Alan Weir, secretary of ADCAS, The Association of Ductwork Contractors and Allied Services, believes the drive for low carbon buildings will increase the value of the ductwork specialist
HARDLY a month goes by without another dire warning over the impact of new legislation on the hard-pressed building services industry.

Part L, Part F, the Climate Change Levy - each brings its own gloomy headlines - adding more ripples on the pool of anxiety that refuse to disappear.

Government is determined to reduce carbon emissions by 28% (and that's against 2002 levels remember!) and who is better placed to do it than the very people responsible for those energy guzzling heating and air conditioning systems?

Now the ductwork specialist could be forgiven for enjoying a little schadenfreude at all this. Forced to keep prices artificially low and usually low down the retention chain, the ductwork contractor has had to fight for his place in the professional team.

Surely he can be excused a wry smile at the tribulations of the very specifiers and contractors who have taken him so much for granted.

And smile he may, because his services are going to be more crucial than ever before.

Here's why. The British public will not easily give up on comfort and convenience. However much the green lobby may attempt to turn back the clock, the British public is unlikely to abandon its cars and turn back into a 1950s-style nation of bus and train travelers - the buses and the trains aren't there for a start!

Nor are they going to accept the prospect of working in hot stuffy buildings, or cold draughty ones - remember the weather is likely to be hotter or colder according to which Global Warming theory you prefer.

A recent survey by Office Angels, the recruitment specialist revealed that no fewer than 78% of UK office workers complain that hotter than usual temperatures make it difficult to get work done. Hardly surprising in a country where an amazing 65% of the male workers surveyed said that they were expected to wear a shirt, jacket and tie all year round!

The fact is that even the smallest cars now have ac systems and some form of environmental conditioning will still be essential for virtually all commercial and public sector buildings. The people will accept nothing less.

Natural ventilation is not likely to be the solution.

The only practical answer would appear to be to use existing technology more efficiently.

And that's why the highly skilled ductwork contractor may be worth his weight in gold (and that's gold at the full market price). The need for good quality metal ductwork will be greater than ever, as the demand for more efficient sealing of buildings becomes greater. If a building fails a leakage test the ductwork will be the first place to look.

Indeed if buildings are to be sealed tighter than ever then the need for mechanical ventilation will increase. We may even see a return to the large-scale central station VAV systems of the '70s rather than 100s of piped fan coil units. After all it's easier to modulate fan speed than it is to vary the performance of a pump.

If you need low leakage ductwork - and you will - then galvanized metal is the only practical material for most applications. Even a 'green' building site can be a rough, tough place and building products have to be robust to stand a chance of even beginning a useful service life.

Ductwork is particularly vulnerable. It has to be lightweight; it is big - up to a metre or more across - and there is a lot of it. The chances of a few accidental knocks during installation are very high. Galvanised metal is tough enough to take the knocks and still perform efficiently.

It is also economic to produce and install. Manufactured with modern computerised machinery and correctly installed, it is airtight to the required standards and will go on maintaining that low leakage rate throughout its long life.

It is easy to clean and maintain - vital considerations for health and safety and efficiency. The dangers of contaminants in the air supply are obvious but the risk of fire from the build up of grease in kitchen extract systems is possibly an even greater hazard. HVCA's new TR/19 specification places great emphasis on these points

Last, and in the context of this article by no means least, it is fully recyclable - perfect for a green, low energy, low carbon economy.

So the product is ready and waiting, but what of the people? Well there's no point in denying that there is a shortage of skilled and experienced operatives. Fortunately ADCAS and its members have invested time and money in training for all levels within the ductwork industry - including training for management.

The association's course in Project Management Skills, which is now in its sixth year, requires candidates to complete six modules covering every aspect of the subject from order negotiation to final accounting and adjudication.

Two years of part-time study are normally required to complete the course which is now open to all industry professionals already in or about to join the ranks of management.

We are producing a new generation of ductwork specialists who can develop the closely engineered, high efficiency solutions our low carbon buildings will need. Let's hope we're in time!