The other GMP: good manufacturing practice and its importance in the validation of constructed pharmaceutical facilities

The work reported is part of an ongoing PhD study prompted by the particular difficulties encountered when two very different quality cultures interact (in this case Pharmaceutical industry clients and Construction industry providers). Pharmaceutical facilities have particular needs for their production requirements. Stringent regulations are set by regulatory bodies such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) (in the UK) and the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) in the US. This creates special problems of quality when it comes to the commissioning, validation and hand-over of the building, as it appears to be at odds with the rather less demanding quality systems that are normally accepted in the construction sector. The aim of the research is to model an acceptable process for incorporating these stringent validation requirements into the design, procurement and construction processes. There is little or no specific academic literature on the subject, though the trades and professional press (particularly in the USA) provide some normative comment on the problem area. The main academic grounding of the research is in Systems Theory and empirical data is being collecting using a multiple case study approach. Research data was collected from a number of pharmaceutical facility construction case studies and was used to test and inform a best practice model of facility validation. The qualitative methods of participant and direct observation were used as the main information gathering tools. The paper reports on the regulatory expectations that influence the construction of projects of this type and the impact on the best practice model of validation

Passive flow monitoring in heating system networks

This work deals with a "passive flow monitoring" technique which can be used to help determine the energy used by a building's heating system. The thesis first highlights the background and importance of energy monitoring in buildings. This work points out that energy monitoring is an important feature in the running of buildings today. In the past, the energy crisis in the 1970's made people aware of how important it was to have knowledge of how buildings consume energy. More recently, environmental issues have reinforced the importance of gaining good quality information on energy use in buildings. This thesis investigates the use of combined port flow characteristics/control signal relationships for three port control valves to predict system water flow rate in heating systems. A laboratory test rig was built and a range of three port valves were tested. A series of combined port flow characteristics/control signal relationships were developed from measurements from the test rig. Curve fit models were then applied to these relationships in the form of polynomial equations. Where practical relationships could not be measured for a valve, a theoretical valve model was derived. In order to validate the polynomial regression model and the mathematical model, the test rig was modified to take into account practical heating system characteristics. A series of flow characteristic results were produced from the modified test rig so that the performance of the two models (empirical and mathematical) could be evaluated. It was found that the empirical model performed well in predicting combined port flow ratios with RMS errors ranging between 2.73% and 6.54%. The mathematical model gave overall prediction errors between -2.63% and +9.25% which compare favourably with the performance of some flow meters. The work then goes on to present an energy use algorithm which incorporates the valve model (empirical or theoretical) for use in BEMS

Modelling of heat emitters embedded within third order lumped parameter building envelope model

A dynamic modelling approach for heat emitters embedded within an existing third order lumped parameter building envelope model is reported in this work. The model has been found to provide more accurate results with negligible expense of computational time compared to a conventional quasi-dynamic model. The dynamic model also is preferred over the quasi-dynamic model as it allows for modelling emitters with high thermal capacity such as under-floor heating. Recommendation for this approach is justified through a series of analyses and comparative tests for various circuit options, timesteps and control volumes

Modelling the impacts of new UK future weather data on a school building

To investigate the impact of the new UK Climate Projections on building performance, a primary school building has been simulated with help of a dynamic building performance simulation package (EnergyPlus Version 6) using 4 sets of future test reference year data which were produced by the UK Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers, Exeter University, Manchester University and Northumbria University respectively. Indoor operative temperatures, heating and cooling energy demand of the sample building at three locations (Edinburgh, Manchester and London) under future climate conditions (time slices: 2020s 2030s, 2050s and 2080s; carbon emission scenarios: low, medium and high) were calculated to compare the impacts of four sets of future weather data on building performance

Application of a new dynamic heating system model using a range of common control strategies

This research investigates the overall heating energy consumptions using various control strategies, secondary heat emitters, and primary plant for a building. Previous research has successfully demonstrated that a dynamic distributed heat emitter model embedded within a simplified third-order lumped parameter building model is capable of achieving improved results when compared to other commercially available modelling tools. With the enhanced ability to capture transient effects of emitter thermal capacity, this research studies the influence of control strategies and primary plant configurations on the rate of energy consumption of a heating system. Four alternative control strategies are investigated: zone feedback; weather-compensated; a combination of both of these methods; and thermostatic control. The plant alternative configurations consist of conventional boilers, biomass boilers, and heat pumps supporting radiator heating and underfloor heating. The performance of the model is tested on a primary school building and can be applied to any residential or commercial building with a heating system. Results show that the new methods reported offer greater detail and rigor in the conduct of building energy modelling

Deriving and using future weather data for building design from UK climate change projections: an overview of the COPSE Project

Climate change has increasing implications for the economic and social life of the UK, as the reports of the UKCIP1 and the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 20122 make clear. In particular, it will impact on the performance of our built environment – our buildings and the civil infrastructure that supports our urban communities and our communications networks. Recognising this, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council has funded successive programmes of research aimed at improving understanding of the impact of climate change on the built environment and into means of improving its adaptability and resilience. A recent phase of this research brought together a number of research projects, including COPSE, under the umbrella of the Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change (ARCC) Co-ordination Network (CN)3. The ARCC CN has sought to develop close links between those directly involved in the research, who are principally in universities, and prospective users of the outputs, such as policy-makers, architects and engineering consultants. To that end, it has held conferences and technical events, published summaries of the research programmes and issued regular newsletters, with the aim of promoting the outputs of the research and facilitating their application. This publication further contributes to that overall aim. Academic research is, rightly, first published in peer-reviewed journals where it can be subject to the scrutiny of other researchers, and the findings compared with those of similar studies. Journal publications are often, though, not easily accessible for practitioners who will be principally concerned with the findings and their implications rather than the methods through which they were obtained. By contrast, short non-technical summaries do not provide a suitable basis for application of the findings. This publication seeks to fill that gap, in that it offers an overview of the COPSE project which, while summarising the research undertaken, gives most attention to the outputs and their relevance for practitioners. By also providing full details of the publications from COPSE research, it facilitates further investigation by those who wish to take advantage of latest research findings

Heating System Water Flow Rate Prediction Using Three Port Control Valves

This work highlights the requirement for flow rate measurement in order to monitor energy use in heating systems. It recognises that not all heating systems have the facility to monitor system water flow rates. It investigates, via a test facility,the combined port flow characteristics of three port valves and fits mathematical equations to them. The paper then goes on to test the validity of the use of these relationships in the prediction of system water flow rates in practice. The work finds that there is considerable potential in using three port valves for ‘passive flow monitoring’

Flow characteristics in circuits using three port modulating control values

This work has sought to identify the nature of the total flow characteristic in circuits controlled by three-port modulating valves. A theoretical model has been developed and compared with a small family of three-port control valves. The influence of valve signal/flow hysteresis error has been quantified, though no account was taken of valve wear. Good potential for the use of control valves as passive flow monitors has been identified, though further work is required to evolve a practical solution for this. The agreement between experimental data and theoretical results is encouraging, suggesting that a model has potential for use where measurements of valve performance are unavailable. The influence of signal/flow hysteresis was found to be insignificant