Weather for windows
February 1st 2009 A new weather monitoring solution from Casella provides accurate local weather
information to ensure safe cleaning at height when using cradles
Many high-rise buildings monitor local
meteorological conditions to
determine whether it is safe to use
cradles while cleaning windows and working at
height.To help provide accurate local weather
information, health and safety managers from a
company based in Canary Wharf have recently
invested in and installed two automatic
weather stations at two different roof levels.
Prior to installing the weather stations, the
decision on whether or not to use external
cradles relied solely on hand held
anemometers which did not provide
sufficiently accurate results. Readings tended to
rely too much on where the reading was taken
from, which did not take into consideration
how weather circulated around the building.
The hand-held equipment also only took a
snapshot recording of the moment it was used
and did not take into account actual weather
patterns or trends.
Close conditions
External contractors used to rely on obtaining predictive information
and current trends in weather patterns from the Met Office, which
was not always reliable.The Met Office predicts large generic areas,
while weather conditions can be very localised. For instance, 'showers
across London' might mean that Westminster suffers a deluge of rain,
while Canary Wharf remains dry all day.
Following site surveys with experts from
Casella, the best positions for
the weather stations were
established and installed.The
equipment purchased was similar in
both locations.The highest roof level
records air pressure, air temperature,
humidity, rainfall, wind speed and wind
direction.The lower roof level records air
pressure, air temperature, humidity,
solarimeter (brightness), sunshine, wind
speed, and wind direction.
The system information is gathered
remotely and relayed via a bus link
to the PC users who are allowed
access, including three users in the facilities department
and one user from the cleaning company.
The system also allows for a selection of averages. In this
particular example, a 10 minute average on wind speeds was
chosen to provide the most accurate readings possible for
each day.This information can then be used
to decide whether it is safe or not to use
external cradles. Hand-held anemometers
are still used but only in conjunction with
the weather stations.
The use of the weather stations has revealed two distinct climatic
areas at Canary Wharf. In fairly normal weather conditions, the
highest roof level tends to have less wind speed than that of the
lower roof area due to the surrounding buildings.This has been
checked and verified using two hand-held anemometers at each
weather station.
The weather stations information is still in its infancy but data is
steadily growing on a daily and seasonal basis, allowing records and
trends to be recorded over time.The building services department
has a vested interest in the external conditions of the building as it
looks to ensure optimum
building usage and working
conditions with the possibility of
future energy efficiencies from
the information obtained on
humidity, sunshine, the
solarimeter and rainfall. Data can
be used as an aid in all aspects of
energy management of the
building, to help improve the
overall carbon footprint and
efficiency ratings, thereby
achieving cost savings.
The other important use of the
system is in providing wind speed data which can be used to protect
the health and safety of all workers who have access to cradle
systems. If average windspeeds or gusts are too high, decisions can
be made as to whether work can continue or not.Workers are still
required to take manual wind speed readings, but these can now be
backed up by the automatic data which is displayed in real time to
operatives inside the building.
For further information regarding weather monitoring at height,
please contact Gary Noakes,
product manager for Casella. More articles from Casella Measurement: | 
