Knowledge

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.

The importance of the 'I' in BIM

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is here to stay. However, which companies in the construction industry are really fully utilising the full power of BIM? It is true that a large number of ...

Digital Transformation
NBS-LCA

Reduce embodied carbon from the start

Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.

Ecological consequences

While the UK government reports on the success of its natural environment policy, scientists have found that top-down environmental protection strategies can be counter-productive. It's a complex ...

SustainabilityGovernment policy

The National Planning Policy Framework

The new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) finally came into force in England on 27 March 2012 following a high profile battle between pro-development stakeholders and environmental ...

VideoContracts and Law

CDM and BIM - Virtually sorted

BIM for Health and Safety The 2012 Association for Project Safety (APS) convention held in Newcastle, entitled, 'The Changing face of construction', focused on Building Information Modelling (BIM) ...

Digital Transformation

Façade engineering

This programme will look at the general processes of façade design, issues to consider when designing as well as some glazing types.

Construction ProductsVideo

Peckham Library revisited

The Will Alsop-designed Peckham Library won the 2000 Stirling Prize, wowing the judging panel with its ‘eye-catching’ design. We revisit the library to see how it was built and to remind ourselves of ...

Design and SpecificationVideo

Subscribe

What is Integrated Project Insurance?

A key aim of the Government's new Construction Strategy is a push for truly collaborative project procurement; however project insurance remains one of the most potentially divisive issues facing the ...

VideoContracts and Law

Facade Retention

Facade retention – the removal and renewal of a building's innards, walls, columns and floors while retaining its original front or outer walls – plays an important role in preserving the ...

Design and SpecificationConstruction Products

BIM a year on

It has now been a year since the Government construction strategy was published by the Cabinet Office, on 31 May 2011. An efficient construction industry was highlighted in the government's plan for ...

Digital TransformationGovernment policy

Building sustainable role models

As well as providing many outstanding athletic performances, the London 2012 Olympic Games have put sustainability back on the agenda. Our athletes are being rightly heralded as fantastic role models ...

SustainabilitySports grounds

Designers' Health and Safety Responsibilities

Our guests – Giles Meredith from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and James Ritchie from the Association of Project Safety (APS) – discuss the role of CDM coordinators, including how and when they should be appointed, how one judges competency, and how existing risks such as lead paint should (and should not) be handled.

VideoHealth and Safety

BIM and construction law

One of the many undoubted benefits of BIM is its inherent ability to reduce the potential for disputes arising from clashing programmes and design details. However, by highlighting a landmark case in ...

Digital TransformationVideo