Sustainability

Duncan Rudall, chief executive of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors When thinking of sustainability in construction, retrofitting is often the topic that is first to mind. The argument is simple: keeping rather than replacing buildings reduces carbon emissions and minimises waste. But, while well-intentioned, retrofitting isn’t always the most…

Mark Topping is director of design at consultancy Lanpro The requirement for a minimum 10 per cent biodiversity net gain (BNG) came into force for small sites in February last year. The requirement was introduced under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule…

Tim Clement is director of social value and sustainability at Morgan Sindall Construction We are standing on the cusp of transformation, with shifts already happening because of our ageing population, strained social infrastructure, Brexit realignment and the rise of artificial intelligence, with all the automation it will bring. Any transformation…

Jon Bootland is chief executive of the Passivhaus Trust Projects being built to the Passivhaus standard now account for approximately 1 per cent of all new homes under construction, according to figures the Passivhaus Trust has just released. This new data shows that the standard is now a mainstream option…

Has the industry or the environment felt any benefit from rules requiring contractors to report on their carbon footprints? CN analysis shows the regime is being undermined by a lack of consistency on what is being reported. Devon-based contractor and furniture supplier TCi spent years developing the sustainable side of…

Alex Jahanshahi-Edlin is an associate director of McBains and a member of the UK Green Building Council The government’s newly announced intention to create a strategic “spatial plan” for the UK’s energy transition is welcome, but it needs to include a sufficient expansion of the National Grid to support build…

Tristan Hughes is business unit manager at water-services company OSSO There has been little discussion of how to manage the environmental risks posed by the unprecedented expansion of power grids envisaged in the UK. Long-distance, high-voltage transmission grids are set to connect cities to remotely located renewable power sources. However,…

Kieran Bradley is director of architecture at consultancy Pick Everard As a society, much is made of our ability to repurpose where possible. Buildings are no different, and in recent years we’ve come a long way in making our construction choices more net-zero ambitious. Now, Labour is pledging to build…

Marc Perry (pictured above left) is principal geoenvironmental engineer and Tom Henman is sustainability director at RSK Geosciences Soil is an undervalued and finite resource. At government level, its importance is somewhat understood and recognised alongside the benefits of carbon reduction, waste reduction and the delivery of biodiversity net gain…

Retrofit might not be new, but it’s going through a purple patch due to net zero concerns. CN asks how contractors are mitigating the risks on cut-and-carve projects It’s a bright summer’s day and Bam Construction is busy installing period furniture at a striking 1960s central London modernist office block…