com/product/pura/

For Elta’s Residential Division, part of the Elta Group – a £90 million family of businesses with operations in seven countries on four continents – the 2015 Ecobuild exhibition has taken on added significance following; major investment in the company, the appointment of Colin Hone as UK Sales Manager and a new sales team. Colin, who will head Elta Residential, is clear on the message that will be at the heart of the Elta stand.

“Our company is all about providing exceptional indoor air quality in the most cost effective way for the health of the nation. The focus at Ecobuild, will be on our latest range of decentralised mechanical extract ventilation units (dMEV) which complement our extensive range of residential products. “The incredibly energy efficient Mori dMEV unit has achieved exceptional performance results in independent third party testing by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which concluded that the Mori dMEV outperformed anything currently available on the market.

“This product is very effective in the huge refurbishment market where in hotels, housing authorities, and properties owned by social landlords, there are millions of existing holes in walls where the Mori dMEV can provide excellent and cost effective indoor air quality. This is such an important issue at the moment,” explained Colin. During two years of intensive and stringent design and product testing, started in February 2012, the Mori dMEV was meticulously developed by Elta. For the impeller alone, more than 35 3D models were created, 19 of which became prototypes with the most recent of these becoming the unique ‘bladelet’ impeller.

Visitors to the Elta Residential stand N5172, will see the results for themselves and have an opportunity to meet Colin and his team. There will also be the chance to win a trip for two to Italy to see firsthand, the state of the art manufacturing facilities of Elta Residential near Lake Garda.