Building Services Engineering l November/December 2022

Contents

EDITORIAL Reasons to be optimistic

While the severity of the climate change and energy, economic and geopolitical challenges currently facing Ireland are unprecedented, there are reasons to be optimistic. According to the ESRI, we will have access to surplus funds at year end 2022 and 2023 thanks to a substantial recovery in the labour market and robust growth in taxation.

Even with inflation predicted to be in the region of 7% for 2023 and a more moderate overall growth rate, other indicators are also encouraging. In fact, in recent months logistics bottlenecks and shipping costs have significantly eased. For instance, getting a container from China to Europe is now quicker and costs in the region of €5K compared to €16k just 12 months ago.

Of course the global outlook is extremely uncertain – who really foresaw Russia invading Ukraine this time last year? Nonetheless, we are lucky in that we currently have a financial “war chest” at our disposal. Let’s hope the Government uses it wisely.

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To many, the metaverse is a new concept born of the internet age, a distant and scary place to contemplate visiting. However, it dates right back to 1992 and is now impacting construction.

Published by: Pressline Ltd, Carraig Court, George’s Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Tel: 01 - 288 5001/2/3 email: pat@pressline.ie www.buildingservicesengineering.ie Publisher and Editor: Pat Lehane Design and Production Editor: John Gibney Advertisement Director: Joe Warren Design: Pressline Ltd. Printed by: W&G Baird ISSN 2712-0198 Vol. 61 No. 6 © All contents copyright Pressline Ltd. CIRCULARITY IN ACTION

Capturing value from the five Rs

The holy grail of circularity is reuse, often achieved through resale or rental, and supported by repair, refurbishment and remanufacture. This is a sea-change from how most businesses operate, and it can seem like an unwanted burden, writes Elaine Butler.

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News and products 2 Versatile DBH 14 IRI Awards 18 Innovative AIC 20 SEAI Energy Awards 22 Daikin Multi+ 24 Hevac Group update 26 Grant heating packages 27 Wilo looks forward 30 Inclusion and diversity 31 Octabuild Awards 32 Xylem energy drive 34 Ecodan R32 SUZ 35 Maintenance goals 42 Panasonic R290 A2W 43 Bring back the night 46 RoHS compliant lighting 50 IPPMA rebuttal 52 Wavin HDPE 54 Kingspan insulation 55 Condair food podcast 56 Unipipe UFH system 57 Instantor Part L 58 Vertiv Liebert PDX 59 CIBSE mentoring 60 Obtuse Angle 64

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F-GAS REGULATION

More questions than answers

Federica Rizzo of the EPEE says that the proposed F-Gas Regulation revision raises a considerable number of challenges for those involved in refrigeration, air conditioning and heat pumps.