More news – Page 3062

  • News

    Government under fire over diploma launch

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Industry bodies have attacked the government over its launch of the construction diploma, saying employers have been left with little confidence in it, writes Sarah Richardson.

  • News

    Crispin & Borst’s profit boost

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Crispin & Borst, a subsidiary of French construction company Vinci, has posted a 3% rise in pre-tax profit from £3.3m to £3.4m in the year ended 31 December 2007.

  • Proposals for the £50m Chatterley Valley Blue Planet business park in Staffordshire include solar panels, a biofuel plant and kinetic plate.
    News

    Regulations round-up

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Already in force

  • News

    Reform the Regs: The first battle is won

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Building has claimed victory in its fight to reform the regs (which just leaves the small task of implementing all the tough new environmental regulations mentioned elsewhere in this supplement). Thomas Lane rates how well the government has answered our campaign demands

  • News

    The Code for Sustainable Non-dwellings

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    In December, the UK Green Building Council published a report into the feasibility of replicating the Code for Sustainable Homes for all other building types. Nick Cullen of engineer Hoare Lea looks at what that report recommends and whether we can expect zero-carbon non-housing any time soon …

  • David Strong
    News

    Building ‘brand zero’

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Just as housebuilders have realised how horribly soon the 2016 deadline for zero-carbon homes is approaching, the government is moving on to the even more problematic non-residential sector. But how feasible is a zero-carbon built environment? David Strong has some words of caution, while overleaf we analyse the report that ...

  • News

    Part L: Arguing over the details

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    After four years of robust testing of the Part E acoustic regulations, Robust Details Limited is ready to extend its pattern book approach to Part L. But some specifiers still see it as an expensive, unfocused and unproven means of compliance. Here, we get both sides to fight it out…

  • News

    High-performance timber windows

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Aimed at housing associations and developers with large-scale developments who are trying to meet the Code for Sustainable Homes and BREEAM criteria, Green Building Store has launched the Ecocontract range of timber windows.

  • News

    Heat-pump boiler

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    A heating system that harnesses energy from the air to provide heat and hot water in the home has been launched by Mitsubishi Electric.

  • News

    Dual-flush WC

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Impulse Bathrooms has launched a dual-flush WC that is designed to cut domestic water use in homes by half.

  • News

    Grey water recycling

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    For designers looking to meet level three and beyond of the Code for Sustainable Homes, Polypipe Sanitary Systems has launched a micro greywater recycling system.

  • News

    Solar powered ventilation

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Monodraught has launched a solar powered natural ventilation system for use in dwellings.

  • Arval’s integrated photovoltaics can be installed on pitches as shallow as 6°µ.
    News

    Integrated photovoltaics

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Photovoltaics integrated into roof and cladding panels have been launched by Arval, part of Arcelor Construction.

  • The Delta Cool 24 phase change material comes in four versions. These pouches are said to perform best for passive climate control in commercial buildings.
    News

    Phase change materials

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    One of the disadvantages of modern lightweight construction is its lack of thermal mass, which means this type of building can overheat in the summer and can’t retain heat in the winter.

  • News

    Solar hot water

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Velux has launched a solar hot water system. The company, which is known for its rooflights but also markets itself as a ‘daylight engineer’, says the system could provide up to 70% of homes’ hot water requirements.

  • Still a keen painter (despite getting an E in A level art)
    Features

    How they made it: Will Alsop

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    How they made it - Do things your own way, work for someone you respect, steer clear of venture capitalists, and don’t hurry lunch … Will Alsop is full of advice for budding architects. Over a leisurely afternoon drink, he shares some of it with Roxane McMeeken

  • Windows can open, but tenants don’t open them
    Features

    30 St Mary Axe: A gherkin to suit all tastes

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Having dominated London’s City skyline for four years, the Gherkin is now appealing to a wide range of occupiers. Shame about the windows, though.

  • Features

    New Orleans reconstruction: We shall overcome

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    Three years after Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans, the city is still in ruins and 40,000 people are homeless. The government has abandoned reconstruction in favour of commercial development, but the residents of the Lower Ninth Ward, determined to stop their district becoming an industrial park, have engaged charities, architects ...

  • Comment

    Wonders & blunders

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    A tale of two London stations this week – one a glorious example of what the new can bring to the old, the other a grim warning of what it can take away, says Robert Clark

  • News

    Fantastic law in Dudley

    2008-04-25T00:00:00Z

    September 1948