English

The Energy Design Advisory Service, set up by the RIAS, is in its sixth successful year. Michael Duncan of RMJM Scotland explains how EDAS has been used.} on projects designed by the practice for widely differing sites primarily in Edinburgh

Fire-barrier requirements in above-ceiling spaces have been relaxed in the new Building Regulations. Anthony Ferguson explains why, and looks at the computer modelling involved.

It is a well-documented fact that the major cause of death in a fire is due to inhalation of hot toxic smoke. The control and effective removal of smoke from a burning building- especially in the vital first minutes, when personnel are being evacuated - has therefore become the central component of every fire protection scheme, writes Jim Wild, Woods' product application manager.

The HVAC system for the new Standard Federal Bank headquarters in Troy, Michigan, the United States, was designed for energy efficiency, low operating costs and a high quality indoor environment. Ice thermal storage and heat reclaim from the building's data centre, in combination with a well insulated building envelope, have resulted in calculated savings of USD 62,000 per year with a payback period of 3.3 years. The design of this building's HVAC system, completed in 1989, exceeds all codesand standards for energy efficiency in the United States.

A new theatre at Bedales school, designed by Hampshire County Architects, includes on Its green agenda a cooling system made from underground concrete pipes, through which cold air is driven.

What better way for a university to research environment friendly building methods than to build a full scale model on campus?  Helena Russell reports, photographs by Grant Smith.