Construction through the ages

Buildingspecifier.com’s Joe Bradbury gives an overview of the evolution of construction through the ages; discussing humanity’s relationship to it, how it has shaped the modern world and how it might be in the future.

The evolution of building is inseparable from the evolution of man. One thing history and archaeology have proved undoubtedly is this; construction is a very old human activity. The need for a controlled environment to mitigate the effects of climate is a basic part of survival. So initially, construction was void of aesthetic purpose, instead being purely functional. Constructed shelters were one means by which human beings were able to adapt themselves to a wide variety of climates and become a global species.

Human shelters were initially relatively basic and may have only been used for a few days or months. But through time, these flimsy, temporary designs strengthened, developing into forms as complex as the igloo. As humans transitioned away from being nomadic and began to settle in one spot for extended periods of time (due largely to the development of agriculture), more robust creations gradually began to form. The first shelters were homes, but as time and skill progressed, distinct structures began being constructed for other purposes, including for food storage and ceremonial use.

A variety of trends have characterised the history of construction. One is the growing robustness of the materials used. Early building supplies like leaves, branches, and animal hides were perishable. Later, harder natural materials like clay, stone, and wood were utilised until finally, man-made materials like brick, concrete, metals, and plastics. Another is the pursuit of ever-higher and wider buildings, which was made feasible by the development of stronger materials as well as by the developing knowledge of how materials behave in order to decide where best to utilise them. The degree to which buildings’ interior environments are controlled—including air temperature, light and sound levels, humidity, odours, air speed, and other elements that affect people’s comfort—has recently undergone a third significant trend. The evolution of the energy available for the construction process, starting with human muscle power and progressing to the potent machinery used today, has propelled construction into the world we know today. For better for worse, we have tailored an enormous part of the environment we find ourselves in each day. Construction is everywhere.

Construction couldn’t be further from its simple roots. The whole process now is infinitely complex. A variety of building systems and products are available, most of which are targeted towards certain markets or types of buildings. Building design is now a highly organised process that involves a variety of stakeholders, including design professionals who identify user needs and create a building that satisfies those needs, people who adopt and enforce safety standards and research institutions that investigate intricately the properties and performance of materials. The manufacturing of building systems and products, the craftsmen who assemble them on the construction site, the contractors who hire and oversee the work of the craftsmen, and consultants with expertise in areas like construction management, quality assurance, and insurance make up the highly organised construction process of the present age.

Revolutions spark evolutions

Today’s construction industry contributes significantly to industrial culture, demonstrating its adaptability and complexity as well as its mastery of natural forces, which can result in a built environment with a wide range of diversity to meet the many sophisticated demands of society.

A fourth industrial revolution is currently underway, and anyone alive today has front row tickets; we’re right on the cusp of it! In contemporary history, the Industrial Revolution can be characterised as the transition from an agrarian and handicraft economy to one that is dominated by industry and machine manufacture. The 18th century saw the start of this process in Britain, which then spread to other regions of the globe.

The period from the middle of the 18th century until about 1830, (which modern historians refer to as the first Industrial Revolution) was largely limited to Britain. From the middle of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th, Britain, continental Europe, North America, and Japan all experienced the second Industrial Revolution. With the emergence of electronics, telecommunications, and computers, the third revolution extended even wider. These new innovations fundamentally altered our civilization by making space exploration, digital research, and biotechnology possible.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is currently well under way, is the convergence of numerous technological advancements in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, quantum computing, etc.

Technology accelerates change

The phrase itself is a perfect description of how the lines separating the biological, digital, and physical worlds are constantly blurring. As digitalization and technology advance, so does our growing dependence on them; as a result, many goods and services we use in modern life are swiftly turning into necessities. Without GPS, virtual reality, BIM, robotics, and social media, where would we be today? Are we dependent on it? Will it be the catalyst for our success or downfall? Time will tell.

Where next?

Even a cursory look through trade publications will reveal how hotly contested the future of the construction sector is. Will it occur off-site? Will they be intelligent homes? What kind of dwelling will it be? What about modularity? Will it be enduring? We pose a lot of thoughtful questions and offer a lot of well-informed answers, but doing so is essentially like looking into a crystal ball.

We can all agree that it is impossible to remain the same in a world that is changing. It is well acknowledged that the construction industry has historically been hesitant to change. In fact, despite its enormous potential, offsite as an example has not yet been embraced to anywhere close to the levels it should be in order to meet modern demand and really address the present housing crisis.

Environmental motivations begin to take priority

Another thing that is taking the reins of how and why we build things now… the damages we are inflicting upon our environment are now coming back around as problems that we are having to engineer solutions to in order to overcome. This shapes the built environment massively and will only do so with increasing voracity as we move into the future.

The UK construction sector alone currently accounts for 32% of all landfill waste, 45% of all UK carbon emissions, and more incidents of water contamination than any other sector. Globally, the building industry is responsible for roughly 45–50% of the world’s energy use, close to 50% of its water use, and roughly 60% of its raw material usage.

We need to do something about that, and this too dictates trends.

In summary

It seems that construction and mankind are inseparable. We’ve grown up together, through the infancy of our early days as hunter gatherers to adolescence where we find ourselves now, making clumsy mistakes that have cost us dearly. As we transition into adulthood as a species and begin to take responsibility, the way we construct and build improves and continues to improve exponentially. We’re thinking differently now, and I’m excited to see where the evolution of built environment takes us. Perhaps into a brave new world?

Things seem to be changing so quickly now that the debate on whether or not change is a good thing is becoming irrelevant. Instead we are left with no choice but to adapt. But as an industry, we’re good at that. We’ve been changing since day one.

 

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EXPANDING THE RANGE: the Future of electric vehicles

 

Market research indicates electric cars are becoming more and more popular, which is great news for our environment. However, inconsistent and patchy charging point coverage is currently standing in the way of progress. Range anxiety is now the biggest barrier to widespread electric car use across Britain today. How will our infrastructure and our built environment need to change to overcome this barrier? Buildingspecifier.com’s Joe Bradbury investigates:

 

Put simply, range anxiety is the fear that a vehicle has insufficient range in the battery to reach its destination, leaving the driver and their passengers stranded. The term, which is primarily used in reference to battery electric vehicles (BEVs), is one of the main given reasons as to why consumers are put off from buying an electric car.

 

The concern that users of all-electric vehicles may become stranded has led to public calls for extensive public charging networks. As of December 2013, Estonia is the only country that had deployed an EV charging network with nationwide coverage, with fast chargers available along highways at a maximum distance of between 40 to 60 km (25 to 37 mi), and a higher density in urban areas.

 

Electric cars are very much the future of the automobile industry and their adoption rate is rising rapidly throughout the UK and the rest of the world. In fact, sales of electric vehicles saw an 11% increase in the past year, bringing the total amount of UK registrations to 2%. This pales in comparison to the figures in Norway, where 48% of registered vehicles are now electric. By the year 2040, the UK government plans to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles in order to curb emissions and hit climate change targets.

 

Why electric cars matter

 

Air pollution from petrol and diesel cars and vans results in health bills of nearly £6bn every year in the UK, according to researchers at the universities of Oxford and Bath.

 

As to be expected, pollution is highest in cities, and diesel vehicles are the worst offenders in terms of harmful pollutants. In total, Oxford and Bath experts concluded the health cost of an average car in inner London over the vehicle’s lifetime was nearly £8,000. For diesel cars this figure was nearly double.

 

Pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter and PM2.5, found in exhaust fumes, have been linked with an array of health risks including lung cancer and heart disease.

 

Needless to say, something must be done.

The good news

 

The last few years have seen a remarkable surge in demand for electric vehicles in the UK – new registrations of plug-in cars increased from 3,500 in 2013 to more than 214,000 by the end of May 2019. There has also been a huge increase in the number of pure-electric and plug-in hybrid models available in the UK with many of the top manufacturers in the UK now offering a number of EVs as part of their model range.

 

Figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) each month show that electric car sales in the UK have risen dramatically over the past few years. While only around 500 electric cars were registered per month during the first half of 2014, this has now risen to an average of 5,000 per month during 2018.

 

By the end of 2018, almost 60,000 plug-in cars had been registered over the course of the year – a new record. This significantly improved upon the previous record, set in 2017, increasing it by more than 13,000 units. By the end of the year, plug-in cars as a proportion of total UK registrations reached 3.8%, and averaged over 2018 electric cars represented 2.7 per cent of the total new car market in the UK.

 

In the first five months of 2019, more than 22,000 plug-in cars have been sold, and a rolling 12-month total to the end of May has seen almost 60,000 new electric vehicles hit the road.

 

The bad news

 

Unfortunately, analysis suggests that a “patchy” network of charging points is currently preventing British drivers from fully embracing the benefits electric cars, something the government have said that they plan to address going forward.

 

The RAC have repeatedly stated the current network is the main deterrents for consumers considering a swap to electric cars. Over 35% of local authorities have ten or fewer locations where drivers can plug in their vehicles, with wide variation across the country.

 

Out of 385 authorities, only three had 100 or more charging locations. Milton Keynes was found to be leading the way with 138, followed by Westminster with 131 and Cornwall with 115. Overall, two thirds of local authorities were found to have 20 or fewer. Only one charging location was identified in Merthyr Tydfil, Caerphilly, North Dorset and Hinckley and Bosworth in the dataset.

 

The Department for Transport says 80% of charging is done at home, but for drivers who do not have access to off-street parking access to charging points is essential.

 

This is clearly a cause for concern; however it should not deter people from buying an electric vehicle entirely. The BBC’s Shared Data Unit analysed data from Open Charge Map, a crowd-sourced website of charging locations and found that electric vehicle owners can charge their cars in over 7,000 public locations across the UK, with the average distance between points ranging from 0.16km in Westminster to 10km in Craven, North Yorkshire.

 

The app currently does not feature all charging points across the country, but aims to be a “reliable single point of reference for charging equipment location information”.

 

What’s the remedy?

 

It’s clear to see then that range anxiety is a rational fear, given the current state of our infrastructure. However, studies also suggest that range anxiety may be exaggerated, concluding that most daily trips can be accomplished within the range of an inexpensive electric vehicle.

 

The main strategies to alleviate this anxiety among electric car drivers are the deployment of extensive charging infrastructure, the development of higher battery capacity at a cost-effective price, battery swapping technology, use of range extenders, accurate navigation and range prediction and availability of free loan vehicles for long trips.

 

Electric vehicle manufacturers are working hard to eradicate ‘range anxiety’ concerns through increased battery capacities to extend the vehicle’s range. For example, REVA has a proprietary technology called “Revive”, which is a battery reserve that can be released by electric vehicle users by texting or calling an operations center. Using a range extender solution, as implemented in the Chevrolet Volt or the BMW i3, the internal combustion engine switches on to recharge the battery before it is empty. Another method is the proposed Ridek modular vehicle approach whereby a vehicle’s chassis could be exchanged for one containing a larger-capacity battery at a network of chassis-exchange stations before embarking on a long journey.

 

It seems that since lack of information is an enormous contributing factor in causing ‘range anxiety’, a good navigation system with knowledge of the battery capacity and remaining distance can minimize the fear.

 

 

 

 

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Don’t fear AI, specifiers

The COVID-19 epidemic has expedited technological development and the automation of many everyday jobs, from robots that deliver parcels to contactless cashiers. Many people are now worried that artificial intelligence (AI) could significantly increase automation and eliminate jobs in the ensuing decades. This isn’t the case. Buildingspecifier.com editor Joe Bradbury discusses:

Similar issues were raised as the internet expanded just a few decades ago. Despite scepticism, the technology led to the creation of millions of jobs worldwide.

It’s natural to feel a little uneasy when the robots and employment are brought up. After all, we frequently hear phrases like “a machine can do that, quicker and cheaper” or “one day when robots are doing our jobs.”

The fact, however, is much less frightful than these discussions and the sensationalism that surrounds the subject. In fact, artificial intelligence and automation are the next stage of digital growth for the construction industry.

Even though it may seem inevitable that some occupations will eventually be replaced by machines, there are more advantages to automation and AI than disadvantages, especially when you consider that these technologies are more likely to increase industrial productivity while also creating new jobs.

When thoroughly examined, automation in construction has far more positive effects on both the personnel in the sector and the people who ultimately benefit from construction projects.

Two of the strongest arguments for the sector adopting automation are listed below:

Safer working environment

Construction is most dangerous due to the physical demands of the work. The construction sector is one of the largest in the UK economy – employing 3.1 million people, or over 9% of the workforce.

Fatalities to construction workers in Great Britain have actually risen slightly over the last two years from 1.36 people per 100,000 in 2018/19 to 1.84 people per 100,000 in 2020/21. Over the whole of the last decade there has been a modest decrease in fatal injuries of just 2.44%.

Clearly, the job site poses hazards that other industries rarely match, which means construction stakeholders have a responsibility to take every available precaution to make the job safer.

Thank goodness advancements in automation and artificial intelligence provide significant potential to boost construction safety. AI and automation may be used to:

  • AI decreases intensive physical labour and the risk of errors and injuries caused by humans. Even though robots now outperform humans at many tasks, they are also learning quite quickly.
  • AI can replace high-risk jobs. This technology can not only replace mundane work but also hazardous ones. In mines, on underwater construction sites, and even in distant regions, machines are increasingly taking the place of human workers.
  • AI works with already-in-place safety equipment. Technology can be linked with already-in-place personal protective equipment (PPE), by alerting managers when staff members are present without PPE.

Additionally, machine learning is employed to recognise security issues more quickly. Some clever businesses are working on technology that can actually predict building accidents before they happen.

Reducing the labour shortage gap

While some complain that machines are snatching their jobs, there is in fact currently a significant labour shortage in the construction industry.

Robotics and automation, when used properly, can increase the effectiveness of the current workforce by filling in for vacant positions in certain occupations.

Robotics, for instance, can be used to carry out labour-intensive tasks like excavation and preparation work with less people. While the market catches up, these technologies can handle duties like driving heavy machinery and other vehicles, keeping the industry operational and preventing any negative effects on human stakeholders’ and those workers’ bottom lines from labour shortages.

AI can also help with labour planning, and automation in the building industry has significantly reduced the amount of necessary but repetitive physical labour. For instance, historically a project team member would be responsible for completing a process like making submission logs, which could take days or even weeks to generate, track, and manage. This can now be automated, freeing up the employees time so that it may be utilised more productively.

How to get ready for the future of constuction

So, with automation and AI at our disposal, how can construction firms get ready for a new way of working? It entails approaching everything with an open mind:

  • Be receptive to change. Companies with a strong history of digitization have a 50% higher chance of making money utilising AI. If your business isn’t there yet, try to start right away, even with baby steps.
  • Encourage staff growth and make wise hiring decisions. Consider training internal staff in the abilities required by impending automation. We must prepare our workforce for success in order for AI to succeed.
  • Choose employees who can keep up with the pace. Future building jobs will require a higher level of ability and more regular improvements.
  • Increase data collection efforts. The key component for artificial intelligence and automation to succeed in any business is data. It’s wise to be data-driven to improve AI’s future at your business, regardless of when you implement it—whether that’s in the next year or ten.

In summary

Artificial intelligence (AI) is regarded as one of the most revolutionary inventions in human history, and its transformative potential has already been seen by many. Unsurprisingly, some of the most advanced technologies we utilise on a daily basis are powered by AI-based breakthroughs.

Today, AI enables businesses, governments, and communities to create a high-performing ecosystem that will benefit everyone on the planet. Some of the most important issues facing society are being resolved as a result of its tremendous impact on human lives. Give it a chance!

 

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The impact of cinema on building design

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When we watch movies, we witness characters moving and acting in enthralling environments, carefully selected or created to evoke the beautiful, the horrifying, the majestic. Designers and architects, on the other hand, watch films a little differently; they tend to be interested in how the background themes interact with the main theme through the film’s architectural layers. They start to notice and study the language and personality of all the structures depicted in these films and understand their role in crafting an evocative environment. Building Specifier editor Joe Bradbury discusses the correlation between movie and building:

Architects often strive to figure out how these structures came to be, pondering how they were constructed. They might even be able to picture the blueprints that would be required to bring the structure into existence. It’s hard to explain, but architects and designers know when they see an ambitious fictional building that could actually be perceived and imagined in reality. This pushes them to innovate and reach for the sky.

Science Fiction is one such genre that can be described as a no-holds-barred lens through which we might perceive the future of brave and rule-breaking architectural design. In fact, the last 50 years alone have proved that some films even hinted at technologies that later came to exist in the future, not long after their fictional inception.

Science Fiction throws the rulebook in the bin when it comes to city planning and building design. Unrestrained by the limits of planning policies, building codes, rules, regulations, red tape and logistics the human imagination is set free, allowing us, the viewer to experience gargantuan technological metropolises, brimming with richness and character.

In film, design aspects such as scale, proportions, colours, textures and forms can easily be given a deeper and intangible meaning. They not only depict larger-than-life scales, but often demonstrate the complex relationship between architecture and society, including scenes that display both the negative and good aspects of it.

Whilst observing these fictional environments, it’s wise to wonder “what lessons can be drawn from this?”

Films can act as architectural critique

Films frequently feature dystopic images. Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’, set in 2019 San Angeles, features an unforgettable futuristic, post-industrialist city, which is an excellent example of this. For those watching closely, the film is certainly a critique of the past and present, as well as a clear embodiment of the troubles engendered by this new urban condition. It serves as a cautionary tale about population growth, urban development, and unfettered capitalism.

 

How design influences our films

Needless to say, movies have an unquestionable impact on modern design and our cultural understanding of environments overall. However, the pendulum swings both ways and modern architecture, in turn, brings its creative aspect to the cinema, also – forming a continuous loop of inspiration.

Cinema is an art form in which architecture can play a prominent role. Architecture helps to add significance to a film’s story and to set the scene in terms of both location and time period.

Cinema allows for the preservation of old building as well as the invention of futuristic styles that have yet to be seen. It depicts architecture as we see it in our daily lives in the cities we live in, including both new and old buildings. Because architecture is used as part of the scenery for cinematic works, architecture and cinema are inextricably linked. It permits a city to be depicted in both a realistic and a fantastical manner.

Films can also be beneficial to urban planners since they help them to think about how cities will expand and evolve in the future. Architects can understand how the city is constructed in our collective imagination and how it might be represented in many ways, thanks to movies. One can watch something set in a dystopia and consider “what went wrong?” Conversely, one can watch a film about a Utopia and consider what steps would need to be taken in order to guide society towards this goal.

Hollywood’s link to construction

Many well-known actors and actresses in Hollywood have a background in architecture. Joseph Kosinski, the director behind blockbusters including ‘Tron Legacy’ and ‘Oblivion’, received his Master of Architecture from Columbia University in 1999. Instead of pursuing a career as an architect, Kosinki pursued a career in cinema, owing to his digital modelling skills, which he learned while studying architecture.

Following the completion of his thesis Beyond Mise-En-Scène: Narrative Through Architecture in Main Stream Cinema, Anshuman Prasad relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a set designer. ‘Captain America: Winter Soldier’, ‘Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’, and ‘The Hangover’ are among his many blockbuster flicks.

Comparing the two

In many aspects, movie sets are comparable to building sites in that they require many separate, independent professional organisations that are constantly collaborating with new people on set/site – many of whom they have never met and will never encounter again.

The importance of timing, as well as logistics, coordination, and communication, cannot be overstated. Production facilities change while production moves forward at constantly-changing locations. Construction professionals and actors alike can expect unpredictable weather and daily variations from the schedule, however there is still the pressure that fixed production plans must be closely adhered to; otherwise affects upon the overall project will be severe.

On a building site, it only takes one tiny mistake to start an expanding problem-chain that can result in lost money, poor quality, accidents, conflicts, and so on. This is a scenario that is quite similar to what happens on a huge professional movie set on a daily basis: Consider any minor hiccup in the production plans for shooting a car chase through a city, or a sick main actor in a scheduled scene with rented animal trainers, child actors, weather dependencies, hundreds of extras, incorporating production into special effects design, signing a slew of permissions on a faraway location rented for the day, and so on.

In summary

There is certainly a strong link between the world of movies and the world of building design. Next time you stick one on, pay close attention to the backdrop – the unsung hero of cinema.

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How will the Ukrainian conflict affect construction?

On February 24th 2022, Russia attacked Ukraine, escalating the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014 with the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity (Maidan). With more than 5.2 million Ukrainians fleeing the country and a fifth of the population displaced, the invasion has triggered Europe’s greatest refugee crisis since World War II. Buildingspecifier.com Editor Joe Bradbury investigates how the conflict will affect construction.

The invasion has been widely denounced as an act of aggression around the world. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling for Russia’s military to be fully withdrawn.

Sanctions

The Ukrainian conflict has immediate, serious, and far-reaching economic ramifications. This is owing in part to the fast international response prompted by the conflict, with the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom (among others) enacting a series of substantial sanctions (many of which were joint and coordinated) against Russia. These numbers are steadily rising.

The sanctions imposed thus far have mostly targeted a number of sectors of the Russian economy, as well as certain military and political officials in Russia and Belarus, and have limited the importation of some Russian exports.

The impact on construction

The crisis in Ukraine and the resulting sanctions are already having an impact on the cost and availability of materials and equipment needed for construction projects. In the United Kingdom, this industry often has low profit margins yet requires substantial resources to complete projects. As a result, any disruption to supply chains swiftly results in financial difficulties. The battle will aggravate an already tumultuous market already beset by Brexit, COVID-19, shipping delays, inflation, and rising energy and fuel prices.

Given Europe’s substantial reliance on Russian gas and oil supplies, the conflict has had a significant influence on fuel prices, with both prices rising significantly. These prices are anticipated to stay high and rise further, raising the cost of materials used in projects that require a lot of energy to make and create, such as steel, bricks, plastics, and ceramics. Transportation expenses for construction equipment, plant, and supplies are also expected to rise.

According to data and analytics firm GlobalData, the construction industry in Eastern Europe is expected to contract by 3.4% in 2022 as a result of the prolonged conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Recent research from GlobalData reveals that economies with strong ties to Russia would be the most affected, but the conflict will have rippling effects throughout the area, with higher energy and raw material prices, as well as a loss of trust in the region from project investors.

The worst affected market, of course, will be that of Ukraine, which is forecast to fall by 69.1%.

Joel Hanna, Economist at GlobalData, said “Construction in most countries in Eastern Europe is likely to be affected by rising energy prices, exacerbated supply chain disruptions and local currency devaluations owing to weakened investor confidence in the region over the uncertainty of the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Moreover, household income squeezes are likely to weaken demand and undermine growth in commercial construction projects, while rising construction costs will push housing prices higher, reducing demand for residential construction.”

He added “Construction costs in Eastern Europe are already rising owing to the post-pandemic demand rebound and supply-side shortages pushing up raw materials prices and shipping costs. The crisis in Ukraine adds significant upward pressure to construction costs in 2022, which will eat away further at project profitability, dampening the outlook for construction activity in the near future.”

In summary

It is still too early to tell how sanctions against Russia may affect construction materials. However, bricks, aircrete blocks, roof tiles, steel lintels, cable trays and trunking, manhole covers, gas boilers, and some electrical products are still in short supply.

Some argue that price inflation, caused by a shortage of raw materials, rising energy, freight and labour costs is of greater concern than availability. So far this year, many firms have announced price increases of 5-10%, with energy-intensive products seeing rises of up to 20%.

While road haulage problems have lessened as the shortage of HGV drivers has reduced, transport costs remain high, with shipping rates still eight-to-nine times higher than pre-covid levels and air cargo rates seven times higher.

Meanwhile, the impact of the Ukraine conflict and following Russian sanctions on the supply of building materials in the UK is still to be determined.

Only 1.25% of building supplies shipped into the UK last year came from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. However, increased prices of raw materials needed in the making of steel, such as aluminium, copper, bitumen, pig-iron, and iron ore, may have an impact on prices.

Increasing costs in more exposed European markets could have an impact. Sanctions against individuals with links to the regime in Russia and firms with Russian ownership could also affect the UK supply chain.

So in answer to the question, how will the Ukraine conflict affect construction, the answer is – watch this space.

 

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The Future of Tidal Power

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Tidal Power is Set for a Commercial Breakthrough in the UK

by Simon Waldman

Tidal energy has long lurked at the back of the UK’s renewable energy arsenal, outshone by its wind and solar counterparts due in part to early issues with technology readiness and high costs.

Yet with recent research showing it could provide 11 percent of the UK’s electricity needs – and with significant government investment in the pipeline for UK projects – its future is looking ever brighter.

Tides are large movements of water around the Earth, powered by the gravitational pull of the Sun and Moon. In areas with particularly strong tides, we can harvest some of this power using turbines – similar to wind turbines, but underwater – that turn as water flows past them. This approach is more popular at present than previous ideas of using tidal barrages which are similar to dams, mostly because its environmental impacts are less severe.

In the last decade, the global tidal energy industry has demonstrated that siphoning energy from the sea works predictably and reliably. Around a dozen experimental turbine designs have been generating electricity in Scotland, Wales, Canada, China, France and Japan, many of them supplying power to homes and businesses.

The UK’s first “commercial” tidal energy projects, led by developers SIMEC Atlantis and Nova Innovation, both have multi-turbine arrays in the water in Scotland. The largest of these can currently produce six megawatts of power: that’s about the same as two or three onshore wind turbines, providing enough energy to run a few thousand homes. Expansion of the project is already underway. Over in the Faroe Islands, tidal developer Minesto has just announced plans for a 120 megawatt array which would supply 40 percent of the islands’ energy needs.

Tidal turbine designs tend to be divided by one big question: whether it’s best for them to float, or to be mounted on the seabed. Floating turbines are easier to access for maintenance, and they benefit from faster-flowing water near the surface. But those on the seabed are less affected by storms and – in deep enough water – could allow ships to sail freely above them. It’s not yet clear whether one approach will win out, or whether the choice will depend on the location.

Either way, now that it has working technology in its hands, the tidal power industry needs to demonstrate that it can bring costs down. Luckily, there’s precedent here in the story of offshore wind. With the help of government support in the UK and elsewhere, offshore wind developers around the world have cut costs by close to a third over the last decade, and further reductions are expected thanks to ongoing research and development.

Money matters

The cost of tidal energy may never be as low as that of wind. That’s partly because tidal turbines can’t be scaled up in size in the same way as wind turbines (in a limited depth of water, you can only build so big), and partly because doing things under the sea is usually more expensive than doing them on the surface (it’s a harsher, less accessible environment). But matching costs may not even be necessary.

As critics are keen to point out, the wind does not always blow, the sun does not always shine, and the tide is not always flowing: so to build a resilient low-carbon electricity system, we’ll need to use a range of different energy sources rather than relying only on that which is cheapest.

Tidal power offers the unique advantage that while its output will vary over time, that variation is predictable years in advance by understanding the orbits of the Earth and Moon. This means that grid operators will be able to plan for the varying output of tidal turbines, and schedule other sources to fill in the gaps.

Fortunately, the UK government seems to be stepping up to help the tidal industry. The latest round of the UK’s “Contracts for Difference” renewable energy funding contains a “pot” for tidal energy, so that it doesn’t have to compete with cheaper technologies like offshore wind – for now. And the recently published British Energy Security Strategy promises rather fiercely to “aggressively explore” tidal and geothermal energy technology.

Tidal energy is never going to be a big player at the global scale in the same way as wind or solar, because only a few parts of the world have strong tides. And unfortunately, it won’t be ready in time to help with the energy price crisis that we face right now.

But for those places with strong tides, including the UK, it has significant prospects, with a global market estimated by some analysts at $170 billion. And there may be potential in developing turbine tech further to take advantage of slower, but more consistent, ocean currents like the Kuroshio current off the coast of Japan.

Tidal energy technology works, and it’s here to stay. Now, the most efficient way to get it powering our homes and businesses is to build more of it.

Simon Waldman is a Lecturer in Renewable Energy at University of Hull.

 

Source: The Maritime Executive

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We must upgrade our existing built environment

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Did you know that 80% of the homes that people will inhabit in 2050 already built and up to 75% of today’s buildings likely to still be in use by 2050? These statistics alone indicate the importance of retrofit in delivering a healthy and vibrant built environment fit for the future. Buildingspecifier.com Editor Joe Bradbury investigates:

As carbon emissions continue to accelerate global warming, an ever-increasing need for action to be taken to mitigate climate change has emerged.

Buildings currently account for the highest percentage of worldwide energy-related carbon emissions (39%) in both operation and construction, with operations emissions accounting for 28%.

With 80% of the homes that people will inhabit in 2050 already built and up to 75% of today’s buildings likely to still be in use by 2050, the construction sector must prioritise renovating existing buildings on a large scale to if we are to have any hope of meeting the Paris Agreement’s energy-saving targets.

The message is plain and clear; in order to reach carbon-cutting targets, the building industry must prioritise retrofitting existing assets.

While climate change is definitely a global concern, the path to decarbonisation must take regional differences into account. More than half of the building stock required in developing countries by 2050 has yet to be constructed, reducing the requirement for retrofits in those areas. As a result, more industrialised countries must bear the burden of addressing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions connected to the built environment, as much of the future building stock is, in fact, already in place.

However, existing issues, as well as a variety of other impediments in these areas are currently blocking the large-scale retrofitting so sorely required to reach global decarbonisation ambitions.  From financial and skills-based barriers to concerns with inadequate building rules and underperforming buildings overall, these obstacles vary in complexity from region to region. While some progress has been achieved in overcoming these obstacles, it is evident that more urgent action is still required.

What role will technology play?

Technology may hold the key to bolstering our efforts to cut carbon emissions and overcome current roadblocks preventing us from achieving our aims at present. Furthermore, technology enables better network interconnection among areas, which is critical for a worldwide strategy.

The recovery and reuse of materials, which is a critical component of the retrofit process, can be aided by establishing long-term circularity in the built environment through the formation of a circular economy and the widespread use of material passports.

Smart technology integration will also aid the industry in meeting its decarbonisation goals. Smart buildings and smart grids, for example, use information and communications technology (ICTs) to collect activity data and allow components to “speak” with one another and to a central system, so we can run our buildings more efficiently and lower their environmental effect.

Buildings needn’t be new to be efficient

It is a common misconception that older or outdated buildings need to be replaced entirely with more modern counterparts in order to achieve any tangible results with energy efficiency. In reality, a building needn’t be new to be efficient.

Anyone can create something from the ground up, but Great British values are based on a “make do and mend” approach. It has served us well in the past, and it continues to serve us well in the present. While many building owners work diligently to improve particular technologies such as heating or lighting, a holistic strategy to energy consumption is eventually required to combat inefficiency and increase savings. This is where we, as industry professionals, must take the lead and educate the sector about the products and technologies that we as refurbishing and retrofit professionals have at our disposal.

It is our responsibility to convey that, while the initial cost of incorporating numerous technologies and processes into a refurbishment may be higher, the upgrades are more than offset by energy savings over time.

Take lighting, for example: doing a lighting upgrade alone can save your organisation up to 50% on energy costs. It’s simple to understand where money may be saved when you consider that lighting accounts for 30-40% of a business building’s electric cost. These savings would be substantially greater if other energy-saving strategies were implemented alongside.

Time is critical

Commercial properties alone account for a large component of the built environment, even before housing and private sector structures are taken into account. They provide a platform for most of the country’s key sectors, as well as locations for the general population to work, shop, socialise, study and rest. In the 21st century, commercial buildings are undeniably important. Despite the fact that investment in this burgeoning industry is on the rise, commercial buildings are among the worst performers in terms of energy efficiency.

The commercial sector is responsible for roughly 26% of all greenhouse gas emissions from buildings in the UK, according to the Committee on Climate Change. The world’s population currently consumes 1.6 planet’s worth of resources every year. According to the Global Footprint Network, if we continue to consume at our current rate, we will deplete the global carbon budget and lock in more than 2 degrees of global warming in around 17 years… The entire world requires a retrofit!

It starts at school

The proposed national funding formula attempts to ensure that funding in schools across the country is consistent. However, there are fears that if this were to be implemented, it would cause huge financial changes for some schools, potentially making them worse off.

When you throw in the apparent education funding problem, as well as teacher retention and recruitment issues, it’s no surprise that many schools are under pressure to cut money wherever they can.

In light of this, there are a variety of ways that schools can adjust their energy usage to save money while also becoming more environmentally friendly. Retrofitting schools so that they were not only better for the environment but also cheaper to run would be a fantastic lesson to teach our children; one they could carry on into the future as we gradually take more and more responsibility for our planet.

In summary

A productive building is one that is efficient. We can help counteract manmade climate change while also reaping a slew of profitable ancillary benefits as an industry, simply by being thoughtful in how we generate and use energy. We can also set an example for future generations, ensuring that professionals in the built environment continue to work in a healthy, dynamic environment for many years to come. The act of retrofitting is to look back and learn from our mistakes and improve upon them, to keep moving the industry forward to a brighter future.

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Wind vs. skyscrapers

Britain is being hammered by wind at the moment. Storm Franklin, which hit the UK on Monday, brought hurricane-force winds and flooding in the wake of the devastating Storm Eunice, causing travel mayhem and power outages over most of the country. During this windy period, Buildingspecifier.com Editor Joe Bradbury takes a look at the interaction between wind and skyscrapers in our built environment.

Hundreds of people were told to flee their houses in south Manchester on Sunday night, while thousands of homes remained without power as a result of the worst UK storm in decades. Franklin brought wind gusts of up to 80 mph, resulting in two severe weather warnings in effect in south Manchester, indicating a life-threatening situation, as well as over 300 flood warnings and alerts across England, Scotland, and Wales.

According to a study published in the journal ‘Nature Climate Change’, wind speeds are increasing over the world, which is excellent news for renewable energy production – at least for the time being. However, wind also causes much destruction and can be a blight to the construction industry overall.

Winds have been rising quicker across most of North America, Europe, and Asia since roughly 2010. The global average wind speed has increased from roughly 7 mph to about 7.4 mph in less than a decade. This amounts to a 17% increase in potential wind energy for the average wind turbine. How does this challenge our built environment?

The effect of wind on skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are obviously built with wind in mind. Many of them can sustain high force winds for prolonged periods of time, with safety features built in to reduce and damages that may occur in a storm. However, they do affect the direction of wind, and this in of itself can cause many problems.

Although skyscrapers are among the most recognisable structures in modern cities, they can have a negative impact on local wind patterns. Skyscrapers create two types of wind disturbance, which when combined result in high wind speeds at street level.

The downdraught effect occurs when a single building is hit by the wind directly in the face, causing it to stretch out in all directions. The wind shifted downward towards the street speeds rapidly since it is constrained to small gaps between buildings.

When multiple tall buildings are built along both sides of a street, channelling or funnelling develops, emulating a natural canyon. High wind speeds, turbulence, and noise result as a result of this.

Skyscrapers can cause wind disturbance, making it harder for pedestrians to walk, and fast wind can also chill people in cold weather. Strong winds at street level can also knock down signs and other things with a big frontal area, sending them flying at tremendous speeds. This has been responsible for both casualties and property damage. Therefore, on-site weather and wind monitoring is critical for safety.

 

 

The Walkie Talkie, or 20 Fenchurch Street Building, is a massive 37-story tower with 660,000 square feet of office space, 23,000 square feet of retail space, and a rooftop garden. The building is known for the windy microclimate it creates around its base, which is due to the significant downdraught effect caused by its design.

Workers have fallen down, food trolleys have been overturned and signs have been dislodged from neighbouring buildings as a result of the wind disruption around the Walkie Talkie. Furthermore, the structure produces a loud whistling sound and required the installation of sunshades to reduce glare from reflected sunlight.

The glare was apparently so intense that it created localised heating that damaged parked vehicles.

Skyscrapers are also prominent in New York City, but their downdraught impact is mitigated by the city’s vast streets and avenues. London, on the other hand, still has many small mediaeval alleyways that result in a more severe downdraught effect surrounding towering buildings.

The 32-story Bridgewater Place, Leeds’ tallest building, has a noticeable downdraught effect as well. Since the building’s construction in 2007, high winds have caused numerous mishaps resulting in injuries.

How to reduce wind disruption around skyscrapers

According to the City of London Corporation there have been many cases where wind studies for high-rise construction underestimate wind conditions on the street after the project is completed. So, more accurate tools and data are needed to plan for the wind effect of tall buildings.

According to field evidence, the downdraught effect is worse when a building has sharp corners and is mitigated somewhat when a structure has smooth shapes. The Gherkin is a building that provides an example of this: although it is 41 storeys tall, its rounded shape results in minimal wind disruption compared with the Walkie Talkie.

Weather monitoring systems can be used to analyse wind conditions in the streets around tall structures, and the data acquired can be utilised as a reference when developing future projects or while they are being built. A ‘live’ monitoring solution can provide automatic warnings when wind conditions on the street are severe, allowing sensitive operations like building activity to be suspended promptly.

In summary

Although sometimes an unyielding beast, wind holds enormous potential. Wind energy is a popular, renewable energy source that has a far lower environmental impact than burning fossil fuels. Many individual wind turbines are connected to the electric power transmission network to form wind farms, which generated almost 1600 TWh of power in 2020, accounting for nearly 5% of global electrical generation and 2% of global energy consumption.

New onshore (on-land) wind farms are cheaper than new coal or gas plants,[7] but expansion of wind power is being hindered by fossil fuel subsidies. Analysts say it should develop far quicker – by more than 1% of annual electricity generation – to help fulfil the Paris Agreement goals for limiting climate change.

Perhaps there is even more untapped potential blowing past our windows, who knows? Until then, the construction industry is forced to contend with and make allowances for, the increasing number of storms in Britain today. Stay safe… and if you are the owner of a high rise building, ensure you have the correct wind monitoring procedures in place.

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Will There be Cities on Mars?

A lot goes into a building’s design and construction. Engineers labour over each single detail for weeks or months, applying a science that we’ve refined brick by brick over the course of many years. …what if we took this industry off the Earth? Many people still think of permanent human settlements in space as science fiction, but we don’t realise how close we are to making this a reality. Buildingspecifier.com Editor Joe Bradbury discusses:

It’s no secret that Tesla’s Elon Musk has his eyes on the skies. He expects to transport one million people to Mars by launching three Starship rockets every day and generating “a lot of jobs” on the red planet. Musk has repeatedly stated that he is “very convinced” that SpaceX will land humans on Mars by 2026.

Prior to Christmas, Elon revealed that he has a new timeline for his big Mars project — and it’s sooner than you might think. “I’ll be surprised if we’re not landing on Mars within five years,” he told Time Magazine last year. Musk, the 50-year-old SpaceX founder and CEO has big plans for the Red Planet: namely, a self-sustaining city with solar-powered hydroponic farms where humans can permanently live, 34 million miles away from Earth.

Obviously, to achieve this we will need to achieve some impressive architectural feats, pushing the boundaries of what construction is capable of. 3D printed projects, automated systems, and construction technology will all be needed facilitate building on Mars.

What would the role of “space architect” entail? How can we take what we have learned as an industry on planet Earth and build upon it in extreme, hazardous, alien environments? Where does space construction intersect with terrestrial construction?

Space construction

Space construction, sometimes known as ‘off-earth construction,’ is a very difficult task in and of itself. The absence of gravity and the inapplicability of physical rules as we know them on Earth will undoubtedly raise new challenges for even the most experienced architects and specifiers.

Lack of atmospheric pressure, high levels of radiation, extreme temperature changes and alterations in gravity levels render most typical construction materials and procedures obsolete, thus making the process of construction difficult, to say the least. The lack of pre-existing services and infrastructure on Mars, such as electricity, water, and waste treatment, will also present concerns. With this in mind, several organisations and research centres have already begun devising innovative solutions to overcome these unique problems.

A need for new methods of construction arises

Following the declaration of Mars as our closest habitable planet, missions to colonise there have sprung up in abundance from a number of countries in recent years. Reputable organisations have been tirelessly striving to develop the most practical and practicable suggestions for living on the Mars, including mind-blowing designs for the building of habitable spaces that can endure the harsh conditions without compromising the quality of life for the inhabitants.

The Mars Ice House was a winning proposal for one of NASA’s habitat design challenges, recognising water as one of the key building components of human life. The design is comprised of two 3D-printed structural ice domes with living space running through the centre in the shape of a vertical lander, utilising in situ materials for a more sustainable design. While the construction and materials have been chosen to maximise thermal comfort and defend against the severe environment, further information about the building’s more technical aspects, such as electricity distribution and ventilation, have yet to be released.

 

AI Space Factory’s MARSHA is another interesting habitat concept. The construction is enabled by in situ resource utilisation – the concept of employing indigenous Martian materials to assist human exploration rather than earth-manufactured things – with sustainability and self-sufficiency at the forefront of this endeavour. The construction is a four-story dual-shell vertical tower housing laboratories, leisure rooms, and an in-house garden. Power and data inputs from an external source, as well as sanitary pods, have all been factored in.

Innovative solutions are necessary

NASA recently revealed their ability to synthesise a polymer called acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a plastic that could be used to make numerous construction materials off Earth, during one of the many experiments undertaken on-board the International Space Station (ISS). ABS could be used to 3D print construction components in space, offering a potential long-term solution for building a new life for humanity on what was previously known as a “dead planet.”

Made in Space’s Archinaut One, a system that combines 3D printing and robotic arms to produce and install huge structures in space, is another new answer to space construction. The Archinaut is supposed to be able to receive digital files from Earth and ‘print’ necessary buildings with extreme precision, albeit it is still in the testing phase. Candarm, CSA’s space crane, is one of the older and more perculiar pieces of space gear. The Candarm was built on normal earth-cranes and might potentially contribute considerably to automated space-construction. It is currently mounted to the ISS and effectively executing maintenance procedures.

 

 

The issue of energy

Currently, solar power is the primary source of energy for most space missions. This has led to the installation of Li-On batteries alongside the photovoltaic system on the International Space Station to power the station’s functions when it is not in direct sunlight. To protect occupants from excessive temperatures, the station also has an Active Thermal Control System.

However, although a number of robotic probes sent to the explore the Martian surface have successfully utilized solar arrays for their power needs, such an approach would have trouble scaling to support human habitation. The principal concern with using solar power to support a mission is intermittency: solar panels only provide power when there is sunlight. This is a familiar problem on Earth, and a major obstacle to wider integration of renewables into the grid. The intermittency problem on Mars is more pernicious: enormous global dust storms envelop the planet typically once a year from 35 to 70 or more Martian days (sols). These dust storms tend to have an opacity, or optical depth, of at least 1 – meaning that the solar flux at the top of the atmosphere is attenuated to less than e-1 = 0.37 (37%) of its original value when it reaches the surface. In addition, because Mars is farther from the Sun than Earth is, it already only receives roughly half the average solar irradiance. This intermittency introduced by multi-month dust storms, combined with the usual diurnal oscillation in solar flux, would necessitate a considerable amount of energy storage.

Nuclear power is an attractive alternative to solar for several reasons. Its power output is constant in time, meaning less risk of prolonged power shortages that could prove hazardous to a human crew. It also weighs less per nameplate capacity than does solar when considering a Mars operating environment – a 2016 NASA study found that about 18,000 kg of solar power generation equipment would be needed to match the output of a 9000 kg fission system.

The night time temperature on Mars as measured by the Opportunity rover reach as low as -98°C with diurnal temperature variations of up to 100°C, so even a temporary power loss in such an environment could quickly become life-threatening as the heating systems fail. This presents another advantage of nuclear power: even in the event of an electrical fault, the passive heat from the reactor or radioisotopes could be used to warm the habitat.

In summary

Despite its early origins in science fiction, space settlement is becoming significantly more feasible and is rapidly becoming humanities next attainable aim. While there is still a long way to go, technological improvements and a surge in interest in the topic suggest that we may soon be designing buildings intended for extra-terrestrial use.

Finally, the idea that humanity is looking for a “Plan B” planet perhaps reveals the sheer magnitude of the pending environmental catastrophe on Earth. Perhaps this is one of the most important lessons we can learn from all this. After all, technology would have to work so hard to provide on Mars what already exists on Earth in abundance. Perhaps we should all learn to treasure it. Would we even need a plan to preserve our species from extinction on another planet if we modified our lifestyles here on Earth? Perhaps not…

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Building a 2022 that works for everyone

With 2021 finally behind us, a year marked by major problems that few of us could have predicted, what is the present mood of our industry? What mindset should we adopt as we take our first tentative steps into the New Year? Buildingspecifier.com Editor Joe Bradbury discusses:

Many of us have been left bruised and battered by a year of material and labour shortages, as well as supply chain disruption. Understandably, some of us will likely be nervous about the approaching issues that 2022 will inevitably bring. However, there is also much to remain positive and optimistic about, for just as the coming year will bring challenges, so too will it bring forth opportunities. A global crisis in the form of a pandemic has stirred things up; hopefully reform and creativity will increase over the coming 12 months as we put some of the lessons we have learned from navigating COVID-19 into practice.

“Demand has never been higher!”

This is of course of great news to the construction industry professional, however it’s a rocky road to success! The housing and construction boom seen throughout the world, which was driven in part by the pent-up demand produced by the early uncertain months of the epidemic, actually increased material shortages in 2021. As people struggled to make space in their homes for both work and personal life, the UK government’s stay-at-home orders resulted in increased consumer buying, selling, and therefore expenditure on larger houses and home upgrades.

While this was of course very exciting for the housing industry, it did cause problems for builders trying to obtain materials and many UK firms also struggling to meet demand. Builders have often been left unable to complete projects on time due to increasingly tight supply chains. This will undoubtedly have a considerable impact on the number of houses that the UK can actually build.

So whilst demand being high is great, we must ensure across all of the sectors comprising the construction industry that we work together and support one another, to deliver the built environment fit for 2022 and beyond, efficiently and effectively.

Adaptability is key

In 2021, the construction industry’s skills shortage grew even worse. Existing supply problems have been exacerbated by Brexit, COVID-stressed supply networks and demand for more homes. Not only does this have ramifications for the sector, but it also has ramifications for the entire country. Increased pay expectations, lengthier project delivery schedules, and an increasing number of unfilled openings are all signs that the problem is gradually worsening.

2021 finally saw the release of the government’s long-awaited Heat and Buildings Strategy, a huge moment for the construction industry. The strategy demonstrated a clear acknowledgment that the built environment will play a vital part in the next stage of the UK’s decarbonisation drive, as the UK pushes on with its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. Whilst the plan is far from perfect (it lacks a national retrofit strategy and a specific plan for training and retraining personnel), it does also contain much to feel positive about, such as a clear path for the transition to low-carbon heating.

So as afore mentioned, yes, there are many problems ahead… but will also be numerous opportunities. Following a year of preparation for COP26, a strong focus on sustainability will be placed in 2022, particularly when it comes to the types of materials used.

The construction industry will need to be responsive to change and keen to employ new materials and technologies, to speed up the inevitable transition away from carbon-heavy concrete etc.

Going above and beyond

One of the big themes for 2022 will be the pressure placed on companies to go above basic needs and standards as the UK government attempts to deliver an infrastructure revolution, improve building-safety legislation and build momentum in addressing climate change. The more responsibility we take as an industry, the more we will innovative and create more efficient approaches for embedding safety and sustainability in our built environment. We must strive to be smart and assure that new legislation will not only provide safety, but also promote innovation and raise standards above and beyond the bare minimum. 2022 could be a great year of change.

Despite the fact that 2021 was a difficult year, the future is looking challenging but bright. We must continue to step up to the plate as an industry and up our game. For us to overcome the challenges ahead, we need to level up as an industry and ensure we are comprised of individuals with innovative, diverse, responsible and collaborative mind-sets.

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