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
insulation
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.
insulation
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.
Will we ever achieve zero carbon homes?
In December 2006 the government made an ambitious pledge. It was a pledge that would have ensured that within a decade every new home would be a 'zero carbon' home.
SustainabilityVentilation
Reduce embodied carbon from the start
Measure, compare and reduce upfront embodied carbon using trusted UK data and pre-built assemblies.
All material contains moisture to greater or lesser degrees. Those that are porous – concrete, mortar, wood – begin their life with their pores filled with water. As they dry, the water content drops ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
A guide to cavity wall insulation
Cavity wall insulation can be a great way of improving the thermal performance of a building, making it both warmer and cheaper to heat, but it's not always a suitable solution. We explore the pros ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
Guide to straw bale construction
Straw bale construction first came to prominence in the mid-19th century in the USA as a cheap indigenous building material, and has enjoyed a resurgence in recent years as an ecological alternative ...
Design and SpecificationSustainability
What makes a passivhaus?
In recent years the term ‘Passivhaus’ has become a byword for an ‘eco-friendly’ dwelling. The evolution of the energy-saving home has taken leads from Scandinavian and mainland European ...
SustainabilityStandards and Regulations
A warm reception for intelligent heating controls
With the nights starting to draw in and the summer drizzling to an autumnal conclusion many of us will be tempted to fire up the central heating for the first time in the coming weeks.
SustainabilityHeating
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Passivhaus projects recognised at Trust Awards
A reinterpreted farmstead has become the first Certified Passivhaus in Northumberland and winner of the Small Projects Category at the 2015 Passivhaus Awards organised by the Passivhaus Trust.
SustainabilityHeating
What is a U-value?
Although the main focus of environmental performance of buildings is now on carbon usage, there is still a need to consider thermal performance of the building fabric as a contributing factor. ...
Construction ProductsVentilation
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
Moisture conditions within external masonry walls
NBS Technical Author Charles Stirling discusses the hazards of moisture penetration in external walls and potential ways to avoid or correct problems.
Construction ProductsInsulation
Roof insulation
The ever increasing levels of thermal insulation required by thermal regulations can result in a higher risk of condensation forming on those elements not enclosed by this insulation, e.g. roofing ...
Construction ProductsVentilation
Thatch roofing
An erstwhile colleague once commented: “Why would you want to specify a roofing material which makes perfect nesting material for most of the local wildlife and could go up like a two bob rocket if a ...
