June 2019 | Broadsword Group

2 years post Grenfell, do new regulations go far enough?

June 26, 2019/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

The Fire Protection Association, the UK’s national fire safety organisation, is highlighting that, if we want to prevent another Grenfell Tower tragedy, it’s time for some immediate change. The organisation remains firm in its message that two years after “Grenfell”, the government’s changes to building regulations and the so-called ban on combustible cladding do not go far enough in protecting buildings and the people who live in them, from fire.

The Fire Protection Association says the solution should be:

Third party certification – we welcome the acknowledgement of the value of independently verified products, but believe this assurance should be mandated and extend to the installers of products and the risk assessors
Extending the ban on combustibles to all high-risk buildings regardless of height – not just buildings over 18 metres
Ban single staircases in building in excess of 18m – to offer both an entrance and exit staircase
Mandatory installation of multi sensor detection for all high-risk occupancies – a fire detector that monitors a number of potential dangers, including smoke, heat, carbon-monoxide

Jonathan O’Neill, OBE, managing director, Fire Protection Association commented:

“The Fire Protection Association supports a total ban on combustible building materials, to all high-risk buildings, such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, blocks of flats – not just those buildings over 18 metres. We also want a ban on single staircases in all tall buildings, because in the event of a fire you need at least one staircase for people to be able to evacuate the building, and a second staircase for the fire and rescue services for entry. Our support of third-party certification, to provide independent verification of building regulations services, as well as the mandatory installation of multi sensor detectors (that can detect several sources, such as heat, smoke and carbon monoxide) is also a key consideration. There is clearly much that still needs to be done, so we are keen to see change now – and will help in any way we can to ensure that we never again experience a tragedy on the scale we witnessed at Grenfell.”

The importance of Digital Construction

June 19, 2019/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

Digital construction is at the forefront of the UK’s overarching Industrial Strategy. With an abundance of digital solutions available to streamline project management and workflow, which measures can be taken to assure there are sufficient skilled employees to use them and secure the construction industry’s future?

Attracting younger generations

At present, it is estimated that 22% of the construction industry’s current workforce is over 50 and 15% is over 60; startling figures which are indicative of the industry’s ageing workforce. Therefore, as time progresses it is becoming more crucial to identify potential avenues which will attract pools of young people to fill the emerging skills gap.

According to a Redrow report, 52% of young people disregard a career in construction, either because they are simply disinterested or completely unaware of what a career in construction entails. This statistic needs explicating, as it could infer that the current construction industry skills shortage is perpetuated by the multiple misconceptions and misperceptions which have been rife in the industry for a long period of time.

The industry has made significant progression over the past decade, yet the majority of young people unfortunately associate construction with muddy hi-vis vests, dust and little opportunity for development. A misrepresentation that is almost as shocking as the statistic mentioned above: what is it going to take to let young people see how enterprising, innovative and ‘digital’ the construction industry is?

Technology is used throughout our everyday lives, transcending age groups. Even though the construction industry is no exception, it is still perceived as relatively low-tech.

Start with secondary schools

Whilst architecture university degrees are prolific in the education of Building Information Modelling (BIM) and other digital construction solutions, this trend is by no means concurrent with secondary schools. The reasons for this are not necessarily to do with a matter of choice or preference; UK schools are under pressure to offer students – at GCSE particularly – the sought-after STEM subjects which are at the foundation of an industrial, corporate world.

Even though STEM subjects open-up multiple opportunities for young people, the same sentiment applies to the construction industry. For example, digital construction is part of the UK’s wider Industrial Strategy, where the creation of software such as BIM has generated jobs requiring a high level of technical education and skills which form the base of ‘STEM careers’.

An example would be the use of augmented reality across construction projects. Although the technology is in its early stages, augmented reality (AR) is radically changing the building process, described as a way to visualise, manage and coordinate data throughout a building’s lifecycle. AR creates a virtual 3D structure of a building, providing important data about each component that can be accessed pre, during and post construction. Therefore, as this working method continues to develop, complementary skillsets will have to be nurtured within client organisations to ensure the software can be operated and utilised efficiently by Operations and FM teams.

Digital construction in action

A few years ago the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) developed ‘Craft Your Future’, a programme for 12-14 year olds which is integrated into the computer game Minecraft. Designed to encourage young people to consider careers in city planning, construction management and more, ‘Craft Your Future’ is a virtual solution which gives young people crucial insight into the real-time operation of a construction project.

Whilst ‘Craft Your Future’ may be playing a vital role in addressing the future skills gap and labour shortages, the industry in its present state has more pressing concerns. It is widely known that throughout the industry there is a reluctance to adopt digital solutions. Bodies such as the UK BIM Alliance – which GroupBC is a patron of – educate companies on the benefits of digital construction and aim to ensure a common approach amongst vendors. However, much needs to be achieved to counteract this unproductive cultural stalemate if the industry is to embrace modern methods of working, such as off-site manufacturing.

Recent initiatives such as reverse mentoring programmes, offered by the likes of the Association for Consultancy and Engineering – in which the more ‘digitally-experienced’ workers are helping senior colleagues transition to digital processes – are softening the alien transition from one way of working to another. As such, these will hopefully provide them with a better understanding of the business benefits of digital technologies.

The initiatives outlined above are just a small portion of the many programmes that are being developed to realise the industry’s digital future. For this reason, the industry would do well to continually develop programmes such as these, headed by inspirational industry specialists who can showcase the excellence, worth and opportunities in digital construction to people of all ages and abilities. Not only will this help close the skills gap, it will ensure construction businesses have enough highly-skilled workers to steer the construction industry into its digital chapter.

Source: UK Construction Media

Zero carbon by 2050?

June 13, 2019/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

The UK is to become the first G7 nation to set a legally-binding target to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced Government will tomorrow lay a statutory instrument before Parliament that will amend the Climate Change Act and introduce a net zero emission target.

Presently the country is committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

According to the Committee on Climate Change, which recommended the move in its recent report, the industry has little more than 10 years to take all new buildings over to net zero carbon if the goal is to be met.

The commitment will also need wholesale changes to energy generating infrastructure and big changes to new buildings and improvements to existing buildings.

This will require a switch away from fossil-fuel based heating, increasing the energy efficiency of the building stock, and improving the energy efficiency of lighting and electrical appliances.

It will also necessitate the widespread use of heat pumps to replace boilers and accelerating district heating and hydrogen technologies.

Julie Hirigoyen, Chief Executive at UKGBC said: “This is a powerful and positive move by the Prime Minister that will give her time in office a legacy beyond Brexit.

“UKGBC knows that the built environment contains some of the biggest opportunities to slash emissions.

“We must accelerate action in all areas including improving the efficiency of our aging building stock, and overcoming the challenge of decarbonising heat.

“To do this, we need to see both policy and industry leadership to ensure the built environment is at the vanguard of emissions reductions. There is no time to lose, now is the time to act.”

Paul Reeve, director of the Electrical Contractors Association, said: “No-one should expect the feat of resolving the UK’s carbon footprint to be anything other than daunting, but the Government has issued a truly remarkable response to the ‘zero carbon’ challenge set out by the CCC in May.

“The task ahead is immense: the UK is drastically short of the infrastructure, supply and installation capacity needed to introduce low-carbon building heating at scale.

“There are also major ‘low carbon’ skills gaps across building design, construction and installation. We also need to ensure that whatever happens in the years ahead delivers the quality and performance necessary for whole-life low carbon buildings.”

Building upwards will bring big benefits

June 5, 2019/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

With the government’s recent revisions of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), it is now easier for homeowners and developers to create homes above existing residential and commercial properties. Since these revisions, rooftop home developers have received funding to generate much-needed affordable homes across the UK.

Insulation Express have uncovered the benefits of building upwards, from saving the Green Belt to overcoming the current housing shortage, and why this could create a future trend in construction.

Building upwards could heighten the development growth in dense cities

The shortage of available properties has long been recognised as an issue affecting our society but building upwards could ease the demand in areas with less space and at a faster pace. In dense urban areas where there is a lack of development sites, rather than forcing people out of the city, upward extensions could allow people to live and work in city centres.

To see where there’s a demand and opportunities for development growth, Insulation Express analysed just how many people share a sqm in cities of the UK.

Surprisingly, Brighton and Hove has 10 people packed into just a sqm, even more than London (seven people per sqm). In such a densely packed city, there are limitations on where to build, but skyward extensions could be hugely beneficial in this seaside town.

There has also been a wider focus on the capital of the housing crisis, London, with seven people per sqm. Most London residents have the option of crippling rent prices or long commutes from outside London. According to the developers a whopping 180,000 rooftop homes could be created in London, even housing up to 720,000 people.

Notably, Liverpool is one of the least dense cities, with just four people sharing a sqm, yet the city has the most expensive plots.

Upward extensions could boost the productivity of the UK’s construction sector by 50%

Research has identified a critical challenge in the industry – a shortage in the workforce, and this was before the UK voted to leave the EU.

As of May 2019:

The total workforce is made up of 90% UK nationals, 7% EU nationals and 3% non-EU nationals.
Construction workers in the UK are ageing – Nearly half (47%) of UK nationals are aged 45 and over.
In comparison, non-UK nationals are much younger, with those aged 45 years and over making up 18% of the workforce.

Unfortunately, once we leave the EU, this shortfall could end up being worse as it becomes difficult for EU workers to live and work in the UK.

This shortage coupled with the fact that the UK’s construction industry already lags behind in productivity (15% less than Germany and 25% less than France), means the UK urgently needs to solve its issues.

But rooftop homes could be the answer. Generally, upward extensions use the modular construction process. This means building the home off-site before craning the property on top for less disruption. These techniques are massively quicker and require less workers. With new legislation making it easier to gain planning permission for building above, we could see the UK’s construction productivity grow by 50%.

How building up could stop the rapid increase (34% in two years) of homes on the green belt

The Green Belt is the neighboring countryside for more than 30 million people, covering 13% of the land in England – 1,639,560 hectares to be exact. However, the pressures on Green Belt land are mounting – there are calls for reforms to release the land in the UK to ease the housing demand.

For many, the loss of Green Belt land is also the loss of an escape from urban life, that’s why this countryside is generally protected. While building on this land is supposed to be extremely difficult to get planning permission. But since 2013, there has been a 62% increase in the loss of greenfield Green Belt (part of the Green Belt that previously, had not been built on before). Just in 2017/18 alone, there was huge 34% increase of residential units on Green Belt land.

The number of homes proposed to be built on Green Belt land has increased from 425,000 in 2017 to 459,000 in 2018, that’s an 8% rise in just one year. With the increased demand of homes needing to be built threatening our Green Belt further, one solution could be building above. London needs 66,000 homes a year, yet 22% of the land is designated Green Belt – upward extensions could allow developers to alleviate housing pressures without restrictions.

Rooftop homes can reduce construction waste by up to 90%

The majority of rooftop developers use modular homes to create these extensions. This is a major advantage in itself, especially to our environment. Why? Modular homes use marginally less materials than traditional construction, which makes them quicker to build and less damaging to the environment.

Traditional methods of construction normally use a vast array of materials (400 million tons each year), much of which has a negative impact on the environment, due to the emissions created when manufacturing these materials. But another damaging effect of this is the waste, the industry wastes 120 million tons of material per year and accounts for almost a third of the UK total of waste production.

Off-site construction for upward extensions helps the industry battle this. Modular homes use less materials in general and with modular construction being built off-site, in a controlled environment, using standard sizes and even layouts, this means this method can reduce waste by up to 90%.

The challenges of building upwards

Even with all these advantages, there are certain limitations, mainly because it means you are building on top of an existing structure. This presents various design challenges and you need to ensure the existing property is structurally sound. Not least that you have to generate a solution that creates a useful space without interfering with the function of the existing development.

Developers also need to abide to planning regulations despite the new planning permissions for building upwards. Neighbouring properties have the right to object to proposed building plans if they believe it infringes on their rights, which could mean anything from lack of light to nuisance, this all falls under the Party Wall Act of 1996.

Source: buildingproducts.co.uk