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Welcome to the February edition of theNBS.com eNewsletter
Extensive guidance on BREEAM has been introduced as part of Update 2010-1 which will be delivered to all NBS customers shortly. This month we focus on BREEAM and sustainability as well as featuring clips from NBS Learning Channels highlighting the health and wellbeing category of the Code for Sustainable Homes. We also have an exclusive £5 off every order over £25 at RIBA Bookshops for all NBS eNewsletter readers.
NBS and BREEAM
NBS Building, NBS Landscape and NBS Engineering Services have been updated significantly during Updates 2009-3 and 2010-1 and now include extensive guidance on the BRE Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM); in particular, how the use of certain products and particular systems or issues connected with the management of the project can influence the award of credits.
Video: Code for Sustainable Homes – health and wellbeing
'Health and wellbeing' is Category 7 in the Code for Sustainable Homes. This category is formed of four parts – daylighting, sound insulation, private space (gardens, patios, etc), and lifetime homes.
A short history of sustainable development
In 1987 the UN Environment Commission, chaired by Gro Harlem Brundtland, defined sustainable development. This definition may well be the single biggest imperative for global development in the 21st century: the consequences have been enormous. In this exclusive extract from Rough Guide to Sustainability: 3rd Edition by Brian Edwards, we look at how the concept of sustainable development has developed over the last 20 years.
Video: Architectural integration of photovoltaics
In recent years photovoltaic technology, the conversion of sunlight to electricity, has made great technological strides. In this video clip Bakr Bahaj, Professor of Sustainable Energy at the University of Southampton discusses how photovoltiacs can be incorporated into buildings and the wider implications with regard to embodied energy and economics.
Building on Copenhagen
The switch from a carbon to solar economy which was signalled at Copenhagen's recent Climate Conference (COP15) will affect how we design and engineer buildings in the future. Rough Guide to Sustainability author Brian Edwards explains more.
BREEAM and the RIBA Plan of Work
Sustainable development is becoming an everyday part of life for property developers, designers and contractors, as many people both inside and outside the construction industry are demanding that the environmental impacts of buildings are kept to a minimum. We explain the broad principals of BREEAM and how some of the various credits contained within BREEAM schemes relate to the RIBA Plan of Work.
UK Government timber procurement policy and BREEAM
Properly managed, timber is the world's most renewable building material and is extensively used in construction. As the world's fourth biggest importer of timber products, the UK has the responsibility to ensure that timber it uses is from sustainable sources. Nick Moss, of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement, discusses the importance of the UK Government timber procurement policy and its relevance to BREEAM.
Do you know the difference between a detention basin and a retention pond?
To help you get to grips with a whole host of environmental terms just like these, we have put together an environmental issues glossary. This useful technical reference provides you with clear descriptions for a wealth of terms and acronyms all to do with sustainable development and wider environmental issues.
New sustainability titles from www.ribabookshops.com
This month we highlight a selection of sustainability titles, available from the brand new RIBA Bookshops website. The site has a new look, more books, insightful reviews, and allows you to "look inside the book" on selected titles. To celebrate the website's launch, NBS eNewsletter readers can take advantage of a £5 discount on all online orders over £25 (excluding VATable items) - simply enter the promotional code WR84563M at the checkout when you shop online at www.ribabookshops.com.
Greening Our Built World: Costs, Benefits and Strategies – This comprehensively updated, restructured and expanded new edition of this non-nonsense student and practice primer equips the contemporary architect to deal with the profession's most important challenge: designing buildings for sustainability. It sets out the environmental, professional and governmental context underlying sustainable principles, as well as outlining the science, measures and design solutions that designers need to adopt to meet twenty-first century definitions of responsible architecture.
Also from RIBA Bookshops:
Coming soon: Biodiversity for Low and Zero Carbon Buildings: A Technical Guide for New Build – The built environment has the potential to have a major impact on biodiversity, not least with the increasingly demanding requirements to design more energy efficient and airtight buildings, leaving less space for species to inhabit. As well as much needed model designs and practical guidance for the industry, the book also provides a useful summary of all the legislation and regulations relating to biodiversity and sustainable construction in the UK.
The Whole Building Handbook: Designing Healthy, Efficient and Sustainable Buildings – The Whole Building Handbook is a compendium of all the issues and strategies that architects need to understand to design and construct sustainable buildings for a sustainable society. The authors move beyond the current definition of sustainability in architecture to include guidance for architecture that promotes social cohesion, personal health, renewable energy sources, water and waste recycling systems, permaculture, energy conservation - and crucially, buildings in relation to their place.
Greening Our Built World: Costs, Benefits and Strategies – This eye-opening book reports the results of a large-scale study based on extensive financial and technical analyses of more than 150 green buildings. Using sophisticated modelling techniques, the study analyses the costs and financial benefits of building green on both large and small scales, and addresses the role of the built environment in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
All books listed above are available to order from www.ribabookshops.com, from the mail order department: +44 (0) 207 256 7222 and from RIBA Bookshops in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool.
Recommended websites
BREEAM
A useful source for all information necessary for conducting BREEAM and Code for Sustainable Homes assessments.
CEEQUAL
The website for CEEQUAL, the awards scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering projects.
Association for Environment Conscious Building (AECB)
AECB brings together construction industry professionals to promote sustainable building.
Ecobuild
Taking place on 2-4th March, Ecobuild focuses on sustainable design for the built environment. Visit their website to view all exhibitor details and register for the conference and seminar programmes.
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