Building News is an information portal for all professional building specifiers. Here you can find all of the latest construction news from around the UK and the rest of the world.

Building of UK’s first grid-scale electricity storage facility imminent

Construction of the first grid-scale electricity storage facility to be built in Britain for more than 30 years could begin as early as 2018 following today’s granting of planning permission for the scheme.

Developer Snowdonia Pumped Hydro (SPH) has been given the go-ahead by the UK government to turn two abandoned slate quarries at Glyn Rhonwy near Llanberis in North Wales into water reservoirs that will store some 700 MWhs of electricity—sufficient to supply 200,000 homes with electricity for seven hours a day over a projected operational lifetime of 125 years or more.

The GBP 160m facility will use surplus electricity, for example from wind and solar sources, to pump water through an underground tunnel from the lower to the upper reservoir. When lack of wind or sunshine reduces renewable power output, or when fossil fuel generators fail to start, the water will flow back down the tunnel, spinning a turbine in an underground chamber to regenerate the stored electricity at a power output of 99.9 MW.

The only visible evidence of the pumped hydro storage facility will be a modest building on an industrial park, and two reservoirs contained by slate dams blending with existing slate tips, whose water levels silently rise and fall each day.

The UK currently has four pumped hydro storage sites, the youngest of which was built with taxpayers’ money more than 30 years ago. SPH is seeking private equity funds to build the Glyn Rhonwy scheme without public money.

Pumped hydro provides over 90% of the world’s electricity storage, and countries including the US, South Africa, Australia and China are among those expanding their national pumped hydro fleets as they seek to balance the intermittency of wind and solar.

In Britain it was thought that only a limited number of mountainous areas were suitable for pumped hydro sites, but SPH has shown energy civil servants how the UK could build some 50 GWh of pumped hydro storage using unconventional sites like ex-industrial quarries, coastal locations and existing drinking water reservoirs.

“There are signs that the government is taking storage seriously,” said SPH managing director Dave Holmes. “The National Infrastructure Commission last year urged swift action on storage, and a team inside the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking urgently at how planning barriers and market disincentives to storage can be addressed. We see the grant of permission for our Glyn Rhonwy scheme as highly significant, signalling a real change that will enable the UK to meet carbon reduction targets, while keeping electricity supply secure and prices for consumers under control.”

Energy experts agree that as the percentage of intermittent renewable generation on Britain’s electricity grid continues to increase, a mix of storage types and technologies may be the optimum solution to ensure that electricity supply remains secure and affordable. These include long duration grid-scale storage such as pumped hydro, localised shorter duration storage provided by household or community batteries, complemented by demand reduction measures.

SPH has not sought to develop Lithium-ion batteries at grid-scale. Said Holmes. “Glyn Rhonwy can be expected to deliver around 32 million MWh over its lifetime. An equivalent 700 MWh Lithium-ion installation would deliver just 2.1million MWh before needing its batteries replacing. This means electricity delivered by pumped hydro is twenty times cheaper per MWh than Lithium-ion batteries over its lifetime, and carries less environmental baggage.”

The Glyn Rhonwy facility is expected to bring a significant economic boost to North Wales, supporting hundreds of jobs during the construction phase and creating up to 30 high quality full time local positions to operate the site for its 125 years or more service lifetime.

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Budget delivers more good news for construction industry

The Spring Budget includes plans that will be undoubtedly welcomed by professionals working within the construction industry.

The announcement of new funding to build 110 free schools and the allocation of £103 million to tackle infrastructure issues in the midlands and the north of England indicates that there is money being spent and the government will be calling on us as an industry to support their plans.

Also mentioned in the Budget, was a stronger growth forecast for the UK economy to 2% in 2017 which will likely have a greater positive impact upon the industry’s fortunes over the coming year.

Tackling the skills gap

Labour supply and skill shortages have long been a major concern for construction; an issue that has been thrown into sharper relief following the Brexit vote. The Government’s efforts to raise the status of vocational training, with the introduction of T-Levels, are a welcome step towards tackling this long term issue. The government will increase by more than 50 per cent the number of programme hours of training for 16-19 year olds on technical routes to more than 900 hours a year on average. This includes the completion of a high quality three-month industry work placement.

Responding to this topic, Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) said “The Chancellor clearly understands that the UK won’t address the productivity challenge unless we rethink our approach to technical and vocational education. T-Levels could be the answer if they genuinely rival A-Levels in the eyes of parents, teachers and young people. UK society as a whole has been guilty of putting too much emphasis on the academic route – this has made it more difficult for vital sectors like construction and house building to attract the talented people we need. In construction, we are suffering from a severe skills shortage and this is likely to worsen once we leave the EU and no longer have easy access to European labour. This £500 million funding announced today for T-Levels is therefore a welcome and much-needed boost.”

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78% of construction workers use their personal smartphone at work

  • 120 hours lost per year per employee to personal smartphone use
  • 78% respond to personal text messages at work

The average British worker spends as many as 120 hours per year using their smartphones in the workplace, and those working in construction are among the worst culprits, according to research.

Research of 2,012 UK adults carried out by gadgets and technology etailer, LaptopsDirect.co.uk, has revealed more than three quarters (78%) of construction workers admit to using their smartphones during working hours.

78% regularly respond to personal text messages during working hours, and 59% regularly take personal phone calls whilst working.

52% admit to answering instant messages via platforms such as Whatsapp and Facebook, whilst 9% have sent a Snapchat from their workplace.

44% of respondents said their workplace permitted reasonable use of smartphones.

More than a third (38%) regularly check their social media accounts while in the workplace.

Those working in information and communications (96%), followed in second place.

Mark Kelly, marketing manager at LaptopsDirect.co.uk, said: “It’s no surprise that we are addicted to our smartphones however overuse during working hours can add up, leaving a serious shortfall in productivity. Although companies monitor and prohibit the use of social media during the working day, the research shows that there is still a large amount of people continuing to use their device.

“Use of smartphones and social media in the workplace can lead to hundreds of thousands of hours in lost productivity per year, which could cost UK companies millions of pounds.”

14% have been told off for using smartphones at work, while just 4% have been disciplined for use of their own tech during work time.

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Construction subcontractors forced to accept contract terms

Over half of UK subcontractors believe they must accept the terms of contracts with large construction firms, or face the risk of losing future business, according to new research from specialist funder, Bibby Financial Services (BFS).

Findings of the Subcontracting Growth survey show that the majority of firms (55%) do not believe they can influence the terms of agreements with main contractors. The research highlights the power imbalance between the sector’s large and small businesses.

Helen Wheeler, Managing Director of Construction Finance at Bibby Financial Services said: “All too often we see the battle of David versus Goliath in the construction industry, with larger contractors wielding the power and smaller firms reluctant to negotiate terms through fear of losing future work or gaining a reputation for being difficult.

“However, understanding and negotiating suitable contract terms is critical in ensuring that projects are priced accordingly and profitable for subcontractors.”

Findings of the research reveal that late payment from prime contractors is the most significant challenge subcontractors face over the year ahead (27%), followed by skills shortages (21%). One in five (20%) said the health of the UK economy is the biggest threat to their business in the next 12 months.

The majority of subcontractors (51%) do not believe the UK’s decision to leave the EU will affect their businesses. Almost one in five (19%) said that Brexit will have a negative impact and 17 per cent said it will be bad for their businesses.

Helen continued: “On the subject of Brexit, subcontractors are divided. For some it will help the UK to secure infrastructure investment from wallets further afield than Europe. Others see it posing a threat to labour pools and a cause of significant inflationary pressures.”

“One thing that is clear is the impact poor payment practices are having on the industry. It is unsurprising but discouraging that late payment from main contractors is still an issue for smaller construction firms across the country.”

The report also revealed the enormity of the task for subcontractors having to negotiate contracts with businesses taking on an average of 40 contracts per year. The average value of these contracts was £205,076, highlighting the significance of the work undertaken by the UK’s army of subcontractors.

One in five firms (20%) believes that unfair penalty clauses from prime contractors have negatively impacted their businesses.

Peter Vinden, Managing Director of construction specialists, the Vinden Partnership, said: “The power imbalance of the construction sector is well known but it is critical that subcontractors recognise that there is support available to help them check and negotiate terms with larger firms.

“Ensuring that they are not signing contracts with unfavourable terms or clauses could be the difference between taking on a profitable project and insolvency.

“The impacts of signing contracts with onerous terms or clauses can be anything from a lack of cashflow preventing salary payments through to insolvency, so it really is important that firms ensure they’re negotiating the best terms for their business and seeking help where they need.”

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Saint-Gobain named as Top Employer 2017

Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, leader in the construction materials markets, has been recognised as a Top Employer in the UK for the fifth year running, and in Ireland for a second consecutive year.

The awards, based on research conducted by the Top Employers Institute, recognises organisations that have achieved the highest standards of excellence in human resources, particularly in the areas of working conditions, learning and development opportunities, career and succession management and the overall culture of the organisation.

Mike Chaldecott, General Delegate and Regional Managing Director for Construction Products at Saint-Gobain UK and Ireland, said “It is a great achievement to have been awarded this accolade once more. It recognises the steps we continue to take to ensure an open, collaborative and fulfilling environment, where our colleagues can thrive.

“We want all of our colleagues to enjoy their time with us, and also to feel supported, challenged, and fulfilled by an organisation that gives them the tools and creates the culture in which they can expand and develop their career for the long-term. With more than 30 businesses in the UK and Ireland, we are able to provide careers in a huge range of disciplines enabling employees to achieve a career without boundaries.”

For a second year in a row, Saint-Gobain has been certified Top Employer Europe and Top Employer Global – only one of 10 companies worldwide to receive this certification.

To find out more about the diverse and rewarding career opportunities available at Saint-Gobain in the UK & Ireland, visit http://www.saint-gobain.co.uk/careers/.

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New report urges industry to act now on skills training to meet smart meter deadline

The UK government’s energy policy requires suppliers to install smart meters in the homes of all domestic customers and small businesses by the end of 2020. But with less than four years to go, more than 48 million meters have yet to be installed.

To achieve the target, installation rates must increase fivefold from the current 200,000 a month to more than one million a month, but the industry has to address a drastic shortage of skilled installers, warns specialist training provider Develop Training Limited (DTL) in a new report.

Fundamental to meeting the deadline will be the availability of qualified meter installers, but the sector is already experiencing a chronic skills shortage. So fast, effective and accredited training programmes and initiatives are vital if suppliers are to boost installer numbers to meet their obligations and avoid penalties, says the DTL report.

DTL’s new whitepaper, ‘Smart Meters: training to meet the challenge of the UK rollout’, explores the issues relating to the UK smart meter rollout and the role training must play in helping to address them.

The report highlights that the shortage of suitably trained engineers is by far the biggest challenge facing an industry under pressure to meet the smart meter target. Research has shown that almost one in five domestic customers who arranged for a smart meter to be installed in their home experienced long delays because there were too few engineers available to carry out the work.

Steve Braund, Marketing Manager at DTL, explains: “Smart meters are an integral part of the UK’s plans to create a greener, safer and more reliable energy network, but the rollout programme is placing severe demands on the energy firms and their supply chain. Faced with the need to meet Government targets, industry must take urgent action to address the skills gaps of existing engineers and, more importantly, increase the number of qualified smart meter installers.

“Our smart meter report is the latest in a series of whitepapers DTL has published on a variety of topics, including electrical safety at work, confined spaces and legionella – all of which are freely available to download from our website.”

To download a free copy of the whitepaper, please click here.

DTL can provide specialist training at any one of its seven training bases nationwide, and can also deliver on-site solutions. Visit www.developtraining.co.uk for more information.

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Commercial buildings: “It’s all about value, not cost”

(Image: Sunny Landa, director at NG Chartered Surveyors)

It’s not often you’ll hear a commercial property agent quoting Oscar Wilde, but there is rarely a greater truism than the playwright’s famous “Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing”.

Wilde spoke these words in 19th Century, but the sentiment remains – especially in the commercial property sector in Nottingham.

For some time now there has been a growing trend amongst the local industry for undercutting of fees. Naturally, landlords are attracted to this, as it means they’ll get to keep a greater slice of the pie after their property is sold or let.

However, the practice of undercutting or lowering fees is not only ethically wrong, but also short-termism at its worst.

Landlords might be tempted down this cheaper route, but we’d ask: do you really think you’re getting value for money? There’s an old adage: ‘you get what you pay for’, and this is certainly true when it comes to instructing a commercial property agent to dispose or let your property.

If an agent is offering a landlord lower fees to try and entice them, the landlord should question who will be looking after the instruction? Will it be the seasoned, qualified property professional, or will it be a green graduate, eager but fresh out of university and woefully inexperienced in looking after a property portfolio. My experience tells me it’ll be the latter.

We’ve seen this is in the commercial property sector before; it usually happens when we’re coming out of recession and agents are battling it out to take advantage of a businesses who have a little more confidence in the economy and are looking to move premises.

This time, however, it’s a little different.

There has been such little speculative development in the last ten years that stock levels of good quality accommodation are incredibly low. Agents are fighting over instructions, and this is leading some to offer unsustainable rates.

While we can’t force developers to build offices and industrial units, as agents we mustn’t simply lower prices to maintain cashflow – that way lies madness, and sure fire way to devalue the industry and give it a bad name.

Surely it is better to offer a service that our fees warrant? At NG we don’t think about cost – we think about value. A landlord who is willing to pay the going rate to let or sell his or her property will get the best possible service. Can the same be said if s/he decided to take a chance on a cheaper alternative? I don’t think so.

At NG we pride ourselves on standing out from the crowd. We have a mantra of: “Our values decide our character; and our character decides our value”. Commercial property agents in Nottingham have a purpose of duty not to offer cheap alternatives which let down landlords (and ultimately occupiers), but to offer value on every instruction.

“Taking what we can get” can only lead to one outcome, and when we’re all in a desperate race to the bottom, not only does the image of our industry take a battering, but everyone loses out.
As Oscar Wilde also said: ‘Experience is one thing you can’t get for nothing’.

Written by Sunny Landa, director at NG Chartered Surveyors.
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INFOGRAPHIC: Interesting facts about steel that you should know!

 

Steel is undoubtedly the backbone of our built environment. Steel is used in almost every sector of our industry, including energy, construction and housing (the largest consumer of steel), automotive and transportation, infrastructure and machinery – to name but a few. Seeing as the steel industry employs over 2 million people worldwide and can be seen everywhere around us, buildingspecifier thought it would be a good idea to delve a little deeper into the world of steel and shed light on a material that is so integral to our lives. We spoke to metal roofing experts, Country Towne who kindly put this infographic together, which highlights a few interesting facts about their favourite substance. Enjoy!
Steel

Infographic courtesy of Metal Roofing experts Country Towne.
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British citizens rank 53rd in Environmental Impact study

A new study from price comparison website MoneySuperMarket visualises the way people across the world affect the environment

  • Britain has a greener population than France, Germany and the United States – but is only 16th in Europe for green living and 53rd worldwide
  • Air pollution in the UK is more than double that of the US – and linked to 40,000 early deaths a year

A new study from MoneySuperMarket today reveals how people impact their environment, both in the UK and throughout the world. The new research highlights the individual contribution to the world’s climate – as well as highlighting areas for improvement for each country.

Britain managed to rank 53rd overall for individual impact on the world*, boasting a greener population than France, Germany and the United States. Overall, the UK is only 14% worse on an average score than Mozambique, the top-scoring country for environmental awareness, and 51% better than Trinidad & Tobago, the worst.

But the country shows up poorly when it comes to energy usage – only 22 per cent of UK energy is green, so even low usage has a higher impact in the world compared to Bhutan or Albania, where energy is nearly 100% green.

The French perform even worse, with green power at a low-ranking 17 per cent of their total usage. They also throw away seven per cent more waste than the UK every day.

And while Ireland is near the bottom of the rankings (99th overall) due to high waste and mid-level wastewater treatment, our air pollution is more than double. The United States, too, rank lower than Britain at 101st, but their air pollution is only 2.9µg/m3, compared to our 7.6µg/m3. This air pollution is linked to over 40,000 early deaths in the UK a year**.

Britain Among the Worst in Europe for CO2

Despite somewhat positive overall standing for per-person CO2 emissions, the UK’s results are poor compared with much of Europe, with 71% of other continental countries producing less of the greenhouse gas per capita.

9% of the UK’s CO2 emissions emanate from the capital each year, with industrial contributions only 22% higher than domestic.

Landfill Concerns

Previous UK policies have attempted to reduce the size of landfill, with limited success. Only 25% of municipal waste in the UK is recycled, with 49% being sent directly to landfill.

The average British citizen throws away 1.79kg of municipal solid waste a day – a higher amount than 50% of other European countries, including Sweden and the Czech Republic, and higher than anywhere in South America or Asia, with the exclusion of Sri Lanka.

As well as being an eyesore and damaging to the immediate local environment, landfills produce copious quantities of methane, a greenhouse gas with 21 times the effect on global warming of CO2.

“We wanted to know what our personal input to the environment was,” said Stephen Murray, Energy Expert at MoneySuperMarket.com, “Everyone wants to get their carbon footprint down, but now we can see exactly how the UK compares to the rest of the world – it really puts it in perspective.”

Using the interactive map you can view the breakdown of the different measurements that make up the average individual human impact in each country, including energy consumption, air pollution and reliance on non-renewable energy, see the MoneySuperMarket human impact interactive map here.

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Irvine Sellar, Shard developer passes away aged 82

The vision behind the Shard at London Bridge, Irvine Sellar has sadly passed away at the age of 82 after a period of short illness.

His son James, who has worked alongside his father for the past 20 years, will take over running of the Sellar Group, according to the statement released by the company.

Sellar will be remembered by his wife, three children and five grandchildren and his architectural legacy will continue through the buildings he helped create.

His most famous work, the Shard, dominates the London skyline and in its short life span has become a cultural icon of London and Great Britain overall. In memory of Irvine and as a celebration of his work, here are some fascinating facts about the Shard!

the Shard

It is 306 metres tall, briefly held the top spot for the whole of Europe before two buildings in Moscow overtook it within a year!
The average lift speed is 6 metres per second
The Shard is made up of 11,000 glass panels on its exterior
The area of the glass façade is 56,000 sq metres (602,779 sq ft), which equals eight football pitches.
Construction workers found a fox near the top, on the 7nd floor
95% of the construction materials are recycled.
20% of the steelwork is from recycled sources.
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