Car Park Ventilation Tips and Advice

"Cheap is not always cheerful"

In recent surveys of car park ventilation systems, some alarming shortcomings have been brought to light, particularly regarding the application of jet fan systems. There are a range of inadequacies ranging from basic poor design where substantial areas of the car park are devoid of ventilation by schemes originally designed to ventilate and control smoke but in reality are incapable of achieving this objective.

Jet fan systems have been around for several years and with over 95% of new installations being jet fan systems, people feel that it cannot be overly difficult to design these systems themselves and simply purchase the fans. Even systems designed and installed by some so called specialists however have revealed substantial shortcomings.

Simple misunderstanding of regulations and lack of knowledge of fan installations help explain how many of these problems arise. A recent investigation on one installation revealed two axial main extract fans installed in parallel, discharging into a common plenum. Whilst this was correct, they were also installed without non-return dampers fitted to the fans. This would mean should one of the installed fans fail, there would not only be a loss of performance in that fan but also a substantial reduction in the overall performance of the second fan caused by air short-circuiting through the failed fan.

There have been scenarios where the fire strategy has been accidently or purposely disregarded. Another example was an installation where the fire strategy required an advanced smoke control systems which could ensure that access to lobbies were kept free from smoke contamination in the occurrence of a fire in the car park. The reality was far from the requirements, with the most basic of smoke clearance systems being installed, no meeting the requirements at all. The most worrying aspect of this case is that between the consulting engineer, the building control officer and the client, none picked up on this and instead only recently was it identified by a fire officer and thus we were called in.

Why does this occur? The main motive is cost and the "design & build" culture in which the original objectives created by the architect, consulting engineer and fire engineer become lost, disregarded or forgotten against the background of Value Engineering.

This is not to say there is anything wrong with Value Engineering if the original objectives and strategy are met; however these can be easily forgotten and conveniently ignored when the contractor, encouraged and guided by a fervent pseudo-specialist who promises wonderful cost savings. When told by a specialist that the system will be “fully code compliant” and will meet all building regulations, it becomes very plausible and it may very well be the case. Conversely what has been overlooked is the initial enhanced design specification that was agreed at the opening design stage and against which relaxations were granted by building control on the requirement for sprinklers and the ventilation of access lobbies.

This can result in a range of problems. It could be several months later that the error may be identified. This leads to an expensive process of correcting the mistake, therefore rendering the once wonderful savings pointless as the initial savings become a drop in the ocean compared to costs of correction. Most importantly, not only could the handover of the building be delayed but if these shortcomings are not ultimately identified, the occupants and residents of the building could be put at considerable risk.

So how can we prevent this in the future? Through a fundamental understanding of how the original system design was developed and why. If apparent savings offered by alternative suppliers of specialists systems appear too good to be true, then the chances are they are and discussions with the companies involved in developing the original design should always be consulted in order to gain a full appreciation of the design requirements and objectives that must be obtained.

Richard Brooks

Richard Brooks is General Manager of the Advanced Smoke Group with over 35 years experience in the smoke control industry. He was Chairman of the Smoke Control Association 2002 – 2004; Chairman of the Association’s working group on the guide to the Ventilation of Loading Bays, Service Yards and Coach Parks; a member of the British Standards Institute Fire Engineering Group (FSH25) and a member of the BSI working group, drafting BS7346: Part 7: 2006 for Car Park Ventilation.

Amazing Opportunity has Arisen in the Advanced Smoke Group

An amazing opportunity has opened up in the Advanced Smoke Group as we look for a new estimator to join our ranks at our head office in Leicester. The estimator will be responsible for creating tenders for smoke control systems and needs to be full of dedication and passion.

The Advanced Smoke Group is an established smoke control organisation with over 20 years experience in designing, manufacturing, installing and maintaining world class smoke control systems all across the UK. ASG is growing and is searching for enthusiastic individuals committed to producing the best work to join the expanding team.

If this role sounds right for you and you would like to hear more details then please send in a CV to mail@advancedsmoke.co.uk for the attention of Darren Wale and we will get back in contact with you shortly.
We can’t wait to hear from you soon.

Introducing the new Hi-Protect SAF Ventilator

The new Hi-Protect® SAF Ventilator from the Advanced Smoke Group

The Advanced Smoke Group is proud to present the latest addition to the Hi-Protect® range, the new slim-line SAF Ventilator. The SAF Ventilator offers architects and consultants a combination of stylish and unobtrusive design with all the quality, reliability and safety that has come to be expected with the Hi-Protect® range. Using high grade EN485/515/573 aluminium and combined with expert manufacturing, the Hi-Protect® SAF Ventilator is provides the maximum level of durability.

What makes the Advanced Smoke Group’s SAF Ventilator so appealing to customers is the level of bespoke options that customers have the choice of, providing them with the freedom to choose a custom unit that best meets their specifications rather than being restrained by the ‘off the shelf’ sizes. This can often be provided at no additional cost and helps to ensure that all customer needs are not only met, but exceeded.

There is an extensive range of different choices available to customers and our expert and friendly sales team are on hand to provide any assistance needed to help guarantee that customers receive the best unit to best meet their criteria, making the Hi-Protect® SAF Ventilator the ideal choice for architects and consultants. Read the Hi-Protect® Datasheet to find out more information, including the various options and designs available or contact our dedicated sales team mail@advancedsmoke.co.uk or call them in the office on 0116 271 6861. The datasheet can be found by clicking on the image below.

Advanced Smoke Group investing in the Future

"Youth will be a Key Driver to our Future Growth and Success"

It has been well publicised of the recent record highs in youth unemployment in the UK. With fewer companies providing fewer opportunities to the young, there is an extensive range of skills and potential available in the market that is being wasted at the moment.

The construction industry was one of the hardest hit sectors in the recession and in the UK is still struggling to regain sustained growth. With many organisations downsizing or defaulting, the Advanced Smoke Group are going against the trend and aiming for high growth for the future. A major feature of this high growth strategy is the employment of young workers who have the skills, determination and potential to be valuable members of the organisation. By working closely with the local University and Government skills funding agencies the Advanced Smoke Group are recruiting graduates and apprentices from the local community and providing them with the opportunity to gain further qualifications and valuable experience. The Advanced Smoke Group is a company specialising on smoke control and smoke ventilation systems in buildings, providing protected escape routes for residents and quick access for fire-fighters in the event of a fire.

Calvin Barnett who graduated in 2010 from the University of Leicester with a BA in Management and Marketing explained that even though he had achieved a first in his course, his lack of experience held him back from being able to get a marketing position in a company and there were very limited internship opportunities in the East Midlands.

Calvin explained, ‘The majority of firms I looked at wanted relevant experience as well as a degree but it seemed most work experience and internships seemed to be unpaid in London so I was in a Catch 22; I couldn’t afford to travel from the East Midlands to London daily for unpaid work or live in London unpaid and I was unable to find any experience opportunities in the town I live in to get a role in the career I wanted. If it was not for the Advanced Smoke Group providing me with the opportunity and taking me on as a marketing assistant, I do not know where I would be at the moment.’

Darren Wale, Technical Sales Manager for Advanced Smoke Group commented, ‘Many of the unemployed youth want to work, have the abilities and are eager to go; all they require is the opportunity. We want to help develop and grow these individuals and in turn they will help develop and grow the company.’



Right to left: Calvin Barnett, Jade Brown, Danish Ahmad: The ASG
Young Guns



The young prospects all have an incredible work ethic and each showed real progress, contributing to some major developments in the company. Danish Ahmad was the first intern taken on by Advanced Smoke Group after completing his MSc in Advanced Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Leicester in 2009 and is now a full time employee of the company as systems developer following on from his internship where he was instrumental in developing and patenting a new product. Danish is now responsible for product design and development and states ‘Working at ASG is an honour; we have a very friendly environment with a very supportive team. This makes the workplace a very enjoyable place.’

Richard Brooks, General Manager of the Advanced Smoke Group states, ‘at the moment, downsizing and redundancies will not help local communities, organisations, industries or the economy. There needs to be investments into the future in order achieve sustainable growth and the youth have a lot of potential that will be valuable to the Group and provide a competitive advantage in the long term. This is why we are looking at developing bright and enthusiastic young prospects that have a lot to offer and provide them with training, hands on experience and real responsibility.’

Jade Brown, having recently finished her AS Level's is now an apprentice within the Advanced Smoke Group as an adminstration assistant and working towards gaining her level 2 NVQ in business administration. Jade says 'this apprenticeship gives me the opportunity to get hands on experience and training in the position. I am learning a lot and each day is different which has helped me gain a lot of different skills. The team is always there to support me and although I only started in November, everyone is really friendly and has made me feel at home straight away so I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here.'


Over the last 12 months the Advanced Smoke Group has taken on two graduate interns and an apprentice and are planning on taking on another graduate in Accounting in early 2012.

The ASG December Update

Tis' the season.....


As Christmas draws nearer and the year begins its conclusion, we are looking back at the year and some of the events that have shaped it. It has been a exciting year in what has been a pretty turbulent environment with some great new faces in the group, some unique patents and some very interesting projects.

Whilst it is nice to reminisce, there is a new year coming our way soon and we want to be ready for it. The Advanced Smoke Group is updating the look and feel of the website, which we be relaunching just before the new year with a modern, contemporary and simple design.

The navigation and theme is being redesigned to allow for easier use for all users and easier access to information and content on the site.

In preparation for this update, we are updating all of our other sites as well so that the theme is consistent throughout all outlets and ready for the new year, including our twitter and this blog. The new year is bringing with it a new look and feel for the Advanced Smoke Group and we couldn't be more excited to get it out there for all of you to check out.

We have also produced a publication looking in detail at the Pitfalls and Trends of Car Park Ventilation from the team here at ASG; providing important tips, guidelines, regulations and more.

For a free copy of the publication please email us at mail@advancedsmoke.co.uk with your contact details and address and we'll happily send it out in the post free of charge.

As a quick reminder to all those interested in the effective ventilation of Car Parks, we would like to remind you that ASG do run a free seminar (and lunch) at your own offices where our experts will present the ins and outs of smoke control and ventilation in Car Parks and how to optimise effectiveness and safety of systems. Simply call us on 0116 271 6861 or email us at mail@advancedsmoke.co.uk to arrange for a mutual acceptable date for the seminar to run.

We would like to thank you as well for checking the blog and keeping up to date with us; expect more and more material as time goes on and good luck with getting your Christmas preparations sorted. The new starter Calvin came up with a rather ingenious method of dealing with Christmas shopping when he told us; "I do all my Christmas shopping in the January sales then just hold onto it for 12 months....yeah it takes up space but as long as no one passes away and I don't split with my girlfriend then I'm quids in. And if we do split then I'll just store it till the next one comes along; it's win win really!"

You have to admire the dedication to forward planning.

Maximising the Efficiency of Car Park Ventilation Systems

Whilst a number of car park ventilation companies nowadays install CO monitoring as a standard feature, little consideration appears to be given to fully exploiting the true potential of environmental monitoring and, consequently, many car parks are still the source of high energy costs.

1. System design criteria – day to day operation and smoke extract

All car park ventilation systems are required to be designed to meet the performance requirements of the current building regulations. The relevant regulations and standards relating to car park ventilation are as follows:

Approved Document F1 – This document sets out the minimum requirements for the day to day ventilation of naturally and mechanically ventilated car parks. It specified the maximum permissible carbon monoxide levels of 30ppm averaged over 8 hours, with levels not exceeding 90ppm for 15 minutes.

With the introduction of carbon monoxide (CO) monitoring within car parks during the last 10 years, car park environmental control has become far more efficient, enabling the ventilation rate to be accurately linked to the level of vehicle exhaust pollution within the car park.

Approved Document B3 – Covers the provision of natural ventilation under fire conditions for “open sided” car parks and mechanical ventilation for those car parks which are “not open sided”.

Naturally ventilated car parks require a minimum 2.5% of the net floor area of the car park in openings linked directly to atmosphere with at least 50% of the opening being split between

two opposing walls. The minimum airflow rate for a mechanically ventilated car park is 10 air changes per hour under fire conditions.

BS7346: Part 7: 2006 – Specifies the requirements for one of three design options,

1. smoke clearance
2. aid to fire fighting and
3. means of escape

The document further sets out standards for controls and powers supplies, the criteria for CFD modelling and for commissioning of systems.

2. Maximum Efficiency System Control

Whilst it is, of course essential to design for a fire condition, most car park ventilation systems are ever employed within a fire scenario. Most car park ventilation system currently installed are notoriously inefficient, simply working on the basis of providing 6 air changes per hour for day to day ventilation or 10 air changes per hour for a fire condition.

Even when the car park ventilation “specialist” designs for a variable rate of ventilation, it is only the main extract fans that are actually controlled, most or all of the jet fans are activated in a day to day ventilation condition with no variation in speed to the jet fans.

Advanced Smoke Group now install the ASG “MAX-EFF” car park ventilation system as standard, employing an addressable CO monitoring system which enables the activation and speed control of not only the main extract fans, but also the impulse fans, thereby maximising the energy saving applied to the system.

In larger car parks, control of the jet fan activation and speed will significantly reduce the power taken by the fans and make corresponding saving in operating costs.

3. Smoke Control

Obviously, it is vitally important to remember that the system may be required to operate in a fire condition, consequently, in order to comply with the latest guidance on the use of smoke extract fans linked to frequency inverters the control of the system must take account of the need to “link out” all protection normally afforded to the fan motor under day to day operation.

The Author

Richard Brooks is the General Manager at Advanced Smoke Group with 30 years experience in the smoke control industry and specialising in car park ventilation for 11 years.

Chairman of the Smoke Control Association 2002-2004 and chairman of the Association's working group on the guide to the ventilation of Loading Bays, Service yards and Coach Parks.

Member of the British Standards Institute Fire Engineering Group (FSH25) and member of the BSI working group drafting BS7346: Part 7: 2006 for car park ventilation

"The beginning is the most important part of the work"



When Maggie met the ASG Team in Leicester



We would like to welcome all visitors to the beginning of Advanced Smoke Group's blog.

This blog will serve as an avenue in which we can share with you our thoughts, our experiences and our future endeavours as well as get your opinions on our opinions.

We will be discussing new ideas; what innovative designs and solutions we have been concocting; projects that we have been diligently slaving away on and our insights into the smoke control industry for the most part.

Articles will be coming from our experts in the Advanced Smoke Group, who will be imparting their expertise and knowledge of the smoke control industry directly onto the blog.

We truly do value any and all comments from anyone who is interested in what it is we say or do and if you would like any further information or ever want to get in contact with us then we will always been happy to listen. There is such a vast array of ways that you can get in touch with us that we’ll save them for the end of the article.

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