NBS | Sustainability: Where’s the 'green' bit in NBS Building?

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Where's the 'green' bit in NBS Building?

by John Glen

Convenient as a simple answer to this question may be, the reality is a little more complicated. Sustainability is an issue that affects almost every work section in NBS Building. Specifiers who use the software only occasionally are frequently unaware that most work sections feature ‘General guidance’, a pithy introduction to the subject in hand. It can be found near the top of the NBS Building guidance window; click on the second tab, ‘General’. Its purpose is to enable the user to make informed choices about specification, and its focus is at a general level rather than the more specific advice attached to most of the clauses in NBS.

Naturally, therefore, much ‘green’ information in NBS is to be found here, usually towards the end of the general guidance material, with a heading ‘Environmental issues’ or similar. Most worksections give an appraisal of the environmental impact of the manufacture of the main materials involved. Some also give a wider overview of related environmental issues, for example:

Section D20 - Discussion of using site-won and recycled materials for filling
Section E10 - Recycled and secondary aggregates for concrete production
Section Q24 - Guidance on the use of different forms of permeable block paving
Sections R10, R11 and S90 - Recycling of rainwater and grey water
Section R13 - Rainwater management and sustainable urban drainage systems

In some cases it is possible to be more specific about green issues in individual NBS clauses. An example is the recycled material content requirements, cross referenced to the WRAP website, found in many NBS clauses..