Researchers in Japan have created a cement-free soil solidifier from recycled glass and construction waste, reducing landfill and carbon emissions.

Producing cement, the key ingredient of concrete, generates around 2.5 billion tonnes of CO₂  every year – about 8% of the global total.

When producing clinker  – a precursor to cement – the calcining process converts calcium carbonate to calcium oxide, releasing carbon dioxide. In addition, the reaction itself takes place at close to 1,400°C, which requires burning large quantities of fossil fuel.

Portland cement remains one of the most effective building materials but because of its significant environmental impact, researchers are looking for alternatives.

A team from the College of Engineering at the Shibaura Institute of Technology (SIT) in Japan, have developed a sustainable alternative to Portland cement: a high-performance geopolymer-based soil solidifier developed from siding cut powder (SCP), a construction waste by-product, and earth silica (ES), sourced from recycled glass.

This not only tackles the issue of finding a more sustainable alternative to cement but also makes use of construction waste, which often ends up in landfill.

Professor Shinya Inazumi, who led the study, said:

“This research represents a significant breakthrough in sustainable construction materials.

“By using two industrial waste products, we developed a soil solidifier that not only meets industry standards but also helps address the dual challenges of construction waste and carbon emissions.”

The combination of SCP and ES produces a high-performance material that meets compressive strength standards exceeding the 160kN/m² construction-grade threshold.

However, early environmental assessments detected arsenic leaching, which was partially attributed to the recycled glass content in ES. This was eliminated through the use of calcium hydroxide stabilisation.

Inazumi said:

“We demonstrated that incorporating calcium hydroxide effectively mitigated this issue through the formation of stable calcium arsenate compounds, ensuring full environmental compliance.”

The researchers say this solution offers numerous practical applications with a wide-reaching real-world impact.

Inazumi said:

“In urban infrastructure development, our technology can stabilise weak soils beneath roads, buildings and bridges without relying on carbon-intensive Portland cement.

“By developing a geopolymer solidifier from readily available waste streams, we are not only offering a sustainable engineering solution but redefining how we value industrial by-products in a resource-constrained world.”

In another recent study, a Chinese research team developed technology to repurpose decommissioned wind turbine blades  into a material for use in asphalt mixtures and cement concrete.

By Tanya Weaver

Source: Engineering & Technology

_{Managing director David Crawford, Deeside Timberframe} 

Off-site timber frame specialist to scale sustainable housing delivery with major investment

Deeside Timberframe, a supplier of offsite manufactured timber frame solutions, is making a bold statement in the UK construction sector with a multimillion-pound strategic investment programme.

The company said the investment supports the company’s continued growth and commitment to innovation and sustainability, while aligning with the UK Government’s target to build 1.5 million new homes over the next five years.

As part of its expansion, Deeside Timberframe has opened a new office in Warrington, marking a significant step in the company’s strategic growth across England. The move reinforces its long-term commitment to supporting developers, housing associations, and contractors throughout the UK.

The new base allows the business to strengthen client relationships, provide more responsive support, and meet growing demand for sustainable, energy-efficient timber frame solutions.

The broader investment programme focuses on increasing manufacturing capacity, improving production efficiency, and embedding sustainable practices across operations. These improvements are designed to directly benefit customers through shorter lead times,
increased factory output, and even greater consistency in quality and service.

A key component includes a 5,500 sq ft factory extension at Deeside Timberframe’s Throsk manufacturing facility. Designed to accommodate a new automated wall production line, the expansion significantly boosts productivity and enables faster, more efficient
delivery of timber frame systems. In line with the company’s Net Zero strategy, the site now benefits from a 108kW solar panel installation, generating 90,000 kWh annually—enough to supply more than one third of the facility’s energy needs.

Ongoing enhancements at Throsk include upgrades to logistics infrastructure, office space, welfare facilities, electrical heating, and transportation.

Managing director David Crawford said:

“The demand for high-quality, sustainable housing is greater than ever, and timber frame
construction is a key solution to meeting these targets. Our multimillion-pound investment enables us to expand our capacity, integrate innovative technologies, and improve sustainability across our operations. We are proud to be making strategic moves that not only benefit our business but also contribute to the UK’s housing ambitions and Net Zero goals.”

Andrew Orriss, CEO of the Structural Timber Association, said:

“It’s encouraging to see members investing in the future of timber to
support the Government’s ambition to build 1.5 million homes. This kind of expansion not only enables the delivery of more high-quality timber homes across England, but also creates skilled jobs, supports safer and more efficient factory operations, and contributes
directly to the UK’s housing and Net Zero goals.”

David Hopkins, CEO of trade body Timber Development UK said:

“This series of investments from Deeside Timberframe is a real sign of strength and confidence in the timber frame sector. With the Government looking to build 1.5 million homes while also meeting strict carbon and quality targets, timber frame is the obvious choice for a sustainable housing future.”

Source: The Business Desk

_{The research team will test timber and steel elements using small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale testing. (Photo Credit: University of Canterbury)}

Steel-framed buildings. combined with cross-laminated timber walls and floors could unlock a $1 billion boost for New Zealand’s wood processing industry.

A team of New Zealand experts will tackle fire safety concerns in timber-and-steel-framed buildings inside a purpose-built fire lab as part of a world-fire project led by the University of Canterbury, which, if successful, could rapidly increase the volume of timber used in buildings.

Led by Associate Professor Anthony Abu, structural fire engineer and the project’s lead researcher, the tests will help develop new engineering design methods and guidelines, thus allowing mass timber walls and floors to be safely combined with steel frame construction: “One of the most pragmatic uses for mass timber products is in hybrid timber-steel buildings which combine economical design and construction practices with sustainability benefits.”

Abu’s team, which includes UC Civil and Natural Resources Engineering Lecturer Dr Paul Horne and UC School of Forestry Senior Lecturer Dr Hyungsuk Thomas Lim, is working on the study – funded by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ) – and will investigate the performance of cross-laminated timber (CLT) floors in combination with steel beams as a safer and more sustainable building option.

“What makes financial sense, and to some extent engineering sense, is to progressively increase the amount of timber used in the building industry,” according to Abu, who is also working with Christchurch engineering firm PTL Structural and Fire to bring the project to life. “However, we need to get fire safety and structural performance right before that can happen.”

Wood Central understands that while the fire resistance of steel and timber has long been established (separately), there are many unknowns about how heated steel beams and columns will interact with timber walls and floors when loaded and exposed to fire and uncertainties about the whole structure’s performance: “The two materials will expand differently when we heat them, so that can be an issue at those interface points where they connect. The compatibility of the two materials is a key issue that we want to investigate further.”

Abu’s team will build a series of structures inside the University of Canterbury’s Fire Engineering Lab. The tests will include small-scale studies using segments of different types of timber, medium-scale studies involving bedroom-sized compartments, and finally, a full-scale building to test fire dynamics and structural integrity.

If successful, the project could lead to a NZ$ $1.2 billion boost in NZ’s timber processing industry, according to Abu, who said about $199 million in raw log exports – mostly to China – could be deferred in favour of investment instead in driving on-shore value-added processing of sawn timber.

“The outcome we want for New Zealand is a thriving, high-value domestic timber processing industry supporting safer and more sustainable hybrid timber buildings,” he said, with major implications for low-cost and affordable housing: “We believe our research programme can remove the fire safety barrier preventing hybrid timber-steel construction from becoming mainstream, and as a result improve housing affordability and supply and reduce carbon emissions by over one million tonnes annually as mass timber replaces high-emission materials.”

Source: Wood Central (New Zealand)

Thousands of homes will be built faster on smaller sites across the country as complex planning rules are streamlined, onerous regulatory burdens eased, and financial firepower is provided to SME builders.

The current system makes it far too difficult for smaller builders to get spades in the ground – with a small site of 10 homes jumping through the same planning hurdles as one with 100 or more.

Smaller firms, which provide local jobs and train eight out of 10 construction apprentices, have seen their market share shrink since the 1980s, when SME builders delivered 40% of the country’s homes.

Today’s changes will help turn this around, driving up competition across the sector and helping deliver the Plan for Change milestone of 1.5 million homes, so more working families and young people can achieve the dream of homeownership.

Today’s proposals include:

• Faster decisions for small sites: Minor developments of up to nine homes will benefit from streamlined planning and eased Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements, with faster decisions being taken by expert planning officers, not planning committees;
• A new ‘medium site’ category: Sites between ten to 49 homes will face simpler rules and fewer costs – including a proposed exemption from the Building Safety Levy and simplified BNG rules, making it easier to deliver biodiverse habitats on these sites, delivering a win-win for nature and development;
• More land and financing options for SMEs: Homes England will release more of its land exclusively to SMEs, and a new National Housing Delivery Fund to be confirmed at the spending review will support long-term finance options, such as revolving credit facilities and lending alliances.
• A new pilot to unlock small sites for SMEs: the Small Sites Aggregator will bring together small brownfield sites that would otherwise not have been developed, and attract private investment to build new social rent homes and address temporary accommodation challenges. Building on a model developed by Lloyds Banking Group’s Social Housing Initiative, the Small Sites Aggregator will be trialled this year with input from Bristol, Sheffield and the London Borough of Lewisham and with the support of their regional authorities. This will help tackle the housing shortage, address unviable small plots of land, and create local jobs supporting the government’s Plan for Change.

Deputy Prime Minister and Housing Secretary, Angela Rayner said:

“Smaller housebuilders must be the bedrock of our Plan for Change to build 1.5 million homes and fix the housing crisis we’ve inherited – and get working people on the housing ladder.

“For decades the status quo has failed them and it’s time to level the playing field.

“Today we’re taking urgent action to make the system simpler, fairer and more cost effective, so smaller housebuilders can play a crucial role in our journey to get Britain building.”

Full details are being set out today for the modernising of planning committees – ensuring elected councillors focus on the most significant proposals and larger developments rather than small-scale projects or niche technical details, while more faster decisions are made by expert trained planners.

Under these plans, once a development has been agreed in principle technical details won’t keep going back and forth to committees – accelerating housebuilding and saving council planning departments time and money.

Further support announced today for local builders includes:

• £100 million in SME Accelerator Loans to help smaller firms to grow and invest using part of the £700 million extension to the Home Building Fund announced in December.
• £10 million for councils to fund more specialists to speed up environmental assessments, getting spades in the ground faster.
• A £1.2 million PropTech Innovation Fund to support innovation in small site delivery, for example through use of new data tools.

It comes as the government unveiled its plans to train up to 120,000 new apprentices, including within construction – ensuring the industry has what it needs to get building.

The wide-ranging package for SMEs today builds on the government’s planning overhaul so far, with the new National Planning Policy Framework alone expected to drive housebuilding to its highest level in over 40 years and add £6.8 billion to the economy by 2030.

INDUSTRY RESPONSE

Jeremy Gray, Head of External Affairs at the FMB said: “This is a big change for the planning system and one that acknowledges the hardships faced by SME house builders over the last few decades, which have resulted in their decline. The UK’s small house builders stand ready to deliver the homes Britain needs, but the planning system has stifled their growth. The FMB has long called for reform to the planning system to support SMEs, and so the decision to streamline requirements on sites of up to nine homes, alongside faster decision making is a positive step. The medium site designation will also be welcomed as it reduces planning hurdles, enabling small house builders to scale up their businesses.”

Gray continued: “However, the small site allocation in local plans will need revisiting to fully realise the potential of small house builders. Local planning authorities will also require further investment to ensure that the system has capacity. We know from the FMB’s 2024 Housebuilders’ Survey that communication with planning officers is a major hindrance to building new homes. We look forward to working with Government on these proposals to ensure that the nation’s micro and SME house builders can thrive.”

Robbie Calvert, RTPI’s (Royal Town Planning Institute) Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said: “The Government’s proposed reforms have the potential to unlock thousands of homes on smaller sites and energise a part of the sector that plays a vital role in local economies.

“However, we must be clear, we can only support the proposed delegation reforms if they are accompanied by the establishment of a Chief Planning Officer in every planning authority. These reforms propose a significant change to how our system works, and without strong, accountable leadership and oversight, risk undermining the integrity of the planning process.

“The decision to exempt small sites from Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements is a sensible approach given the severe lack of resourcing and ecological skills available to local authorities. However, we expect the government to develop long-term solutions to ensure nature is protected and enhanced by the planning system without starving the country of the economic growth it needs.”

Chris Leadbetter, Partner at Global Law Firm Clyde & Co comments: “This marks a step in the right direction to meet its building goals, and the UK Government’s measures to relax the rules for smaller building companies may help alleviate some of the pressures to boost the supply of new houses amid the growing affordability crisis. However, greater clarity is still needed about where the line will be drawn in categorising small developers. If we want the regulation to deliver meaningful benefits, sector engagement will be essential to help guide this.

“Regulation is not the only obstacle limiting housing supply, and there are many other issues that should be considered when it comes to unlocking growth. Planning reforms are another major issue impacting the drive to increase the number of new homes being built, but this is already being looked at by the Government.

“Yet labour shortages and materials costs are all contributing to the increased cost of land development, and these are not currently under review. If the Government is realistic about building 1.5 million new homes in England by 2029 and ‘get Britain building’, these issues must also be taken into account and addressed.”

CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, Charlie Nunn said: “We strongly welcome the government’s announcement today that it will pilot the Small Sites Aggregator in Bristol, Sheffield and Lewisham.

“Through the Social Housing Initiative, we’re proud to have helped ignite this innovation in housing development and finance – unlocking the small, brownfield sites in our communities which are lying empty yet have immense potential to provide good quality homes in our towns and cities.

“This exciting partnership between the public and private sectors will increase investment at pace into the new, genuinely affordable homes that are needed across the UK.”

CEO of Pocket Living, Paul Rickard said: “For the first time in many years, we’re seeing clear signals that an administration recognises the critical role SME housebuilders play in tackling the housing crisis. We’re delighted to see several of the recommendations we’ve worked with the Government on reflected in today’s announcements.

“SMEs can be disproportionately affected by policy and support targeted specifically at SMEs will help to reverse the decline of our sector, help level the playing field, and once again make SMEs the backbone for high quality local housing delivery across the nation.”

Chief Executive of Greencore Homes, Jon Di Stefano said: “Simplifying the planning process and introducing more targeted land and funding opportunities for SME housebuilders should have a transformative effect for housing delivery, not just in terms of volume but quality and sustainability too.

“As someone that has made the jump from a larger housebuilder to an SME, I have seen firsthand how attracting diversity of scale to the housebuilding industry creates more innovation and a broader mix of tenures. Like many smaller developers, Greencore wants to build more and we are passionate about increasing delivery of our low energy, low carbon homes which are quicker to build, healthier for people to live in and designed with nature and wildlife in mind.

“Unfortunately, delays in the planning process have slowed down how quickly we can deliver these homes to date. We fully support these measures that will unlock smaller sites and help SME housebuilders to flourish and play their part in increasing housing delivery to meet the government’s targets.”

Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders, Richard Beresford said: “In 2018, NFB helped write the NPPF policies on small and medium sized sites and since that time, lobbied for a ‘Medium’ sized definition of between ten and 50 homes. We are incredibly grateful to the government for considering our recommendation because SMEs don’t just deliver organic growth on infill, brownfield and within communities, but are the competition, workforce capacity and innovation that keeps housebuilding and construction industry healthy.

“Governments have always spoken strongly about helping SME builders but action has been thin on the ground. By acknowledging that many SMEs build on sites of between ten and 50, the ‘Medium’ sized site definition creates an opportunity to help them directly. This is the strategic step that SMEs desperately needed, and we thank the government for working with and listening to industry.”

Managing Director of Kingswood House, Paul Jones said: “As an SME house builder who started in 2009 by delivering four homes a year, we have managed to grow to deliver nearly 150 homes a year in 2025-6. Our growth has been supported by Homes England and the Home Building Fund which has been instrumental in helping us to achieve this.

“We are really pleased to see this Government realising the importance of SME housebuilders in the industry. The barriers to entry for SME house builders are incredibly challenging and often impossible to overcome.

These much needed changes will really help us and other SME house builders to deliver to our full potential, which in turn will help the government to achieve their target of 1.5m new homes in the next four years.”