A wide range of interesting articles that help you make informed decisions and deliver the best projects for your clients authored by our team of NBS subject specialists and construction industry contributors.
Sustainability
NBS Guide: Embodied Carbon Calculations
Learn how to align your carbon assessments with BIM workflows. This guide to Embodied Carbon Calculations, developed by NBS and Circular Ecology, sets out a practical, standardised approach to calculating the embodied carbon of building materials and products, and how to apply this data to BIM objects.
Must Reads
The hidden cost of compliance: why architects are demanding a new era of product transparency
Few pieces of legislation have reshaped the UK construction industry as significantly as the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA). Introduced to improve accountability, traceability and safety standards ...
Design and Specification
Brick slip cladding systems – the need for robust specification
This article from the NBS technical team outlines specification for brick slip technology, including history, technology, design, safety and testing.
When product data creates risk, AluK delivers the clarity and support architects need
The need to build more homes, more quickly, has not changed. If anything, the pressure has intensified. However, the conversation around Modern Methods of Construction has evolved.
Turning the volume down in curtain walling – acoustic considerations
Acoustic separation in curtain-walled buildings can present challenges for both façade designers and engineers. These types of façade system, commonly composed of low mass materials such as glazed ...
Construction Products
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
Our recent Sustainable Futures report confirmed that sustainability is now a non-negotiable factor in specification decisions. 70% of UK construction projects now have defined sustainability targets, ...
SustainabilityConstruction Products
Performance-based partition filtering now in NBS Source
The challenge NBS Source is a library of hundreds of thousands of systems and products from construction product manufacturers. Within this library, there are over 1000 different Gypsum board ...
Design and SpecificationConstruction Products
Uniclass - July 2025 update
This is the latest in our quarterly updating programme for Uniclass. It includes updates to four tables.
UniclassClassification
Designing for Wellbeing: Colour as a Critical Tool in Inclusive Architecture & Design
In this article, Dulux Trade explores the pivotal role that colour plays in how a building functions for its occupants – physically, cognitively, and emotionally. From wayfinding in a healthcare ...
Construction Products
Supporting smarter, lower-carbon design
The built environment is responsible for around 40% of global carbon emissions and in the UK, new build construction alone accounts for approximately 25% of the country’s total emissions. On most ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
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Siderise: Positive Mechanical Retention For Open State Cavity Barriers
Horizontal open state cavity barriers (OSCBs) are essential to the safety and performance of ventilated rainscreen facade systems. To ensure long-lasting protection throughout a building's lifecycle, ...
Construction Products
How DEVI Leads the Way in Sustainable Electric Underfloor Heating
With the construction industry moving towards safer, smarter and more sustainable buildings, the sector must recognise heating systems' impact on the built environment.
Construction Products
Uniclass - April 2025 update
This is the latest in our quarterly updating programme for Uniclass. It includes updates to five tables.
UniclassClassification
Making Specification Safer: The BBA and NBS
Since the introduction of the Building Safety Act, architects, manufacturers and construction professionals, in general, face additional responsibilities when it comes to building safety. From the ...
Design and SpecificationConstruction Products
The building blocks of style: Blockleys Sterling Grey bricks in Edinburgh’s Tram Sheds
Specifiers in the UK must constantly balance a need for high-performance, sustainable materials against aesthetic considerations/requirements. However, architects can offer the best of both worlds ...
Construction Products
Designing for NHBC Compliance: Future-Proofing Wet Rooms and Bathrooms
Protecting the fabric of the building with reliable waterproofing has always been vital, and now NHBC’s Technical Guidance 9.2/06 ‘Substrates for tiling bath and shower enclosures, wet rooms and ...
