Archive for category: General News

Met office Storm Eowyn ‘danger to life’ alert sparks roof safety warning from Actis

The Met Office’s ‘danger to life’ red warning ahead of the arrival of Storm Eowyn in the UK is another reminder of the importance of constructing roofs which can withstand extreme weather conditions, says insulation specialist Actis.

The map shows the zones in which Boost R Hybrid can be used. It has been approved for use in zones 1- 5, which include the areas affected by Storm Eowyn, while some underlays only achieve zones 1 – 3 approval. © IHS, reproduced with permission from BRE DG 489, 2014 edition

Warnings that wind gusts of up to 100mph could see roofs blown off buildings in Northern Ireland and parts of Scotland, and amber and yellow warnings issued for other parts of the UK underline the need to comply with roof construction building regulations.

Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper explained: “That building standard – snappily titled BS5534:2014 slating and tiling for pitched roofs and vertical cladding code of practice specifying criteria – addresses every component of the construction of a standard roof, including underlays, mortar bedding, battens, flashings and structural sheathing fixings.

“And with not all underlays being suitable for use across all five regions of the UK, roofs in areas prone to being hit by strong winds need to choose membranes which are deemed suitable for use in these zones. Our insulating breather membrane Boost R Hybrid Roof is BRE-approved for use in even the windiest parts of the British Isles, including those affected by Storm Eowyn.

“It’s worth noting that some underlays are only suitable for use in zones one to three.”

Boost R Hybrid Roof has passed the BRE’s all-important wind uplift resistance test, with appropriate package labelling ensuring that roofers and builders can easily identify the correct underlay for the geographical region in which they are working, something particularly relevant for contractors working in wind-affected areas.

Using Boost R Hybrid Roof means builders can minimise the ‘ballooning effect’ which sees the underlay force tiles and slates off the roof in high winds. Underlay is not allowed to balloon more than 35mm.

The wind uplift pressure achieved by Boost ‘R Hybrid during the tests was way more effective than that required under the building standard, which calls for a minimum wind uplift resistance of 1600 Pa for a 345mm batten gauged roof covering, rising to 2350Pa for roofs with no ceiling and a permanent dominant opening.

Boost R Hybrid Roof managed an impressive average of 3054Pa when used with taped lap alone and 5748Pa with the addition of a 38mm counter batten.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE ACTIS WEBSITE

Researchers at Leeds Beckett are working to address mould growth problems in UK housing to improve housing safety.

Following the death of two-year-old Awaab Ishak in 2020, Awaab’s Law was launched, which requires social housing landlords to quickly investigate and fix hazardous conditions like mould in homes.

Now, researchers from Construction Informatics and Digital Enterprise Laboratory (CIDEL) within the School of Built Environment, Engineering and Computing at Leeds Beckett University are working with BuildEco Ltd to develop an advanced diagnostic web-based platform that uses AI to assess and optimise existing building designs to tackle the issue.

The platform examines existing buildings to identify areas prone to dampness and mould growth, proposes plans to solve this and optimises retrofit designs to reduce mould risks and improve building safety and integrity.

The research is part of £7million funding from the UK Research and Innovation Technology Missions Fund, which is delivered by the Innovate UK BridgeAI programme.

Dr Jamiu A Dauda, senior lecturer, who is leading the research at Leeds Beckett University, said: “Unlocking AI’s potential to analyse vast building performance data is key to tackling damp and mould issues in UK housing. The AI-DOMP project addresses this by providing an AI-enabled diagnostic platform to assess mould risks in houses, equipping the sector with AI-driven solutions for better decision-making.”

Audley English MBE, Director of BuildEco Ltd said:

“With over £6million in fines issued to landlords over damp and mould, the Housing Ombudsman is driving accountability and the AI-DOMP platform offers a cutting-edge AI-enabled tool that will help landlords proactively assess mould risks, ensuring better maintenance of housing stock.”

Esra Kasapoglu, Director of AI and Data Economy at Innovate UK said:

“The adoption of AI in UK industry is fundamental to supporting the country’s economic growth.

“This investment will enable us, through BridgeAI, to help more companies to unlock the potential of AI in their business.

“It will also allow further development of projects already demonstrating impact to continue their AI journey.”

A leading expert in planning policy at Northumbria University has delivered evidence to help shape the future reform of the National Planning Policy Framework.

Alister Scott, Professor of Environmental Geography and Planning, gave evidence and recommendations to the Environment Audit Committee’s hearing in Westminster on the government’s proposed planning reforms and their effect on the natural environment.

With the UK desperately needing more homes, the Environmental Audit Committee examined how proposed reforms to the planning system through the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) will promote housing growth and the effects such growth may have on the natural environment.

Professor Scott, who is also a chartered member of the Royal Town Planning Institute, outlined some key concerns to the future success of the new policy based on his extensive research into planning and green infrastructure. He said there was a need to remove silo thinking and disintegrated policy across different government departments to bring together disparate policy areas to work strategically on spatial planning.

In particular, he highlighted that the Departments of Health, Culture, Media and Sport, Transport, Science and Innovation and HM Treasury need to be more actively engaged, and that land use planning was not solely an issue for Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“The current priority in planning is stated as economic development and most of the consultation is taken up with issues of housing and economic development,” says Professor Scott. “While I agree this is a priority, having separate governance regimes for urban and rural space puts the emphasis on first establishing the number of houses or jobs before bolting on other considerations afterwards. The economic imperative alone does not make the most effective use of land.”

Professor Scott also said there was a need for much stronger wording within policy for nature to avoid it being trumped by economic factors, with trade-offs between economic, social and environmental priorities needing to be fully assessed. He said it was notable that the NPPF had had major amendments in sections relating to housing and green belt, but the natural environment chapter had remained the same despite major policy changes and ongoing declines in nature.

Another of his key concerns was the need to rethink how we value nature. Drawing on the HM Treasury 2021 Dasgupta review, he highlighted how the multiple values of nature demand transformative thinking in how prosperity is viewed and measured.

Professor Scott also called on the government to review its default answer of ‘yes’ on questions around the development of brownfield sites and said that the policy could not be successfully developed without the active involvement of many government departments, given their major influences and impacts on land use.

“In the question of a default ‘yes’ for brownfield development, for example, the default answer should instead always be evidence based. Brownfield sites can have significant biodiversity interest and can also be very costly to develop,” he said. “Before assuming these are preferred development sites, I believe there should be an accurate assessment of their multifunctional potential, and a decision made from there based on the evidence obtained.”

In terms of actions to help address these problems Professor Scott recommended that the planning system is rebalanced to ensure that nature, the economy and community are treated equally.

“Primacy is given to economic growth with nature, community and equity issues lagging. The planning system has a key role in alleviating poverty and social exclusion as well as providing decent housing. I have called strongly for the policy to explicitly incorporate the UN Sustainable Development Goals to ensure that environmental and equity considerations are not simply bolted on but are incorporated from the start.

“If we fundamentally reshape how planning is done it would lead to better spaces where economic, environmental and social limits and opportunities work together. I believe it is important to focus on placemaking and placekeeping, rather than setting targets for having a certain number of houses or trees. These quantity metrics can distort planning practices and lead to outcomes we might not have chosen had we planned more strategically,” he said.

Professor Scott, who is based in Northumbria’s Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, has played a key role in national conversations on land use in recent years. He was appointed as the sole special adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee inquiry on how we respond to increasing demands on land in England and he was awarded a Fellowship by the Academy of Social Sciences in recognition of his work to find new ways to improve policy and decision-making across built and natural environments.

The Environment Audit Committee hearing is available to view online on the Parliament Live TV channel. Transcripts of the oral evidence and further written evidence provided by Professor Scott are available to download

_{Brad Davis appointed as Head of Commercial for Siderise North America}

Siderise is thrilled to appoint Brad Davis as Head of Commercial for Siderise North America. With vast experience in the region and a history of working in architectural sales and services roles, Brad is a central part of the passive fire protection manufacturer’s strategy to bring its life safety solutions to projects across the USA.

Brad joined Siderise at the end of 2024 after holding notable positions as Director of Architectural Sales at Focchi North America and Director of Architectural Services at Schüco USA. This experience not only exemplifies his passion for architecture but has also given him a deep understanding of the practical challenges facing designers and specifiers of external wall systems, developing a meticulous, detailed-orientated approach to meeting these needs and objectives.

As Brad explains:

“There are many perspectives from which we can appreciate our built environment — beauty, performance, function, resilience, and so many more— but we must never overlook safety! It is a privilege and honour to join such a dynamic organisation that prioritises integrity and is dedicated to enhanced building safety. I am looking forward to being part of the global Siderise team and its successful growth in North America.”

Siderise is a leading manufacturer of high-performance passive fire protection for the building envelope, including cavity barriers and firestops for use in facade types such as curtain wall, cladding and masonry. Driven by its ethos of “integrity in all we do,” Siderise  takes a service-led approach to business, providing an extensive technical and site support wrapper around its solutions to empower customers, enable best-practice specification and installation, and promote compliance and higher building safety standards around the world. This includes design and specification support, bespoke solution development and testing, CPD, product and installation training, as well as installation inspections.

Siderise Insulation is part of the Siderise Group, operating alongside Siderise Special Products — specialists in high performance acoustic and thermal solutions for construction, rail, marine and HVAC applications.

For more information, please CLICK HERE to visit the Siderise Website