The Landscape sector: paving the road to a low carbon future 16 September 2021 An opinion piece by Jane Findlay, Landscape Institute, President Context: Climate change, built environment and landscape professionals Climate change is one of the most pressing and urgent challenges for humanity today. Recently, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global

The true value of seeing the big picture: How the Hub’s Value Toolkit is helping deliver solutions for tomorrow… today. 10 September 2021 An opinion piece by Ian Nicholson, Construction Innovation Hub, Value Delivery Lead The pilot phase of our innovative Value Toolkit in now well underway, giving early adopters the chance to see tomorrow,

Scarcity and the City – understanding the structure of the city is a key to the transition to sustainability. 01 September 2021 An opinion piece by Nicoletta Michaletos, Consultant, Buro Happold “Though Nineveh of old was like a pool of water, Now they flee away.‘Halt! Halt!’ they cry;But no one turns back.”[1] Historians still regard

FutureX: A future yet to be determined 27 August 2021 An opinion piece by Dr Oliver Jones, Research Director, Ryder Architecture The term sustainable development was first coined in Our Common Future, also known as the Brundtland Report, published by the United Nations in 1987. The report defined the term as ‘the ability to meet

Why habitat matters more than before, Adam Cane, Sustainability Lead, ACO Water Management 13 August 2021 An opinion piece by Adam Cane, Suatainability Lead, ACO Biodiversity in the UK is under threat. A report earlier this year by the RSPB found that the UK had lost the most amount of natural wildlife and wild spaces

The need for an honest approach to net zero, Simon Corbey, Director, ASBP 05 August 2021 An opinion piece by Simon Corbey, Director, ASBP Much like Greta, I am finding the obsession with net zero as a target incredibly frustrating. We now have high impact industries like concrete and steel publishing their route maps to

Who is responsible for reaching net-zero ? Martin Hurn, Event Director, Futurebuild 30 July 2021 Who is responsible for reaching net-zero ?  UK emissions fell by nearly 50 per cent of their 1990 levels during the 2020 lockdown. According to The Guardian, this positive change will be short-lived. Carbon dioxide emissions are forecast to jump

Encouraging Innovation, Paul Foulkes, President, KNX UK Association 22 July 2021 Encouraging Innovation Complex control projects can throw up complex issues,  leading to disputes that are costly and time consuming and, in turn, break what should ideally be long-term relationships. One way to avoid disputes is to play safe; another is to embrace innovation but

The future of the built environment, Martin Hurn, Event Director, Futurebuild 16 July 2021 The future of the built environment In 2019, the UK Government set an ambitious goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050. As one of the largest contributors to the UK’s carbon footprint, producing 42 per cent of carbon emissions, the

Opinion Piece by David Pierpoint, CEO, The Retrofit Academy CIC 15 July 2021 PAS 2035: A Roadmap to Industrial Scale, High-Quality Retrofit Visit any retrofit installer at the minute and mention BSI PAS 2035, and there is a good chance you will be shown the door. And understandably so because change is uncomfortable. But give

Opinion Piece by Peter Littlewood, iHowz and Steve Cox, Alan Boswell Group 08 July 2021 Landlords.  Do they want to help, or is it all Hot Air? Whilst the demand from income investors, in recent years, has led to build to rent projects these have been focussed on students or those on above-average incomes (typically

Opinion Piece by John Adams, Head of Product, Glider Technology 25 June 2021 Who really controls the sustainable future of the built environment? In these changing times it’s not certain what the built environment of the future is going to look like.  What is certain, is that with population increases expected until a predicted peak

      Opinion Piece by Neil Thompson, Programme Director, Construction Innovation Hub 18 June 2021 The case for digital has never been stronger  Information Management can lead to significant benefits for organisations in the built environment and the wider economy – if we act now. The challenges we face as a sector are well

      Opinion Piece by Elaine Lewis, Managing Director, Cadventure  11 June 2021 Finding a solution to bridge skills gaps, could apprenticeships be the answer? With an ever-growing skill shortage among architects, engineers and construction professionals, we are increasingly aware, as an industry, of the need to encourage young people into our arena. But

      Opinion Piece by Ian Rippin, CEO, Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) 04 June 2021 In our recent landmark report – Renewing Britain – MCS provided a comprehensive analysis of the changing landscape of small-scale renewable energy since 2008. What we found is that the landscape for small-scale renewables has changed dramatically over the

      Opinion Piece by Laura Bishop, GSHPA  24 May 2021 Since November 2020 when Boris Johnson announced the much vaunted ‘600,000 heat pumps per year by 2028’, the conversation surrounding the decarbonisation and electrification of heat has increased enormously. There are many benefits of switching to heat pumps including carbon emissions reduction by

      Opinion Piece by Paul Capel, Founding Partner, 540 WORLD 14 May 2021 My ongoing journey from student to policy influencer It is heart-warming to see how Cradle to Cradle® principles and applications have developed since I had my life-changing exposure to them more a decade and a half ago. In 2008/9, while

Opinion Piece by Ron Lang, Impact Director for Value at Construction Innovation Hub 30 April 2021 How do we measure true value Value. It’s a simple word, but what does it really mean? How do we measure true value beyond pounds and pence? Getting to grips with the seemingly innocuous issue of value continues to

Opinion Piece by Dr Merryn Haines-Gadd, University of Exeter 23 April 2021 Self-healing materials – fact or science fiction? A field of interest for over 20 years, self-healing materials are those with the ability to repair themselves when damaged. They can be classified into two types: extrinsic self-healing – whereby healing agents inside micro-capsules or

Opinion Piece by Claire Ackerman, The Concrete Centre 15 April 2021 Futurebuild’s Game Changers campaign has recently inspired me to think back through the key innovations in concrete design that have truly changed the face of the built environment. Concrete is undoubtedly a game changing material.  Throughout history it has helped to support our economy,

Opinion Piece by Martin Hurn Futurebuild 09 April 2021 Revealing the industry’s game changers   The products and technologies that will influence the future of construction Can you imagine living everyday life without your smartphone, central heating, or lightbulbs? We didn’t know how much we needed these products until they were invented — now we can’t

Opinion Piece by Jackie MaginnisChief Executive, MPBA 02 April 2021 Modular Technology and The Golden Thread  In her report ‘Building a Safer Future’, Dame Judith Hackitt highlights the need for a system-based approach with a golden thread of information running through the lifecycle of each project. Here Jackie Maginnis argues the case for modular technology

Opinion Piece by Sue Riddlestone, CEO, Bioregional 26 March 2021 Now is the moment to use our voices and influence policy  The UK Government is actively deliberating how to achieve net zero carbon in the built environment and reverse biodiversity loss as part of a slew of new policies. Those of us in the Futurebuild

Opinion Piece by Ann Marie Aguilar, Senior Vice President, EMEA, International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) The new WELL rating is a real boon, originally featured on Property Week 19 March 2021 As we think about the tools required to beat Covid-19, now more than ever our buildings are a critical part of the public health

Opinion Piece by May Winfield, Head of Commercial and LegalBuro Happold Overcoming the Challenges and Obstacles to Successfully Implement Technology, Digitisation and Digitalisation 12 March 2021 The construction industry is undergoing a significant (but rather slow…) transformation as it progresses towards Construction 4.0, with greater digitalisation and more automated production and assembly processes. The last

Opinion Piece by Sarah Mukherjee, CEO, IMEA Sustainable building 05 March 2021 I have been involved in and reporting on environmental policy for more than 20 years now, and perhaps rather depressingly, the main ask, be it carbon credits, green infrastructure or green skills, has stayed the same throughout this time, which is to enable