News update - November 2007

A brief synopsis of some of the key news items related to technical guidance, construction practice, and new regulations that you might have missed in the press.

Big Draw
King's Cross developer Argent is seeking planning permission for a giant wrap to go around a derelict block, featuring jolly Brits 'singing and dancing, swigging beer and enjoying food'. The celebrated illustrator Quentin Blake has been drafted in to obscure the eyesore and 'to give travellers stepping off the new high-speed train from Paris a better first impression of the city...'
BD Online weekend news round-up, 22nd October 2007

Big Draw
The NBS and RIBA Bookshops’ sponsored event ‘Condensing Complexity’ by NBS Shortcuts’ illustrator, Austin Williams was one of the hits of the launch weekend’s events in Bishopsgate in London. See: http://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/events_details.asp?EventsID=245

Cement industry defends environmental impact
The use of cement in the construction of environmentally friendly buildings is being called into question. According to a report in the Guardian newspaper, cement production is responsible for more than 5% of global CO₂ emissions. Cement is a key constituent of concrete. The high thermal mass of concrete is often used in the construction of low energy buildings to limit internal temperature fluctuations. The global cement industry met earlier this month in Brussels to discuss the impact the industry is having on the climate. Speaking in the Guardian, Dimitri Papalexopoulous, managing director of Titan Cement, Athens, said: “No matter what you do cement production will always produce carbon dioxide. You can’t change the chemistry so we can’t achieve spectacular cuts in emissions.” Mike Gilbert, chief executive of the British Cement Association, says: “The UK cement industry is not an obstacle to a low carbon economy, but an essential component. Since 1990, UK cement manufacturers have reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 29%, saving over 3.9 million tonnes of CO₂. Cement manufacture accounts for just 1.76% of the total UK CO₂ emissions.”
Building Services Journal Online, 22nd October 2007

EU quality certificate for energy efficient controls
The European Building Automation and Controls Association (eu.bac) has developed the first Europe-wide test and certification programme for electronic single room controllers. The test, based on European standard EN 15500, is offered by independent testing institutes and includes inspection of the production plant. It has been instigated in response to the European energy efficiency guideline, Energy Performance of Buildings, which demands obligatory European-wide energy certification of buildings. Products tested successfully will be awarded an eu.bac certification label. Accredited certifiers and test institutes in France, the UK and Germany have already begun testing and companies including Belimo Automation, Hager Controls, Honeywell and Siemens have gained the first eu.bac certification for electronic individual zone control equipment.
Building Services Journal Online, 22nd October 2007

Get Luder
Yet another Owen Luder landmark faces demolition. The 1969 'Dunston Rocket', real name Derwent Tower, in Gateshead. With Portsmouth's Tricorn Centre pulverised, and his Get Carter car park about to slide into oblivion, Luder's putting up a fight this time. 'I'm flabbergasted...it staggers me that at a time when we need affordable housing, officials seriously consider pulling down a perfectly good block of flats...It's the lynch mob mentality...Once it’s gone, it’s gone forever, and people should not forget that. It’s the story of architecture and my life, sadly. In the 1960s my buildings were revered, in the 70s they were applauded, in the 80s they were questioned and in the 90s they were ridiculed. Now it seems the 2000s will see some of them destroyed completely.'
Newcastle Chronicle, 29th October 2007

ProCure21 gets boost from £200m surge in contracts
NHS ProCure21 (P21) contractors have reported a sudden surge in work, with more than £200m-worth of contracts let since Easter. A total of 23 ProCure21 (P21) schemes have been awarded since the beginning of this financial year. Kier has taken the lion's share and won 14 schemes worth a combined £80m. Balfour Beatty has also landed its first substantial deal under the framework, snatching the £13m Cromer Community Hospital deal in Norfolk away from Kier this month. The flow of P21 schemes slowed to a trickle last year due to NHS budgetary cuts, a national restructuring of NHS Trusts and a P21 review, which undermined Trusts' confidence in the initiative. The downturn saw Wates, Carillion and Taylor Woodrow quit the 11-strong framework in June 2006. Improved NHS Trust finances and the Department of Health's (DoH) decision to extend the framework contract by two years has now kick-started the revival. P21 contractors welcomed the upturn. A DoH spokesperson said: "Since ministerial approval of the extension of the framework in April 2007, there have been 36 schemes that have selected a principal supply-chain partner, the total value of which being £230m. In addition, there are another 12 schemes in the earlier stages totalling £97.5m. We have seen a 50% increase in the number of schemes registered on the same period last year."
Contract Journal Online, 24th October 2007

Safety guidelines published for company directors
The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) and Institute of Directors (IoD) have published health and safety guidance for directors. The guidelines, called Leading health and safety at work, set out advice on how to plan, deliver, monitor and review health and safety in the workplace. It includes a health and safety agenda for best practice and practical actions, a checklist of key questions on health and safety leadership policies, a summary of legal liabilities, and a list of resources and references for implementing the guidance. View the guidance.
Building Newsletter, 30th October 2007

Scottish Parliament water 'hazards' face removal
Ponds in front of the Scottish Parliament could be filled in to prevent further accidents, under proposals drawn up by Holyrood officials. The features were part of architect Enric Miralles' original vision for the £414 million building. But after several incidents where people were injured by falling into the ponds, they could now be converted into a sunken garden or paved over altogether. They include a visitor who suffered broken ribs after falling into one of the ponds while reading a text message on a mobile phone, and an MSP who accidentally stepped back into a pond while taking a photograph. Temporary safety barriers were put up in February last year, after an elderly man got out of a taxi and walked into a pond. Scrapping the ponds would save £75,000 a year.
ArchNews.com, 16th October 2007

Taking advantage
A new report from the Local Government Task Force (LGTF), Taking advantage: how SMEs can become successful framework contractors, found that the drive for greater efficiency need not rule out active SME involvement in local government construction. By studying a number of exemplar projects from around the country, the report found that smaller contractors can be successful framework contractors. To view the full report, visit: http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/pdf/lgtf/smes_and_framweorks_sept07.pdf.

Dubai to turn green in 2008
All buildings in Dubai will have to be constructed as per environment-friendly "green building" standards from January. Owners of residential, commercial and other buildings will have to implement the decision according to the highest international standards that are suitable for Dubai, to maintain a healthy city that follows the global benchmarks in sustainable development and clean environment. The decision makes Dubai the first city in the Middle East and one of the first in the world to implement this method.
ArchNewsNow Newsletter, 25th October 2007

South Africa
Imagine designing a house using a computer program, pressing the “print” button, and standing by as a high-tech machine churns out the pieces required to build it – in wood, rubber and other materials. Each piece would be numbered, and you could literally slot them together like a giant puzzle, without the need for hammers, nails or cement. Sound far-fetched? It‘s not, says former Port Elizabeth architecture graduate Marcel Botha, who is working at the cutting edge of this technology – called “digital fabrication” – in the United States.
Architecture Week, 24th October 2007

Syria
French archaeologists have discovered an 11,000-year-old wall painting underground in northern Syria which they believe is the oldest in the world. The 2 square-meter painting, in red, black and white, was found at the Neolithic settlement of Djade al-Mughara on the Euphrates, northeast of the city of Aleppo, team leader Eric Coqueugniot told Reuters. "It looks like a modernist painting. Some of those who saw it have likened it to work by (Paul) Klee. Through carbon dating we established it is from around 9,000 B.C.," Coqueugniot said.
RIBA World, 16th October 2007