NEWSWORTHY
RE-LOOKING AT YOUR STANDBY GENERATOR
Fuel prices are increasing and maintenance budgets on buildings are getting out of control . it may be time now to re-look at your standby generator as an asset . With a normal power outage , the generator senses the outage , starts up , runs checks and then opens the supply from the supply authority . In this period equipment such as light fittings , plugs , fans , air-conditioners and even critical computers are switched off . Another problem occurring in buildings is that UPS systems are not always serviced , which can cause major losses . With a normal change-over on a building you are exposed to other gremlins on your power supply which cause hidden damage , especially to electronic equipment . These are surges and voltage differences which causes unnoticed damage over time . Coming back to power outage and load shedding , we found that many buildings do not reflect the diesel usage in their monthly maintenance budget . By doing this , it make sense to re-look at your standby generator and find ways to optimise it . One of these options is to implement a SOFT LOAD TRANSFER system on your current installation . The way this works , is when there is a planned outage , the generator can be started and the generator ’ s output synchronised with the incoming electrical supply . The building load is then taken over by the generator and the incoming supply switched off without any interruption at all . Almost like a huge UPS , this will not only reduce diesel consumption , but also ensure no downtime on critical equipment . When the planned outage is about to end , the process is reversed and the installation restored to the ‘ normal ” position . For further information contact Abrie Spangenberg at AEP Electrical Consulting Engineers . aep @ wol . co . za
BOOK LAUNCH : TRUTH AND LIES IN ARCHITECTURE
Architect Richard Francis-Jones Takes a Stark and Poetic Look at his Profession .
“ Architecture has never been more challenged than it is today ,” contends Richard Francis-Jones , LFRAIA , Hon . FAIA , RIBA , in his new book Truth and Lies in Architecture ( ORO Editions ). Francis-Jones presents provocative essays that journey into the vexed circumstance of contemporary architectural practice . The nature of the great cultural , social , political , environmental , and consumerist challenges facing the contemporary architect are explored , interpreted , and questioned , while Francis-Jones draws connections from architecture theory , philosophy , science , literature , and cinema to reconnect us to our lost humanity .
“ As architects are facing the challenges of environmental sustainability along with class , gender , and racial inequality , architecture itself has never been so marginalised and diminished ,” writes Francis-Jones , design director of fjmtstudio . “ The practice of architecture has been progressively desiccated , undermined , and commodified through the instrumental processes of the contemporary development industry and professional practice , together with the simplistic reductionism of media technology and market consumption demand .”
The author probes how the true nature of architecture could have been so undermined . This collection of short essays is a series of explorations and excavations into this complex and contradictory territory in an attempt to uncover the depth and nature of the diminishment of contemporary architecture and the tracks that lead us here .
Truth and Lies in Architecture ORO Editions ISBN : 978-1-954081-65-9 ; $ 29.95
Richard Francis-Jones
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