Judging panel announced for Stratford Design Challenge bdonline.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bdonline.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Digital Edition: Construction Value Toolkit is a wake up call the industry needed After a decade of disruption, the construction industry has become used to planning in the short term. So it should come as no surprise built environment professionals are constantly looking for ways to minimise cost and create efficiencies, where possible, to deliver a smooth construction… You have read 1 of 1 free-access articles allowed for 30 - days. For further access please
register or
Exclusive interviews and commentary from leading industry players
Special reports on key events
Access to NCE’s ‘The Future of…’ and ‘Innovative Thinking’
Full access to NCE Digital Issue archive
By Mark Farmer2021-05-10T05:00:00+01:00
Turning well-meaning words about climate change into measurable action requires fundamental change across the industry, writes Mark Farmer
It is incredible to see how quickly the climate change agenda has accelerated up the national consciousness, catching the imagination of the general public and now politicians who realise that this is perhaps the biggest societal challenge facing us not just in the UK but globally. Glasgow as the venue for COP26 this year has only added to interest in identifying how the UK economy can act as an international trailblazer.
On the back of Theresa May’s 2050 net zero carbon commitment made in 2019, we now have Boris Johnson’s commitment to an interim target of a 78% reduction in emissions by 2035 (relative to 1990) in line with the recommendations of the Climate Change Committee. This in reality is not far off the 2050 commitment and will focus minds on what we are doing and how we will measure
Over the next six months big names in construction will be trying out the Value Toolkit on live projects, Ron Lang explains why it’s important
At a webinar hosted by Building last week, I was privileged to announce the beginning of a pivotal phase in the delivery of the landmark Value Toolkit, as we gave early implementers a chance to pilot this new approach that will drive better social, environmental, and economic outcomes from investment in the built environment.
Now, some of you reading this may be rolling your eyes at the use of words like ‘landmark’ or even ‘toolkit’ After all, isn’t our sector already awash with a plethora of tools and toolkits? Do we really need another one? We’ve certainly seen many noteworthy initiatives in recent years to drive much-needed change across a host of areas, from reducing our carbon footprint to modernising building methods, to how we deal with mental health.
By Mike De Ath 2021-04-30T05:00:00+01:00
Moving construction to a platform-based approach will boost productivity but housing with its varied markets and tenures requires more flexibility, says HTA’s Mike De’Ath
The housing minister, Chris Pincher, is often heard to say at Zoom conferences on the subject of modular and modern methods of construction (MMC) that: ‘‘I often joke that not all good ideas start in the Treasury, but all good ideas can end in the Treasury if it doesn’t like them. However, the Treasury likes MMC, which is a good place to be.’’
This oft repeated quote sets a context for a government that sees investment in manufacturing as part of the solution to the need for increased productivity and delivery in housing.