University of Westminster launches free digital construction online short course
Jun 1, 2016 |NBS |2 Minute Read
June 2016
The Department of Property and Construction at the University of Westminster is launching a new Digital Construction MOOC (Massive, Open, Online Course) in collaboration with The B1M.
As digital technology advances, the technological practices of the construction industry are lagging behind other industries. The creators of the course set out to help practitioners respond to the rapidly changing industry and adjust working practices accordingly. On this MOOC, participants will collaborate online to learn about the potential of digital technology in their everyday practices, to manage data to improve their own productivity and profitability.
A principal aim of the course is to give people at all levels in the industry the confidence to challenge existing working practices and start to integrate digital approaches into their work.
The free four-week course is completely flexible, and can be completed comfortably in three or four hours a week. There is also an optional quiz each week to test the knowledge gained on the course. There is no fixed timetable, meaning that people can dip in-and-out of the course.
The course is led by Senior Lecturer Rob Garvey and Principal Lecturer Tony Burke from the University’s Department of Property and Construction, and is organised in partnership with The B1M and with the support of the London BIM Region.
Speaking about the course, Tony Burke said: "We are very excited about the potential of our first ever MOOC. The course draws on the work which Rob Garvey has done for our Building Information Management MSc course, and our experience in online, collaborative learning. We have designed the course to actively involve participants in the learning process and to utilise the expertise and extensive resources of The B1M, our innovative industrial partner."
Visqueen supports one of the first Gateway 2 approvals under the Building Safety Act
The Dyecoats development in Leeds marks a major milestone for the UK housing sector. The £100 million flagship Latimer Homes scheme being delivered by GRAHAM is one of the first high-rise new-build projects in the country to achieve Building Safety Act Gateway 2 approval, a crucial pre-construction sign-off confirming that the design meets all safety and regulatory requirements before work begins on site.
Building Safety ActSponsored
Five questions to ask when specifying insulated panels
Selecting an insulated panel system for an industrial building should start with the building and application requirements.
Design and SpecificationSponsored
NBS and BDP join forces to improve generic carbon data in construction
Today, NBS (part of Hubexo), the platform for connected construction information, announces a long-term strategic partnership with BDP, a major global multidisciplinary practice of architects, designers, engineers and urbanists. The partnership recognises BDP's integral role in the development of NBS LCA, a new life-cycle carbon assessment platform providing professionals with high-quality, reliable and easy-to-use carbon data to ensure accurate tracking as construction projects evolve. BDP's primary contribution to NBS LCA has been the development of more than 1,300 pre-calculated generic assemblies, covering the most commonly used building fabric elements alongside key concrete and steel structural elements. These assemblies provide whole-element carbon data, giving designers consistent, UK-relevant carbon benchmarks from the earliest stages of project design. Users can easily and instantly apply carbon rates to a range of pre-configured common building elements, including walls, floors, and roofs. Developed by BDP and NBS, the assemblies remove the need for designers to manually build up material layers or calculate individual components at the concept stage. This saves significant time and effort, enabling proportionate and responsible carbon evaluation early in the design process, when decisions have the greatest impact on a project's overall carbon footprint. BDP also participated in collaborative workshops that directly informed the development of NBS LCA, helping to shape a tool that is practical, accessible and aligned with real-world UK construction workflows. Dr Lee Jones, Head of Sustainability at Hubexo, said: “BDP's contribution to NBS LCA has been invaluable. Their depth of project experience and technical knowledge has directly shaped the generic assemblies at the heart of the platform. These assemblies give designers a reliable, UK-relevant starting point for carbon assessment, without the burden of building everything from scratch. This is exactly the kind of collaboration that moves the industry forward, and we're proud to be working with BDP on a long-term basis.” Julia Yao, Associate, Sustainability Consultant at BDP, said: “Carbon assessment needs to be embedded in design from day one, not bolted on at the end. Working with NBS to develop its LCA product has been a genuine opportunity to put that principle into practice. The generic assemblies we developed draw on real project data and are designed to give designers meaningful, actionable carbon information at the concept stage. We're delighted to see them at the core of a platform that will be used across the industry.” With the UK Government outlining its commitment to responsible carbon reporting through its Carbon Budget and Growth Delivery Plan, professionals need reliable, easy-to-use tools to assess and report embodied carbon. NBS LCA addresses this need by integrating carbon calculations with live design work, drawing on structured data from Circular Ecology's ICE Database and more than 12,500 verified, specification-ready construction products with Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) from NBS Source and ECO Portal. Over the coming months, NBS and BDP will continue to develop their partnership, with a shared commitment to improving the quality and accessibility of carbon data for construction professionals across the UK. NBS LCA is available now, with flexible subscriptions designed for all professionals. For more information, visit the website here.
.
