A specialist in lifts, materials management, and waste handling systems, for the healthcare sector, and the manufacturer of an energy-saving voltage optimisation system, are the latest to become IHEEM Company Affiliate Members.
Lerch Bates has been involved with the analysis, planning, design, and implementation, of lift systems, materials management, materials handling, central processing, and waste handling systems, for ‘many hundreds’ of healthcare facilities for over 30 years. The company said: “Lifts and escalators represent considerable capital investment. Ensuring that this equipment remains safe and able to perform reliably throughout its lifetime is a major challenge to managers and owners of buildings. “Hospitals are among the most complex buildings when it comes to moving people and materials, making it essential to install functional and economical systems that will provide a complete, integrated, and cost-effective solution for their materials handling and transportation needs. The efficient use of vertical transportation in high rise hospitals is absolutely essential, because the core size required for lifts impacts directly on the remaining available floor space. “Our materials management and materials handling expertise is particularly applicable in healthcare settings, where we both provide planning and design services and equipment specification, and source and manage the implementation.”
‘Going green’ with voltage optimisation
Pointing out that NHS healthcare facilities are directly responsible for around 3% of the UK’s carbon emissions, the second new Company Affiliate, EMSc UK, argues that one ‘proven and reliable’ way to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions is voltage optimisation, based around electrical energy-saving components installed in series with the mains electricity supply. Dr Alex Mardapittas, MD, says the reason voltage optimisation can have such a significant impact is because ‘on the whole, the National Grid supplies a higher voltage than is generally required’. He said: “Although the nominal voltage in the UK is 230 V, the average delivered is actually 242 V. This ‘overvoltage’ means energy consumption is significantly greater, the result being higher energy bills.” EMSc claims its Powerstar voltage optimisation solution can help healthcare facilities reduce their average electricity consumption and related CO2 emissions by at least 12% to 15%, ‘without compromising the supply to technical or medical equipment’. Powerstar has also been shown ‘to improve power quality, leading to reduced maintenance costs, as less demand is placed on equipment’. EMSc UK says joining IHEEM will provide it with an excellent way to share its knowledge and expertise with other members and healthcare professionals.
