
Opinion Pieces
Thank you to all our Industry Insider Newsletter guest editors.
See below their Opinion Pieces on key and topical issues facing the built environment now. Register for the Industry Insider newsletter to see opinion pieces and news stories from our upcoming guest editors.

Sustainable construction is a degenerative design option
Opinion piece Sustainable construction is a degenerative design option An opinion piece by Chaline Church, Founding Partner, 540 WORLD Fortunately, much of what I intended writing is in Futurebuild’s previous July newsletter by Dr Oliver Jones. This has allowed me to take a deeper dive into what is critically missing from many conversations around circularity,

Time to change
Opinion piece Time to change An opinion piece by Dr Oliver Jones, Research Director, Ryder Architecture I spoke recently at the Futurebuild launch event on innovating to achieve zero waste and the acute need to change traditional behaviours in the sector to benefit from the new business models offered by circularity. When it comes to

Driving the revolution in construction
Opinion piece Driving the revolution in construction Landsec’s recently completed Forge building incorporates all the elements of transformed construction – digital, manufacturing and sustainability. (credit Bryden Wood) An opinion piece article by Sam Stacey, Challenging Director, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) When the UK’s Industrial Strategy was launched in 2017, Secretary of State Greg Clark proclaimed

Time to Reflect on the Standard of our Homes
Opinion piece Time to Reflect on the Standard of our Homes An opinion piece article by Gavin Dunn, Chief Executive, Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) This month (June 2022) saw the latest set of changes to England’s building regulations come into effect. Affecting all new build homes in England, the changes to Part F,

Investing for Change
Opinion piece Investing for Change An opinion piece article by Alexandra Notay, Placemaking and Investment Director, PfP Capital “Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. To prosper over time, every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.” Larry

A guide to: Smart Buildings, Asset Information Models and Digital Twins
Opinion piece A guide to: Smart Buildings, Asset Information Models and Digital Twins An opinion piece article by John Adams, Head of Product, Glider Technology Projects at their inception in 2022 have new and long lasting decisions to make about their digital futures and their related societal and environmental impacts. To understand more about these

Putting ConTech at the Heart of Evidencing Part L Compliance
Opinion piece Putting ConTech at the Heart of Evidencing Part L Compliance An opinion piece article by Sion Bellis, Chief Residential Officer, Zutec From 15th June 2022, all new homes registered in England and Wales must produce 31% less CO2 emissions on the current SAP model, to comply with the uplifted Part L standard (or Approved

Foundations for a Future, or Cementing our Fate? Construction and Climate Change
Opinion piece Foundations for a Future, or Cementing our Fate? Construction and Climate Change An opinion piece by Dr Hugh Montgomery, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine; Director, University College London’s Centre for Human Health and Performance Co-Chair Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change Global heating is caused by human activity. Building and construction account

All Jobs Greener – workforce transformation for a sustainable future
Opinion piece All Jobs Greener – workforce transformation for a sustainable future An opinion piece article by Martin Baxter, Deputy CEO IEMA and Director of Policy and External Affairs The shift to a green economy will create green jobs within new and emerging sectors, while those working in existing sectors will have to gain the

Making Material Changes in Buildings
Opinion piece Making Material Changes in Buildings An opinion piece article by Will Arnold, Head of Climate Action, The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Carbon in buildings Buildings are a good thing. They bring people together, keep them warm, and give them places to be useful. But as we are all painfully aware, the construction,

Why Marketing is at the forefront of industry collaboration: A route to a safer future
Opinion piece Why Marketing is at the forefront of industry collaboration: A route to a safer future An opinion piece article by Peter Sumpton, Construction Marketing Consultant, Marketing Study Lab Competition is Healthy In any industry, competition is healthy. If there is no competition then a monopoly occurs which means a singular company can dictate

Modular Construction, High Risk Residential Buildings and the Ethics of Building Safety
Opinion piece Modular Construction, High Risk Residential Buildings and the Ethics of Building Safety An opinion piece article by the British Board of Agrément Building on Dame Judith Hackitt’s Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety, the centre piece of this new regime is a requirement for higher risk buildings to have a Safety Case

When uncertainty becomes the main certainty
Opinion piece When uncertainty becomes the main certainty Getting back to how things are designed and made. Redscape model by McCloy+ Muchemwa. Credit: Photograph by Sophie Percival. An opinion piece by Helen Castle, Publishing Director, RIBA Embracing uncertainty has become the new order. Over the last two years, a state of flux has been met with

Our time to Shine – the role of building services engineers in a decade of reckoning
Opinion piece Our time to Shine – the role of building services engineers in a decade of reckoning An opinion piece by Ruth Carter, CEO, Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) The 2020s have been termed ‘the Decisive Decade’ for mitigating the effects of climate, biodiversity and equity crises. In working with some of

Can Volumetric Manufactured Buildings Deliver a Net Zero Future?
Opinion piece Can Volumetric Manufactured Buildings Deliver a Net Zero Future? An opinion piece by Richard Hipkiss, Development Director, The Modular and Portable Building Association Is the road to a net zero future a well mapped out route or is there uncertainty along the way? Here Richard Hipkiss, Development Director of the Modular and Portable

Making a digital impact at Futurebuild 2022
Opinion piece Making a digital impact at Futurebuild 2022 An opinion piece by Marie Grieve, Managing Director, Costello Palmer Communications and Content Creator for the Digital Impact stages at Futurebuild Digital Impact made its return to Futurebuild 2022 as a spotlight area for digital construction and emerging technologies within the digital built environment. The wonders

Building new homes while meeting climate targets is possible
Opinion piece Building new homes while meeting climate targets is possible An opinion piece by Steward Dalgarno, Director of Innovation and Sustainability of Stewart Milne Group The end of the UN’s climate change conference COP26 marked the beginning of the hard work required to prevent global warming rising above 1.5C. For the UK to play

How devolution can help local authorities to ‘level up’ their net-zero carbon plans
Opinion piece How devolution can help local authorities to ‘level up’ their net-zero carbon plans An opinion piece by Sue Riddlestone OBE, Chief Executive and Co-founder of Bioregional As we face a climate and ecological emergency and a cost-of-living crisis, the need for action to end our dependency on fossil-fuels and transition to zero-carbon lifestyles

The Value Toolkit
Opinion piece The Value Toolkit: Mapping out how to translate tip into transformative action An opinion piece by Ellie Jenkins, Industry Project Lead for The Value Toolkit Published late last year, the Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) Roadmap to 2030 has societal outcomes at its core. It is an exciting step forward to see a government

Why BPE in-use will inevitably make our lives better
Opinion piece Why BPE in-use will inevitably make our lives better An opinion piece by Fionn Stevenson, Professor of Sustainable Design, Building Performance Network (BLN) Performance challenges facing industry Currently, building activity in Europe is responsible for 36% of all carbon emissions, which is driving forward climate change at an alarming rate in terms of

Without Competence, can we deliver the Future?
Opinion piece Without Competence, can we deliver the Future? An opinion piece by Simon Forrester, CEO, Guild of Architectural Ironmongers (GAI) At the Guild of Architectural Ironmongers, our vision for the next 10 years is to provide a safe and secure built environment for all our stakeholders through a holistic approach to how we think

NHS Scotland tie-up shows how digitalisation and data can transform built environment
Opinion piece NHS Scotland tie-up shows how digitalisation and data can transform built environment An opinion piece by Prof (Hon) David Philp, Impact Director, Construction Innovation Hub Digitalisation and more effective handling of data is at the heart of the Hub’s work to transform construction and the built environment. That’s why we are working with

2022 for healthy, circular resolutions in construction practice – here’s how!
2022 for healthy, circular resolutions in construction practice – here’s how! 06 January 2022 An opinion piece by Chaline Church Founding Director, Editor, 540 WORLD Thankfully, it’s 2022 and the A, B, C, D (Alpha, Brexit, Covid, Delta) words are finally moving toward recent history, leaving us all a bit bewildered and bruised, but at

Are graduates climate-aware built environment professionals of the future?
Are graduates climate-aware built environment professionals of the future? 10 December 2021 An opinion piece by Adam Endacott FRSA Creative & Communications Director, Editor, Architectural Technology Journal, Chartered Institute of Architectural Technologists The skills of built environment professionals will need to evolve to reflect changing needs and contexts, becoming more diverse and specialised, with professionals

The value of digital asset information management
The value of digital asset information management 26 November 2021 An opinion piece by John Adams, Head of Product, Glider Asset management is the process by which data and information is collated and stored to obtain maximum value from the built asset itself, striking the right balance between performance improvement, risk reduction, cost optimisation and

Hub joins the global debate at COP summit in Glasgow
Hub joins the global debate at COP summit in Glasgow A COP26 review by Dave Philp 05 November 2021 COP26 is well underway and the Hub team are on the ground in Glasgow discussing sustainable legacies and the positive impact we can help make for a low-carbon built environment. This week, our Impact Director, Dave
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