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.
How to integrate the Energy Technology List into your specifications
Discover how the UK Government’s Energy Technology List (ETL) integrates with NBS Chorus and NBS Source to help specifiers choose verified energy-efficient products and support net zero goals.
Sustainability
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
This is the latest in our quarterly updating programme for Uniclass. It includes updates to four tables.
UniclassClassification
Key Takeaways from the Construction Leaders’ Summit 2025
The Construction Leaders’ Summit 2025, hosted by NBS, brought together leading voices from across the built environment, including architects, contractors, specifiers, and building product ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Refurbishing flat roof areas
I’m sure we’ve all been there: the client wants to refurbish their flat roof areas, and “Oh, while you’re at it, could you install a timber deck area where our staff could have barbecues and maybe a ...
Design and Specification
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
Specifying plant enclosure and platform systems
Plant enclosures and platform systems are essential components in modern building design. Typically, they provide structural support, noise attenuation, aesthetic improvement, and environmental ...
Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations
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Opening The Door to Sustainability With JELD-WEN
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
Specifying for biodiversity net gain
With BNG now firmly embedded in planning policy and practice, most specifiers – particularly architects and landscape architects – are familiar with its requirements. Since becoming mandatory for ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
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 ...
