As you would have observed from the book cover, you have just entered the portal of knowledge which will serve as a beacon of light throughout your professional life.

The book sets out to systematically provide a basic grounding in the design and installation of wiring and equipment for electrical and Voice-Video-Internet (telecommunications) services in buildings. The emphasis throughout is on the needs of a civil engineer, architect, installation technician and that of a lay person who is an avid user of these services in his daily life, or who is building/renovating his house/flat. It will also serve the needs of the professional in the electrical and telecommunications disciplines as he will be able to appreciate the importance of these services to the enjoyment of the built environment by the occupants and the impact these services have on the internal and external aesthetics of a building.
There are currently no books that bridge the gap between the theoretical texts and the unwritten experience of the professionals in the field. The book aims to fill that gap. The focus throughout is on the practical aspects of installation of electrical and Voice-Video-Internet services in buildings rather than the design aspects of the electrical and telecommunications disciplines. Electricity and telecommunications are complex subjects and the relevant technologies are explained in a manner that a lay person can easily understand.

The book deals with the fundamentals of electricity as well as electricity distribution and delivery systems. It also discusses various accessories and equipment used in electrical systems in buildings and includes recommendations for planning electrical power and lighting systems that can take care of the future growth. Due to a serious deterioration in the quality and quantity of power supplied by the Electricity Authority, I have also discussed standby sources of power, details of power conditioning equipment and their relative merits. Most of this equipment is bulky and visually intrusive; it is extremely important that they be integrated with the building layout at the initial planning and design stage to avoid compromises on the aesthetics of a building. I have covered desert coolers in Part I of the Handbook. I have now included in the book window and split air-conditioners, and their installation as they impose on the aesthetics of a building and must be carefully integrated at the initial planning and design stage. I have also introduced the concept of inverter technology in the design of air-conditioners. The variable refrigerant volume (VRV) systems are the latest systems which are being adopted in modern flats for centralized air-conditioning and I have briefly discussed them. The exposure to the fundamentals of local air-conditioning systems provided by the book, will enable the engineer and the architect to interact effectively with the suppliers of the central air-conditioning systems for large buildings where they are planned.

The importance of energy saving is introduced in sections 1.4.1.1 and 1.10, Volume-I, that deal with green buildings. In order to realize this goal (of green buildings), energy efficient equipment for general illumination such as compact fluorescent lamps and light emitting diode (LED) lamps, and inverter technology in local air-conditioning systems have been included in the book. Buildings’ heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems are the highest users of electric power.

There have been phenomenal advances in the delivery of Voice, Video and Internet services to the consumer in the last few decades and the trend is continuing. There are hardly any practical books that explain in simple terms the technology behind the three primary telecommunication services entering a building. The situation has become a little more confusing as a result of the switch over from analog to digital transmission and the launch of high definition TV. I have tried to demystify these subjects in this book.