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

  • nbs-source

    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.

  • nbs-source

    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.

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
NBS-LCA

Reduce embodied carbon from the start

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

How design and specification can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals

September 2023 marks eight years since the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) were adopted globally. The schema, which comprises 17 goals, focuses on a holistic approach to ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

NBS Shared Parameters

The NBS BIM Object Standard defines requirements for the information, geometry, behaviour and presentation of BIM objects, and enables greater collaboration across the construction industry. In ...

Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations

NBS BIM Templates

The NBS BIM Object Standard defines requirements for the information, geometry, behaviour and presentation of BIM objects, and enables greater collaboration across the construction industry. In ...

Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations

The NBS BIM Library

Standardized BIM objects The NBS BIM Library is a collection of thousands of generic and manufacturer BIM objects authored and certified by our experts to our trusted NBS BIM Object Standard. Our ...

Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations

What is the NBS BIM Object Standard?

The NBS BIM Object Standard Originally launched in 2014, the NBS BIM Object Standard has been kept up to date for current BIM processes. It defines requirements for the information, geometry, ...

Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations

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Noise distracts: How acoustic design improves workplace productivity

Noisy phone calls, loud typing, disruptive cleaning, constant office gossip… there’s no end to the cacophony of sounds that can be a distraction at work. Acoustic design is sometimes assumed to only ...

Design and SpecificationConstruction Products

NBS in 2022: Key highlights

After another busy year, we wanted to reflect on some of the key highlights of 2022.

Design and SpecificationSustainability

Five practical tips on coordinating project information and specifications

This article is from the RIBA Construction Contracts and Law Report 2022. It has been reproduced for the NBS website with added illustrations showing how NBS tools can be used to address the ...

Design and SpecificationNBS Source

NBS Source and Uniclass

This article looks at the benefits of using the Uniclass classification structure when structuring manufacturer product information. It provides an insight into how NBS does this in the NBS Source ...

Design and SpecificationStandards and Regulations

NBS in 2021: Top 10 highlights

Throughout the year, we’ve focussed on the improving the way the construction industry specifies projects, finds products and uses data. We’ve also aimed to tackle the major issues of the day, ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

5 Key Takeaways from the Construction Leaders' Summit: Building Better

In September NBS hosted its second digital conference of 2021 the Construction Leaders’ Summit: Building Better, chaired by Richard Waterhouse who was joined by leading figures in the construction ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability