Welcome to NBS

NBS resources

 

Collections of construction industry information

NBS topic areas

 

Keep up to date with industry developments

Resources

Sustainable development

Roads
Rooflights

Roofs
Rural planning

Roads

British Cement Association

Road recycling using cement, 1997
This publication looks at the environmental pressures to recycle roads, and highlights the suitability of cement as a binder in recycling.
View in The Construction Information Service

Britpave

Case studies on vertical concrete safety barriers in the UK, 2003
Describes the development of concrete safety barriers in the UK including Vertical Concrete Barriers (VCB) and Higher Vertical Concrete Barriers (HVCB).
View in The Construction Information Service

Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit

New Practice Final Profile 100 Cold mix recycling for road construction, 1998
View in The Construction Information Service

New Practice Case Study 111 Use of slag bound material for roadbase construction: Tarmac quarry products limited, 1999
View in The Construction Information Service

New Practice Final Report 111 Slag bound material in roadbase construction: a technical assessment, 1998
View in The Construction Information Service

General Information Report 49 Energy minimisation in road construction and maintenance, 1997
This report describes the significant energy and cost savings that can be achieved by using alternative materials and techniques for road pavement construction and maintenance. In particular, the report describes the importance of ensuring pavements are designed to take full advantage of the properties of the alternative materials/techniques being used.
View in The Construction Information Service

Future Practice Profile 85 Cold lay asphalt thin surfacing - an alternative solution for road maintenance: Tarmac quarry products and Staffordshire County council, 1998
The overall objective of this research project was to develop permanent cold-mix cold-lay asphalt mixtures that can be used for; surface maintenance treatment of existing roads; and trench reinstatement.
View in The Construction Information Service

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Groundwater protection code: Petrol stations and other fuel dispensing facilities involving underground storage tanks, 2002
Advice is given on how to protect groundwater when storing liquid hydrocarbons in underground storage tanks (USTs.) Operational and management practices are outlined including the key elements to ensure groundwater protection (environmental risk assessment, engineering requirements, management systems and controls and emergency plans/procedures.) Details are given for the commissioning, operation and decommissioning of facilities.
View in The Construction Information Service

Department for Transport

Traffic Advisory Leaflet 3/04 Quiet lanes, 2004
Describes two quiet lanes national demonstration projects in north Norfolk and west Kent as well as their impacts; and also offers advice for future schemes.
View in The Construction Information Service

Department of the Environment

Industry Profile Road vehicle fuelling, service and repair: transport and haulage centres, 1996
To provide regulators, developers and other interested parties with authoritative and researched advice on how best to identify, assess and tackle the problems associated with land contamination. The publications cannot address the specific circumstances of each site, since every site is unique. The Contaminated Land Research Report series deals with information needed to assess risks - procedures for categorising and assessing risks - and evaluation and selection of remedial measures.
View in The Construction Information Service

Industry Profile Road vehicle fuelling, service and repair: garages and filling stations, 1996
To provide regulators, developers and other interested parties with authoritative and researched advice on how best to identify, assess and tackle the problems associated with land contamination. The publications cannot address the specific circumstances of each site, since every site is unique. The Contaminated Land Research Report series deals with information needed to assess risks - procedures for categorising and assessing risks - and evaluation and selection of remedial measures.
View in The Construction Information Service

Design Bulletin 32 Residential roads and footpaths. 2nd edition, 1992
This design bulletin describes the main considerations that should be taken into account in the design of residential road and footpath layouts.
View in The Construction Information Service

Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions

Aggregates Advisory Service Digest 063 Recycling strategies for road works: a report by the OECD on international policy and practice, 1999
This digest briefly summarises a report by the OECD on international policy and practice.
View in The Construction Information Service

Aggregates Advisory Service Digest 101 Secondary and recycled aggregates uses in road construction under existing specifications, 1999
The aim of this document is to assist producers of such potential road making materials understand the key parameters which have to be satisfied by the materials.
View in The Construction Information Service

Highways Agency

Interim Advice Note 76/06 Environmental assessment. Introduction. Aims and objectives of environmental assessment (This note does not form part of the DMRB or the MCHW), 2006
Introduces the forthcoming amendments to the current Volume 11 of the Design Manual for Roads and Bridges (DMRB), which provides guidance on the environmental assessment of trunk road projects comprising new infrastructure such as all-purpose trunk roads and motorways, as well as technology and maintenance projects.
View in The Construction Information Service

Interim Advice Note 77/06 Environmental assessment. Principles of environmental assessment. Introduction (This note does not form part of the DMRB or the MCHW), 2006
Introduces the forthcoming amendments to Section 2 of the DMRB Volume 11. It provides the overarching assessment principles and methods to be applied when conducting an environmental assessment across the range of projects for which the Highways Agency is responsible.
View in The Construction Information Service

Interim Advice Note 78/06 Environmental assessment. Principles of environmental assessment. Environmental assessments (This note does not form part of the DMRB or the MCHW), 2006
Looks at Strategic environmental assessment (SEA), implications for project environmental assessment, regulations, appropriate assessment, relationship to transport appraisal and expertise for the environmental assessment.
View in The Construction Information Service

Interim Advice Note 79/06 Environmental assessment. Principles of environmental assessment. Screening (This note does not form part of the DMRB or the MCHW), 2006
Screening should be used to decide whether a project would have an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) requirement. Screening establishes if a project represents a relevant project, the determination for the purposes of the EIA regulations and Whether EIA is to be completed or not.
View in The Construction Information Service

DMRB Volume 11 Section 3 Part 10 HA 216/06 Environmental assessment. Environmental assessment techniques. Road drainage and the water environment, 2006
Gives guidance on the assessment and management of the impacts that road projects may have on the water environment. These include possible impacts on the quality of water bodies and on the existing hydrology of the catchments through which roads pass. Where appropriate, the advice may be applied to existing roads.
View in The Construction Information Service

DMRB Volume 4 Section 2 Part 1 HA 71/06 Geotechnics and drainage. Drainage. Effects on flooding of highway construction on flood plains, 2006
Describes a method of assessing the potential hydraulic effects of highway construction on flood plains which shall be in accordance with HA 216 (DMRB 11.3.10).
View in The Construction Information Service

Institution of Highways and Transportation

Aggregate recycling and alternative materials in highway construction, 1995
The purpose of this paper is to address ways in which the use of primary aggregates within highway construction in the UK can be reduced. The existing situation is reviewed, the options available examined, and recommendations made where possible.
View in The Construction Information Service

Environmental management of highways (EMH), 2001
Describes best practice in managing and maintaining a transport infrastructure, especially highways, in such a way as to minimise potentially harmful environmental impacts and maximise environmental gains. Intended for use by planners, architects, highway engineers, traffic engineers and maintenance engineers, in both the public and private sectors as well as Councillors, voluntary groups and others who wish to pursue improvements to the highway environment. The guidelines cover; policy context, environmental management systems, drainage and runoff, air and noise quality management, landscape, management of ecology and of highways within the built heritage.
View in The Construction Information Service

Guidelines for rural safety management (RSM), 1999
Of interest to everyone in road safety, particularly highway and traffic engineers, planners and other transport professionals working for local authorities. The Guidelines aim to develop a strategic approach to management of safety on rural roads, defined as roads where the speed limit exceeds 40mph.
View in The Construction Information Service

Guidelines for safety audit of highways. 2nd edition, 1996
These guidelines are a comprehensive guide to 'engineering out' potentially unsafe features in new road schemes, improvements to existing roads, traffic management schemes and major maintenance projects.
View in The Construction Information Service

Guidelines for traffic impact assessment (TIA), 1994
These new guidelines provide the basis for significant improvements to the way the traffic impact of development is assessed and presented.
View in The Construction Information Service

Guidelines for urban safety management (USM), 1990
Describes Urban Safety Management and how best to implement this new approach. The guidelines are intended to help Local Authorities to fulfil in urban areas their responsibilities for road safety as set out in the Local Authority Associations Code of Practice.
View in The Construction Information Service

Guidelines for cycle audit and cycle review (CACR), 1998
These guidelines are intended to help to ensure that the needs of cyclists are built into the local transport planning process.
View in The Construction Information Service

Transport Research Laboratory

Viridis Publications - Report Wise use of landscape resources in road construction and maintenance: Scotland, 2002
Policies outlined in Fitting Roads, Cost Effective Landscapes and the Trunk Roads Biodiversity Action Plan (Scottish Executive, 1997b; 1998; 1999) have promoted the adoption of measures which seek to minimise adverse effects on the environment in. the planning and detailed design of roads. These policies also, directly or indirectly, minimise waste produced through both the construction of the road (by aiming to fit new road alignments with the existing topography) and through the wise use of resources in creating new landscapes associated with roads.
View in The Construction Information Service

Laboratory Report 817 Use of waste and low-grade materials in road construction: 5. china clay sand, 1978
This report describes an investigation to establish the potentialities for road construction of the sands from china clay workings.
View in The Construction Information Service

Laboratory Report 818 Use of waste and low-grade materials in road construction: 6. spent oil shale, 1978
This report deals with spent oil shale and it considers the extent to which this type of shale can be used in road construction.
View in The Construction Information Service

Laboratory Report 819 Use of waste and low-grade materials in road construction: 7. miscellaneous wastes, 1977
This report deals with those materials, which for one reason or another, have less potential for use as roadmaking materials than those described in earlier reports in the series.
View in The Construction Information Service

Report 174 Environmental assessment of traffic management schemes: a literature review, 1995
The report considers the environmental impact of traffic management schemes with particular regard to vehicle exhaust emissions, traffic noise and traffic vibration. It describes the methods used to assess how people perceive each major component of environmental impact, the factors that need to be considered when assessing the environmental consequences of traffic management schemes, and the measurement and prediction procedures that are available to evaluate environmental impacts. It includes a detailed review of some previous case studies of traffic management schemes and gives an appraisal of the likely effects of different traffic management schemes in influencing environmental impacts. It also includes consideration of the gaps in the knowledge that exist and gives ideas that might be used to specify a programme of research designed to gain a more complete understanding of the assessment of the environmental impact of traffic management schemes.
View in The Construction Information Service

Report 597 Rural traffic calming in Bird Lane, Brentwood (Essex), 2004
The lane was originally between 4 and 5m wide, mostly with no centre markings, and the verges were becoming heavily degraded where two vehicles passed each other. There was no footway and walking and cycling were unpleasant. The traffic calming scheme aimed to reduce traffic by deterring rat running and encourage non motorised use of the lane by narrowing part of the lane to a 3m single track road, with passing places, by adding a footway between passing places, and designating it as a 20mph zone.
View in The Construction Information Service

Report 611 Guide to the use and specification of cold recycled materials for the maintenance of road pavements, 2004
An extension of earlier work described in TRL386 - Design guide and specification for structural maintenance of highway pavements by cold in situ recycling. The pavement design and material specification guidance in this report will help to facilitate the take up of cold recycling. It is a comprehensive guide that covers: material design, site evaluation, pavement design and end product specification.
View in The Construction Information Service

Viridis Publications - Report VR 1 Recycling in transport infrastructure, 2001
Sets out the background in terms of definitions, policy and legislation, a description of the works and the quantities of materials involved and a general discussion of the issues and solutions. Provides the perspective of the various stakeholders, identifying the issues and providing guidance relevant to each group of stakeholders. Summarises recommended actions to enable greater recycling and use of alternative materials for each stakeholder. Also contains case studies illustrating the successful use of recycling and alternative materials, and examples of good practice, in boxes, tables, flow charts and figures.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rooflights

Building Research Establishment

Report 379 Calculating access to skylight, sunlight and solar radiation on obstructed sites in Europe, 1999
This report contains manual tools to predict daylight, sunlight and heating season solar gain in obstructed situations. They can be used to assess the solar potential of new sites, and to evaluate the overshadowing of an existing building following a new development nearby.
View in The Construction Information Service

Roofs

Architects' Journal

AJ Focus Sustainable roofing. AJ Focus 01.98, 1998
View in The Construction Information Service

Building Research Energy Conservation Support Unit

Good Practice Guide 7 Energy efficient new housing: roof insulation, 1976
View in The Construction Information Service

Good Practice Guide 97 Energy efficiency in new housing. Detailing for designers and building professionals. Pitched roofs, 1993
View in The Construction Information Service

Good Practice Guide 109 Energy efficiency in new housing. Site practice for tradesmen. Pitched roofs: insulating a conventional pitched roof, 1993
View in The Construction Information Service

Good Practice Guide 110 Energy efficiency in new housing. Site practice for tradesmen. Pitched roofs: insulating a room in the roof, 1993
View in The Construction Information Service

Good Practice Guide 296 Refurbishment site guidance for solid walled houses - roofs, 2000
Aimed at architects, builders, local authorities and housing associations. This guide provides advice on which insulation methods are most appropriate for roofs and the thickness of insulation needed to achieve a good level of energy efficiency.
View in The Construction Information Service

Building Research Establishment

Digest 180 Condensation in roofs, 1986
Although most roofs perform well, problems of condensation are increasing. The risk is greatest in roofs that have impermeable sheet coverings, and flat roofs in particular have frequently given rise to problems. With newer forms of construction, lower roof pitches, and changes in standards and forms of heating, similar problems are now being met in pitched roofs. This digest discusses design principles for minimising the risk of condensation and consequential damage to decorations or structure.
View in The Construction Information Service

Information Paper 3/81 Assessment of U-values for insulated roofs, 1981
View in The Construction Information Service

Information Paper 2/89 Thermal performance of lightweight inverted warm deck flat roofs, 1989
BRE research indicates that when the inverted warm deck roof is used in conjunction with a lightweight deck, thermal performance during rainfall may fall far enough below theoretical expectations in certain locations to allow risk of condensation in the roof. Further work validates a simple modification to the design which could be incorporated to reduce this risk. These findings will be of value to designers and architects considering the use of the inverted flat roof option.
View in The Construction Information Service

Report 262 Thermal insulation: avoiding risks. 3rd edition, 2002
Explains the technical risks which may be associated with meeting the building regulation requirements for thermal insulation for the major elements of the building. For Roofs and Floors, there are further sub-divisions within each element. Concentrates on loadbearing masonry, timber frame constructions and profiled sheet cladding. Illustrations show construction principles and good practice. This updated edition contains a number of revisions resulting from developments in research, changes in. materials, construction techniques and the building regulations.
View in The Construction Information Service

Good Building Guide 32 Ventilating thatched roofs, 1999
View in The Construction Information Service

Digest 351 Re-covering old timber roofs, 1990
When an old timber roof is re-covered, it can be subjected to substantially higher loads by the new tiles or slates than by the original ones. The roof, comprising rafters, purlins, struts and ceiling joists, which has performed satisfactorily before re-covering, may show signs of distress and may eventually collapse as a result of heavier and/or more absorbent tiles or slates. This Digest explains how to assess the condition of timber roofs prior to re-tiling or slating and suggests practical steps towards completing a satisfactory renovation.
View in The Construction Information Service

Digest 489 Wind loads on roof based photovoltaic systems, 2004
There is a little information and no authoritative guidance about wind loads on roof-based photovoltaic (PV) systems available to the designer. In the UK, determining wind loading on PV systems and their component parts tends to be based on experimental data, extrapolation of wind loading data intended for other building elements, or from design guidance for PV installations in other countries where the wind loads or construction practice can be quite different. Reviews the wind loading information appropriate for roof based PV systems and gives recommendations and guidance for the design of roof-based PV systems for wind loads.
View in The Construction Information Service

English Nature

Bats in roofs - a guide for surveyors, 1991
A guide for surveyors which covers identification of roosts, and species and roost sites.
View in The Construction Information Service

James and James (Science Publishers)

Roof Cooling Techniques: A Design Handbook, 2005
Considers the principles of roof design and specific systems and cooling techniques. Environmental function is considered in terms of protective strategies (solar control, thermal insulation, heat storage and thermal inertia) and selective strategies (radiative, evaporative and convective cooling and planting of roofs). Traditional and current roof construction practices are described, with various European case studies. Cooling techniques examined include roof ponds, cooling radiators, planted (green) roofs and roof components, presenting fundamental principles, the systems and components employed, advantages and disadvantages, application types, built precedents, recent experimental work (where applicable) and key design considerations.
Buy this title from RIBA Bookshops

John Wiley and Sons

Green roof systems: a guide to the planning, design and construction of building over structure, 2006
Goes beyond the fashionable green roof movement and provides solid information on building accessible space, often as important public space, over structure. It offers brief coverage of the entire process, including planning and collaboration, and focuses on the technical aspects of these roof systems, their components, and their applications.

Timber Press

Planting green roofs and living walls, 2004
Discusses the practical techniques required to plant roofs and walls, describing how roofs may be modified to bear the weight of vegetation, considering different options for drainage layers and growing media, and listing the plants suitable for different environments.
Buy this title from RIBA Bookshops

Green roof plants: a resource and planting guide, 2006
Contains photographs and cultural information for more than 200 species and cultivars of plants, including valuable data on moisture needs, heat tolerance, hardiness, bloom colour, foliage characteristics, and height. Concise, accurate, and easy to use, this book is an indispensable practical reference guide, not just for architects, landscape designers, engineers, and environmentalists, but also for environmentally conscious home gardeners.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rural planning

Action with Communities in Rural England

Affordable rural housing: challenge for the nineties, 1990
This publication is an abridged version of the national survey presented to the Rural Development Commission by ACRE. The survey sought to find out; the scale of current unmet need for rural social housing, and the likely supply of new rural social housing in the next three years from all possible sources. This report is concerned solely with the needs of Rural England, i.e. those places with populations of fewer than 10,000.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rural social housing - supply and trends, 1992
This is the third report prepared by ACRE for the Rural Development Commission on rural social housing. This report looks at the impact of the two special rural social housing programmes from the Housing Corporation and Department of the Environment, and examines ways in which the enabling role is being fulfilled locally, and at changes in affordability.
View in The Construction Information Service

Integrated transport - a rural perspective, 1998
Looks at the impact of transport policy on rural communities.
View in The Construction Information Service

Taking action on rural housing, 1998
Outlines action and further help for those wanting to tackle the problem of limited housing stock to buy or rent for those with limit incomes.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rural regeneration, 1998
Looks at issues of achieving sustainable regeneration in rural areas.
View in The Construction Information Service

Architects' Journal

AJ Focus Conservation. AJ Focus 12.2003, 2003
Looks at how the mix of John McAslan and Partners' Modernist principles and deep-rooted interest in how buildings are put together has resulted in several interesting context-based conservation projects which allow new buildings to sit successfully next to existing ones with historic character.
View in The Construction Information Service

Charity Commission

Promotion of urban and rural regeneration, 1999
This publication summarises the Charity Commission's views on the extent to which the promotion of urban and rural regeneration is charitable.
View in The Construction Information Service

Council for the Protection of Rural England

Future harvests: economics of farming and the environment, 1990
This report examines the impact of farming on the environment and proposes reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy which would help to ensure the development of environmentally sustainable agricultural systems which would protect and enhance the European countryside.
View in The Construction Information Service

Continuity and change: main report, 1995
A submission by the CPRE on the Government's proposed Rural White Paper.
View in The Construction Information Service

Taking stock: why planning is good for the countryside, 1995
This publication is divided into the following sections; planning - past and future; the economic health of rural areas; prohibitive planning; the countryside is good for business and; planning and the countryside.
View in The Construction Information Service

Continuity and change: speech, 1995
A speech by Jonathan Dimbleby, President of the Council for the Protection of Rural England to the RTPI Summer Conference 21 June 1995.
View in The Construction Information Service

Green or mean? Assessing the environmental value of the CAP reform 'accompanying measures', 1992
This report is an examination of a set of three policy proposals made by the EC Commission as part of the 1991 'MacSharry' proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
View in The Construction Information Service

Urban and rural futures, 2000
This publication is divided into ten main sections; introduction; towards a shared future; a methodology for the urban and rural futures event; session 1 - measuring quality of life; session 2 - costs and trade-offs; headlines; session 3 - making your voice heard; the response to the questionnaires; conclusions and; methodological recommendations.
View in The Construction Information Service

Change for the better: towards sustainable rural development, 1998
This report examines the problems caused by rural development and identifies the costs and benefits of rural change.
View in The Construction Information Service

Farm diversification: planning for success, 2000
The key to successful farm diversification is not relaxing land use planning but sound business planning and the use of the distinctive qualities of its rural location. This report argues for a new approach that places an emphasis on business skills and business planning that avoids a short-term rush towards ill-conceived schemes.
View in The Construction Information Service

Working on the land, 1998
This leaflet exposes the problems with economic development in the North West and proposes a way forward which will benefit both the environment and the people of the Region.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rural development - winners or losers, 1998
New development in rural areas is sometimes justified by its promoters on the basis that it will bring local jobs or benefit the countryside. This checklist is designed as a means of determining if this is true in specific situations.
View in The Construction Information Service

Towards sustainable economic development: employment land and the countryside, 2000
This report challenges the notion that economic development and environmental protection need always be in conflict. It focuses on the role of the land use planning system as a key process through which environmental and economic objectives can be reconciled. It provides guidance to local campaigners on how they can best influence the formulation of planning policies for economic development. It views the planning system as an opportunity to promote more sustainable economic development rather than as an obstacle to economic growth.
View in The Construction Information Service

Rural renaissance, 1999
In the past, policies for rural development have often hindered rather than helped rural areas to realise their true potential. This report examines why and identifies an emerging consensus for a new and more discerning approach to rural development.
View in The Construction Information Service

Council of Europe

Environmental Encounters 26 Landscape diversity: a chance for the rural community to achieve a sustainable future, 1996
Report of the 2nd Pan-European Seminar on Rural Landscapes organised by the Council of Europe, the Ministry of Environment Protection, Natural Resources and Forestry of Poland and the Research Centre for Agricultural and Forest Environment of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Poznan, 25-30th September 1995.
View in The Construction Information Service

Joint Nature Conservation Committee

Nature conservation in rural development - the need for new thinking about rural sector policies, 1986
A discussion of how the conservation lobby reacts and should react to opposing interests, and a call for an integrated approach to rural land use.
View in The Construction Information Service

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Planning Policy Statement 7 Planning policy statement 7: sustainable development in rural areas, 2004
Sets out the Government's national policies on land use planning in the rural areas of England, including country towns and villages and the wider, largely undeveloped countryside up to the fringes of larger urban areas.
View in The Construction Information Service

Scottish Office

Environment and heritage in rural development, 1998
This guide provides practical advice and information on integrating environment and heritage issues in rural development work to ensure suitable rural development. It aims to encourage all local rural partnerships - strategic, topic and area - and other local agencies and organisations, to consider environment and heritage factors at all stages of their rural development work.
View in The Construction Information Service

The Land is Ours

Defining rural sustainability, 1999
Fifteen criteria for sustainable developments in the countryside, together with three model policies for local plans. A report produced by The Rural Planning Group of The Land is Ours.
View in The Construction Information Service

Town and Country Planning Association

Rural sustainability, 1999
This paper examines the complexity of the contemporary countryside and assesses the obstacles which need to be overcome if progress is to be made towards rural sustainable development.
View in The Construction Information Service

BackToTop

Email Updates

Receive regular email
updates from NBS