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

Sustainable Futures UK Report 2026

Explore the current state of sustainability in the UK construction industry based on the results from a comprehensive survey conducted by NBS.

Must Reads

  • Construction Products

    Siderise: Helping to bridge the gap between Gateway 2 approval and on-site fire protection

    While the new building safety regime hasn’t fundamentally changed what requirements higher-risk buildings (HRBs) must meet to comply with the Building Regulations, it has significantly increased the ...

  • RIBA CPD

    RIBA CPD for Architects: Understanding Flooring Specification and Detailing

    For architects and specifiers, flooring details can have a significant impact on the safety, accessibility, durability and overall performance of a building. Yet the technical considerations ...

  • Sponsored

    Designing sustainability into construction – proof over promises in sustainable construction

    With tightening regulations and growing client demand, the construction industry is under increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable progress against carbon reduction targets. For specifiers, that ...

Ska Rating – The environmental assessment tool for sustainable fit-outs

The new tool is designed to help organizations achieve more sustainable fit-outs. Anybody interested in fitting out an office building in a more environmentally sustainable way can use the method to ...

SustainabilityVideo
NBS-LCA

Reduce embodied carbon from the start

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

NBS and BREEAM

NBS Building, NBS Landscape and NBS Engineering Services have been updated significantly during Updates 2009-3 and 2010-1 and now include extensive guidance on the BRE Environmental Assessment Method ...

Sustainability

Biodiversity: the new challenge for architecture

The political focus on global warming has tended to reduce the importance architects attach to protecting biodiversity. Yet the impact architecture has upon ecosystems, both at the building and ...

Sustainability

Construction Health and Safety

In 2001 the Government promised to look at construction health and safety. A document was produced called Revitalising health and safety, which produced some challenging targets, including:

SustainabilityGovernment policy

Designing for biodiversity

Biodiversity (biological diversity) sustains the living systems that provide us with health, food and fuel, all of which are vital for our quality of life and the long-term sustainability of our ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

BREEAM and the Plan of Work

Sustainable development is becoming an everyday part of life for property developers, designers and contractors, as many people both inside and outside the construction industry are demanding that ...

SustainabilityRIBA Plan of Work

Subscribe

UK Government timber procurement policy and BREEAM

Nick Moss, of the Central Point of Expertise on Timber Procurement , discusses the importance of the UK government timber procurement policy and its relevance to BREEAM.

SustainabilityTimber

Healthy, efficient and sustainable buildings

In this exclusive extract from The Whole Building Handbook: How to Design Healthy, Efficient and Sustainable Buildings by Varis Bokalders and Maria Block, we look at the increasingly pressing need to ...

SustainabilityClimate change

The role of mycorrhiza for plants in stressed environments

In a changing climate, horticulturalists and landscape professionals are looking for ways to ensure the establishment and healthy growth of plants, whilst minimizing the use of both water and ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

Compost specifications for the landscape industry

Working with the Landscape Institute (LI) , the British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) and leading consultants Enviros, NBS collaborated in a project led by the Waste and Resources Action ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

The growth of living walls

A growing trend for green walls is emerging, boosting biodiversity in our towns and cities. According to a recent report by the UK Green Building Council (UK-GBC) , Biodiversity and the Built ...

Design and SpecificationSustainability

Sustainable architecture

In the past there has been a perception in some quarters that "green" buildings are worthy but dull. This is a misconception, and good design and sustainability can indeed go hand in hand, with a ...

SustainabilityBook extract