Climate

IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF EXISTING BUILDINGS Building MOTs. Like motor vehicles, many buildings, especially commercial, education and healthcare buildings, rely heavily on mechanical servicing; such as pumps, fans and controls, for hot water, heating, air conditioning and ventilation. Unlike motor vehicles, buildings are not all regularly serviced to ensure that they are working in the most efficient manner possible.

Valco are able to offer a tailored ‘Building MOT’ for any building, even where not undergoing a full refurbishment package. This is a multi-faceted service, made up of a number of elements, for each of which we have extensive in-house experience:

Re-commissioning of servicing systems, controls, BMS schedules: Optimise performance to improve energy efficiency, improve reliability / reduce maintenance costs, check controls are functioning correctly;

Re-balancing of water systems: Improve efficiency of pumps, problem solving;

Re-balancing of ventilation and air conditioning systems: Improve efficiency of pumps and fans, problem solving, check performance against design parameters to ensure adequate ventilation;

Air-tightness testing and improvement: Reduce uncontrolled leakage – an improvement in air-tightness from 10 m3/hr/m2 to 5 m3/hr/m2 can reduce heating costs by up to 40%;

Thermographic testing and improvement: Identify thermal bridges and areas of inadequate insulation, suggest improvement solutions with minimal disruption in operation, detect problems with underfloor heating / other services;

AIR-TIGHTNESS TESTING. One of the key factors in providing energy efficient, comfortable buildings is achieving an acceptable rate of air leakage through the building fabric. Uncontrolled heat transfer through the walls and roof of a building leads to higher energy bills and increased CO₂ emissions. The air tightness of a structure has a direct impact on the natural ventilation rate, and will increase with wind speed and internal/external temperature differences.

A Proven Methodology: For over five years, Valco have worked with blue chip clients, contractors, consultants and architects to provide a wide range of air tightness services on many different building types and constructions. Our philosophy in promoting well-detailed designs and careful construction is the most effective solution to ensuring and maintaining low energy performance in the long-term. We will not advocate the use of short term sealing solutions, as in our opinion, this may mask construction shortfalls; our recommended approach is always to build it right first time.

Valco staff have the knowledge, resources and expertise to offer a comprehensive range of air tightness solutions, nationwide, for all types of public, commercial and residential buildings

We work to ISO9001:2008 & ISO14001:2005 standards, with a flexible customer-focused service; offering a true breadth of experience and valued support at every stage of the construction process. Valco are recognized by Building Control as being suitably qualified to carry out Air Tests; all air tightness tests are carried out to ATTMA standards.

Statutory Regulations: Since the 2006 changes to the Building Regulations, air tightness testing has been mandatory for new buildings; with the tested air-tightness being fed into Energy Performance calculations, such as Part L Calculations, Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) and Display Energy Certificates (DEC). All buildings, both residential and non-residential, will be required in future to demonstrate their energy efficiency before they can be let to potential tenants.

Building Regulations Parts L1A (new build) and L1B (refurbishment) deal with residential dwellings; Building Regulations Parts L2A (new build) and L2B
(refurbishment) deal with non-residential buildings. Valco Consulting Ltd is able to offer a comprehensive service including design and construction
consultancy, and testing, suitable to all regulatory standards.