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.
How the Palace of Westminster gets rid of all that hot air
Images of the crumbling fabric and antiquated network of environmental services, including the mechanical ventilation and air-conditioning system in the Palace of Westminster, suggest that the ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
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
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
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
Can retrofitting and refurbishment solve the housing shortage?
Could a new concept in refurbishment help to alleviate the UK’s serious shortage of warm, sustainable and affordable homes? Melanie Thompson of Get Sust! investigates.
Sustainability
Zero carbon policy for new homes in England
New homes need to be high quality, accessible and sustainable. To achieve this, the Government are setting out a road map to deliver a radically simplified system for setting standards in the design ...
SustainabilityGovernment policy
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What role should solar power play in solving the UK energy crisis?
Going off-grid was once the sign of a truly ‘deep green’ approach to life. But with the National Grid facing a capacity crunch this winter, changes in technology and a new UK Solar Strategy just ...
Sustainability
Energy efficiency and thermal comfort
This programme will present key research on the impact of energy efficiency strategies - such as the installation of insulation, draught-proofing and boiler upgrades - in low-income houses. It ...
SustainabilityVideo
Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems
Sustainable Drainage systems (SuDS) alleviate flooding and associated pollution during heavy or prolonged rainfall. Traditionally, surface water drainage has been combined with foul drainage in many ...
SustainabilityFlooding
Flood mitigation solutions in buildings (3/3)
Barely a year seems to pass nowadays without flooding being a feature of the national news. It is an emotive subject due to the degree of devastation it can cause – not only can severe flooding ...
SustainabilityClimate change
Flood mitigation solutions in buildings (2/3)
Barely a year seems to pass nowadays without flooding being a feature of the national news. It is an emotive subject due to the degree of devastation it can cause – not only can severe flooding ...
SustainabilityClimate change
Funding better flood defences
As the clear up operations, dredging and repairs get underway following the torrential rainfall that submerged much of the UK at the start of 2014, the construction industry waits to hear how much ...
