Building Engineer- February 2022

the journal of the chartered association of building engineers

February 2022

buildingengineer February 2022 | www.buildingengineer.org.uk

Fit for the future

Horizon scanning

Misunderstandings

Investing in the future

Project 80, the living lab exploring Future Homes Standards

When the built environment meets the principles of resilience

Consumers are confused about the alternatives to gas boilers

Support is needed to create healthy environments for education buildings

Feeling the heat Measuring and mitigating city microclimates

1 FrontCover_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 1

19/01/2022 11:02

CABE now offers all levels of Engineering Council Registration*

Discover the right registration for you: Chartered Engineers | CEng Work to solve engineering problems by utilising new or existing applications. With creative solution-driven insights, they enact change and facilitate progress, often while bearing technical accountability for complex systems with high-risk levels. cbuilde.com/CEng

Incorporated Engineers | IEng Maintain and manage the application of current and developing technologies and techniques, using engineering design, development, manufacture, construction and operations to deliver engineering projects. cbuilde.com/IEng

Engineering Technicians | EngTech Apply proven techniques and procedures, to solve practical engineering problems. cbuilde.com/EngTech

Find out more at cbuilde.com/engineeringcouncil *Eligibility for each route and level of registration is dependent on your level of qualifications and experience.

CABE.FEB22.002.indd 4

14/01/2022 12:08

FEBRUARY 2022

CONTENTS

building engineer WELCOME 05 Welcome Stewart McArthur on improving the public’s perception of the industry

17 CROSS UK Collaborative reporting for safer structures: report 966 – cross-laminated timber in multi-storey buildings

10

20 Horizon scanning How robustness, rapidity, resourcefulness and redundancy relate to the built environment

INFORMATION 06 The briefing News and views

10 Investing in the future REHAU says more support is needed to design and construct healthy buildings in the UK education sector

20

30 Misunderstandings A guide to managing consumer expectations regarding the 2023 boiler ban

13 A problem shared Measures are needed to help reduce the stigma of health issues in engineering and construction

30

14 Hot air Condensation and mould are a growing concern – positive input ventilation units could be the answer

GR 10

6

HIGH 2m ED TAIN

TING EXIS L RERE WAL

15 Industry opinion How the sector can tackle the complicated issue of overheating without losing its cool

2 APPROVED 1 / 04130 / PA 2020

TO CED TO ILT L REDU REBU TING WAL OR EXIS HT CH TING EXIS IN HEIG MAT TO 2m HIGH 2m

2e 2d

2c

Garden Area A : 121 .2 m 2

Prunus 'Accolade

Garden Area A : 84.4 m 2

PED RIA EST N E ZON

38 Feeling the heat A better understanding of city microclimates could help town planners to manage the effects of heat

Garden Area A : 82.1 m 2

11

Garden Area A : 72.7 m 2

4 3 10 Site Area A : 1,939 .2 m 2

Garden Area A : 72.8 m 2

Garden Area A : 100 .3 m 2

8

7

APPROVED 6 2020 / 04130 / PA

5

Garden Area A : 71.0 m 2

32

Garden Area A : 70.6 m 2

Garden Area A : 71.9 m 2

CONIFERS PRUNED

Works

COMMUNITY

Church

Publisher: Aaron Nicholls Editor: Rebecca Davies-Nash Email: cabe-editorial@redactive.co.uk Designer: Joe McAllister Picture researcher: Claire Echavarry Sub-editor: Rob Loveday Production: Aysha Miah-Edwards Email: aysha.miah@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6241 Advertising: Email: cabe-ads@redactive.co.uk Tel: 020 7880 6206

17

3 Contents_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 3

32 Fit for the future Housing association Midland Heart discusses Project 80: researching building to the Future Homes Standard

12

9

Printed by Warners

INSIGHT

'

Garden Area A : 70.0 m 2

Garden Area A : 55.5 m 2

16 Waves of change Garnering support for a ten-point plan to boost the health of England’s rivers and waterways

Building Engineer is published on behalf of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE)

by Redactive Publishing Ltd Tel: 020 7880 6200 Email: info@redactive.co.uk redactive.co.uk

3 BUILDING ENGINEER

12 Unlimited holiday How do you implement a policy the company’s HR director warns against?

28 Sense and sensibility The history of British houses and how they’ve changed to fit our culture and needs through the ages

FEBRUARY 2022

27 Bad vibrations Engineering out the problems and discomfort caused by movementinduced vibrations

INTELLIGENCE

Volume 97 No 2 February 2022 The Official Journal of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers Chief Executive: Dr Gavin Dunn Patron: The Earl of Lytton President: Stewart McArthur Email: info@cbuilde.com cbuilde.com

Subscription Rates: UK and Ireland £85.00, Overseas £120 (per annum, 10 issues a year, sterling).

44 Association update

Building Engineer has been carefully prepared but articles are published without responsibility on the part of the publishers or authors for loss occasioned to any person acting or refraining from action as a result of any view, information or advice included therein. Articles published in Building Engineer do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE), nor do CABE, the publishers, or authors endorse or accept any responsibility for any claims made by advertisers. Advertisers are responsible for ensuring that the material submitted for inclusion is accurate and free from error.

ISSN: 0969-8213

19/01/2022 11:03

Webinar Wednesdays

New Build Housing Defects 2 February 2022 | 1 hour CPD Presented by Dr Tony Hopkin, Head of Construction, Quality and Innovation; Researcher & Visiting Lecturer Join us as we look at the current view of quality, and defects in the UK housebuilding industry.

By reviewing common defects and exploring the underlying causes you will be able to learn FEBRUARY 2022

from the defects and aid their reduction.

Register your Free Attendance at cbuilde.com/webinars #WebinarWednesdays

BUILDING ENGINEER

4

Recognising your competency, and contribution to the industry.

• Building Engineer of the Year • Young Building Engineer of the Year

NEW AWARDS*

NOMINATIONS NOW

OPEN CABE.FEB22.004.indd 4

ENTER NOW AT

cbuilde.com/awards2022 Closing date: 31 May 2022

* Terms and conditions apply.

14/01/2022 12:13

PRESIDENT STEWART MCARTHUR

WELCOME

Welcome

ILLUSTRATION: SAM KERR

“By collaborating across professions, building engineers can start to make a difference in the industry”

5 Welcome_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 5

5 BUILDING ENGINEER

innovation with members in your local region or chapter. By collaborating across professions, building engineers can start to make a difference in the industry. Join the CABE Community (cbuilde.com/cabecommunity) and share best practice and views with building engineers from around the world.

We can all make sure we continue to undertake regular CPD. By further enhancing our knowledge and our experience, we will improve our competency and our professionalism.

There are many examples of professionals in the construction going the extra mile, producing buildings that are inspiring; we should do more to promote these projects and activities.

Accolades such as the CABE Built Environment Awards allow us to highlight what is good in our industry and opens the public’s eyes to what good looks like.

The Association is growing.

The developments that have taken place at HQ over the past few years, such as the revised competency frameworks and the improved relationships with other professional bodies, including the Engineering Council and the Society for the Environment, will enhance the profile of all CABE members in the UK and across the world.

FEBRUARY 2022

I

feel my year in office is flying by; I’m now getting ready to chair the Association’s AGM later this month, where we will discover who will be joining the board in June and who will be the next Vice-president.

In the past few years, we have seen many news reports on our industry and many of them have shown the industry in a negative light. But what can we do to improve the public’s perception of the construction industry?

Personally, I think it’s time for all of us to take a proactive role in developing links with our politicians – they seem to have half an idea of what we do and how we do it, but do they really understand the different job roles, skills and professionalism needed to ensure a project is delivered safely and to the highest possible standards?

Homelessness and the housing shortage are problems that plague every city in the UK. If you walk around my local city of Glasgow, for example, it is not long before you see someone who is homeless and in need of somewhere to stay. This is why it was great to see the Scottish government setting aside money for local authorities to spend on rehousing schemes (see bit.ly/ScotlandHomelessHelp for more details). This money will help to provide homes and will help people from all backgrounds.

Construction safety should be a fundamental part of how we look at building – everyone should feel safe and secure in the places where they live and work. Grenfell highlighted that we need to do things differently, and it is important that we take heed of its lessons and make changes. But what else can we do?

I encourage you all to share ideas and

Stewart McArthur BSc (Hons) PCABE FCABE CABE President

19/01/2022 11:03

INFORMATION

The briefing

NEWS AND VIEWS FROM THE INDUSTRY

Treehouse building

FEBRUARY 2022

R

BUILDING ENGINEER

6

oyal Botanic Gardens (RBG) Kew and the Museum of Architecture (MoA) have launched an international design competition to create three treehouses across RBG Kew’s UNESCO World Heritage Site, as part of a larger Treehouses at Kew exhibition that will run from April to October 2023.

Each treehouse must inspire visitors in fun and interactive ways to learn more about protecting the climate, biodiversity and sustainable design. Trees contribute immeasurably to our mental wellbeing and provide commodities that underpin life such as clean air, food, timber, fuel and medicines. The competition invites architects and multidisciplinary teams to come up with a design for a treehouse for one of three selected trees within Kew’s 320-acre site – a maple, a pine and a silver lime. Each treehouse design should respond to that tree’s specific theme: 1: celebrating play – Norway maple 2: highlighting nature’s architecture and biomimicry – pine; and 3: showcasing pioneering sustainable materials and innovative design – silver lime.

The exhibition will communicate the value of good design and the role architects can play in addressing some of the most pressing problems faced today – sustainable use of materials, responding to the climate crisis and creating places that successfully balance the needs of people and the planet. It is a unique opportunity to use creative and architectural thinking to design within and around Kew’s living collection of 14,000 trees.

Melissa Woolford, founder of the MoA, said: “Architects draw from nature to inform their designs aesthetically, to find design solutions and come up with sustainable outcomes. The competition is an important opportunity to show how forward-thinking designs and material use can have a positive impact on our planet. I am really excited to see how design teams respond to this opportunity to create innovative design approaches that inspire thousands of people to think differently about the natural and built environments.”

The deadline for submissions is 7 February 2022. Find out more about the competition at museumofarchitecture.org

6-9 TheBriefing_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 6

Safer Buildings in Wales

ANNUAL DATA SHOWS A

28%

The 2021 consultation set out proposals for comprehensive reform of legislation that contributes to building safety in Wales. Both a summary document of responses and the Welsh government’s response can be viewed here: gov.wales/saferbuildings-wales

INCREASE IN SEARCHES FOR ‘OCCUPATIONAL BURNOUT’ IN 2021 COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS YEAR

19/01/2022 11:04

THE BRIEFING

When banter becomes bullying

6-9 TheBriefing_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 7

Engineering kids’ futures CABE has joined more than 150 other signatories of Professor Danielle George MBE’s open letter to the UK government.

George, the Immediate Past President of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, has called on the government to help tackle the UK’s engineering skills shortage by embedding engineering into current primary school learning.

Read more at bit.ly/ EngineeringPrimarySchools

7 BUILDING ENGINEER

For more support, visit the Lighthouse Club’s construction industry helpline at constructionindustryhelpline.com or Mates in Mind at matesinmind.org

Scottish housebuilder Springfield Group and construction industry charity Lighthouse Club, have announced a 12-month partnership.

Springfield staff, subcontractors and their families will have free access to trained professionals who can support them on subjects ranging from financial to mental health and wellbeing.

Springfield will support the charity’s resources and Help Inside the Hard Hat campaign, which raises awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing and aims to break down the stigma associated

with asking for help. It will also ensure messages of support and contact information are on hand at all construction sites.

In addition, 40 employees will be given the opportunity to complete a mental health first aid course and a suicide prevention qualification while continuing to actively encourage all staff to complete mental health awareness.

Springfield CEO Innes Smith said: “Male suicides are at their highest – especially in the construction industry. Between 2011 and 2017, 20% of suicide victims in Scotland worked in the construction industry.

Following these alarming statistics, we decided to take action.”

FEBRUARY 2022

IMAGES: SHUTTERSTOCK, ISTOCK, NOUN PROJECT

D

ata from staff members of 88 UK construction companies found that one in five employees have suffered from bullying in the last year. It also found that bullying was worse for those starting out in the industry, with half of 21- to 24-year-olds being bullied. Non-UK citizens are almost twice as likely to be bullied at work, with 31% of non-UK passport holders falling victim against 18% of UK citizens.

With the construction and trades industries still leaning towards ‘manning up’ or ‘cracking on’ as solutions to mental health issues, almost one in ten workers said bullying was labelled as just banter. Of those who had experienced bullying, half suffered from anxiety or stress as a result, with just 6% saying they had sufficient mental health support from management and HR. Despite the industry’s continued efforts to tackle this rising issue and promote awareness of problems, one in three workers have reported feeling chronic stress, anxiety or depression, and more than half of UK construction workers have reported mental health issues in 2021.

The data was collected by Herts Tools, whose Director, Stefano Lobban, said: “The UK construction industry is still experiencing a mental health crisis: workers continue to demonstrate a ‘suck it up and deal with it’ approach to poor mental health. The findings highlight that workplaces could be doing more.”

Ian Hurst, Co-founder of mental health organisation We are Hummingbird, said: “If workplaces want to tackle bullying, they need to foster a company culture where complaints of bullying are taken seriously.

Any complaints should be treated with a structured, formal approach and no excuses can be made for individuals. Comments such as ‘Oh, that’s just how he is’ are not helpful, and harmful behaviour should not be tolerated, no matter how senior the individual concerned is. Steps should then be taken in a formal process, through HR, to deal with what has occurred, with the process formally logged and recorded.”

Mental health partnership

Smoke and CO alarms

T

he Domestic smoke and carbon monoxide alarms: proposals to extend regulations consultation, which launched alongside the social housing white paper in England in November 2020, proposes to extend requirements for alarms in social and privately rented homes through building regulations. All of the proposals were supported by a majority of respondents and are now subject to parliamentary approval.

The key changes are: smoke alarms will be mandatory in all social rented homes carbon monoxide (CO) alarms will be mandatory in rooms with a fixed combustion appliance

(excluding gas cookers) in both private and social rented homes CO alarms will also be mandatory upon installation of any heating appliance (excluding gas cookers) in all tenures through building regulations; and landlords will be expected to repair or replace alarms once informed that they are faulty.

Read the government response document at bit.ly/SmokeAndCOAlarms

19/01/2022 11:05

INFORMATION

FEBRUARY 2022

Flexible friend

BUILDING ENGINEER

8

Kensa Heat Pumps is hoping the revised Building Regulations standards for new-build homes in England, which are due to be brought in from June 2022, means flexibility will become a key factor when assessing renewable energy solutions rather than efficiency alone.

Kensa also hopes Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) ratings will reflect this following the Part L and F revisions to the regulations.

Kenso CEO Simon Lomax said: “It is vital that SAPs can accurately assess the performance of emerging system architectures and technologies. Many ground arrays can use waste heat to bolster the source temperature to improve efficiency and reduce running costs and carbon emissions.

This advantage must be reflected in SAPs. “Equally, the most appealing solutions, for house builders and house owners, will be heat pumps integrated with heat batteries to maximise the ability of the heat pump to operate when electricity is both low cost and low carbon. Pure efficiency is no longer the key metric: flexibility is more important to deliver the best outcomes for all stakeholders.”

Changes to the Building Regulations in England

C

irculars for Parts L and F and introducing new Parts O and S and updated or new Approved Documents are available.

Alongside the publication of these regulations, the government has also published new statutory guidance in the form of five new Approved Documents. The changes that will be delivered through the new regulations and statutory guidance relate to

Pretty fly for a wi-fi

A

technical consultation in England and Wales on offering all new homes access to high-speed wi-fi has been announced by the government. Media, Data and Digital Infrastructure Minister Julia Lopez said: “There are still a significant number of house buyers who miss out on getting the best connectivity in their new homes and therefore the huge benefits that this brings.

Fast and reliable broadband will help owners of new homes throughout the country to live and work more flexibly and will help to support social inclusion and growth.” The government hopes its proposals for new build homes in England and Wales will ensure no community is left behind.

Builders will have to offer a gigabitcapable connection in all new homes, subject to a £2,000 cap per dwelling. This will include optical fibre cables, ducts, chambers and termination points. If such a connection is impossible, then the next-fastest broadband connection will need to be installed. The new requirements will include mixed-use schemes, conversions of commercial or

Part L (conservation of fuel and power), Part F (ventilation) and a new Part O (overheating) of the Building Regulations.

Part S Amendment Regulations have been laid as part of the response to a consultation in 2019 on electric vehicle charging in residential and non-residential buildings.

Download the documents at bit.ly/BuildingRegulationsCirculars

disused industrial buildings or houses converted into multiple dwellings.

Currently, new-build homes without full-fibre or gigabit connectivity are mostly developments of less than 30 units as the cost for internet operators to expand the core network is high. Broker Hank Zarihs Associates said conversions accounted for a major element of small and medium-sized builders’ work, and that the new proposals would increase their costs and potentially the need for instant bridging finance.

The consultation will close on 28 February 2022 with legislative amendments to Part R of Building Regulations 2010 happening as soon as parliamentary time allows.

The Scottish Procurement Alliance (SPA) is a finalist in the Social Value category of the GO Awards Scotland 2021/22.

The Social Value Award highlights organisations that have embedded social and community benefit

6-9 TheBriefing_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 8

in their procurement activity and can show evidence of delivering benefits to people in those communities. As a not-for-profit provider of procurement solutions, SPA reinvests surpluses from projects that use

its frameworks back into the community. Its entry focused on projects to combat food poverty and social isolation.

The winners of the GO Awards 2021/22 will be announced at a gala awards ceremony on 3 March 2022.

IMAGES: ISTOCK, ALAMY

Procurement sector awards

19/01/2022 11:05

THE BRIEFING

In the 2021 autumn budget, the government announced that £2bn will be used to unlock 1,500 hectares of brownfield land across England to clear derelict land and make way for 160,000 new homes. This

Read more on the 2021 autumn budget at bit.ly/ AutumnBudget2021Construction

The government has pledged £65m to digitise local council planning systems in England.

It is hoping to make the planning process more accessible to more people by enabling them to scan QR

6-9 TheBriefing_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 9

NO REGRETS The Royal Academy of Engineering has produced a low-regrets framework to support urgent climate change. Read more at bit.ly/RAEngLowRegrets

Yorkshire-based CorkSol won the Innovation in Insulation category at the 2021 Build It Awards. This category is all about pioneering products that insulate buildings. Judges praised SprayCork’s environmental, acoustic and insulation credentials, noting that the product would be particularly useful to owners of period properties, where it can be used without compromising the breathable fabric of a heritage home. soaring, but the decline of the small house builder has hit the capacity, competitiveness and diversity of the house building industry, and is slowing down delivery,” said FMB Chief Executive Brian Berry. “With 71% of small builders reporting the number of small-site opportunities is decreasing and only 19% feeling a high level of certainty over the outcome of planning applications, these constraints are proving stubborn to shift.”

codes to see interactive 3D maps. The government also announced that 13 planning authorities had won funding for piloting digitisation.

Cambridge, for example, won £100,000 to use technology to capture views on a scheme appearing in news articles and social media feeds.

9 BUILDING ENGINEER

Planning codes

London-based project manager Mirona Tomala, from international property and construction consultancy Gleeds, has been named RICS Matrics’ Young Surveyor of the Year 2021. She said: “I am passionate about improving the representation of women in construction, co-founding the International Women’s Day networking event for RICS Matrics and sharing my journey to becoming a chartered surveyor with young people to inspire more girls to pursue careers in the built environment. I’m very proud to be a role model for the next generation.”

SPRAYCORK WINS GOLD

T

he 2021 House Builders’ Survey of small and medium-sized house building companies in England, from the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), found that land availability is the most important constraint holding back local house builders from building new homes. It showed that in 2021: 63% of small builders are limited in their ability to build homes by a lack of available and viable land 62% are struggling with material shortages 61% feel held back by the planning system; and 53% can’t find the workers they need to build their homes.

The annual survey indicated demand for new homes is booming, but that just 12% of new housing was delivered by small builders, compared with 40% in the 1980s.

“Demand for new homes is

RICS YOUNG SURVEYOR OF THE YEAR

FEBRUARY 2022

Lie of the land

NEWS IN BRIEF

Brownfield budget

includes £300m to unlock smaller brownfield sites, which will provide more opportunities for SME developers.

The National Federation of Builders (NFB) described it as a “sticking plaster solution” and said that more consideration needed to be given to the embodied carbon of some derelict sites. The NFB also noted that more land would be needed to create employment space and amenities for the homes the government hopes would be created, although the government has pledged to invest £9m towards 100 urban pocket parks across the UK.

COVID-19 ADVICE The Construction Leadership Council has released guidance for sites operating during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Enforced by the HSE, the aim is to ensure consistent safety measures on construction sites.

Download it at bit.ly/CovidSiteAdvice

GET INVOLVED Building Engineer prides itself on presenting high-quality technical information and industry insight, and would like to showcase the expertise of the members themselves. Do you have specialist knowledge of an area that’s not being covered, or insight in an area that is? Would you be willing to submit a feature or be interviewed?

If so, e-mail the editor at cabe@redactive.co.uk

19/01/2022 11:05

INTELLIGENCE

Investing in the future

FEBRUARY 2022

REHAU says more support is needed to design and construct healthy buildings in the UK education sector

BUILDING ENGINEER

10

A

lthough studies show a clear connection between physical spaces and student performance, research conducted by REHAU Group suggests that market realities continue to hinder best practice.

In the company’s Designing Healthy Schools and Universities report, more than 77% of respondents said wellbeing is often value-engineered out of an original design during later stages of development. At the same time, 67% agreed that leaving a high-quality building for future generations was a top priority.

The study, which looked at mechanical and electrical (M&E) professionals and architects working across the UK’s schools and universities, has also highlighted areas where small adjustments in building design can not only support academic attainment but also equip buildings with services fit for future needs, such as low-carbon heating and cooling.

Steve Richmond, REHAU’s Head of Marketing and Technical Building Solutions, explains: “Public sector projects like schools have the opportunity to lead the

10-11 EducationBuildings_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 10

77%

said wellbeing is often valueengineered out of an original design during later stages of development

way in designing low-energy buildings that provide high levels of comfort for occupants. Many school buildings are in need of investment, so it’s important that new and refurbished ones are completed to a high standard.

Among other things, this will mean installing pipework that’s better matched to low-temperature heating from ground- and air-source heat pumps – a strategy that has been outlined by climate change bodies and the UK government.”

It’s therefore notable that almost 60% of respondents said demand for district heating schemes will rise in the next five years. However, supply, cost and a lack of technical expertise are deemed the biggest barriers to installing such schemes. The issue of cost was raised again in the report’s key findings: it is the decisive factor when choosing specifiers and when contractors are selecting an M&E solution. Meanwhile, faster construction, quality control and lower costs are the main drivers in the use of off-site construction methods.

As the report notes: “One of more telling findings can be seen when respondents were asked about their

19/01/2022 11:06

EDUCATION SECTOR

“Around 420,000 extra school places are needed and official figures show the majority of the building stock was built before 1976”

UK government figures show extensive construction programmes will be needed in the education sector in the coming years. Around 420,000 extra state school places are currently needed and National Audit Office figures show that the majority of the building stock was built before 1976 – which explains the government’s announcement in August 2020 of £560m in funding to improve educational buildings throughout the UK. Steve is keen to point out that higher education arguably faces even greater expectations, especially from those who are paying a premium to study: “It’s known facilities play a central role in undergraduates’ choice of university and is even given as a category on reputable guides. International students will pay closer attention to this as they are often paying far more than their UK classmates.”

So, higher education institutions that offer a healthy environment are more desirable and will therefore attract more investment – but what is a healthy environment? The report notes that: “The belief that schools and universities should be designed to support learning has been discussed extensively. Even the idea of healthy design has received some coverage; when the Royal Institute of British Architects weighed in on what constitutes a good facility, it found that these buildings ’need to function, eliminating challenges such as cramped spaces, lack of natural light, and bad acoustics‘.

“There is plenty of guidance issued by the government to include simple ventilation systems, an abundance of natural light, good acoustics and thermal comfort, and better control over temperature, such as BB 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal

10-11 EducationBuildings_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 11

Sustainable design The report suggests solutions ranging from underfloor heating and smart controls for lower ambient temperatures to Passivhaus design using thermally activated building structures. It notes that these avoid having to rely solely on air-based heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. “The large thermal mass of a building’s concrete slab acts as a buffer for changing loads throughout the day, with temperature regulated by running hot or cold water through embedded polymer pipework,” the report states.

However, the focus is still on new builds – what about the existing building stock?

The report suggests that district heat networks and heat pumps could be the way forward; although these would still require investment in a building’s heating systems, they offer long-term cost efficiency as well as creating a healthier environment, it says. “Today’s buildings, for example, can still attain an ‘A’ Energy Performance Certificate rating using conventional gas boilers when a renewable technology such as photovoltaic solar panels are also added,” it adds.

However, there is a caveat: “This approach falls short of the environmental challenges ahead, particularly in relation to net zero targets, and pushes the possibility of expensive retrofit work in the future. In a sector reliant on public money, this kind of waste makes little sense. However, the industry is beginning to recognise the value of whole-life planning by incorporating futureproofed solutions that guarantee long-term performance,” the report says.

11 BUILDING ENGINEER

IMAGES: ALAMY

Under pressure

FEBRUARY 2022

attitudes towards the average lifespan of M&E solutions. Almost 70% said products needed to last longer... This not only hints at the practical challenges in educational buildings but also the idea that budgets are often insufficient to accommodate healthy, futureproofed design principles.”

comfort, and indoor air quality in schools, which covers design recommendations for designers, specifiers and contractors working in the sector. This document was updated in 2018 to recognise how different thermal conditions, particularly in the height of summer and winter, can affect learning,” the report continues.

“Adaptive thermal comfort calculations were introduced to prevent summertime overheating, using variable maximum indoor temperatures that depend on outdoor conditions. This ultimately helps to avoid unnecessary use of air conditioning by using passive measures such as night cooling and thermal mass to lower classroom temperature in warmer weather.

However, adequate control is critical for these systems to work effectively when considering the guidance’s minimum ventilation requirements.”

The issue of cost looms large once more. Most educational buildings are publicly run, and are, therefore, subject to tighter budgets at the same time as increased pressure to decarbonise in line with government targets.

For higher education buildings, it’s possible to argue that improvements will drive increased applications from students, especially from overseas, enabling outlay costs to be recouped over time. However, for state schools that isn’t an option. In this case, it may be worth stressing that sustainable design makes schools more cost-effective to run as well as supporting better learning outcomes and increasing productivity, which would help to further justify the outlay costs.

To download the Designing Healthy Schools and Universities report, visit bit.ly/HealthyEduBuildings

19/01/2022 11:06

FEBRUARY 2022

S

BUILDING ENGINEER

12

ustainability is often associated with carbon footprints and greenhouse gas emissions.

While combating climate change is unquestionably a top priority, sustainability has evolved to encompass far more than cutting reliance on fossil fuels. These days, the term is also about creating healthy built environments that enhance the wellbeing of the people who use them.

Sustainability consultancy Darren Evans Ltd takes people’s wellbeing seriously; in practicing what it preaches, it has implemented working policies to support the wellbeing of its team.

One of the company’s more surprising strategies is the offer of unlimited holiday.

This policy, typically associated with flashy tech start-ups, is often brushed aside as unfeasible in other industries. Director Darren Evans has spoken about it with other business owners to explain the benefits, but says it’s difficult to convince them that it’s a good idea. “I often hear ‘it works for you, but wouldn’t work for us’,” he says, “Wellbeing in the workplace can be hindered by fear.” Even the firm’s own HR consultant warned that employees would take advantage of the policy and advised against it.

But it’s been four years since Darren Evans first implemented its unlimited holiday strategy, and those dire predictions have not transpired. There have been no issues with people abusing the policy; in fact, staff tend to take less holiday now (24 days per year average), and many must be reminded to take time off.

EMPLOYEE WELLBEING

says, “In giving employees that degree of control, the company is saying ‘I trust you’. In return, employees feel a sense of accountability to their colleagues to not abuse the system – it fosters community responsibility,” he says. That culture of respect begins with how everyone treats each other: people are seen as the firm’s most valuable asset.

To the obvious question of what happens if people do abuse the system, Darren notes that this would indicate that something else needed addressing,

such as the scope of the role or perhaps personal issues. It shows a holistic approach that goes beyond prescriptive wellbeing measures.

Unlimited leave is something that no one else in the industry is offering.

“Everyone we interview [for a role] loves the idea of unlimited holiday, and it’s fun to see and hear their reactions to it,” Darren says, adding: “We look after our team so they can look after our planet.”

Find out more at darren-evans.co.uk

IMAGE: ISTOCK

INTELLIGENCE

A question of trust “People submit their holiday requests two weeks before the time off they’d like to take.

Some obviously can’t take holiday at the same time due to skillsets, but otherwise there aren’t any other considerations for line managers,” Darren says. Team members no longer experience anxiety over having to use up leave. The last-minute rush to take holiday about to expire is a thing of the past, and people aren’t competing over dates. The company also reports that there have been no stress-related absences since it implemented the strategy.

Before deciding on unlimited holiday, Darren says the company did a lot of research on reinforcing working relationships and supporting the connection between employees and the company. They considered more conventional options, like gift cards and bonuses, but ultimately realised they needed to go further. “Loyalty and trust are an exchange: it’s that simple,” he

12 Wellbeing_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 12

Unlimited holiday How do you implement a policy so outlandish that the company’s HR director warns against it? A look at Darren Evans Ltd may explain how

19/01/2022 11:07

INTELLIGENCE

A problem shared Benenden Health’s survey shows a tendency among engineering and construction workers to hide health issues from employers

calling on business owners in the industry to open communication channels with their teams and consider the health needs of their workforce to support positive wellbeing, increase staff retention and reduce unexpected absences. Naomi Thompson, Head of Organisational Development at Benenden Health, says: “It is disappointing that so many people still feel they can’t speak to their employers about their wellbeing.

“This stigma is especially prevalent in the workplace, with businesses too often unable to identify wellbeing issues, employees concerned about the implications of discussing them, and a continuing lack of tangible support – all of which contribute to lost time and productivity for businesses as well as unaddressed poor employee wellbeing.

Tailored wellbeing programmes, developed with employee consultation and recognising the different needs of a multigenerational workforce, can increase productivity, support recruitment and promote a happier and healthier workforce,” Naomi adds.

Read the report at bit.ly/BenendenHealthReport FEBRUARY 2022

M

13 BUILDING ENGINEER

ore than a third of employees in the architecture, engineering and construction sector would not talk to their employer if they were experiencing a health issue that was having a detrimental impact on business performance and culture, a survey by Benenden Health has shown.

As many as 38% of people in the industry reported they wouldn’t feel confident discussing any health issues with their employer, with many worrying about what it would mean for their career and relationships within the workplace.

With almost half of all employees in architecture, engineering and construction (48%) revealing that they have a health issue, long-term condition or disability, it’s clear that fear and stigma around health in the workplace means millions of workers may not be getting the necessary – or indeed any – support from their employers. This could lead to absences, lower productivity and ultimately cause employees to leave their job.

The survey revealed the most common ailments that workers have not disclosed to their employer to be poor mental health, high blood pressure and arthritis – all conditions that could be exacerbated in the workplace. Just over a third of employees in the sector (34%) also disclosed that they have lied to an employer about taking time off for a health appointment, making it difficult for businesses to ensure workers are getting the appropriate support.

HEALTH

IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

Workplace wellbeing The reasons why employees in architecture, engineering and construction would be reticent to discuss their wellbeing at work were also revealed, with a quarter of respondents saying they would worry that people would think they couldn’t do their job (26%) and more than a fifth believing they might lose their job (22%). Meanwhile, 17% concerned that they would be talked about and one in ten (9%) worrying that people wouldn’t want to be their friend.

For some, these concerns were based on experience, with 9% of employees in the industry believing that they have been overlooked for a job in the past due to a health issue, long-term condition or disability.

Following the findings, Benenden Health is

13 Workplace-illHealth_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 13

34%

of employees disclosed that they have lied to an employer about taking time off for a health appointment

19/01/2022 11:07

INTELLIGENCE

FEBRUARY 2022

tenants. With the Homes Act placing more emphasis on landlords than ever before to ensure adequate ventilation, it highlights the serious challenge housing providers face throughout winter,” he adds.

Positive input ventilation The use of positive input ventilation (PIV) units is well established in social housing.

They were developed in 1972 with the specific aim of tackling ventilation issues in existing properties. A PIV unit works much in the same way as a mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) system, but the latter requires guaranteed airtightness and duct runs, which aren’t always feasible in existing houses. By contrast, PIV

“Despite their proven efficacy, the installation of PIV systems is very limited”

BUILDING ENGINEER

14

Hot air 14 PIVunits_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 14

consists of a single unit typically installed in the loft area, with a distribution diffuser mounted in the ceiling of the room below.

Lofts are often comparatively warm spaces as warm air rises; as this air is moved by fresh air coming in, the PIV pumps and circulates fresh, filtered air into a house, forcing stale air out of the gaps and cracks in the fabric of the building. PIV will work without the need for trickle vents, down to an air permeability of 3m3h/m2.

There are some drawbacks; PIV relies on the availability of some loft space, so isn’t suited to apartments or homes with vaulted ceilings or flat roofs (although wall-mounted alternatives are available).

Also, if the loft is underinsulated, in winter months cold air can be circulated.

PIV has proven to be good at removing humidity, lowering levels of radon and is beneficial for asthma sufferers. When correctly applied, it offers good ventilation and can significantly improve indoor air quality. Intelligent PIV systems are also becoming more popular as they can automatically adjust air flow depending on the moisture content and temperature of incoming air during the winter. This ensures thermal comfort for tenants without incurring the high energy costs associated with using a heater.

“On the few occasions that PIV systems are reported as not performing well, it is rare for it to be a mechanical or electrical product failure. It’s almost always down to the system not being designed, installed, or commissioned properly,” Paul says. For that reason, Homevent has created the SELECTAPIV online tool to help specifiers select the correct PIV units. It asks questions about the dwelling and then identifies an appropriate PIV unit to provide the ventilation rate for the whole dwelling and any system enhancement extractor fans that may be required in humid areas such as bathrooms. Paul notes that: “Despite their proven efficacy, and detailed independent guidance on the correct design and product selection, the installation and commissioning of PIV systems is very limited. The fact that PIV has never been one of the systems included in Approved Document F: F1 Means of Ventilation remains a mystery.”

Condensation and mould continue to be a growing concern in properties across the UK according to air quality experts at Homevent

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK

A

late 2021 survey by housing charity Shelter found that poor housing is harming the health of one in five tenants in England. A quarter of respondents said they were affected by damp and mould, ultimately stemming from a combination of poor ventilation and being unable to heat their homes.

With the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act having been in place for nearly two years now, Paul Harrington of ventilation manufacturer Homevent says more needs to be done to help providers comply with the regulations and improve the standard of homes. “The ongoing energy crisis is set to exacerbate typically challenging months when it comes to ensuring homes are well ventilated, all while remaining warm enough for

AIR QUALITY

Access the online tool at homevent.co.uk/select-a-piv

19/01/2022 11:08

INTELLIGENCE

OPINION

“This isn’t just about London flats – it can also be a lethal problem in a wide range of new homes”

I

IMAGE: ISTOCK

STUART FAIRLIE Managing Director, Elmhurst Energy An energy assessment expert, Stuart is also Chair of the Energy Assessor Scheme Operating Board and a member of the Advisory Council for the National Energy Foundation, the SAP Scientific Integrity Group, and the NHBC Foundation Expert Panel

t might have felt odd to think about killer heatwaves after having seen snow flurries in December. But at the end of 2021, new Building Regulations were introduced in England to address the dangers of overheating in new homes.

The new regulations, Part O, are mostly concerned with two issues: how to limit unwanted solar gains in summer and how to remove excess heat from the indoor environment. Ideally, this should avoid the use of carbon-intensive air conditioning – which, of course, just compounds the problems of climate change that exacerbate deadly heatwaves in the first place.

One myth needs busting: this isn’t just about London flats. Yes, the problems of unbearable overheating over extended periods can be much worse in urban areas and in apartments. But it can also be a lethal problem in a wide range of new homes, residential institutions, halls of residence and student accommodation. Figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities state that the UK suffers about 2,000 heat-related deaths every year – a figure that is expected to triple by 2050 due to climate change.

Unfortunately, tackling overheating is fiendishly complicated, so the new regulations are initially taking a relatively light-touch approach. Overheating has been removed from Part L and SAP assessments.

15 Comment_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 15

15 BUILDING ENGINEER

Stuart Fairlie MCABE discusses the fiendishly complicated issue of how the industry can stay cool about overheating

FEBRUARY 2022

INDUSTRY OPINION

Instead, Part O incorporates a simplified method for demonstrating compliance; it is very prescriptive, but should be relatively easy for housebuilders to follow.

Alternatively, it presents a dynamic thermal modelling method that uses the expertise of CIBSE TM59 calculations and gives designers and housebuilders much more flexibility in how they approach overheating.

It’s a very welcome start.

What’s also good is the transitional arrangements attached to these regulations.

They take effect from 15 June 2022; any plot started after that date must be up to the new standard within a year. It’s likely we can expect more complex versions of these regulations and tougher requirements on the journey towards the Future Homes Standard.

But we can already see that housebuilders will need real technical expertise to help them demonstrate compliance, navigate the complex ways in which Part O interacts with multiple other parts of the Building Regulations, and to achieve more intelligent and cost-effective ways to reduce high indoor temperatures in homes, particularly apartments.

We’re already getting a very positive response to our new Overheating Competency Scheme, which aims to give housebuilders and social housing developers access to a bank of fully qualified overheating assessors by June. Training of these assessors has already begun – I expect they’ll be in demand.

It’s noticeable that the new regulations go beyond the traditional focus on health and safety – Part O specifically talks about the need to ensure occupants’ “reasonable enjoyment of the residence”. In the face of stricter building control checks and a new regulatory regime for housebuilders, including the New Homes Ombudsman, many builders will be looking carefully at the best way to achieve compliance that doesn’t get them hot and bothered.

Learn more at elmhurstenergy.co.uk

19/01/2022 12:35

T

he water industry has set out ten key ways to dramatically improve the nation’s rivers and waterways in its 21st Century Rivers: Ten Actions for Change report. Among its bold proposals are next-generation monitoring to revolutionise data, greater legal protection through a new Rivers Act, the creation of a national plan to eliminate harm from storm overflows, and the prioritisation of nature-based solutions.

The report stresses the importance that all sectors should work together to achieve these fundamental changes. Only around a quarter of the challenges facing rivers are caused by water companies, with the largest source of harm coming from agriculture. Other sectors, such as construction and local authorities, also have an impact on waterways.

FEBRUARY 2022

The ten recommendations are:

BUILDING ENGINEER

16

1 A national plan for rivers – a long-term strategy for rivers involving all partners and the creation of a senior National Plan Steering Group to lead progress.

2 Protection in law – A new Rivers Act to ensure legal protection and close loopholes.

3 Local empowerment – Ensure leadership and action at a local level by building on the success of the Catchment Based Approach.

4 Accountability – Use data to look at all sources of harm in rivers, challenging each sector to put concrete steps in place to tackle all barriers to river health.

5 Next-generation monitoring – Work

ENVIRONMENT

towards creating a national monitoring platform to collate and make available data on ecology, chemistry and public health from all rivers.

6 Support people – Government, manufacturers and retailers should work together to transform the public’s understanding of the water environment, and campaign to help consumers play their part, especially on wet wipes and unflushables.

7 Prioritise nature – Embed habitat restoration and species renewal within legislation and spending priorities.

8 Abstraction – Government to introduce a target under the Environment Bill to reduce the amount of water abstracted for the public water supply.

9 Storm overflows – Agree a plan to eliminate the 4% of harm caused by storm overflows to English rivers.

10 Bathing rivers – Develop a new approach to bathing rivers to ensure the safe recreational use of inland waters in every region of England.

Bathing rivers The latter point is an interesting addition.

Water companies in England want to work with government and other sectors to help create a series of bathing rivers across the country. The UK currently has just one river with designated bathing water status – the River Wharfe in Ilkley – but the proposals could create secure, safe, inland bathing waters in every region of the country.

Elsewhere, the report calls for a new long-term strategy for rivers to include input from government, regulators, water

companies, agriculture and other sectors to help guide and prioritise investment and policy change. This would represent a step-change from the prior and current approach of disjointed, incremental, ad-hoc changes. The creation of a new Rivers Act will bring together existing legislation and provide greater protection for rivers in law.

Christine McGourty, Chief Executive of Water UK, says: “Rivers have been in a state of crisis for much of the past hundred years, and though there’s been huge progress in the last few decades, there’s much more to do and an urgent need for everyone involved to address the challenges together. Water companies are passionate about their own role as stewards of the natural environment and are committed to playing their part, but what’s needed is a clear, single, national plan, involving everyone – river users, customer groups, environmental charities, government, regulators as well as agriculture, highways, and all the sectors impacting river quality. Water companies don’t have all the answers and without everyone working together, we simply won’t get the radical transformation that’s needed and the healthy, thriving rivers that everyone wants.”

IMAGE: ALAMY

INTELLIGENCE

Read the report and its conclusions at bit.ly/21stCenturyRivers

Waves of change Water companies have set out ambitious plans to improve the health of England’s rivers and want all sectors to support the changes

16 HealthyRivers_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 16

The River Wharfe in Ilkley is the UK’s only river with designated bathing water status

19/01/2022 11:09

INTELLIGENCE

CROSS UK

the findings of Dame Judith Hackitt ’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety – that “the cumulative impact of the Approved Documents changes an outcome-based system of regulation to one that is often inferred by users to be prescriptive” (Paragraph 1.28).

Approved Document B (2019) includes explanatory text to explicitly remind readers about their responsibilities. It states that “those with responsibility for meeting the requirements of the regulations will need to consider for themselves whether following the guidance in the Approved Documents is likely to meet those requirements in the particular circumstances of their case” (Page i).

Report 966 Cross-laminated timber in multi-storey buildings

The CROSS-UK Fire Safety Expert Panel discusses the interpretation and application of the Building Act 1984 with regards to the use of cross-laminated timber in multi-storey buildings.

IMAGES: ALAMY

I

n report 966, the reporter presented concerns about the fire safety of multi-storey buildings employing cross-laminated timber (CLT).

CROSS has subsequently received additional comments on this report that have highlighted the associated need for improved understanding by architects and engineers of both the law and related technical matters.

One commenter noted that many architects and engineers currently believe that compliance with the Approved Documents guarantees compliance with Building Regulations. This observation aligns with

17-18 CROSS Report_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 17

A key question is: if I follow Approved Document B, will the building be safe, and will I have complied with the law? The Building Act 1984 (Section 7), which underpins the issuing of the Approved Documents by the Secretary of State, states that: “A failure on the part of a person to comply with an approved document does not of itself render him liable to any civil or criminal proceedings; but if, in any proceedings whether civil or criminal, it is alleged that a person has at any time contravened a provision of Building Regulations– (a) a failure to comply with a document that at that time was approved for the purposes of that provision may be relied upon as tending to establish liability, and (b) proof of compliance with such a document may be relied on as tending to negative liability.”

Compliance with the Approved Documents may tend to show compliance with the law, but this is not absolute. Regarding the use of CLT in multi-storey buildings, designers and engineers should be aware of the caveat set out in the introductory paragraphs of each of the Approved Documents. For Approved Document B, which was last updated in 2020, these introductory paragraphs include: “The Secretary of State has approved a series of documents that give practical guidance about how to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations 2010 for England. These Approved Documents give guidance on each of the technical parts of the regulations and on regulation 7 … The Approved Documents provide guidance for common building situations.

“It is the responsibility of those carrying out building works to meet the requirements of the Buildings Regulations 2010. Although it is ultimately for the courts to determine whether those requirements have been met, the Approved Documents provide practical guidance on potential

17 BUILDING ENGINEER

CROSS UK

The importance of the Building Act 1984 FEBRUARY 2022

“Many believe that Approved Documents compliance guarantees compliance with Building Regulations”

19/01/2022 11:10

FEBRUARY 2022

INTELLIGENCE

BUILDING ENGINEER

18

ways to achieve compliance with the requirements of the regulations in England.

“Although Approved Documents cover common building situations, compliance with the guidance set out in the Approved Documents does not provide a guarantee of compliance with the requirements of the regulations because the Approved Documents cannot cater for all circumstances, variations and innovations. Those with responsibility for meeting the requirements of the regulations will need to consider for themselves whether following the guidance in the Approved Documents is likely to meet those requirements in the particular circumstances of their case.”

Chapter 7 of the Manual to the Building Regulations states that: “The Approved Documents provide guidance for common building situations. They may not provide appropriate guidance if the case is unusual in terms of its design, setting, use, scale or technology. Non-standard conditions may include any of the following: a. difficult ground conditions; b. buildings with unusual occupancies or high levels of complexity; c. very large or very tall buildings; d. large timber buildings; and e. some buildings that incorporate modern construction methods.

“The full list of the Approved Documents and what they cover is given in Table 1.1 in Chapter 1. The Approved Documents will be relevant in many common building situations. Anyone using the Approved Documents should have sufficient knowledge and skills to understand the guidance and correctly apply it to the building work. This is important because simply following the guidance does not guarantee that your building work will comply with the legal requirements of the Building Regulations.”

The CROSS-UK Fire Safety Expert Panel believes the use of CLT in multi-storey buildings is not a “common building situation” as defined in the Approved Documents as they currently stand. CLT is a relatively new technology, particularly in relation to the standard recommendations in Approved Document B for structural fire resistance, which were developed decades ago. It therefore cannot be automatically assumed that for these types of buildings, the guidance of Approved Document B is sufficient to ensure compliance with Building Regulations.

Lack of understanding of fire resistance periods One commenter on report 966 highlighted a problematic but common misconception – that the periods of fire resistance cited, for example, in Approved Document B represent the period of time that a construction element would remain stable in a real fire. For example, if a construction element is rated to achieve a fire resistance of 60 minutes, one might assume it will perform adequately in a real fire for 60 minutes (but not necessarily longer). However, this assumption is false – real fires subject building elements to different thermal and mechanical

17-18 CROSS Report_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 18

CROSS UK

conditions from those that may occur during a standardised fire resistance test within an accredited testing laboratory.

Similarly, the duration of a real fire is limited primarily (but not entirely) by the fuel load, whereas a fire resistance testing furnace follows standardised temperature versus time curves recommended within the relevant testing standards. For buildings with non-combustible primary structural materials and where the height and use require high fire resistance ratings, it is therefore possible, or even likely, that the fuel within the building may burn out before structural failure occurs.

As noted in report 966, this idea is the original basis for the longer fire resistance standards specified in Approved Document B, for example for multi-storey residential buildings, and is commonly referred to within the fire engineering community as ‘design for burnout’. However, this concept breaks down in situations where the structural frame is itself combustible, and in such cases it is considered inappropriate to rely blindly on the historical fire resistance design framework – or indeed on the required periods of fire resistance quoted within, for example, Approved Document B.

Further reading The Building Act 1984 bit.ly/BuildingAct1984 Approved Document B, Volumes 1 and 2, 2019 bit.ly/ApprovedDocumentB Compliance Road-map for the Structural Fire Safety Design of Mass Timber Buildings in England: SFPE Europe Magazine, 2020 bit.ly/ComplianceRoadMap Structural timber buildings fire safety in use guidance, Volume 6 - Mass timber structures: Building Regulation compliance B3(1), STA fire safety research

and guidance project, Version v1.1, October 2020 bit.ly/StructuralTimberFire Fire Resistance and Burnout Resistance of Timber Columns: Fire Safety Journal, 2021 bit.ly/TimberColumnFire The Rise and Rise of Fire Resistance: Fire Safety Journal, 2020 bit.ly/FireResistanceResearch We Need to Talk about Timber: Fire Safety Design in Tall Buildings: The Structural Engineer, 2020 bit.ly/TallBuildingFireSafety

19/01/2022 11:10

PROFESSIONAL INDEMNITY INSURANCE SOLUTIONS Building Engineers Always Happy to Talk Great Rates for Established Firms and New Start Up Practices Exclusive In-House Scheme with a Major UK Insurer Wide Choice of other Insurers available to quote Fast Quote Turnaround with Efficient Expert Service Pro-active Claims Service Complimentary Legal Review Service Available Surveying Equipment And Office Insurance Public Liability and Employers Liability Insurance When the Insurance Market changes, find your port in a storm. Anchorman Insurance at your service Specialist Professional Indemnity Insurance Brokers focussed on Sole Trader, Small to Medium Sized Enterprises and New Start Up Practices since 1998.

info@anchormaninsurance.co.uk

www.anchormaninsurance.co.uk Authorised and Regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

FEBRUARY 2022

Call us on 01837 650030

19 BUILDING ENGINEER

the journal of the chartered association of building engineers the journal of the chartered association of building engineers

June 2020

g buildinge bu d g ngineer gineer n e g in d il bu gineer buildingen 2020 | www.cbuilde.com June J

ers g engine of buildin o ation oci To the Lighthouse rtered ass Building sustainably with l of the cha raises as manyy ber raises timber the journa

t als tri ting trials Heating Heating

dg ledge knowledg know oled knowledge Pooled

inking Blue sky thinking

umers consum mestic consumers domestic Can Can do thinking of heat switch to th as simply another utility?

ll oration ollaboration collaborat lobal collaboration globa he global The Th w asse es new waterassesse h assesses that nnovations iinnovati nagement innovations management managem

h ractice, why pract theory to practice, om theory From syst rooff systems green roof lue-green blue-green blue orm no th norm e the me ecome beco need to become

ineers building eng ociation of rtered ass l of the cha ty the journa

answers ions as itt answers questions question

May 2020

May 2020

that bind The ties cable ties that

e.com | www.cbuild

thing bady and reath Brea ry safet

in Electrical integrity res maintain temperatu extreme 2020

gy-e d ed e cte pect The ener with unex expe ess nces buildings uenc conseque and fatal

a irato ira espir Resp n and cca noge sure limits new new carci g expo muta mut gen

July / August

in n Enemy withfficient ent

for fire safe A new era lesson in

A history legislation and fire-safety is different fell why Gren

er.org.uk uildingengine t 2020 | www.b July / Augus

Would you like to reach over 8,000 CABE members through print advertising?

Open and shut case The ventilation, acoustic and thermal comfort problems of our own making

By advertising within these pages, it will ensure that your brand and proposition is recognised and understood by professionals within the industry.

ce Saving fa

nge Sea cha tide off ng ng tide rissin he risi Th The

refo etty refo saffety

rm rm

The curious

17/04/2020

On top of Engineer.indd

1

the world

Regenerat ng re-energisi sites and

e, track abov Running below, science lab in between g engineerin

E

ineer indd

14:38

ing Placemaking brownfield

case of faça

dism

standard Olympian ing meets h build

Finnis design to Japanese pics the Olym celebrate

collect Click andmodular and The rise of ing – can off-site build industry? it save the

s communitie

18/06/2020

11:25

1

Contact our sales team today for the latest options

For advertising opportunities call: 020 7880 7555 or email: nima.azarian@redactive.co.uk

CABE.FEB22.019.indd 19

17/01/2022 12:49

INTELLIGENCE

C

Horizon scanning Liz Varga FCABE explains how the principles of infrastructure resilience relate to the built environment

FEBRUARY 2022

ritical infrastructure networks provide essential services to homes, businesses, industry and the government. These services provide buildings – whether residential, commercial, industrial or public – with clean water, energy for heating, power and lighting, telecommunications and modes of transport. When essential services are disrupted, buildings become unusable and often close until services are operational again.

Infrastructure is networked, sometimes delivering products such as energy and water over long distances. This means disruptions can be caused by problems happening a long way away and can affect entire towns and regions, sometimes for long periods; it’s easy to think of examples of this.

There is growing concern that disruptions

BUILDING ENGINEER

20

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 20

19/01/2022 11:11

RESILIENCE PLANNING

IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

are occurring more frequently and with greater severity: either more people and buildings are affected, or they are affected for longer periods. There are several reasons for this, including: ageing infrastructure, with some operating beyond its intended lifetime; an increase in natural hazards, arguably due to climate change, which our construction and building operations are exacerbating; greater intensity of demand, especially in urban areas, where populations are becoming ever denser; and supply chains that are becoming increasingly globalised, creating greater delay risks for products and parts required for infrastructure services.

Resilience abilities and strategies So, how to develop better infrastructure resilience? It will involve finding ways to better predict disruptions, prevent them happening, keep them contained should

they happen, and to recover in a timely and co-ordinated way. These are sometimes called resilience abilities.

Other strategies for resilience include: redundancy (having spare capacity); reliability (putting maintenance practices in place to avoid system or component failure); resistance (implementing barriers for protection, such as flood defences); responsiveness (taking timely action when disruptions occur); and monitoring to detect and predict potential failures.

However, no principles for resilient infrastructure exist that set out goals across economic, environmental and social domains. Economic measures have dominated investment and operations in both infrastructure and buildings. There has been much development on valuing social outcomes and on the sustainability and value of the environment, which has yet to be included into measuring the true

value of infrastructure and buildings. Also, technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) have not yet had an effect on helping infrastructure services to be uninterrupted.

Developing a cohesive set of infrastructure principles will help decisionmaking at a national and regional scale by providing a way to determine whether investment or operational changes will improve overall resilience. This introduces a new concept called net resilience gain: the idea that changes to infrastructure may make resilience better or worse. For instance, when a coal-fired power plant is decommissioned, it removes a supply channel from the electricity grid. This makes the grid less resilient unless the plant is replaced with something that is at least as reliable, otherwise it will have insufficient spare capacity to compensate for its loss.

The measure of net resilience continuously changes; it is a dynamic phenomenon that FEBRUARY 2022

21 BUILDING ENGINEER

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 21

19/01/2022 11:11

FEBRUARY 2022

INTELLIGENCE

BUILDING ENGINEER

22

reflects how assets age, hazards, skills and capacities change, and so on.

Infrastructure resilience The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) has sponsored the work on setting out the principles for resilient infrastructure. Through its engagement with member states, UNDRR has recognised that one of the key gaps in the infrastructure resilience arena is a shared view of: what infrastructure is in scope; the extent of resilience; the scale and ambition for resilience; the definition of resilience; and what can be done to improve infrastructure resilience. Working with UNDRR on setting out the principles for resilient infrastructure, the first step was to identify principles from academic articles and case studies. It found 14 draft principles, which have been the subject of consultation with key UK institutions. These principles are yet to be finalised and there will be a UNDRR global consultation held in March 2022.

In 2021, a series of workshops with industry experts focused on consolidating and improving on these draft principles.

CABE members took part in one of these workshops – which is notable, because buildings are often on the boundaries of

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 22

the scope of infrastructure thinking, which tends to focus on generation, construction, transmission and distribution, and treatment. Yet buildings are where several essential infrastructure services converge, creating both risks and opportunities.

The following are key responses from CABE members at the workshop on the 14 draft principles of resilient infrastructure – and the challenges and opportunities they present for the built environment. It is important to note that these responses are personal views of members of CABE and have been kept anonymous.

Principle 1: strengthen economic capacity “One of the key constraints of buildings is that the benefits of the building very often don’t lie with the person who puts the capital in. The value of performance and resilience benefits must come down to the value of the asset in the market or to the economic model of the person investing in the building. We need to be clear when value is provided and who are the benefactors. Motivations on value creation will then be stimulated in different ways.”

“We need to optimally allocate resources over the whole system (national, regional);

to get resilience into the system means there is money in the system to do more.”

“Buildings also create facilities to house future business activities. Investors don’t generate economic capacity: the operation of buildings does that. And the full benefit will be achieved if the development has been correctly planned in the most effective geographical location.”

Principle 2: provide social wellbeing and development “Buildings are shared spaces that underpin social cohesion. The performance of a building is interrelated with the buildings around it, yet performance is often looked at as an individual item. When looking how a building or development contributes to social aspects, it is the space in between buildings and the interaction between different buildings in a community that matters. A building is part of an ecosystem of buildings and the spaces in between.”

“Buildings house infrastructure activities and services that need to be provided; how and where those are and their relationship to the building are critical for resilience and how they lead to social outcomes.”

“Look at the conservation world for inspiration. Zoological Society of London,

19/01/2022 11:11

RESILIENCE PLANNING

“The performance of a building is interrelated with the buildings around it, yet performance is often looked at as an individual item” sectors, so we have fragmentation. Buildings must mitigate against the effects of climate change, but they are a major contributor to climate change. Avoiding that has to be planned in, including end of life.”

Principle 4: net resilience gain (using green and blue infrastructure) for operational delivery

Green roofs are a simple way of boosting biodiversity in urban environments

“Construction in the UK accounts for 60% of the country’s total waste, so focusing on waste reduction and the use of more advanced technologies to reduce the amount of waste generated through construction can support long-term environmental gains.”

“Reuse and reclaim existing building stock and protect biodiversity for net positive benefits in energy, water, biodiversity,

23 BUILDING ENGINEER

the WWF and Wildlife Trust or re-wilding folks talk a lot about the interconnectedness of better living environments, living seas and how that improves life for humans too.

They see a link between saving chimpanzees and better economic outcomes for humans, which is fascinating.”

Principle 5: net environment gain for long-term environmental recovery FEBRUARY 2022

“Green roofs and green walls are simple measures to mitigate flooding and green the grey environment. Planting improves indoor and external air quality. The natural environment can also be used to improve security in urban areas to reduce social unease and lead to better physical and mental health outcomes, for example Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design.”

“Use the green environment as a reservoir to support recovery and stop building in the green belt and expanding into the countryside. Either build upward or, instead of demolishing and building new buildings

and wasting materials, just refurbish.”

“Use the urban environment to improve biodiversity, for example by including beehives. Use the CIRIA B£St tool to determine multiple benefits of blue-green infrastructure and see DEFRA’s 2020 report, Evidence Review of the Concept of Flood Resilience. Revise all building codes and regulations for future climate change and not just what is acceptable today.”

IMAGES: ALAMY, GETTY IMAGES

Principle 3: preparedness for long-term risks “It’s about having alternative pathways to keep things going when things go wrong. To be prepared for the worst-case scenario, a back-up plan and investment now must be in place in order to overcome and respond to the risk or the disaster.”

“The planning process needs to look on a much longer horizon. There’s a particular issue in our urban areas, particularly in London, on overheating in modern buildings – but buildings are designed with 15 years ago in mind rather than how hot cities are going to be. It’s not necessarily to do with materials but design and natural ventilation to be built in for a greater level of preparedness and extending habitable life space improving life-cycle carbon.”

“Sustainability and resilience should be pushed together, but there’s just no co-ordination and co-operation between

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 23

19/01/2022 11:11

INTELLIGENCE

materials, and working toward circular economy principles.”

“There is a need to fully appreciate risk and focus on performance-based outcomes. Billions in public money may be spent on the wrong risks unless solutions are properly engineered to be proportionate.”

FEBRUARY 2022

Principle 6: create collective capabilities regarding robustness, rapidity, resourcefulness and redundancy

BUILDING ENGINEER

24

“Avoid creating restrictions in legislation relating to use. We’ve become rigid in our views of how assets can and should be used, and we make it very difficult to flex and respond to demand. This is a government, top-level issue, so particular sectors can become very focused and fixed on their own rules without thinking about the big picture. Remove barriers between sectors – including government, local government departments and professional institutions – and improve collaboration and data sharing.”

“There is a spatial data sharing issue, both between buildings in neighbourhoods and scaling that up, and similarly with data and with different stakeholders over time.

A significant amount (60%) of building stock will still be in use in 25 years, and the knowledge and expertise that assisted in its construction may not be digitalised. Getting the knowledge from people who are really not digital at all and translating it into a digital format won’t be easy. Digital natives may get excited about digitisation, but there a fundamental challenge in that there’s 15-20 years of experience where people are really not digital.”

tends to be cheaper and more resilient.”

“In the event of a disaster or net loss of supply, there is an opportunity to optimise supply. For example, after the Fukushima nuclear accident Japan managed a net loss of 30% of its generating capacity by installing load-sharing connectivity in all commercial buildings. It is something you can only do in countries like Japan, where everyone allows you to just go in and install things in their building.”

“The degree of resilience should be thought of in terms of proportionality to

what you are trying to protect and what you are trying to be resilient to. The US has four categories of building resilience: basic/ domestic, blocks of flats and large buildings, through infrastructure, and nuclear defence.

Each has its own level of protection.”

Principle 8: flexibility to adapt to future needs “Design buildings to accommodate upgrades and extensions without increasing their footprint and without compromising sustainability. We should not over design,

Modular designs are easier to decommission, but harder for ordinary people to repair

Principle 7: leveraging physical resources for collective responsibilities “Multi-dwelling buildings and sharing between buildings create opportunities. In energy, there are increasing opportunities for sharing, where different buildings have varied heating and cooling demands.

Creating communal systems and services rather than single-property connections

a significant proportion

60%

of building stock will still be in use in 25 years’ time

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 24

19/01/2022 11:12

RESILIENCE PLANNING

but design for sufficiency and build in flexibility. This affects the traditional training of construction professionals.”

“Modular designs are easier to deconstruct at end of life and we can reuse the high-value parts again. But modular design requires specialist repair, and ordinary people cannot repair a modular building like they can a bricks and mortar building. Nevertheless, modular design may help overcome the loss of trades – although for bespoke needs, it may not work.”

“Flood prevention measures for new buildings, accommodating for rises in sea levels, are needed.”

Flood defences may themselves pose a risk if extreme scenarios are not anticipated and planned for

Principle 9: graceful extensibility beyond system boundaries

IMAGES: ALAMY, NOUN PROJECT

“There may be a rebound effect of raising baseline safety measures. For example, flood walls may stop water ingress, but if exceeded could result in flows that pose a hazard to life. Consider prioritising passive, low-tech safety measures over complex active systems. We should create a hierarchy where passive measures are prioritised over active ones. This is because we don’t have the maintenance capacity to deal with increasing levels of sophistication over time, and that creates its own risks.”

“We have a safety net in that some sites

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 25

25

are just not suitable for development. As a society we need to get more comfortable with risk acceptance. But we don’t have the capacity to deal with system safety issues over time.”

Principle 11: assurance of data safety for stakeholder trust “There is a discussion about the golden thread around building information, which is about retaining data by having a continuing handover of information across the life cycle that enables people to make the right decisions to get the right outcomes. It is about the currency of data, not just how someone else repaired it last time – we should be looking at preventing the situation occurring in the first place. If we want resilient infrastructure, we should be prepared and look at what is coming, not what has been and then changing something to suit what’s past.”

“For most buildings, the data starts with building information modelling (BIM), but we need that to be used for retrofit, maintenance and so on, and end of life.

It goes beyond that, though – you need to record the strategies that underpin the original decisions and how those are modified through time: a decision audit trail.

There is a big debate around who should have access to that information. How much do you make available and how much you should be obliged to make available? One of the key challenges is the litigious nature of our sector and the barrier this creates in sharing with stakeholders.”

“How and where data is stored is important, because in a disaster situation having access to that data when infrastructure has been wiped out is a challenge. There’s going to be a key data set that needs to be accessible to the emergency services.”

BUILDING ENGINEER

Principle 10: redundancy in system safety to raise baseline safety

FEBRUARY 2022

“Influence beyond the building envelope will be needed in future to assure resilience.

The way we are currently organised doesn’t take long-term survivability and extreme scenarios into account. At the moment, we’ve generally optimised for cost, then quality. You’re talking about all sorts of other drivers, like carbon or resilience. Choosing the best option to optimise all these priorities is going to be more important than going with the least costly option.”

“As we add more renewables onto our buildings, we can share generative capacity to optimise those things. They are areas where you could see there could be real payback on investors in sharing. In this country, heat is our big carbon problem for buildings. We can deal with electricity demand – heat is the big issue.”

“This seems to be about systems thinking – how do you think through the unintended consequences and make that a disciplined part of any changes that are made? We don’t build as a collective; it’s individual plots of land that are built on for the purpose of individual clients or the economic output that’s wanted. Of all the principles we’ve looked so far, this is the one where the building industry completely falls flat.”

“We don’t build as a collective; it’s individual plots of land that are built on. This is where the building industry completely falls flat”

19/01/2022 11:12

INTELLIGENCE

RESILIENCE PLANNING

business model and then sell it. Analytics for the public good need to be considered.”

Principle 14: appropriate intervention for rapid response

BUILDING ENGINEER

26

General feedback

Digital can enable building managers to rapidly make informed decisions to mitigate problems

“The disaggregated nature of the UK construction industry means that supply chains don’t work effectively for the whole life of a building” Principle 12: timely knowledge for mitigating uncertainties “How and where data is stored matters in how that interacts with a digital model to get useful intelligence when something has happened and thereby provide insight into what it means, despite there being a multitude of variables. Building a model around the data allows you to create scenarios and make intelligent, informed decisions rapidly.”

“For building energy management systems (BEMS), one of the challenges concerns learning systems and effective decision-making. Most BEMS will have some sensing capability, and most clients don’t ask how to get better information out of their systems. There is a big piece here about training, knowledge about digitisation and systems, and turning that into a practical reality. There is an inherent capability in most BEMS that is just not used because it’s not understood. More technology is not necessarily the answer.

Some technology is the answer, and getting much better at using what we’ve already

20-26 ResiliancePlanning_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 26

got is a key challenge here. Something as simple as a handwritten maintenance diary is a start, as not every person is digitally aware.”

“Education (including at school level) and public awareness about what to expect, and how to increase preparedness at personal level, are vital.”

Principle 13: systemic learning for effective decision-making “Low-cost indoor environmental monitoring technologies can prevent disasters. AI technology providing data on a building’s condition is directly replicable and being used more and more. Augmented reality is also really useful to improve decisionmaking, particularly maintenance and refurbishment work.”

“As we move toward BIM and recording data and information, it leads on to using virtual reality and resolving problems before they arise. Bodycams are also good as a lessons learnt tool.”

“Analytics are key, but everyone wants to glean data from a software as a service

“The market is not yet buying climate change, although many risk professionals want to offer the service. We can write fire, security and holistic resilient design strategies that integrate seamlessly, but no one is buying that. The industry is crying out for convergent solutions, and we have the technology and know-how. But without market buy-in, they are doing what they have always done – and getting what they always got.”

“The disaggregated nature of the UK construction industry means that supply chains don’t work effectively for the whole life of a building. An example is a residential block built under the code for sustainable homes that should be energy efficient. There’s a solar array on the roof, but it isn’t operating due to a leak in the basement caused by a utility company damaging a steel pile. Each supplier acts to strengthen the economic capacity of their particular trade or part of the process, but has removed the resilience of the infrastructure for the building’s lifetime.”

CABE member responses, alongside other industry experts, have helped further refine the principles; these 14 principles have now been consolidated into six. As concern grows that disruptions are becoming more frequent and more severe, it’s encouraging there’s now a huge body of work looking at how we can all become more resilient.

IMAGES: ALAMY

FEBRUARY 2022

“Technology that enables vulnerable people to be located, in a fire or a building collapse, or even in a context such as prioritising support for people during a heatwave, will support recovery. Footfall counters linked to phone data etc may also help.”

“It is all about planning. Technological intervention and increased data don’t necessarily allow you to make decisions rapidly. You have to pre-empt the challenges you’re going to face in order to have a plan in place, otherwise it is going to be too late. It means training and practice, and knowing who your stakeholders are, as well as regular checking and maintenance of all alarm systems.”

For more details, visit bit.ly/UNDRRdata, bit.ly/UNDRRresilience, bit.ly/UNDRRrecommends, bit.ly/UNDRRResiliencePanel and bit.ly/ResilientInfra

19/01/2022 11:12

INTELLIGENCE

ENERGY AND FREQUENCY

glass – the vibrations produced by their voice resonate with the natural frequency of the glass, causing it to vibrate more and more strongly until the glass breaks. In the case of a structure, resonance occurs when pedestrians’ feet land in time with vibration already caused by other people.

Impulse or transient vibration is a problem in structures that are too high for resonance to occur within them, for instance if the structure is stiff or light. Here the discomfort is caused by the initial bounce of the structure.

Risk and mitigation

IMAGE: ISTOCK

M

ention human-induced vibrations — the vibrations caused by human footfall — and it sparks images of entire structures swaying, yet the reality is rarely this dramatic. However, they can have a number of effects on a structure and on those who use it: interference on equipment, depending on the building’s purpose. Universities and laboratories, for example, may have sensitive equipment whose accuracy and performance could be damaged by vibrations. Even in ordinary offices, footfall vibration can wobble computer screens discomfort for humans. According to research, vibrations in buildings and structures can cause depression and even motion sickness in inhabitants.

Tall buildings sway in the wind and footsteps can sometimes even be felt subconsciously by the occupants. Some have argued that modern efficient designs featuring thinner floor slabs and more widely spaced columns are not as effective at dampening vibrations as older buildings risking the strength of a structure.

The build-up of constant vibrations

27 Vibrations_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 27

can eventually compromise structural integrity. A worst-case scenario would be the complete collapse of the structure, and this is the reason marching troops must break step before crossing some bridges. Crowds jumping in time to music or in response to a goal in a stadium are also dynamic loads that might damage an under-designed structure moving bridges. A famous example of human-induced resonance affecting a structure occurred with the Millennium Bridge in London. As people walked across it, the footsteps caused the bridge to sway – and everybody had to walk in time with the oscillations because it was difficult not to. Thankfully, this feedback can only occur with horizontal vibrations, meaning the floors of a building are not vulnerable to this effect, but footbridges need careful checking.

Human-made vibrations can affect a structure in two ways: resonant vibrations, and impulse (or transient) vibrations.

Resonance occurs when object A vibrates at the same naturally occurring frequency as object B. Object B resonates with this and begins to vibrate too. This is a similar effect to a person singing to break a wine

27 BUILDING ENGINEER

Bad vibrations

FEBRUARY 2022

The effects of movement-induced vibrations on buildings can cause discomfort and need to be engineered out, says software developer Oasys

Structural design and analysis software enables engineers to test for and mitigate vibrations caused by footfall and other sources at the design stage. Acceptable vibration levels will depend on a structure’s intended use; typically, vibrations affect day-to-day use (serviceability) rather than stability, so the design brief will clarify this to the engineers undertaking the analysis.

Software can identify expected locations, frequencies and magnitudes of vibration based on likely usage patterns and compare these with acceptable values for the intended use(s) of a building.

Where vibration levels are unacceptable, the design can be adjusted by reducing floor spans, adding weight/thickness or providing damping systems. In cases where these measures are ineffective, the building’s layout can be changed, for example by moving a proton beam cancer treatment facility to a basement to isolate it.

Further reading Footfall analysis software: bit.ly/VibrationAnalysisGSA Case study – Singapore’s Helix Bridge: bit.ly/SingaporeHelix Case study – Princeton University’s Frick Laboratory: bit.ly/FrickLab Research – vibrations on footbridges: bit.ly/ FootbridgeResearch Research – effects on human health: bit.ly/ VibrationsHealthEffect Reference – resonance and aeroelastic flutter: bit.ly/ ResonanceFlutter Link between vibrations and depression: bit.ly/ VibrationDepression

19/01/2022 12:35

INTELLIGENCE

O

ur home designs are an identifying aspect of our nation’s culture. For example, wood panelling, bay windows and stone bricks are instantly recognisable as a product of British construction when compared with other homes around the world.

From Tudor panelling to double-glazed windows, UK home designs throughout history have played a bigger role in our lives and culture than you may think.

So, how have we got here? How have housebuilders and homemakers through the years shaped the development of what we call home?

Sense and sensibility St. Modwen Homes looks at the history of British houses and how they’ve changed to fit our culture and needs through the ages

FEBRUARY 2022

Georgian: 1714 to 1830

BUILDING ENGINEER

28

Georgian homes were characteristically grand. Even on a smaller scale, symmetrical and tall façades matched Greek-style motifs and spacious interiors.

However, you wouldn’t find natural brightness in every room. The window tax, which was based on the number of windows in a house, lasted the duration of the Georgian era. Some homes would brick up window façades to avoid paying an additional levy on their property. Even today, you can see some buildings with bricked-up gaps where reglazing has not occurred in the intervening 170 years.

Compare that with the new homes of today, where large windows are popular to maximise natural sunlight and brighten the space.

Victorian: 1837 to 1901 The Victorian era moved us nearer to many of the houses we know today. Bay windows were popularised along with red-coloured brickwork. The centred and symmetrical fashion of Georgian homes had also been abandoned, favouring off-centred doors to the left or right of the façade. Geometric tiling also featured heavily in Victorian properties, adding decoration to flooring and walls.

For those living in working-class areas, you would expect the toilet to be in an outhouse. Thankfully, this Victorian trend hasn’t lasted. Modern houses are more likely to feature toilets both downstairs and upstairs. However, bay windows and stylised interiors are still popular today.

Edwardian: 1901 to 1910 Edwardian and early 20th-Century homes build on the architectural stylings of the Victorian period. It featured a return to symmetry, bay windows were boxed, and doorways became ornate and trimmed with white wooden frames.

28-29 HistoryHome_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 28

19/01/2022 11:13

CONSTRUCTION HERITAGE

Moving communities into garden estates, families enjoyed a simpler style of house. Corners became squared, and ceilings were lowered for a cosier interior. However, people could enjoy viewing their own gardens through characterful windows – making homes even lighter during the day.

IMAGE: ALAMY

Post-war: 1945 to 1979

built between 1945 and 1951. Prefabs were intended to be used for up to ten years.

Bungalows were a suitable choice for simple timber or steel frames, with concrete also being used. While simple in design, this era of accelerated construction demonstrated innovative British approaches to building houses. Nontraditional building techniques were developed, including prefabricating structural elements of the homes away from the site.

This allowed for faster construction while maintaining the quality that homeowners would expect.

Now, more than 75 years later, some

“The longevity of prefabs is inspiring architects to consider modular homes”

Following the Second World War, Britain faced a housing crisis. To combat the national shortage, the government envisaged the construction of temporary accommodation for the public. Alongside 1.2 million new homes, over 150,000 prefabricated homes (or prefabs) were

prefab homes remain occupied, and their unintended longevity is inspiring architects to consider modular homes as one option for future housing.

Turn of the century: 1990 to 2010 By the 1990s, the style of the modern new-build house had been refined. The brickwork was neat, featuring classic red or newer beige colours that helped create estates echoing the stone façades of the Georgian period. Meanwhile, streets of semi-detached or townhouses maintained a consistent style.

Driveways and front gardens became more common, while inside the house ceilings remained low and windows were wide. Double glazing and insulation were also used to help maintain heat and keep utility bills low.

The home of today: 2022 FEBRUARY 2022

29 BUILDING ENGINEER

It’s easy to see how old architectural styles have influenced the homes of today. However, new-build homes today are more than just an amalgamation of elements from a range of historical styles; they represent future ambitions in our culture.

Sustainability is now a key part of construction and life. Homes today can be upgraded with electric vehicle charging ports, PV panels on the roof, or a wastewater heat recovery system.

Plus, advances in insulation ensures that homes remain warm in the winter with reduced energy needs.

In some cases, tall ceilings have made a triumphant return, and floor-to-ceiling windows allow natural light to fill rooms.

Some windows even cover two floors with advances in double glazing technology ensuring that they are thermally efficient and can even generate power.

As well as gardens, communities are based around green space – something that became incredibly important during the national lockdowns of the pandemic.

It’s also interesting that internally there had been a move to open-plan living; however, during the pandemic, these areas were rued as families and house shares sought out their own space.

Our homes aren’t just parts of our culture and history – they’re also a big part of our lives. From raising families to creating a space to work, our homes have changed to make our lives easier.

Our aspirations are now clearly focused on sustainability, and that will most likely define the style of our homes in the future.

For more, visit stmodwenhomes.co.uk

28-29 HistoryHome_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 29

19/01/2022 11:14

INTELLIGENCE

G

FEBRUARY 2022

eorge Bernard Shaw once wrote: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” While the industry grapples with new regulations and standards for new builds, those in existing housing stock are struggling to understand what they can do to improve the energy efficiency and performance of their properties – or even if they should do anything.

In 2019, the UK government announced that it would introduce a ban on gas boilers in new-builds. Originally scheduled for 2025, it has since been brought forward to 2023.

It’s estimated that 14% of the UK’s CO2 emissions are produced by homes, with gas boilers making up the majority of these emissions, so the ban will help the UK towards its target of net-zero emissions by 2050.

There is some confusion around the ban, what it means for UK households, and the consequences of not installing a greener boiler by the deadline. One of the most prevalent misunderstandings around the ban is that people who already have gas boilers must change them before the 2023 deadline.

However, the ban specifically only applies to boilers in newly built homes from 2023 onwards, which must be built with a non-gas heating system.

Some of this confusion is also arising from the International Energy Agency (IEA) recommendation that fossil fuel boilers should not be sold from 2025 onwards and that existing gas boilers should be replaced. The IEA guidance hasn’t yet been put into place, but the UK government is considering implementing it, with a later deadline of 2040.

While the government has not announced a requirement for gas boilers to be replaced, it is providing incentives for homeowners who install heating systems that run on renewable energy – such as the Renewable Heat Incentive, which pays homeowners quarterly.

BUILDING ENGINEER

30

Cost of change The IEA announcement has also led to a misconception that people who still have gas boilers by 2025 will be fined, with some headlines stating the fines could be as much as £10,000. However, the government has not currently committed to the IEA’s

recommendations, and there are no fines in place for people who don’t replace their gas boiler by a certain point.

This doesn’t guarantee that fines won’t be introduced in the future, but the government is currently focusing on offering incentives to homeowners who switch to greener heating solutions rather than punishments for those who don’t.

While replacing or renovating a boiler will involve an initial cash outlay, switching to a greener source

Misunderstandings Home and business maintenance company Rightio provides a guide to managing consumer expectations regarding the 2023 boiler ban

30-31 BoilerBan.indd 30

19/01/2022 12:36

HEATING

A hydrogen boiler inside a home at the new hydrogen test facility, operated by National Grid Plc and Northern Gas Networks Ltd

FEBRUARY 2022

“A prevalent misunderstanding is that people who already have gas boilers must change them before 2023”

of heating is likely to save money in the long run.

A simple like-for-like replacement can cost less than £2,000, but switching to an eco-friendly boiler will be a more intensive installation and will therefore cost more. The costs also vary based on whether a combi boiler or a conventional boiler is needed.

Electrification is a key part of the IEA’s recommendations – switching from fossil fuelpowered systems to electric ones is a key goal. An electric combi boiler can cost £1,500-4,500 for the system itself, with installation costs sitting at around £3,000. Although electric boilers currently cost more than gas-fired ones to run, electric boilers are more energy-efficient and offer more control than gas boilers, which can create a reduction in bills.

Aside from the fact that a ban on existing gas boilers may eventually become law, there are benefits to switching to a non-gas boiler. Unlike gas radiators and heating systems, electric radiators don’t need to be replaced unless they’re heavily damaged. Equally, electric boilers don’t require pipes or a flue to be

30-31 BoilerBan.indd 31

the specific ban only applies to boilers in newly built homes from

2023

onwards, which must be built with a non-gas heating system

installed – moreover, because they are sealed and pressurised, you should never encounter a leaking boiler. A lot of the maintenance costs associated with gas boilers don’t exist with electric boilers, and they don’t directly produce emissions, so the safety issues of carbon monoxide or other waste-gas leaks simply do not exist.

In September 2021, the government announced plans to invest in hydrogen boilers and the possibilities of mixing hydrogen with gas for continued use in existing boilers to help combat CO2 emissions. There are other options too, though none are inexpensive; for example, installing a heat pump comes with an upfront cost of around £6,000-8,000.

Costing aside, these options can feel a little new and untested to the consumer – with many unsure if they will even work in their property. For example, heat pumps may struggle in older, poorly insulated properties to warm the house let alone heat water sufficiently for a shower or bath.

The forthcoming gas boiler ban has caused concern and confusion for consumers with existing boilers and, while there’s nothing yet that requires them to change from gas, it looks likely for the future.

All of this means that the consumer is bombarded with options but little information about what is right for their situation. Perhaps it’s a good time to start communicating.

BUILDING ENGINEER

IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK, GETTY IMAGES

31

For more, visit rightio.co.uk Renewable Heat Incentive bit.ly/ EDFRenewableHeatIncentive

19/01/2022 12:36

INSIGHT 7

To understand the FHS challenge, Midland Heart created the Project 80 research and development programme in conjunction with Birmingham City

Indicative FHS specification Floor U-value (W/m2K)

0.11

External wall U-value

0.15

Roof U-value

0.11

Window U-value

0.8

Door U-value

1.0

Air permeability at 50Pa

5.0m3/h/m2

Heating appliance

Low-carbon heating (eg. heat pump)

Heat emitter type

Low-temperature heating

Ventilation system type

Natural (with extractor fans)

PV

None

Wastewater heat recovery

No

Y-value

0.05W/m2K

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 32

2d 2c 2b 2a

Fit for the future 2

3

FEBRUARY 2022 BUILDING ENGINEER

Project 80

2e

TO ED TO UC T TO ED TO UC T RED EBUIL ING T LL R WA OR EXIS G TIN IGHT TCH EXIS IN HE O MA T 2 m IGH H 2m

32

H HIG 2 m INED G TIN RETA EXIS L RE L WA

C

limate change and what we can do to address it, both individually and collectively, has become one of the defining issues of our age. The expectation weighs on us all to reduce our impact on the environment, reduce our carbon footprint and create less waste. This expectation is enshrined in the UK’s legal requirement to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The UK’s housing stock accounts for about 15% of the UK’s annual emissions.

Because of this significant contribution, the new build housing sector is seeing a changing landscape in relation to energy performance; leading the charge is the Future Homes Standard (FHS), which will become a Building Regulation requirement from 2025 (see the table below for an outline of the government’s indicative FHS specifications).

The FHS will see the introduction of tougher lowcarbon regulation for new homes built from 2025. In short, from that date new homes will have to: meet more stringent building fabric requirements; use low-carbon heating and hot water (including the introduction of a ban on gas boilers in new build homes); and emit 75-80% less carbon than homes built under current regulations.

Due to the tougher building fabric requirements and introduction of low-carbon forms of heating and hot water in future homes, many residents will not be familiar with the technologies that will be used within properties built to the FHS, nor the way to get the most out of their homes. The combination of change for building engineers (in the way we design and build these homes) and residents (in the way they use and interact with these homes) is something we need to better understand to ensure success in 2025.

Dr Tony Hopkin, FCABE CEng, Head of Construction, Quality and Innovation at housing association Midland Heart, discusses Project 80: researching building to the Future Homes Standard

19/01/2022 11:16

AD

RO

R ENO

SV

GRO

FUTURE HOMES STANDARD 10

6

2 APPROVED 1 / 04130 / PA 2020

Garden Area A : 121 .2 m 2

TO ED TO UC T TO

Prunus 'Accolade

'

Garden Area A : 70.0 m 2

Garden Area A : 84.4 m 2

N RIA ST

DE

PE

12

N ZO E

Garden Area A : 82.1 m 2

11

Garden Area A : 55.5 m 2

FEBRUARY 2022

Garden Area A : 72.7 m 2

4 3

33 BUILDING ENGINEER

10 Site Area A : 1,939 .2 m 2

Garden Area A : 72.8 m 2

9 Garden Area A : 100 .3 m 2

8

7

APPROVED 6 2020 / 04130 / PA

5

Garden Area A : 71.0 m 2

Garden Area A : 70.6 m 2

Garden Area A : 71.9 m 2

CONIFERS PRUNED

Church 17

Twelve homes on Eco Drive in Handsworth, which are currently being developed and are due for handover Works this year, will be the first to model the FHS

15

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 33

19/01/2022 12:37

INSIGHT

SAP 2012 Plot 5

FEBRUARY 2022 BUILDING ENGINEER

SAP 10 Plot 3-4

SAP 10 Plot 5-12

Floor U-value (W/m2K)

0.13

0.11

0.11

0.11

External wall U-value

0.18

0.13

0.13

0.13

Roof U-value

0.14

0.10

0.10

0.10

Window U-value

1.40

1.20

1.20

1.20

Door U-value

1.40

1.20

1.20

1.20

3

34

SAP 10 Plot 1-2

2

Air permeability (m /h/m )

5.12

1.50

1.50

5.00

Heating

Gas boiler

Air source heat pump (ASHP)

Panel heaters, hot water heat pump

ASHP

Ventilation

Natural

Mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR)

MVHR

Natural

PV

None

Yes

Yes

Yes

Waste water heat recovery (WWHR)

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Y-value

0.05

0.028

0.0274

0.028

Maximum CO2 kg/yr

1,626.71

~352.14

~268.98

~313.52

University (BCU), key product manufacturers, industry bodies and contractors. Together, we’ll develop, monitor and understand more than 50 homes that will meet the FHS before 2025.

Project 80 will generate a significant body of knowledge to help us better understand what works for housebuilders and residents, including: identifying the information requirements of our residents and the most suitable method of disseminating information evaluating the performance of different products and technologies understanding the design principles that work well and should be adopted as standard limiting any unintended consequences and establishing what changes need to be made to overcome and avoid them establishing methods to reduce cost while maintaining performance; and enabling decisions on future homes to be based on rigorous empirical evidence.

Eco Drive – Handsworth Twelve homes on Eco Drive in Handsworth, which are currently being developed with Tricas Construction and are due for handover this year, will be the first to model the FHS. The Eco Drive homes have been designed to provide superior insulation and incorporate low- and zero-carbon technologies. To establish a baseline, we modelled the plots to meet the current Building Regulations (see Plot 5 as an example), then modelled the units in SAP 10 and aimed for an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions – this enabled us to determine the performance and design criteria.

There are multiple ways to model the FHS,

A range of different approaches to the FHS are being trialled in a variety of dwellings

“To maximise the research benefit, different specifications have been incorporated into specific plots”

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 34

so to maximise the research benefit different specifications have been incorporated. While most of the specifications for Eco Drive are consistent, on specific plots the block density has been altered, differing airtightness levels and ventilation strategies have been incorporated, various heating and hot water approaches are employed and multiple manufacturers for the systems have been used.

Plots 1-2 are four-bedroom, three-storey houses and have been designed to achieve high airtightness.

Because of this, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) has been incorporated to ensure the homes are ventilated properly. The reason for making the homes so airtight is to understand how residents interact with a highly airtight home that uses a mechanical ventilation system. Other variations include H+H aircrete blocks, Baxi air source heat pumps and hot water cylinders to compare the performance of different products.

Plots 3-4 are two-bedroom, two-storey houses, which incorporate GlenDimplex panel heaters and

19/01/2022 11:16

FUTURE HOMES STANDARD

hot water heat pumps. The rationale behind using panel heaters for space heating on these plots is to understand residents’ views on their usability and performance when compared with air source heat pumps (ASHPs). The other difference with these plots is the G-value of the windows. The TM59 overheating analysis identified a potential for these plots to overheat. To overcome this problem, the glazing’s G-value was changed from 0.45 to 0.37. These plots maintain the high airtightness, MVHR, and H+H aircrete blocks.

Plots 5-12 are three-bedroom, 2.5-storey houses and have been designed to achieve a lower airtightness in conjunction with natural ventilation.

The logic behind this is to explore whether residents interact differently or more favourably towards a less airtight home that employs a natural ventilation system, which will inform thinking on the 2025 standards. These plots also incorporate Besblock Star Performer blocks as well as Vaillant air source heat pumps and hot water cylinders, again to compare the performance of different products.

35 BUILDING ENGINEER

To ensure the homes in development model the FHS correctly, prior to undertaking the as-built SAP we undertook a design SAP to identify the performance requirements. On completion of the detailed specification and procurement of materials, we undertook a construction SAP, which will become the as-built SAP. For clarity, the summary of carbon emissions reduction and anticipated running costs presented in this section are based on the construction SAP. The combination of fabric improvements, lowcarbon heating systems and other low- and zerocarbon technologies means that, based on the SAP calculations, the plots on Eco Drive have achieved a CO2 emission reduction of 80-90% compared with current Building Regulation requirements. For example, Plot 1’s CO2 emissions have been cut from

FEBRUARY 2022

SAP readings

Summary specification for plots 1-2 (~85% CO2/y reduction)

Project 80 features different house sizes and styles to assess the various energy and heat efficiency measures

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 35

Floor U-value (W/m2K)

0.11

75mm screed, 150mm Xtratherm Thin-R, 150mm vbeam and block floor

External wall U-value

0.13

Ibstock facing brick, 150mm CavityTherm, H+H aircrete block, airtight polymer spray, plasterboard on dabs and skim

Roof U-value

0.1

150mm Xtratherm Thin-R between rafters, 90mm Xtratherm Thin-R below rafters, two layers of plasterboard on dabs and skim

Window U-value

1.2

Munster double glazed unit, G-value 0.45 g

Door U-value

1.2

Munster GRP front door, and rear glazed doors

Air permeability (m3/h/m2)

1.5

–

Heating

ASHP

Baxi Assure 7kW ASHP, Baxi Assure 210L unvented cylinder, Stelrad Vita compact radiators

Ventilation

MVHR

Envirovent energiSava 250

PV

Yes

Q.Peak duo g9 cell, 2.2kW

WWHR

Yes

Showersave QB1-21

Y-value

0.028

Calculated details by Xtratherm

19/01/2022 11:17

INSIGHT

FEBRUARY 2022

Summary specification for plots 3-4 (~80% CO₂/y reduction)

BUILDING ENGINEER

36

Floor U-value (W/m2K)

0.11

75mm screed, 150mm Xtratherm Thin-R, 150mm beam and block floor.

External wall U-value

0.13

Ibstock facing brick, 150mm CavityTherm, H+H aircrete block, airtight polymer spray, plasterboard on dabs and skim

Roof U-value

0.1

400mm Knauf Earthwoll Loftroll 40

Window U-value

1.2

Munster double glazed unit, G-value 0.37

Door U-value

1.2

Munster GRP front door, and rear glazed doors

Air permeability (m3/h/m2)

1.5

–

Heating

Panel heater, HWHP

GlenDimplex panel heaters and 200L Edel hot water heat pump

Ventilation

MVHR

Envirovent energiSava 250

PV

Yes

Q.Peak duo g9 cell, 2.2kW

WWHR

Yes

Showersave QB1-21

Y-value

0.0274

Calculated details by Xtratherm

16kg/m2/yr to 2.4kg/m2/yr. Meanwhile, emissions from Plot 3 have been reduced from 18kg/m2/yr to 3.7kg/m2/yr, and those from Plot 5 have been cut from 17kg/m2/yr to just 1.7kg/m/yr, thereby significantly reducing the operational impact of these homes on the environment. In addition, heating loads have been reduced by approximately 60%, which has helped create an expected 65% reduction in the properties’ overall running costs. This presents a significant saving for residents.

Analysis shows total cost of the FHS scheme is 13% more than if it had been delivered to meet the current Building Regulations alone. Several elements have contributed to costs, including: the change from blown fibre to PIR insulation (coupled with an increase in cost for bricklayers to install the system); additional costs for the heat pumps, hot water cylinders and WWHR; and the higher-performing windows. In addition, the scheme has employed technologies that are not required to satisfy current regulations, such as polymer spray, PV panels and MVHR. It is also worth noting that the cost of electrical connections to site rose by 72% because the houses do not use gas.

Data capture and documentation In addition to the design and specification changes, a requirement has been introduced to document and demonstrate that as-built versions of dwellings align with their SAP calculations. To explore how to achieve this, we have worked with software company Captego to trial its inspection and data recording app. This will initially take place on Eco Drive (at Grosvenor Road) and then on the follow-up site, where we continue to test solutions to meet the FHS. The Captego app has enabled us to set up a digital project for the site and upload the relevant details, including the site layout, specific plot details and drawings. We can also upload pictures of critical details, such as the calculated thermal bridging details we have used in the SAP calculations, as well as specification details. By uploading this information, we can create time- and location-stamped photos of construction work to demonstrate compliance with

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 36

designs and specifications for specific plots.

As well as documenting specified items and critical details, we are also using the Captego app to document progress on-site and as a site inspection tool to monitor quality. This gives us an end-to-end view of the plots’ construction and the ability to check whether work is on track. The benefit of using the app as part of the site inspection and quality control process is that it enables users to clearly mark on site plans where pictures are taken and flag up non-conformance issues or defects to the whoever needs to rectify it. Once the issue or defect has been rectified, an additional photo of the rectified situation can be uploaded.

Research and monitoring Upon completion, both Midland Heart and researchers at Birmingham City University (BCU) will be working closely with residents to understand how easy the homes are to live in, how energy efficient and cost effective the properties are, and the living environment in terms of indoor air quality and temperature. The categories below outline the research focus in more detail: Review of site waste: we need to understand whether the different technologies, materials and methods of build we are using have a positive or negative impact in terms of site waste, and what we can do to overcome any undesirable effects.

Insight into embodied carbon: although this is not a requirement of the FHS, we are keen to better understand the plots’ level of embodied carbon

“A requirement has been introduced to document and demonstrate that as-built versions align with their SAP calculations” Summary specification for plots 5-12 (~90% CO2/y reduction) Floor U-value (W/m2K)

0.11

75mm screed, 150mm Xtratherm Thin-R, 150mm beam and block floor

External wall U-value

0.13

Ibstock facing brick, 150mm CavityTherm, Besblock Star Performer, plasterboard on dabs and skim

Roof U-value

0.1

150mm Xtratherm Thin-R between rafters, 90mm Xtratherm Thin-R below rafters, two layers of plasterboard and skim

Window U-value

1.2

Munster double glazed unit, with 0.45 G-value

Door U-value

1.2

Munster GRP front door, and rear glazed doors

Air permeability (m3/h/m2)

5.0

–

Heating

ASHP

Vaillant Arotherm 5kW, Vaillant uniSTOR 200L, Stelrad Vita compact radiators

Ventilation

Natural

Envirovent Filterless Infinity extractor fan

PV

Yes

Q.Peak duo g9 cell 2.2kW

WWHR

Yes

Showersave QB1-21

Y-value

0.028

Calculated details by Xtratherm

19/01/2022 11:17

FUTURE HOMES STANDARD

Overview of build costs Element

FHS

Current Regs

Uplift

Rationale

Brick/blockwork – labour

7.0%

6.3%

21%

Cost to install rigid insulation

Polymer spray

0.6%

0.0%

100%

Polymer spray for air tightness to plots 1-4

Upgraded insulation

2.2%

0.5%

79%

Extra over cost for PIR insulation

Windows/doors

3.4%

2.4%

38%

Cost increase for uplift in U-value and G-value

Roof trusses

1.2%

1.0%

29%

Thicker trusses to cater for weight of PV panels

PV panels

2.2%

0.0%

100%

PV is not generally used on current sites

MVHR

0.3%

0.0%

100%

MVHR is not generally used on current sites

Other mechanical and electrical

9.0%

7.0%

38%

Additional cost for HWHP/ ASHP/WWHR

Gas supply

0.0%

0.8%

-100%

No gas required to the site for FHS

Electrical supply

2.4%

0.8%

72%

Higher kVA pull from site has increased the cost

and anything that we could have done better regarding the property and their experience prior to moving in.

Monitoring energy use and cost, indoor air quality and temperature: before residents move in, the plots will be monitored to establish a performance baseline. We will continue to monitor the plots during the first year of occupancy to verify how they perform compared with the design calculations and baseline monitoring. Where there are differences, we will seek to understand why these have happened and develop strategies to overcome them.

compared with homes built to current regulations, and what we can do to further reduce this.

Thermal imaging: once the plots are completed, a thermal imaging survey will identify any problematic areas, or those not performing as they should be, so we can develop strategies to reduce or eliminate them on future Project 80 developments.

Workshops with residents: as residents will be using many of the technologies in these homes for the first time, we need to provide them with detailed inductions. We aim to do this via workshops with the contractor and system manufacturers. The workshops will demonstrate how to use the technologies and provide details on key items of consideration. The workshop presentations will be recorded, with the videos accessible via QR codes placed on the technologies for residents to refer to and refresh themselves as and when needed.

POEs of resident experience: we are keen to understand how residents are interacting with their homes for the first year after completion, how they are living in them, any concerns or questions they may have,

32-37 FutureHomes_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 37

The Captego app is being used to document on-site progress

Work on the site began in March 2021 and the units are due for handover early in 2022. The FHS can be modelled in multiple ways. The Eco Drive project has provided valuable learning so far and will continue to provide more crucial data over the next year as the properties are monitored. Midland Heart is keen to maximise the benefit of the project, and has also started work on 12 future homes maisonettes on Elvetham Road in Edgbaston, where different methods of achieving the FHS will be explored. We will continue to run Project 80 to model different approaches and methodologies to model the FHS for different property types between now and 2025.

37 BUILDING ENGINEER

Living research

FEBRUARY 2022

Better understanding of residents’ impact on energy performance: we anticipate that the way residents use their homes will affect their energy performance. To better understand this, we are incorporating smart sockets by Measurable Energy – which use machine learning to eliminate wasted energy – in one house of each type. This will help reduce the behavioural impact on energy performance to provide us with a valid comparison.

Construction cost comparison and analysis: the FHS currently incurs a 13% overall cost increase in building.

Part L is due to be updated in June 2022, so we will perform cost modelling to understand the increases caused by FHS compared with the interim uplift. We will also look at opportunities to drive down costs while maintaining the units’ performance.

The evidence we gather will help to inform future policy on how we build new homes in a way that is good for the environment and useable for residents.

For more details, visit bit.ly/MHProject80

Project partners Throughout Project 80, we have been working with key manufacturers and contributors and had an industry steering group. This has enabled us to tap into their expertise and knowledge of their products and to discuss ideas when specifying the site. This has ensured that the

homes model the FHS correctly and give the project the best chance of success. For example, Besblock has undertaken sensecheck SAP calculations and provided a complimentary air-test service, Baxi has provided training to subcontractors, and Xtratherm is looking at embodied carbon.

19/01/2022 11:18

INSIGHT

FEBRUARY 2022

Feeling the heat BUILDING ENGINEER

38

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 38

19/01/2022 11:18

URBAN PLANNING

A better understanding of city microclimates and the complex factors that combine to raise temperatures could help town planners and local regulators manage the effects, says James Cash

M

FEBRUARY 2022

39 BUILDING ENGINEER

uch has been said about the urban heat island (UHI) effect on big cities given the current climate emergency. There is a popular misconception that heat islands are a product of climate change, but it is a long-established concept that has a varying impact on all sizes and types of urban areas. Nevertheless, climate change has made the phenomenon more critical and necessary to understand because of its increased effects and the ultimate impact on the health and comfort of those living and working in cities.

The idea had its origins in the early 19th century, when amateur meteorologist Luke Howard, known as the namer of clouds, first described the phenomenon in his study of the climate of London.

Investigations into the urban atmosphere continued through the 1800s, with numerous studies using simple mercury thermometers recording that urban areas were warmer than rural settings.

Causes of the UHI effect

Tall buildings can block wind, causing pollutants to build up and inhibiting cooling of the surrounding area

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 39

There are several reasons for the UHI effect. Dark, artificial surfaces – which cover most average cities – absorb significantly more solar radiation, thereby heating urban concentrations of roads and buildings more than rural areas during the day.

The artificial materials themselves, such as concrete and asphalt, have different heat exchange properties. Both absorb significant heat during the day and slowly emit this at night, meaning that they rarely cool to a more comfortable temperature during heatwaves. In contrast, natural land and vegetation are less effective at storing heat in the daytime and more effective at losing it at night.

The geometry of the urban environment also influences the UHI effect. Tall buildings have extended and multiple surfaces that reflect and absorb sunlight, increasing the ability of urban areas to absorb heat. Tall buildings can also block

19/01/2022 11:19

INSIGHT

wind, which inhibits any cooling of the surrounding area by convection while limiting air flow; this simultaneously enables pollutants to build up.

There is also anthropogenic heat – heat created by human activities – that comes from those occupying and using the buildings. The effects of anthropogenic heat depend upon the buildings’ occupants and the activity taking place within. All of these factors can influence the overall UHI effect and air quality of the immediate and extended environment.

FEBRUARY 2022

Risks to public health As temperatures rise and the frequency of extreme heat events increases, more attention is being given to the heat island phenomenon and societies’ ability to reduce its effects. Extreme heating events cause more heat-related deaths, a significantly higher proportion of which fall in urban areas. Research by the University of Birmingham in 2016 attributed 52% of the heat-related deaths in the West Midlands that occurred during

the August 2003 heatwave to the UHI effect. More recently, the British Red Cross warned in 2021 that the number of heatrelated deaths in the UK could more than triple by 2050, to around 7,000 a year.

Professor Alan Robins, Professor of environmental fluid mechanics at the University of Surrey, says: “Extreme temperatures during heatwaves will be more frequent in our cities, and this will lead to a greater death rate unless some interventions are put in place.”

Furthermore, the world is also witnessing rapid urbanisation, with the expectation that around 70% of the global population will live within urban environments by 2050. However, the leading solution to the influx of urban

inhabitants has been to construct tall buildings, which allow for a high-density population and commercial activities to reside in city centres. Taller buildings also exacerbate the UHI effect, which could lead to worsening health outcomes.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 pandemic has also highlighted the importance of predicting pathogen dispersion and the requirements of indoor and outdoor ventilation in urban areas. Therefore, the impact of the geometry of neighbourhoods and buildings on air quality has also become an area of interest.

It is in the public’s benefit to develop healthy and sustainable urban environments by ensuring that air

“Extreme temperatures during heatwaves will be more frequent in our cities, and this will lead to a greater death rate unless some interventions are put in place”

BUILDING ENGINEER

40

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 40

19/01/2022 11:19

URBAN PLANNING

quality, transport of emitted pollutants and the UHI effect do not reach unsustainable levels from poor urban development planning and a lack of strategic direction. Recent initiatives have started to promote urban health and sustainability research, such as Public Health England’s Healthy Polis, an international consortium of universities, local authorities, and environmental and public health organisations.

Much is already known about the overall UHI effect of cities. However, it is a much harder task to unravel the combination of different factors determining this and to thereby evaluate and predict their influence on the local climate and air quality in various weather conditions at specific times. Resolving these issues could prove invaluable in predicting and managing the effects of more extreme heat events in cities.

“There is a lot of observational data already, but predicting things such as air quality and surface temperature in large

How do tall buildings affect the UHI? In January 2021, the University of Surrey was awarded £1.8m from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to investigate how the increased construction of tall buildings will affect the meteorology, air quality and climate of towns and cities in the UK. Surrey’s research team is co-ordinating the project in partnership with the universities of Reading and Southampton.

The FUTURE (Fluid dynamics of Urban Tall-building clUsters for Resilient built Environments) project is developing a comprehensive understanding of how tall buildings disrupt microclimates in urban areas and contribute to the UHI effect and other health concerns. The project also aims to produce fast analytical models that can identify construction characteristics of buildings that have detrimental consequences to a local microclimate and pedestrian comfort, and assess what corrective actions can be taken.

FUTURE also aims to guide methods to predict pathogen dispersion and ventilation provision in tall buildings. Alan says: “Our project is about understanding the consequences of continued high-rise development and about the choices for mitigating adverse effects over a range of topics, including air quality, airborne

41 BUILDING ENGINEER

Tall buildings are likely to worsen some UHI-related problems, though tree planting can help mitigate them

complex. Temperatures within a single city may vary by as much as 8-11°C at certain times, so pinpointing the many variables in any one location at a particular time is difficult.

FEBRUARY 2022

IMAGE: ALAMY

Predicting the weather

areas can’t yet be taken into account in most of the current methodologies,” Alan says.

“Then the big question is: how can you influence these effects? You’re not going to stop the atmosphere from warming to some degree. We’re going to have to live with that, and preferably without using any more energy. If you start using air conditioning as a solution, it may make indoor conditions acceptable, but at the expense of increasing the heat load outdoors, particularly in crowded, urban centres and there is no overall gain.”

A number of intervention strategies exist, but calculating and optimising their impact and assessing where best to locate them requires robust data for planners and local authorities. Alan says: “We’re seeing a lot of urban greening schemes.

Trees do two things: they provide shade, which is something that’s going to help pedestrians, but also they can remove a lot of heat through the evaporation of water, and that is probably one of the best options for cooling. Another is to allow the wind to enter more freely into a city and thereby provide cooling.”

Weather exists in the short term; it is simply the state of the atmosphere in a specific area at a particular time. But this depends on a range of spatial and temporal scales – from large to small, over minutes, hours, days or weeks.

While monitoring and experimenting with the microclimates in a back garden is relatively straightforward, measuring and analysing specific influencing factors at city scale is challenging and highly

Six interventions that could limit urban heating Design out heat A variety of building heights can encourage better air flow, which moves heat away more efficiently. Meanwhile, passive cooling techniques such as planned shading can minimise the use of air conditioning.

Plan tree coverage Trees produce shade and also cool the air through transpiration – the process of water

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 41

movement through a plant and its evaporation from leaves and stems.

Shade structures The use of arcades, awnings and pergolas in public spaces provide shade and cooling, and have long been common urban architectural structures in hot countries.

Green roofs and walls Planted roofs or rooftop gardens insulate buildings from heat and also

cool the air through evapotranspiration.

However, this kind of green infrastructure can be expensive and requires expertise to develop and maintain.

Painting roofs white White and lighter colours reflect heat. While heat reflecting from the side of buildings can exacerbate the UHI effect by emitting heat into the streets, reflective roofs push heat upwards.

19/01/2022 11:19

INSIGHT

diseases and various factors that see tall buildings contribute to climate and health concerns. What we’re primarily interested in with the FUTURE project is the continuing effect of tall buildings within the broader neighbourhood, not just in the space they occupy.”

Alan explains that, even though the proliferation of tall structures is likely to worsen some UHI-related problems, current weather and air quality models do not cater for them and their persistent effects on wind and temperature within urban neighbourhoods.

BUILDING ENGINEER

42

The FUTURE project uses wind tunnel tests, field observations, high-fidelity computer-aided analysis and theoretical models to help overcome the current limitations of weather and air quality models.

To achieve this, several world-leading Green walls can help insulate buildings resources are supporting the project. and cool air, but can Principally, this includes Surrey’s worldbe costly and require leading wind tunnel modelling and air expertise to maintain pollution expertise at the Centre for Aerodynamics and Environmental Flow; brings in a different level of detail. the University of Reading’s meteorological “Combining all three methodologies can and full-scale observation background; then lead you to an understanding of the and the University of Southampton’s nature and extent of the problem and how leading role in high-fidelity computational it depends on parameters such as building fluid dynamics. geometry, the strength of the wind and The wind tunnel, which is 30 metres sunlight,” Alan adds. long, creates an airflow that mimics the Dr Matteo Capentieri, Senior Lecturer conditions anticipated in the atmosphere in environmental fluid mechanics at at a small scale. The team will experiment the University of Surrey, says: “Each of with an array of scaled-down buildings the three methodologies we are using similar in shape and height to the built has its own strengths and weaknesses. environment of interest. Alan says: “You For example, you can’t make field then use your instrumentation to measure measurements generic because you the flow velocity and heat transfer fields, cannot take trees out in air quality and dispersal the street and see what of pollutants, and the happens.” advantage is that you do it in The research will focus a controlled environment.” on tall buildings in isolation However, when you test and their effects when specific buildings in cities in clustered together. This real life, you cannot control is intended to enable a the weather. “It’s complicated the british red better understanding of the because you can never do cross has dependence of wind and the same experiment twice, warned that the temperature fields on the so it makes it difficult to number of geometric parameters of develop reliable statistical heat-related such buildings. It will also information on field work deaths in the uk allow the team to develop alone. But you still need parametrisations – in to do field measurements could more other words, to express the because you need to be than triple by grounded in reality. So you 2050, to around relationships that influence the output. Meanwhile, need both approaches,” open-source models Alan says. are intended to support The high-fidelity a year policymakers and regulators computational work then

7,000

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 42

to help them build more resilient urban environments.

Dr Marco Placidi, Senior Lecturer in experimental fluid mechanics and part of the FUTURE project team at Surrey, says: “The importance of parametrisation is that you can try to generalise results from testing limited case studies in the wind tunnel and in the field. What you’re trying to do is take the results from those case studies and then generalise them to different cities, different environments and use that information internationally, rather than just at a very local level.

So parameterising gives you that extrapolation to other contexts, where you wouldn’t necessarily be able to test for time limitations and the like.”

Outcomes One of the things the FUTURE team proposes is to examine cases in central London and from them develop outcomes that have a more general utility. Marco says: “What we’d like to do, based on what we’ve measured, is to say when various factors are applicable in other situations – you can use the results to potentially help with urban planning in different places, not just in London.”

The aim is to create publicly available models that describe the effects of tall buildings for a range of different users.

This will include rule-of-thumb design principles aimed at local authorities, and

IMAGE: ISTOCK

FEBRUARY 2022

Combining different methodologies

19/01/2022 11:20

URBAN PLANNING

ASSURE aims to understand how the terrain, physical setting, layout of buildings, neighbourhoods and human activities combine to influence the urban atmosphere. The project will help to clarify how street- and city-scale features influence the local environment.

The project is also expected to provide new insights, extending the outcomes from FUTURE, on the role of variation in building form, local topography and human activities such as waste heat and pollutant emissions.

Smaller cities

Seeing the bigger picture To manage and develop sustainable, resilient and healthy cities requires

38-43 TallBuilding_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 43

improved forecasting and observations that cross neighbourhood-influenced scales. Another project that dovetails with the University of Surrey’s FUTURE study is ASSURE (Across-Scale processeS in Urban Environments). Co-ordinated by the University of Reading, ASSURE addresses the important issue of which processes need to be parameterised and which must be resolved to capture the effects of urban morphology and diversity in space and time. The project received £3.3m from the National Environment Research Council in December 2021. “FUTURE looks at scales of the order of a couple of kilometres around specific buildings of interest. ASSURE looks at whole cities, and processes that occur across that whole area,” Alan says.

The ASSURE research will advance understanding to develop new approaches for larger-scale urban meteorological and dispersion models. Like FUTURE, it combines field observations, high-resolution numerical simulations and wind tunnel experiments.

43 BUILDING ENGINEER

technical model parametrisations suitable for implementation in larger numerical weather prediction and air quality software, which will serve the operational modelling community.

Marco says: “Crucially, we want to provide citizens, policymakers and other decision-makers with the tools and knowledge necessary to make wise choices in the design and the placement of new buildings to develop more sustainable and resilient urban environments. In this respect, we hope FUTURE will be a significant step in this direction.”

Alan adds: “Accuracy is always a difficult thing, so results have to be good enough for the purpose. We want to develop methods to answer questions that a designer or a local authority might ask.

Such as, ‘if I execute a major programme of planting lots of trees, what is the likely benefit of doing that?’”

FEBRUARY 2022

“We want to provide citizens and policymakers with the tools and knowledge necessary to make wise choices in the design and placement of new buildings”

The fieldwork and modelling focuses on Bristol, which has a physical geography that provides suitable complexity and allows a whole-city approach. Alan says: “We chose Bristol for a number of factors.

Research in the UK is concentrated mainly on London and large cities globally. But medium-sized cities such as Bristol are far more common in terms of scale.”

Bristol’s high demand for housing also plays to the notion that growing cities will need to build upwards to accommodate their population. As mid-sized cities are large sources of greenhouse gases and are home to large numbers of people, it is important that agencies can provide weather and climate variability predictions for conurbations of this scale.

Bristol also has many small-scale terrain features, such as hills and a gorge, that are not currently picked up by current meteorological models.

Alan says: “The weather forecast and climate models that the Met Office use cannot represent the intricate details of a small city. So something like the Avon Gorge in Bristol would not appear because it is too small. Yet it is a feature, we believe, that has a large local impact – but is on a scale current forecasting methods cannot directly resolve.”

The team works closely with the Met Office to understand the limits of what can be represented in meteorological models, while the agency and others like it are keen to improve the way they represent these types of cities in their modelling. These cities often don’t have a clear or structurally distinctive business area like those in the City of London or the financial district of Frankfurt, for example; they are, as Alan says, a messier environment.

ASSURE and FUTURE are respectively four- and three-year projects, and at very early stages of research. But their findings and modelling could well influence the shape of our cities as they develop and adapt to rising temperatures.

19/01/2022 11:20

COMMUNITY

Association update

MEMBER NEWS

FEBRUARY 2022

NTU courses receive CABE accreditation

BUILDING ENGINEER

44

A review by CABE’s Membership and Professional Standards Committee (MPSC) means nine courses offered

by Nottingham Trent University’s School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment (NTU) have successfully been accredited for the first time or reaccredited.

NTU has delivered high-quality built environment education for more than 40 years. The school’s success in the field is represented by its global network of successful alumni.

CABE accreditation represents further recognition of the quality and relevance of the school’s output, and now represents a clear pathway to Chartered Building Engineer and Chartered Engineer status for its students.

The accreditation was awarded for a period of five years to the following courses: BSc (Hons) Building Surveying* BSc (Hons) Construction Management BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying and Commercial Management MSc Building Surveying*

MSc Construction Management MSc Project Management (Construction) MSc Quantity Surveying MSc Online Construction Project Management Level 6 Chartered Surveyor (Building Surveyor Pathway) Degree Apprenticeship; and Level 6 Chartered Surveyor (Quantity Surveyor Pathway) Degree Apprenticeship. *Reaccredited

“It is a pleasure to review undergraduate, masters and apprenticeship provision from the School of Architecture and the Built Environment at NTU. CABE’s Membership and Professional Standard Committee accreditation review panel were extremely impressed with all the courses submitted, and commented that they benefited from the teams’ research-led teaching. [The MPSC] complimented the team on their student-focused approach to learning, teaching and assessment.”

John Barfoot, CABE Learning, Education and Academic Director

CABE is delighted to welcome the following into membership: CHARTERED FELLOW A Sagoo – Nottingham CHARTERED BUILDING ENGINEERS A Ali – London E Chan – Hong Kong V Kandasamy – Malaysia YW Lee – Hong Kong T Price – Ashford YT Tsang – Hong Kong N Williams – Brewood KH Yung – Hong Kong CHARTERED MEMBER M Stone – Australia ASSOCIATES D Austin – Stoke-on-Trent R Aylward – Islington A Carmichael – Stratford A Dimbylow – Kingscourt M Hole – Caerphilly S Ishmael – Stevenage MA Javed – Ashford B Milligan – Kilmarnock F Mohammed – Bradford K Nicholls – Northampton M Reaney – Sheffield A Robbins – Settle R Roberts – Cannock H Smith – Warrington S Otani – Sticklepath J Whiteley – Morecambe GRADUATE A Mohammed – Twickenham TECHNICIAN B Creighton – Margate Members who have achieved a higher grade: CHARTERED FELLOW A Hatfield – Willenhall CHARTERED MEMBERS A Banks – Maryport I Blades – Driffield M Hussain – Preston S Scanlon – Middlesbrough ASSOCIATES J Kitt – York R Singh – Dartford GRADUATE C Schmorleiz – Cambridge To find out if you are eligible for a higher grade, send CV to membership@cbuilde.com for review We welcome back into membership: CHARTERED BUILDING ENGINEERS M Piekarz – Surbiton S Tam – Hong Kong K Wong – Hong Kong ASSOCIATE S Dutton – Solihull

44-45 AssocUpdate_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 44

19/01/2022 11:21

ASSOCIATION UPDATE

The following members have achieved additional registrations: CHARTERED ENGINEER C Majongwe – South Harting S Taylor – Wigan TT Wong – Hong Kong

Partnership with Sava

CABE is pleased to welcome the following new partner: RH Building Consultancy Ltd We regret to announce the death of the following member: Dr Garry John Hunt C.Build E MCABE b. 1961 ad. 2020 Region: Eastern For membership information, contact HQ on +44 (0)1604 404121 or e-mail membership@cbuilde.com The above membership information is taken from 1 December 2021 to 9 January 2022.

New faces

competent building engineers.

Jacky has spent her career in accountancy and finance, most recently working as Financial Controller at the Autocycle Union, the governing body for motorcycles in the UK, where she managed a small team. As Head of Finance, Jacky will be responsible for looking after the CABE accounts and ensuring the financial stability of the Association.

We welcome them both.

44-45 AssocUpdate_02 Feb 2022_Building Engineer.indd 45

45

Member Referral Scheme We know you are committed to raising standards and improving competency in the construction industry. As a thank you for your work in helping spread the message about building engineering, we are offering a £50 Amazon Voucher to any CABE member* who nominates someone for Membership. There is no limit to the number of people you can nominate, but they must meet all the membership criteria and follow the usual application process.

For more info, visit cbuilde.com/ member_referral_scheme

Additional registrations Did you know that as a CABE member you can apply for registration with the Engineering Council and the Society for the Environment? Registration provides further recognition of your skills, knowledge and experience and allows you to demonstrate enhanced competence as well as displaying the dedication you have made to your chosen profession. There is a grade of registration for all members* (dependent on your level of qualification and experience): Chartered Engineer Incorporated Engineer Engineering Technician

Discover more at cbuilde.com/ cabe_academic_partners

BUILDING ENGINEER

Ian Stewart and Jacky Lonsdale have joined the CABE team as the new Head of Membership and Head of Finance respectively.

Ian joins CABE from the Institute of Structural Engineers (IStructE), where he was Membership Engagement Manager. During his time with IStructE he built relationships with

members, helping them to progress their membership, and was a driving force in the development of IStructE’s member awards and prizes.

Ian is passionate about membership and believes it is important to help students and members to reach their potential. He will use his skills and knowledge to help our members achieve chartered status and prove that they are

FEBRUARY 2022

CABE has traditionally worked with universities to encourage undergraduates to become Graduate Members and progress to gain CABE Chartered status. Over the past three years the focus has broadened, and CABE has developed partnerships with further education colleges and training providers offering sub-degree qualifications as well as universities offering degrees and apprenticeships to learners studying part time.

Two years ago, Sava – an education and technology business based in Milton Keynes that provides education and skills to help look after the UK’s 28 million residential properties – became an CABE Academic Partner.

Sava is a perfect partner for CABE by educating the next generation of residential surveyors via two Level 6 diplomas: one in Residential

Surveying and Valuation, and one in Residential Surveying, which give a wider audience access to the sector.

More than 130 students have joined as CABE Student Members, while nearly 20 graduates have become Associate Members (ACABE).

Hilary Grayson, Director of Surveying Services at Sava, said: “We are delighted to be academic partners of CABE. This means students on our courses can join CABE as Student Members and become Associate Members when they graduate. CABE gives our learners and alumni access to valuable technical material and the opportunity to meet and network with like-minded professionals.”

CABE’s monthly presentations to Sava students are always well attended, with great interaction. The two CABE-accredited Sava diplomas enable students to progress directly to ACABE, and give residential surveyors professional recognition.

*Excludes Student and Spotlight membership.

Chartered Environmentalist Registered Environmental Practitioner; and Registered Environmental Technician.

Discover more about registrations at: Engineering Council – cbuilde.com/engineeringcouncil Society for the Environment – cbuilde.com/Society_for_the_ Environment_Registration *Student members are not eligible to apply for registrations with either the Engineering Council or Society for the Environment.

CPD CABE Chartered Members must undertake and record 35 hours of CPD a year. All members are encouraged to create a personal professional development plan identifying areas of weakness and potential development opportunities, showing a clear plan of how you can achieve these developmental needs.

For details, visit cbuilde.com/cpd

20/01/2022 10:13

Senior Building Control Surveyor or Building Control Surveyor EXETER We are currently looking for a talented and motivated Building Control Surveyor to join our friendly team in Exeter at either Surveyor or Senior Surveyor level.

The role involves

FEBRUARY 2022

Managing a broad and interesting range of projects you will be a member of a highly motivated team and have responsibility for: •

Undertaking plan checks submitted for Building Regulation approval.

•

Undertaking site visits when required, and preparing site visit reports (full, valid driving licence is essential).

•

Attending client and design team meetings to give professional advice regarding building control work.

•

Be familiar with and use industry standard management systems.

•

Operating in accordance with the commercial and legislative requirements of the projects.

To be successful in this role you’ll have a MRICS, MCABE or MCIOB qualiƓcation (or be working towards) and have experience in a similar role.

You will also have excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.

What’s in it for you?

An excellent opportunity to join an industry leading approved inspector offering a role with a great variety of work amongst a range of commercial and residential clients including housebuilders, main contractors, developers, architects and local authorities.

The opportunity to progress your career whilst receiving a generous salary and beneƓts package with up to 15% performance related bonus. You’ll experience an inclusive, friendly and Ŵexible working environment where colleagues are encouraged to grow and develop.

If you believe you have the skill set required, are keen to join a business with genuine opportunities for career progression, then we’d love to hear from you. Please send your covering letter, C.V and contact details for consideration to: Alan Stokes, South West Manager alan@londonbuildingcontrol.co.uk T: 01392 240 770

BUILDING ENGINEER

46

BUILDING CONTROL PROJECT MANAGERS & SITE INSPECTORS NORTH LONDON

I N T E G R I T Y >> T E C H N I C A L E X C E L L E N C E >> S E R V I C E >> P E O P L E

In 2021 Quadrant Building Control approved more projects than ever before and our business in the capital continues to expand, so we are seeking technically accomplished Building Control Project Managers and Building Control Site Inspectors to join our London team, working on both commercial and residential projects.

At Quadrant you’ll be guaranteed a great salary with great benefits, and you’ll be working with great people. If you’re CABE, RICS or CIOB (or working towards) we’d love to hear from you.

CONTACT LINDA ROBERTS ON:

07497 087 749 linda@quadrantai.co.uk www.quadrantai.co.uk

CABE.FEB22.046.indd 46

17/01/2022 17:42

Project Surveyors required nationwide Salus are a leading Corporate Co Corp orrpo or rp po orat or ora orate rate tee Ap App Approved A pp proved rove ro rov oved ove veed Inspecto Inspector Ins IIn nsspec pector pect p or wh w who ho o have been providingg a ttru trusted tr ru rusted ussste usted stted ed d and and an d dynamic dyn dyyn d yna namic am aami mic ic building ic bu buil b uilillldin lding ldi ngg control solution to our ur diverse ur d divers veerse ver see range ra ran aan nge ge of of clients clie ieents nttss over ove ovverr all aallll construction sectors, s,, for forr almost fo almo alm almo osstt 20 ost 20 years. yyea yeears. rss We are now looking to recruit ecrruit ecru ec ecruit uitt Project Prroje Proje P oje ject Surveyors Sur S Su urrveyors rvveyo vey eyor yor orrs who who wh ho enjoy eenjo enjjo oyy wid wid idee level level off experience le ex eexpe xpe peerience rience iience nce cee and nd have hav h ve building control, possesss a wide technical knowledge of construction methods to join our teams across London, the Midlands and the South Coast.

To welcome you to our company, we have a £5,000 Golden Hello waiting for you

Over Ov Ove err the the last la laast ast 20 20 years year ye arss we we have hav a e built ave bu built uiltt upon u upo po p pon on n our o our relationships rel relationsh re r lationships ati ation atio tions onsship ons pss with with wit h Over ou ur fantastic ffa fan nta nt taastic tastic sstic ic and aan nd d diverse diiverse veers ersee range raaan ran ngge ge of of clients. ccli clie clients lieent en ents. nts. ts.. We ts W are ar a e proud p prrou pro rro oud ou o ud u d to to be b our asso as sociated cciat ated ted d with witth th them tthe hem em m as as we we continue con co ontin tinu nu n uee to t be be their th th the heeiiir first f stt choice fifirs cch cho hoi oiiccee o associated or the th hee provision provis prrro p ovis ov visio sio io on of of excellent eexxxce xcel cellen elle lleentt and aan nd d proactive pro proa prroa p oaact accti tivve ve building bu b build uild ild dingg control din d ccontr co ontr on ntrol trol rol oll for solu so solut olu uttions. tion ti ons. nss Our Ou Ourr clients ccli clie lients ents ntss appreciate aapp ap ppreciate pp reci re eciat ciat iat atte having ha hav avving in ngg a dedicated dedic ded de ded dicated di aate ted d point po poin in ntt off solutions. cont co ont nttact ttaactt and an nd d we w will w willl ensure eensu ens en nsure sure ree the thee clients th clien ccli ients ents nts ts allocated alllo allocate oca oc cate ated ted d to o you you yo ou both bo oth th contact com co om mplement ple plem p plement lem eme meent entt and en an and nd enhance enh enh haan han ncce your yyo ourr job jo ob b satisfaction. sa satisfacti satisfaction satisfaction aatis tisfac sfac facctio cttio cti on on n. complement Our team of surveyors and support staff throughout the country enjoy having the flexibility for hybrid working. We have established offices but our staff are equally welcome to work from their home if that is their preference.

Working for us you can expect: Salus have invested heavily in the latest technology to streamline our systems and ensure that we meet and exceed the quality standards expected of a first class Corporate Approved Inspector.

In addition to our new Microsoft® platform and bespoke site inspection App we have further invested in our training and development budget to support you throughout your career with Salus. Whether you want to take your career into building control specialisms or into a managerial position, we have the career pathway for you.

○

Competitive Salary including £5,000 Golden Hello

○

31 Days Annual Leave + bank holidays

○

Pension Scheme

○

£4,800pa Car Allowance plus 45p per mile or

○

£650 per month salary sacrifice contribution to our tax efficient hybrid / electric car scheme

○

Payment of 2 professional fees

○

Excellent structured Career Pathway opportunities including Management Training and Building Control Specialisms

Interested?

For opportunities in the Midlands region:

STEVEN COOPER MCABE C.Build.E Regional Managing Associate 07500 776 358 For opportunities in London and the South:

JAMES EMERY BSc, MRICS, FCABE Regional Managing Associate 07876 594 259 Or send your CV to:

recruitment@salusai.co.uk

info@salusai.co.uk

@salusai_HQ

linkedin.com/company/salusai

www.salusai.co.uk CABE.FEB22.047.indd 4

17/01/2022 14:49

BUILDING CONTROL PROJECT MANAGER NORTH WALES

I N T E G R I T Y >> T E C H N I C A L E X C E L L E N C E >> S E R V I C E >> P E O P L E

C: Yn 2021, bu i Quadrant Building Control gymeradwyo mwy o brosiectau adeiladu nag erioed or blaen, ac mae’r flwyddyn hon wedi gweld cynydd sylweddol yn ein gwaith yng Ngogledd Cymru.

Mae Quadrant yn cynnig cyflog a phecyn o fuddion gwerth chweil a byddwch yn gweithio fel rhan o dim gwych. Yn bennaf byddwch yn rhan o gwmni sy’n tyfu ac yn anelu i fod yn y prif ddarparwr o Reolaeth Adeiladu yn y Deyrnas Unedig – mae dyfodol disglair yn disgwyl y person cywir.

Byddwn yn hoff o glywed gan berson sy’n aelod llawn o CABE, RICS neu CIOB (neu sy’n gweithio tuag at aelodaeth llawn).

CABE.FEB22.048.indd 4

QUADRANT BUILDING CONTROL

E: In 2021, Quadrant Building Control approved more projects than ever before, and this year has seen our business rapidly growing in North Wales.

At Quadrant you’ll be guaranteed a great salary with great benefits and you’ll be working with great people.

Best of all, you’ll be part of a growing team that’s aiming to be the UK’s No 1 Building Control provider – so a great future awaits the right person.

If you’re CABE, RICS or CIOB (or working towards full corporate membership) we’d love to hear from you.

07497 087 749 – LINDA ROBERTS www.quadrantai.co.uk linda@quadrantai.co.uk

17/01/2022 17:36

Fire Safety Consultants required Are you an experienced Fire Safety Consultant or Building Control Surveyor looking for a new challenge?

With the changes to the Fire Safety guidance and the Building Safety Bill, Salus are adapting to our client’s needs and seek talented experienced Fire Safety Consultants to join our existing team.

You will be part of the existing Fire Safety team delivering code compliant schemes for all sectors including Healthcare, Education, Residential and commercial schemes from RIBA Stage 1 through to Stage 6.

To welcome you to our company, we have a £5,000 Golden Hello waiting for you.

Our in depth experience of both the theoretical and practical application of The Building Regulations gives us the ideal platform to offer our clients support during the construction process by providing assurances at both design and site stages.

This new exciting role is within an established and expanding Fire Safety Consultancy, and would suit an experienced Building Control Surveyor looking for a career change or a Fire Engineer looking to use your experience in RIBA stages 5 & 6.

Salus are a leading Building Control & Fire Safety Consultancy Practice and Corporate Approved Inspector who have been providing dynamic building regulatory compliance auditing to our diverse range of clients over all construction sectors, for almost 20 years. Our Role under legislation never combines both roles.

Working for us you can expect: ○

Competitive Salary including £5,000 Golden Hello

○

31 Days Annual Leave + bank holidays

○

Pension Scheme

○

£4,800pa Car Allowance plus 45p per mile or

○

£650 per month salary sacrifice contribution to our tax efficient hybrid / electric car scheme

○

Payment of 2 professional fees

○

Excellent structured Career Pathway opportunities including Management Training and Building Control Specialisms

Interested?

For more information or an informal chat:

Stuart Power BEng (Hons), MRICS, CBuildE, MCABE, MIFireE

Director 07900 694 639

Mike O’Brien MRICS Managing Associate 07972 918 193 Or send your CV to:

recruitment@salusai.co.uk

info@salusai.co.uk

@salusai_HQ

linkedin.com/company/salusai

www.salusai.co.uk CABE.FEB22.049.indd 4

17/01/2022 14:52

BUILDING CONTROL PROJECT MANAGERS I N T E G R I T Y >> T E C H N I C A L E X C E L L E N C E >> S E R V I C E >> P E O P L E

“It’s really exciting to be a part of a company that’s growing.”*

“I am proud to work for Quadrant; from the top down we are all working towards the same goal.

The recognition and rewards for doing a good job are there.”*

*

St

aff

su

rv ey

s

an

d

in

te

rv

ie

w

s

20

19 -2 1

“I wish I’d made the move to Quadrant years ago!”*

Hover phone camera over this QR code to watch our Working at Quadrant videos. www.quadrantai.co.uk

CABE.FEB22.050.indd 4

2021 was our best year yet welcoming new clients, new team members and new projects! This year is set to be just as exciting.

So, if you’re CABE, RICS or CIOB (or working towards) and looking for a role with a great salary and fantastic benefits, our brilliant teams in West Midlands, Stoke and Stafford would love to hear from you.

CALL LINDA ROBERTS TODAY 07497 087 749 | linda@quadrantai.co.uk

17/01/2022 17:37

Principles of Fire Safety in Purpose Built Flats Develop your knowledge and understanding on how to interpret and apply the Fire Safety in Purpose Built Flats Guide.

Learn the basic principles to enable you to support a suitable and sufficient assessment of the fire risk in such premises.

NEW 16-17 March 2022 CPD: 12 Hours CABE Members: £540 | Non-Members £700

Book today at cbuilde.com/events CABE.FEB22.051.indd 4

14/01/2022 12:09

If undelivered please return to: CABE Lutyens House Billing Brook Road Northampton NN3 8NW

NOMINATIONS NOW

OPEN

New Awards for 2022 • Building Engineer of the Year ar • Young Building Engineer of the Year

SUSTAIN

T AGEMEN IES MAN MENT FACILIT RBISH & REFU

DIGITAL TR

ANSFORM

ATION

SAFETY BUILDING NG EI PRESERVA LB EL W & TION & CO

ENTER NOW

CABE.FEB22.052.indd 52

NOW

OPEN TO

NSERVATIO

N

NEW BUILD

cbuilde.com/awards2022 Closing date: 31 May 2022

ABILIT Y

NON MEMBERS*

* Terms and conditions apply.

14/01/2022 12:15