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.
Green contracting: can it exist?
At NBS, one of the requests we receive on a regular basis is for advice on how to specify sustainability or, sometimes, how to write it into a contract. Before we tackle this, however, let’s address ...
SustainabilityContracts and Law
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
Update: Since this article was first written, all the content from the NBS National BIM Library has moved across to NBS Source.
Digital TransformationVideo
The embodied impact of construction materials
The world of embodied energy has moved on considerably since work started in the 1990s, and embodied carbon, Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and Building Lifecycle Analysis (LCA) are now ...
Sustainability
Challenging Final Certificates
A recent judgement serves as a reminder for parties looking to challenge Final Certificates – whether through adjudication, arbitration or legal proceedings – to do so in a timely manner.
Contracts and LawProcurement
Are you BIM ready? What your business needs to do before 2016 (3/10)
The UK government has mandated that all centrally-funded work is to be undertaken using BIM by 2016. This is now less than 12 months away, and for those organisations that haven't yet done so, this ...
Digital TransformationSpecification
Understanding BIM in a project management environment
Although the use of BIM is most commonly associated with the design team, it is in the field of project management where it perhaps has its most long-term application. For whereas design team ...
Digital Transformation
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Resolving disputes through mediation
When disputes arise mediation is one mechanism, among many others, available to help parties resolve their differences. These mechanisms can be broadly described as alternative dispute resolution or ...
Contracts and LawProcurement
What is a U-value?
Although the main focus of environmental performance of buildings is now on carbon usage, there is still a need to consider thermal performance of the building fabric as a contributing factor. ...
Construction ProductsVentilation
Are you BIM ready? What your business needs to do before 2016 (2/10)
The UK government has mandated that all centrally-funded work is to be undertaken using BIM by 2016. This is now less than 12 months away, and for those organisations that haven’t yet done so, this ...
Digital TransformationSpecification
Trends to watch in the NBS National BIM Survey 2015
The NBS National BIM Survey has long served as an essential barometer for construction professionals, manufacturers and policy makers but, ahead of the 2016 deadline for the use of Level 2 BIM on ...
Digital TransformationNBS National BIM Report
Five essentials for sustainable office buildings
If you want to know what makes a great, sustainable office building, you need to ask an expert or 50. Melanie Thompson of Get Sust! reviews the 300-page wisdom that is the new BCO ‘Guide to ...
SustainabilitySpecification
Dealing with wind damage risks in property and construction
As another period of dangerously-high winds hits the country, it provides a timely opportunity to review the risks to both property and construction activities, how to reduce those risks, and what to ...
