Archive for category: General News

Analysis from Glenigan shows that 53,379 new homes were approved between April and June 2024, a 13% drop compared to the same period in 2023.

Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight at the National Federation of Builders (NFB) said:

“The new Labour government’s job has been made considerably harder by Michael Gove’s decision to remove housing targets and water down housing supply ambition.”

Yet this is only half the story. We have seen many small and medium sized housebuilders (SMEs) exit the industry, not just because councils were allocating fewer sites, but due to the Government adding new taxes and ignoring the business impacts of poorly crafted regulations, such as Biodiversity Net Gain.

I have seen SME housebuilders, some older than the Labour party itself – builders who helped solve the post-war housing crisis – call it a day because the risks associated with planning are simply unaffordable and new regulations are removing any profitability. However, this isn’t just about housing supply; it’s also about the future of our workforce. These sized companies train eight in ten construction apprentices and favour directly employed workers and consistent supply chains.

The previous government, despite being warned about the consequences of their actions, have torched the construction industry with their party-political actions and to fix this, the Labour government now needs to get their head around how the industry operates in practice and what the price of big builder reliance really is.

Unless wholesale planning reform is delivered within the next twelve months, the drop in approvals will bite the Government mid-way through their term. Not only do existing permissions need to be built first, but due to pre-commencement conditions to satisfy, legal agreements to agree and infrastructure to first build, it typically takes years to go from approval to spades in the ground.

It is crucial that the Government explores which sized sites are seeing fewer approvals, because large sites of more than 250 can take five to ten years to go from approval to completion.

The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) review offers a chance to unpick the broken planning system and NFB will be submitting deliverable recommendations which aim to speed up decisions and supply. These include a ‘medium sized site’ definition of ten to fifty homes, an open ‘call for sites’ for smaller developments, more delegated powers, and reforms to deemed discharge.

Alongside new towns and the New Homes Accelerator, our NPPF recommendations will get us much closer to achieving the 300,000 new homes a year target.”

Source: Politics Home

_{Shweta Salvankar is Senior Building Performance and Sustainability Engineer at Harley Haddow}

We tend to take for granted that the buildings we live and work in are the result of careful, quality investment. However, just as an individual might buy an inexpensive item of clothing to save money, some in the construction industry continue to utilise poor-quality materials which end up costing more.

The building and construction sector accounts for an eye-watering 37% of global operational carbon emissions, with fast fashion getting more stick and contributing less with 10% carbon emissions. Using substandard materials is not only financially disadvantageous in the long run, it’s unsustainable. The consequences of cutting corners by implementing poor materials reverberate in many ways, from the way they are sourced to the transport methods involved and even the fuels used in transportation. Low-quality materials are also more liable to damage, which means they need replacing more quickly – creating a repetitive cycle which is both financially and environmentally destructive.

We need to open up better discussion, within the construction industry and also adjacent industries, and collaborate.

We also need to invest in green skills, embedding a sustainable ethos at all stages –from early planning t through to building completion, and afterwards. Successful case studies should be shared across the industry to prove to sceptics that those who invest in high-quality materials and the accompanying skillset will reap the rewards. It’s crucial that we keep the bigger picture in mind and don’t allow ourselves to develop tunnel vision in terms of the huge impact our industry choices have. At Harley Haddow we are passionate about raising awareness of sustainable practice throughout our various projects and our Pledge to Net Zero.

Retrofitting (making existing structures more sustainable) will also contribute towards a more environmentally friendly industry. Just as choosing second-hand clothing as a more sustainable alternative to fast fashion, improvement work to make existing buildings more energy-efficient will create a positive effect in both societal and environmental terms.

To harness the potential of a sustainable revolution in construction, a collective effort is required. It’s not only up to engineers : many industries have a role to play in making sure that our buildings don’t emulate the example of fast fashion. As the public begins to wake up to the reality of committing to sustainability in the long run, we need to match this with a commitment to change.

Source: The Herald

Leeds Beckett University’s ‘real-world’ research has defined new standards to measure the aggregate heat loss from housing – a crucial lever to meet the challenge of Net Zero.

Two new European Standards have been published – and adopted in 34 countries – following work led by Leeds Beckett’s Professor David Johnston, together with Professor Richard Fitton at the University of Salford, in collaboration with a wide range of experts from across Europe.

The standards cover work carried out in a new and existing real-life homes rather than a lab testing environment; the unique approach which allows the pioneering Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett to consistently define global standards for measuring housing performance.  The standards are based upon a testing method (the Coheating Test) that Professor Johnston and colleagues developed at Leeds Beckett University.

The new European Standards will make sure that the thermal performance of housing can be measured and understood in the same way.

Dr David Johnston, Professor of Building Performance Evaluation within Leeds Sustainability Institute, said:

“These standards are the result of a decade’s work. It’s a long process but the impact will be incredibly important as governments and housebuilders rise to the challenge of the climate emergency and Net Zero targets.

“Leeds Beckett has long set the standards and protocols that the rest of the world follows to assess the aggregate in situ thermal performance of housing.

“It enables the performance of the building fabric to be tested under the pressures of real-life, revealing any gaps between what designers intended and what was actually built.”

Professor David Johnston has also been accepted as a Committee Member of B/540/8 the Mirror committee for ISO/TC 163 – Thermal Performance and Energy use in the Built Environment.

The Leeds Sustainability Institute is a unique multi-disciplinary team which combines an understanding of building science, the way people behave, field work and analysing big data.

The unique team and approach informs sustainable building policy on a local and global scale. The institute has won 10 Government projects worth over £4 million over the last 8 years, relating to energy in buildings.

The strength of Leeds Beckett University’s partnership work has been recognised by the fourth national Knowledge Exchange Framework – with the University placed in the top 20% of universities in three categories.

Work on a groundbreaking project to harness hydropower from waste water has been completed by Scottish Water, supporting its drive to achieve net zero emissions by 2040.

The first of its kind in the UK, the scheme has seen the installation of a hydro turbine at Hamilton Waste Water Treatment Works in South Lanarkshire and is expected to generate 0.42GWh of green electricity each year.

Developed and delivered by Scottish Water’s commercial subsidiary Scottish Water Horizons, the project will offset around 13 per cent of the treatment works’ annual electricity demand. It is the first prefabricated hydro scheme to be installed ‘mid-process’ at a waste water treatment works in the UK, with waste water flowing through a hydro-electric generator within the pipeline of the plant.

The hydro turbine is anticipated to cut carbon emissions by around 64 tonnes each year, the same amount as a passenger jet flying from Glasgow to Sydney, Australia 13 times.

Using off-site construction methods also helped to reduce the carbon footprint associated with construction of the scheme and condensed the time required onsite.

Neil Beaumont, Horizons Hydro Energy Team Lead, said:

“We are delighted to see this pioneering project now complete and in operation. It is a great example of how Scottish Water is being creative and looking at how we can utilise all the assets across our portfolio to achieve our net zero ambitions.

“This is the first project of this kind delivered at a Scottish Water waste water facility, whereas previous hydro efforts have focused on our water assets. Waste water treatment is a huge part of what Scottish Water does and there so much opportunity in this area to be bold and innovative when it comes to looking at cutting our carbon emissions and optimising our generation of green energy.

“Taking novel approaches like this will go a long way towards helping us achieve net zero emissions by 2040 and beyond, deliver service excellence, and create greener communities.”

Scottish Water Operations Team Lead for the area, Craig Causer, said:

“The treatment works at Hamilton serve around 57,000 people and have a high electrical consumption.  By generating green energy from what is typically regarded as a waste product, we are helping deliver a waste water service to local communities with a lower carbon footprint.  Not only does this help reduce our reliance on grid electricity, it also helps reduce our on-site energy costs.”

The scheme was delivered by local renewable energy solutions specialists FES Support Services Ltd on behalf of Scottish Water Horizons and joins a growing portfolio of water and waste water treatment works that are now either self-sufficient or partly sufficient in generating their own power requirements.

Source: Water Magazine

Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Glasgow, Inspiring Scotland and FARE Scotland, has launched Construction Aware, a new programme aiming to inspire and develop the next generation of construction workers.

The ground-breaking initiative is backed by leading businesses across the Glasgow City Region and is designed to engage and educate young people about the diverse opportunities available to them within the construction and built environment sectors.

Construction Aware offers around 200 S3 pupils from 13 secondary schools across Glasgow the unique opportunity to gain work experience with six leading construction firms as part of a programme of activities about the roles and careers available to them in the built environment sector. Importantly, young people taking in the programme will gain an SCQF level 3 qualification.

Supported by CITB, the industry training board for Scotland’s construction sector, the programme also benefits from the backing of BE-ST and City of Glasgow College. Uniquely, it has been co-designed by both educational institutions and leading industry players, including McTaggart Construction, the Robertson Group, CCG Scotland, A.C. Whyte, RJ McLeod, and Sibbald Training.

The programme, initially funded by Landsec Futures, provides students with valuable hands-on experience in the construction industry. Additional opportunities for businesses to support and expand the programme are also available.

Data from Glasgow City Council’s education team showed that a mere 93 school pupils out of 1700 expressed an interest in working in the construction sector. Despite the crucial role these professions will have in Scotland’s ability to reach net zero and the growing need from businesses, there is a shortfall in people joining the industry.

The Scottish Government’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan, which identifies the skills the country needs to develop into a low-carbon economy, emphasises the need for a radical transformation in low-carbon skills, predicting a surge in demand for roles in planning, design, surveying, management, and deploying nature-based solutions.

Construction Aware addresses these needs by providing young people with hands-on experience and real-world insights into traditional trades and emerging green technologies. Running alongside the school year, the programme covers topics such as retrofitting, Passivhaus, and modern methods of construction.

Alison McRae, Senior Director, Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said:

“This is a really exciting programme which has been co-created by our business community and education to respond to a market need where there are critical skills shortages. It will clearly show the next generation of our workforce some of the current and emerging roles within the sector in a practical and, we hope, energising way.

“This programme is about opening doors to some of our city region’s young people who might not always have access to opportunities, equipping them with new skills and showing what is possible for them. It’s a great example of impact-driven collaboration in action.”

Michelle Kershaw, Principal Officer, Towards Better Futures said:

“Careers in construction have traditionally been high on the agenda of our young people, but as the industry diverges from traditional roles we must inspire and inform our future workforce around the new jobs available, driven by technology, climate and changing skills requirements.

“By working hand in glove with industry to design and deliver a practical, long-term and focused project we can address the challenges of predicted skills gaps and labour shortages by nurturing and developing talent who can access the industry via apprenticeships and degree-level education.”

Employers, educators and third sector partners within the construction and built environment industries are encouraged to partner with Glasgow Chamber of Commerce and DYW Glasgow to help equip the next generation of workers with the skills and knowledge to thrive in an evolving industry.

Source: Glasgow Chamber of Commerce