One of the biggest challenges for ventilation specialists is making sure that the products they install are ErP compliant. Regulations can be a minefield, and figuring where responsibility lies is half of the battle.

Who is the system designer?

Much of the culpability when it comes to ErP compliance is with the system designer. This is where things can get confusing, because the system designer is defined as anyone who takes multiple components and puts them together into a single product.

All-too-often, it is assumed that manufacturers of ventilation products are responsible for compliance, but there are some common installations that prevent this from being the case. By combining a roof cowl with a separate plate mounted axial fan, for example, that person is acting as the system designer, and therefore responsible for ErP compliance for that particular roof-top ventilation unit.

One in two unaware

To find out the scale of the problem, we surveyed a range of those involved in the delivery and installation of ventilation equipment, asking who they thought was responsible. Worryingly, 53% of contractors and 45% of distributors said they didn’t believe themselves to be systems designers.

This means that one in two ventilation specialists are unaware they are risking ErP compliance. Not only is this potentially damaging for individual contractors and distributors, but for the industry as a whole. As indoor air quality becomes an increasingly important factor in construction, it is crucial that ventilation is meeting ErP directives, and this lack of awareness over who is responsible must be addressed.

Ensuring compliance

To ensure they are not falling foul of ErP compliance, Elta is urging those tasked with delivering ventilation solutions to opt for ready-made roof fan units. Elta’s Skyflow SSRL EC is the first ErP compliant low silhouette axial roof fan available on the market, and incorporates an integral potentiometer commission device as standard.

It is designed to help distributors and contractors comply with ErP regulations, by removing the issue of combining separate products and delivering high performance in a comprehensive unit, complete with controls that enable the user to adjust fan speed.

The important thing to remember is that ErP compliance effectively ensures delivery of a higher quality of air. By choosing a unit that guarantees results, like the Skyflow SSRL EC, distributors and contractors can be sure of customer satisfaction, while avoiding the legal issues of operating as a system designer.

The compliance issue

For many contractors, the way that they operate is leaving them vulnerable to being held responsible for ErP compliance. That’s because when you buy a plate fan and a roof cowl separately from one another, and then combine them, you create a completed product as defined by Ecodesign Regulation 1253/2014, and you are deemed the manufacturer. This means it is then your responsibility to make sure the unit is ErP compliant.

ErP directives, and a significant proportion of Building Regulations, make everyone in the ventilation supply chain responsible for selecting and supplying the most energy efficient equipment available. This is to ensure they don’t consume more energy than is necessary, and is why contractors must not fall foul of ErP compliance.

The compliance solution

Contractors shouldn’t carry the burden of product compliance – that’s for manufacturers to worry about. Elta realised this, and set about creating a fan that would free ventilation installers from the concerns of ErP compliance.

A crucial part of ErP compliance is to make sure the fan has functionality that allows it to be as energy efficient as possible, and more often than not, this means containing controls to adjust fan speed and power.

The weatherproof Skyflow SSRL helps contractors by providing a complete low silhouette axial fan solution, avoiding the risky process of having to combine a plate fan and roof cowl. The innovation behind the SSRL has seen it shortlisted for the H&V News Awards Air Movement Product of the Year, and crucially, it assures ventilation specialists of ErP compliance.

The company produce chocolate-coated biscuits and confectionery for worldwide distribution. Its well-known and well-loved speciality biscuit range includes Tunnocks’ Caramel Wafers, Snowballs, Caramel Logs and Teacakes. The distinctive foil wrappings – cartoonish, art nouveau design with a rosy-cheeked boy on the front – are still the same as when they were originated back in 1952.

A total of 28 Elta Skyflow SSFV roof unit fans were supplied during the refurbishment of Tunnocks’ roof directly above the ovens and caramel department in the busy biscuit plant. The Skyflow units were delivered quickly from stock on the Pensnett Trading Estate, Kingswinford, West Midlands, through Elta distributor Fans & Spares in Glasgow (shortly to be opening a new branch in Edinburgh), to replace the old, down-discharge units which were noisy and depositing debris directly onto the roof which was then causing problems as it collected in the guttering.

The Elta SSFV range comprises vertical discharge axial flow roof extract units, which are designed to discharge the air at higher velocities away from roof levels, balancing the need to satisfy architects’ aesthetic demands against a vertical format.

Tunnocks’ bakery in Uddingston is situated in a very exposed location in South Lanarkshire, on the north side of the River Clyde, approximately seven miles to the south-east of Glasgow, so it was important that the roof-fitted fans are durable and robust.

The Skyflow vertical top cowl and fan support housing is manufactured from UV-stabilised, GRP for a hardwearing product, finished in goose wing grey. The fans are of a long-lasting and robust construction from mild steel – suitably treated to ensure corrosion protection – the inlet guards are bright, zinc-plated and the fan plate and motor are powder-coated, epoxy paint finish. Air operated shutters are fitted as standard to stop any discharged (dirty) air from re-entering the building, as well as offering protection against the weather.

Just as importantly, the Elta Skyflow SSFV roof unit fans also have good performance and noise characteristics. Staff at Tunnocks’ bakery are extremely pleased with the quiet running of the fans and say that their installation has made for a more pleasant working environment.

Thomas Tunnock Limited was started in 1890 by Thomas Tunnock whose father had been a cabinet and coffin maker. Thomas wanted to try his hand at running a bakery and bought out an existing baker on Bellshill Road in Uddingston and the company has been family-run ever since. In 1947, the business erected the current factory on 34 Old Mill Road and underwent a big expansion in the 1950s when its caramel wafers were introduced. More than three million teacakes, which were first created in 1960, are now being produced at the bakery each week. In 2009, Scottish author Craig McGill wrote a poem dedicated to Tunnock’s Snowballs: “Wee, mallow, rounded, choccy biccy,O, what a panic’s in my tummy! One needs tae eat ye hasty Wi bickering brattle! I wad be laith to rin oot of thee, An hae to eat a tattie.”

For more information on our products or services please contact Elta Building Services on +44 (0)1384 275800 or Elta Applied Technology on +44 (0)1489 566500. Alternatively please visit our website eltauk.com

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

The school, situated in the National Forest in Leicestershire, is a new co-educational special school for 138 pupils aged 3 ” 19 years old with a wide range of special needs. With a location about a mile from the centre of Coalville, (a market town close to Junction 22 of the M1 and ten miles north-west of Leicester) the school has an interactive forest heart and features corridors of curved walls using floor to ceiling images of woodland scenes. Designed with sustainability in mind, the school incorporates several integrated, eco-friendly systems, added to which is the low energy ventilation system that utilises the Elta fans.

The ventilation system incorporates eighteen Elta ‘Quietflow’ single fans, three ‘Quietflow’ twin fans, one Elta ‘Skyflow’ SSF roof unit, four domestic SE fans and two SCE fans. The twenty two larger fans were supplied complete with all required ancillaries and accessories such as mounting feet, silencers, speed controllers and sensors.

The system is powered by renewable energy and automatically controls the ambient environment in each classroom. The main contractor for the development was Wilmot Dixon, with Fans and Spares Nottingham (Elta’s local distributor), providing the Elta equipment to Derry Building Services.

The school is intended to be a major focal point and resource for the whole community and was designed around an internal courtyard to a very high specification. Many of the inspirational features are there to provide a very intimate and tactile environment for the students with multiple learning difficulties. Other environmental systems incorporated include a rainwater harvesting scheme which is used to flush the toilets and a wind turbine to meet some of the school’s energy requirements. There is strong local community support for the school, which is currently preparing a bid for Specialist Schools Status in the area of Communication/Interaction.

Adrian Franklin, the Building Services Engineer at Derry Building Services responsible for the project, said: “We have successfully worked with Elta on a number of contracts and worked closely with Elta on this project to ensure we had the right units for the application and to meet the client’s needs. The fans featured PIR control, with speed controllers also fitted to ensure they are operating at optimum capacity. The fan units were clearly identified, along with the ancillaries, to identify the relevant locations.”

Elta Sales Engineer Keith Lomas commented ” “schools are undoubtedly a growing market for us at the moment. Many people see a need for an ecological approach to the construction and services installation process. In this way we can offer the children a chance to be educated on the importance of a healthy awareness of their environmental responsibilities. Elta have a philosophical approach that fits in very well with this ideology.”

Elta in the UK have been manufacturing fans for more than 30 years now with a continuous investment in people, plant and machinery to produce modern development techniques for a fast, responsive and flexible approach to satisfy ever changing market conditions and energy efficiency needs.

Whilst its principal manufacturing plants are located in the UK – in Kingswinford in the West Midlands and Fareham in Hampshire – there are also strong global facilities (including manufacturing and assembly operations) in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and South Africa.

Elta is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.

The National Water Sports Centre hosts over 250 events a year at its purpose built facility in Holme Pierrepont, Nottingham, from company corporate days to national rowing regattas and international sprint canoeing championships. Catering is an important element to the Centre’s success and last Christmas this was in jeopardy due to the failure of an existing roof extract fan serving the kitchens.

Graham Smith, the Contract Supervisor at Johnson Controls, the main contractor responsible for the refurbishment of the Centre’s kitchens, contacted Elta who arranged for local Nottingham based ventilation distributor Fans & Spares to supply to site the next day a roof extract unit and controller.

The Skyflow SSMF unit selected enabled installation into the existing roof upstand without any additional work required in widening the aperture. The Skyflow is a lightweight range of horizontal discharge mixed flow roof extractors, designed to combine excellent, low noise performance with the low silhouette design required by today’s modern day buildings.

Elta Sales Engineer Keith Lomas said ” “We recognised the urgency of the situation and, along with Fans and Spares, pulled out all the stops to make sure it didn’t impact on what was obviously a very busy time for the Centre. Extractor fans are only a small part of a kitchen’s operation but nevertheless a vital one and the excellent communication between ourselves, the distributor and the customer helped ensure that the Centre’s many Christmas events were able to go ahead as planned.”

Graham Smith of Johnson Controls was delighted with the speed with which the extractor was supplied and installed, commenting “May I take this opportunity to thank you for your prompt and professional response, especially as the kitchen fan was needed for the National Water Sports Centre festive Christmas dinners.”

The kitchen serves the Centre’s on-site restaurant and Regatta Bar which is widely used by competitors, delegates and guests at sporting, conference and corporate events, including those who stay at the Centre’s en-suite accommodation for over 60 people. The centre is one of five national sports facilities run by Sport England and provides active support for many of the British athletes looking to build on recent Olympic successes on the water for the 2012 games. Activities available include white water rafting, water skiing, power boat courses, sailing, kayaking and windsurfing.

Air Design Pty. Ltd. is part of the £85 million Elta Group, a family of businesses with operations in six countries on four continents which, together with a network of international distributors, provides quality fans and related air movement equipment to customers worldwide.