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
sustainability
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.
sustainability
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.
Our top webinars in 2025
In 2025, we hosted dozens of free events and webinars throughout the year to help construction professionals keep pace with regulatory change, sustainability expectations and digital transformation. ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
2025 Recap: The tools, insights and events moving construction forward
From advancing digital best practice and delivering new sustainability tools to driving industry conversations, this year at NBS has been defined by progress. Across our products, insights and ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Specifying water efficiency
Introduction It is a common observation that the UK still thinks of itself as a ‘wet’ nation with ample reserves of fresh, flowing water. However, the droughts and significant water scarcity events ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
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
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
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
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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 ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
2024 at NBS
Here’s what we got up to in 2024…
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Construction Leader’s Summit 2024 Event Recap
The Construction Leader’s Summit 2024 returned to London for its fourth event on the 25th September 2024. Over 250 construction industry professionals attended the event, with some of the country’s ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Construction Leader’s Summit 2024: Five Key Takeaways
The Construction Leaders' Summit 2024 has already been and gone. Missed it? Don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Involving experts on both the specification and manufacturing side of the construction ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Specification discussions at the NBS roundtable event
Building safety The first topic discussed was building safety. The feeling in the room was that the introduction of the new Building Regulations ‘Principal Designer’ role as part of the new building ...
