Uk Construction Excellence Issue 3 2015

ISSUE 3 2015

THE BEST IN BRITISH BUILDING

www.hyundaipowerequipment.co.uk

6 News

34 Sustainability in the NHS

UK Construction Excellence talks to David Pencheon, Director of the Sustainability Development Unit, about the critical importance of a sustainable healthcare system

40 Budget 2015 : Construction Industry reaction 45 Navigating life’s passages using Project Management - Michelle LaBrosse 48 Liverpool Central Library redevelopment and restoration

52 What stops us Acting and Engaging with renewable Energy We look at the choices available for renewables

60 Property Care Association Promoting skills and good practice

64 Exclusive Interview : David Philp, BIM Task Group 70 Exclusive Interview : BIM4Water

Jon de Souza, Business Improvement Manager at Galliford Try and BIM4Water Chairman

74 BIM : Niven Architects + KTP = BIM Strategy Ltd 78 BIM : One Blackfriars Tower 80 BIM : Industry falling short of mandatory target 82 BIM : Educating the Construction Industry 84 BIM : Smarter BIM = Smarter collaboration 85 BIM : Creating a Castle in the Cloud 88 BIM : News 90 The Annual Investment Allowance What it means for your business

94 The Smart dilemma - becoming a Smart planet General Manager Ian Parker E: ian.parker@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

Operations Manager Sales Administrator Alecia Rowe Gareth Trevor-Jones Publications Editor Victoria Lee Publications Officer Robert Atherton Matthew Brown

Approvals Sarah Smith Eleanor Matthews

Display Advertising Sales T: 01257 231900 E: admin@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk

Credit Control Carol Ryan

Designer Richard Gill

ISSN 1461-1279

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UK Construction Media, Stirling House, Ackhurst Business Park, Chorley, PR7 1NY T: 01257 231900 E: admin@ukconstructionmedia.co.uk www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk Š Copyright Pro-Mark. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of Pro-Mark. Views expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher.

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CDM2015 Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015 Skilled, knowledgeable, experienced and capable?

The Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2015

(CDM2015) come into force on Monday, 6th April 2015, within Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). The date for these regulations coming into force in Northern Ireland has still to be determined, but is unlikely to before the end of 2015, with the 2007 regulations still in force up until then.

On 2nd April the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) published the final version of the HSE guidance document, L153, Managing health and safety in construction, which can be found at: www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/books/l153.htm.

The new regulations do not have an associated Approved Code of Practice (ACoP).

CDM2015 requires checks to be performed on the skills, knowledge, experience and capability of duty holders they engage/appoint, previously known as competency. Any duty holder engaged/appointed by another is also responsible for their own skills, knowledge, experience and capability.

Therefore, any person who engages a designer or contractor, or the client for the appointment of a principal designer or principal contractor, is responsible under CDM2015 Reg. 8 must be satisfied that the persons and organisation engaged/appointed are skilled, knowledgeable, experienced and capable. It is expected that any person/organisation engaging/appointing other duty holders will need to have procedures in place which will

ensure that records are maintained to show that active steps were taken to be satisfied as to the designer's competence on health and safety matters. A person/organisation will be deemed not to have complied if they cannot demonstrate that they have taken such steps as it is reasonable for persons in their position to take in investigating the duty holders. The client will always have this duty, but it also applies to any other organisation engaging a designer or contractor, who must also be able to demonstrate that the necessary checks have been performed.

The client must, on projects with more than one contractor, verify that the principal designer is skilled, knowledgeable, experienced and capable to perform the management of health and safety during the pre-construction phase of the project and the principal contractor is capable of managing health and safety during construction, as the client is responsible for the appointment of the principal designer and principal contractor.

Designers, contractors, principal designers and principal contractors must not accept commissions for work if they feel that they are not skilled, knowledgeable, experienced or capable for the particular requirements of the project. This also applies to the client organisation if they propose to perform other duties utilising their own personnel.

8.(1) A designer (including a principal designer) or contractor (including a principal contractor) appointed to work on a project must have the skills, knowledge and experience

and, if they are an organisation, the organisational capability, necessary to fulfil the role that they are appointed to undertake, in a manner that secures the health and safety of any person affected by the project.

8.(2) A designer or contractor must not accept an appointment to a project unless they fulfil the conditions in paragraph (1).

8.(3) A person who is responsible for appointing a designer or contractor to carry out work on a project must take reasonable steps to satisfy themselves that the designer or contractor fulfils the conditions in paragraph (1).

Essentially designers, contractors, principal designers and principal contractors must, when accepting a commission for work, consider the following fundamental questions: 1. Do we have experience of performing the proposed duties for the particular scope of work?

2. Do we have the skilled, knowledgeable and experienced personnel to comply with the duties for the particular work types involved?

3. Do we have the necessary management processes in place for compliance with our duties this project?

4. Do we have any other required project specific capabilities?

5. Do we have sufficient resources to undertake the commission?

In carrying out checks of their own or other organisations, account should be taken of the allocated personnel’s skills, knowledge and experience of the work involved, and the organisations’ management systems for the prevention of risk and compliance with relevant health and safety standards. In addition, the organisation must have the capacity to apply this knowledge and experience to the work required, particularly in relation to the project for which they have been engaged.

Training

It is therefore essential that persons performing any of the CDM2015 duties have received some training in the specific requirements under the regulations.

This training could be provided internally, if the organisation has skilled, knowledgeable and experienced trainers employed and they fully understand the requirements. If this resource is not available internally, the organisation should seek externally provided training.

If it is decided to commission external trainers to provide this training, the organisation should verify the skills, knowledge,

experience and capability of the trainer/training organisation and the appropriateness of the training programme and content.

Effective training should enable all of the duty holders to achieve compliance with the regulations in an efficient and cost-effective way, achieving the objectives of not hurting people without reducing, and sometimes enhancing, the efficiencies on the project and for future maintenance, cleaning, etc.

Callsafe Courses

The courses available from Callsafe Services Limited for CDM2015 are listed below: • CDM2015 Briefing (4.5 hours) • CDM2015 Overview (1 day) • CDM2015 Client (1 day) • CDM2015 Reducing Risk by Design (1 day) • CDM2015 Principal Contractor and Contractors (1 day) • CDM2015 APS Certificate in the Management of Pre-construction Health and Safety (3 days) (In development) • APS CDM2015 Principal Designer Awareness (1 day) (In development) • APS CDM2015 Certificate in Principal Designer Service (2 day) (In development) • APS Design Risk Management & CDM2015 for Designers (Accredited) • APS CDM2015 Awareness (1 day) (Accredited)

In-House Courses

All of the courses are offered as ‘in-house’ courses, where the trainer presents the course at a venue provided by the delegates’ employer.

Public Courses

The current public available course dates are: APS Design Risk Management & CDM2015 for Designers 2nd & 3rd September 2015 - Staffordshire (Ref: ADRM150902).

APS CDM2015 Awareness 9th September 2015 - Staffordshire (Ref: ACAW150909).

Details of these, and other, courses can be found at: www.callsafe-services.co.uk, or by contacting Gemma Esprey at: gemma.esprey@callsafe-services.co.uk or by phone on: 01889 577701.

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2015 World Architecture Festival and INSIDE Shortlists announced A staggering array of architecture and design practices from 46 countries are competing to win a coveted 2015 World Festival of Architecture Award following the recent announcement of the shortlist.

The eighth annual World Architecture Festival shortlist consists of 338 projects across 31 categories, ranging from small family homes to large commercial developments and landscape projects.

A substantial rise in entry numbers mirrors the global economic upturn in development and construction. The country boasting the largest number of shortlisted projects is Australia, followed by the UK and then Turkey - all of which have seen significant social and economic resurgence in the last few years.

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Major world architects shortlisted include Foster & Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects, Herzog & de Meuron, OMA/Ole Scheeren, Rogers Stirk Harbour, Rafael Vinoly Architects, BIG, Grimshaw, Heatherwick Studio and Carlos Ott. As usual a host of small practices unknown outside their own countries will pitch against the big names, presenting the shortlisted work to a 50-strong global awards jury.

From small projects making a local contribution, such as a school in Burkina Faso designed for the architectural charity Article 25, through to large scale Olympic stadia transformations by US sports giant Populous, all manner of architectural interventions are celebrated.

Regardless of their practice size and reputation, all shortlisted entrants will this year gain double exposure, having their projects exhibited across two

continents. The shortlist was on show at the new satellite WAF London in June, and will arrive at the annual World Architecture Festival 2015 in Singapore this November.

All shortlisted practices will be vying to win not only their individual categories, but the ultimate accolade of ‘World Building of the Year 2015’.

Singapore will present an opportunity for shortlisted architects to network and discuss the big conversations affecting the industry, as well also providing a chance for professional critiques from this years WAF ‘super jurors’: Royal Gold Medallist Sir Peter Cook (UK), Sou Fujimoto (Japan), Benedetta Tagliabue (Spain), Charles Jencks (UK/US), Kerry Hill (Singapore) and Manuelle Gautrand (France).

Running concurrently with WAF, INSIDE comprises the most original and exciting interiors from the last 12 months. Nominations have poured in from 16 countries spanning four continents across the nine diverse categories that make up the awards. Among those competing are two dentistries, a music arena, two cinemas and a global TV studio.

Shortlisted designers include Benoy, Hassell and Woods Bagot. Chinese practice One Plus Partnership cap off a successful year with three nominations and make up some of the 12 projects that have been shortlisted from China and Hong Kong. Host nation Singapore have eight projects nominated, Australia seven and the UK have five. Again all nominees will compete in the form of live presentations and debates to a distinguished jury during the festival in November.

WAF Programme Director Paul Finch commented: “We are delighted with the diversity and exemplar quality of submissions this year. Our international juries are in for a tough time deliberating on the category winners. We look forward to another inspirational event in Singapore this November.”

WAF and its sister event, INSIDE World Festival of Interiors, are supported by sponsors including Grohe and Akzo Nobel. Media partners include the Architectural Review, the Architects’ Journal, and Dezeen, the leading online design hub.

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Eco World Ballymore’s London City Island launches its next phase Eco World Ballymore, one of London’s most prominent property developers, has launched the second phase of this exciting new development and announced its ground breaking partnership with English National Ballet.

This maiden launch of the second phase of London City Island comprises of 417 new homes ranging from suites to one-, two-, three- and four-bed units across two blocks. The ‘mini Manhattan’ of London boasts a 260ft iconic red bridge linking the island to Canning Town making it one of the best connected developments in the capital with fast access to Canary Wharf, the West End and the city.

Comprising 12 acres, the new neighbourhood will include independent artisan restaurants, shops, and al fresco spaces used to show public art, design installations and host ad-hoc creative performances. Residents will have exclusive access to The City Island Arts Club, a private resident’s club with screening room, gym, concierge service and a striking swimming pool which is vibrant red in colour.

Glenn Howells Architects are responsible for London City Island’s architectural design. Drawing inspiration from world cities Chicago, Tokyo and Manhattan, bright seafaring-inspired hues have been used throughout the development, with a single striking colour in glossy brickwork chosen for each of the buildings. The apartments themselves are designed with a warehouse aesthetic, with

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generous open plan living spaces and loft style features they draw design features from the history of Leamouth and the creative energy of East London.

A new creative and vibrant island metropolis, London City Island will be a destination of culture and contemporary living. The partnership with English National Ballet (ENB) will see one of the country’s most treasured artistic institutions make a landmark move to London City Island.

ENB will occupy architecturally outstanding and unique rehearsal spaces designed to enable passers-by to experience the ballet’s magic as they pause to watch rehearsals through floor-to-ceiling windows. In addition, there will be provision for a new English National Ballet school which will increase student capacity and make use of outside public spaces at London City Island, bringing ballet closer to the lives of these new east Londoners.

Sean Mulryan, Chairman and CEO of Ballymore Group commented: “This partnership demonstrates our deep commitment to establishing London City Island as one of the most exciting new destinations in London and we are honoured that the English National Ballet, a truly inspiring artistic institution, has decided to make its new permanent home there. Recognition and sales for London City Island so far have been outstanding and we are confident that this partnership will help us to create a very special sense of place; a vibrant, dynamic new neighbourhood with creative innovation at its heart.”

Black Cultural Archives in Brixton named London’s best new building Zaha Hadid and the Black Cultural Archives were honoured at the New London Awards held at an exclusive ceremony in the Guildhall. The annual awards organised and held by New London Architecture celebrates the best designs and developments that have recently completed or are currently underway in the capital.

The world-famous architect behind the London Aquatic Centre and the Serpentine Sackler Gallery collected the award for New Londoner of the Year for her contributions to the London design industry through her work, both in the UK and abroad, and her role as a champion of design to both the government and the general public alike. Zaha Hadid follows in the footsteps of previous winners such as Lord Richard Rogers and Roger Madelin of Argent.

The Black Cultural Archives in Brixton saw off stiff competition from much larger new-build developments to be crowned London’s best new building. The project saved the historic Raleigh Hall from demolition and created a new home for BCA’s extensive archives dedicated to black heritage in the UK. This sensitive restoration proves that true design innovation can be found when saving a building from demolition and repurposing it for the local community.

Other winners at the event included the Ham Yard Hotel by Woods Bagot and the future extension to Alexandra Palace by Feilden Clegg Bradley, who were awarded the Homes & Hospitality and Public Buildings titles, respectively.

The major regeneration of the National Theatre by Haworth Tompkins picked up two awards, as the built winner of the Public Buildings category for its contribution to the ongoing regeneration of the South Bank, and also a special award for Commissioning Excellence, recognising the client’s considered approach to redeveloping this key London institution.

The new Foyles store claimed the Retail category whilst the newly completed King’s Cross Pond Club narrowly missed out on the Temporary award, which was presented to The Green Room. Celebrated for its ‘untemporary’ approach, the project was a collaboration with the National Theatre to create a restaurant, bar and garden.

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Taking your business to a better place H3 Partners is a leading provider of Business Change Programmes using Organisational Change Management frameworks to help transform businesses from within.

engineers are incomplete. They need to look upstream to set the measure in the context of the whole end-to-end procure to pay process.

In this, the second in a series of discussions, UK Construction Excellence speaks with Rod Horrocks, Director of H3 Partners, about the challenges associated with Performance Measurement and the importance of understanding a business end-to-end.

The other issue comes when businesses fail to engage with people on the front line, asking questions such as “This is how it’s being measured, do you know why it’s like that?” Many companies do not even have these conversations with front line staff on the issue of designing and setting targets; therefore without their involvement you have no buy-in.

We spoke previously about the importance of Performance Measurement. Proper implementation isn’t always an easy proposition however. How can poor implementation of a measurement system negatively impact a business?

Whenever you measure a process there will be a change in behaviour. Therefore if a business creates measures with the wrong targets, or measures employees on processes were they cannot affect how those measures are implemented – i.e. giving them a dashboard but not a cockpit – or the measures have been set without consultation the change in behaviour will be negative.

Employees won’t work hard to improve and reach new targets if they believe that they can’t make it happen or if the people up or downstream are effecting how they perform, they end up becoming very siloed – trying to optimise their performance without worrying about anybody else’s. They might achieve a goal they can justify but they won’t achieve the overall process goal.

The same goes for unachievable or unagreed measurements, this will result in negative behaviour; a natural reaction, we’re human beings, not automatons.

What common issues might companies looking to implement Performance Measurement come up against?

First of all, businesses tend to measure the individual parts of an end-to-end process. They look at the targets for part of the process without looking at those required to impact end-to-end. If a business is only raising PO’s for 80% of their purchase orders and it should be 100%, they might think that the improvement is in the purchase ordering department and that they need to be more efficient. But the reality is that the 20% are the ones that can’t be raised because the requisitions from the

How do H3 Partners ensure a more accurate appraisal of a Companyís performance?

We start by documenting all the key end-to-end processes, reviewing the individual steps and making an honest assessment of the present performance.

An example is … one of the major suppliers to the construction industry wanted to get their performance of orders shipped down from 48 hours to four hours. The company worked hard on process redesign and implemented changes, but they didn’t tell the construction companies, who were used to having two days’ notice.

When the orders arrived in four hours those companies didn’t have space in the yard and so they were having to send half of them back! Without checking with one of the actors in the process, the customer, the effort in design could have been better directed.

Businesses have to think about the consequences, and not just inside the processes of their own company. Can their customers or suppliers handle what they are changing in terms of performance and is the change of value to both parties?

To read the interview in full, please visit UK Construction Online: www.ukconstructionmedia.co.uk For more information about how H3 Partners can improve your business please visit the Company’s website: www.h3partners.co.uk or download H3 Partners’ Performance Measurement e-Book: www.h3partners.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/0 6/H3-Partners-ebook1.pdf

caroline@h3partners.co.uk

www.h3partners.co.uk

Veech x Veech designs one of the world’s most advanced production studios for Al Jazeera in The Shard, London

Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN) has unveiled its new UK Headquarters and broadcast studio in the iconic Shard skyscraper in London. The scheme, designed by Vienna based architects Veech x Veech, has created a pre-eminent broadcast production facility, with a multipurpose newsroom and revolutionary studio, which breaks the mould of the ‘black box’ studio and re-imagines how broadcast facilities are designed.

Broadcast design specialists Veech x Veech had the complex task of configuring a fully functioning TV studio within the confines of a predetermined floorplate.

Creating such media hubs is highly specialised and requires precision design, using the camera as an additional tool as part of the process - the perspective of the studio appears differently on screen as opposed to the real-life experience. Digital 3D modeling and 1:1 mockups were used extensively to test and accentuate the perspective composition of the news desk and set design to create a dynamic on-air look, framing the panoramic

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London skyline. Applying their comprehensive experience in this specific area of design, Veech x Veech created a single space that can interact simultaneously with the lighting, the view out to the capital and the digital presentation screens.

Stuart A. Veech, Creative Director, Veech x Veech adds: “The major challenge was to the invert the restrictive constraints of a high rise building into a design asset by restructuring the perspective composition to enhance a cinematic wide-angle depth of space resulting in the unique channel spatial brand identity.”

Most studios require a minimum ceiling height of 4.5m but at the Shard they were limited to just 2.8m. The problematic low ceilings were transformed into a feature of the on-air appearance, working within and around a complex network of structural beams to create a totally different kind of space that will define the studio’s on-air identity. In a world first for 24/7-news programming,

fully automated low-level lighting has been integrated into the ceiling and sits amongst acoustic panels to create dramatic curved lines that mirror the shape of the news desk below. By adopting some of the most sophisticated techniques in lighting design and engineering, these fixed units are capable of handling any camera angle or illumination level. Specialist filters have been incorporated into the glass facade and cameras to manage the light exposure from the outside world, further demonstrating the high level of design and performance of the studio that separates it from the normal ‘black box’ approach.

Veech x Veech collaborated with project partners MCI Studio Hamburg and MO2, who provided excellent support towards the state-of-the-art execution of the project. MCI Studio Hamburg acted as general contractor and was responsible for technical planning as well as set construction. MO2 created the cutting-edge lighting technology.

Veech x Veech were also appointed to create the adjacent newsroom to the studio so there would be a direct stylistic link between the two spaces. Bespoke curved desks echo the newsdesk and contribute to the strong brand identity as the newsroom is also used as a backdrop to the filming in the studio.

Housed in Europe’s tallest building, this new facility, creating content across the global Al Jazeera network, reinforces AJMN’s position as a leading news organisation in the UK and European marketplace. The UK office now provides a vital communications role for AJMN, becoming the European hub linking the time overlap between the headquarters in Doha and the studios in the USA. To date, the project has been awarded an International Design Award and been nominated for a British Council of Offices award.

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Keep

Trenchless Technology

GUARANTEEING EFFICIENT AND SUCCESSFUL REPAIR OR INSTALLATION ABOUT THE COMPANY Since its formation, Keep Trenchless Technology has been providing a range of trenchless technology services to water and waste industries as well as corporate customers.

Working throughout the UK, the Company specialises in UV cured pipe installation, CCTV surveys, lateral cutting, and mechanical cutting for concrete/grout/roots and other difficult obstruction removal including intruding connections.

UV cured liners have been installed nationally for the sewerage industry, and the success of this is clear by looking at the list of clients that encompasses Northumbrian Water, Yorkshire Water, Thames Water, Severn Trent, Guernsey Water, Scottish Water and many more.

Northumbrian Water has been a valued customer during this time, and in the last five years, has seen more than 10km of liner installed each year.

BENEFITS OF UV CURED LINERS Trenchless technology offers important benefits for companies and utilities providers and with more than 20 years of experience, the team at Keep Trenchless Technology is ideally placed to help organisations reap the rewards of such advantages.

The conventional way of repairing pipes can be disruptive and time consuming, all of which holds up production.

The Company’s experience is crucial because its trenchless technology can be used to counter these issues by repairing pipes at the same time as guaranteeing the minimum amount of disruption. The technology also helps to eliminate any halts in production.

There is also a real commitment to provide customers with the best possible service and the team of specialists have years of experience. In addition, the fleet of vans have the capacity to monitor and record pipe repair at every step of the way.

Aligned to this are the UV cured liners that are manufactured to the most stringent standards by Berolina that can cure the lining at speeds of up to one metre each minute.

Because these are manufactured by Berolina, materials made by a fibreglass that is corrosion-resistant is used; this unique wall structure is decisive for the outstanding quality and versatile application of the Berolina liner.

With five layers of resin-saturated fibreglass complexes and/or polyester webs, the liners are stretchable, and can be optimally adjusted to circular or oval profiles in diameters of 150mm to 1500mm, which can also be used with cross-section or profile passages without any problems.

The energy flux is optimised because of the continuous fibre orientation in the perimeter direction.

The best mechanical values are produced in this Keep Trenchless Technology product because of the fibreglass reinforcement, meaning no more than slight wall thicknesses are necessary and therefore, cross-section leakage is reduced to a minimum after pipe sanitation.

The advantage of the UV cured lining provided is it allows liner replacement to be expected before curing.

The curing process is recorded at every stage and reports are instantly generated. Just as important is the fact that only one site visit is necessary, which again minimises disruption.

KOMATSU PIPELINE REHABILITATION As well as the work carried out for the many water organisations, the Company also has a number of commercial clients who have benefited from trenchless projects.

One such development was undertaken in County Durham where work was carried out on pipeline rehabilitation for Komatsu.

Keep Trenchless Technology was called upon for the project in Birtley because the sewer system there for Komatsu’s

Keep Trenchless Technology Ltd Unit 9a Stratford Road, Pattinson South Industrial Estate, Washington, Tyne & Wear NE38 8QP

European manufacturing plant for the production of crawler hydraulic excavators showed the pitch fibre pipe network needed to be replaced.

undergone and passed stringent tests to ensure the pipe is at its tightest level so it won’t leak, while making sure infiltration is prevented.

The Company undertook a CCTV survey on behalf of Komatsu and the results showed that the pitch fibre pipes, first installed in the 1960s, were deformed, had holes in the pipe wall and in one place, was closed with hardly any room to manoeuvre through it.

Work on the pipeline rehabilitation took just seven days, with 18 individual lining set ups having to be achieved in that time while also working around other contractors.

Finding a solution to this damage was made more difficult because of the limited access in terms of timescale and space in order to place equipment, owing to Komatsu’s production schedules.

Options considered included cutting the pipeline open to carry out the repair work, but this was rejected because it would have slowed down the production schedule due to the failed pipe being located in the centre of the main production area.

Excavation would have been required, which would have made the project duration longer, and with three major surrounding walls around the designated work area, any traditional method of work was fraught with danger.

Therefore, it was decided the best way to rehabilitate the pipe was to undertake re-rounding work followed by insertion of a structural lining.

Traditional work would have taken 18 weeks to complete, whereas trenchless technology could ensure the project was completed within a week.

Accordingly, the UV cured options were investigated and the Berolina liner system was chosen.

This is where the fibre fabrics overlapping are effective. They are staggered, which means the Berolina liner can be installed in one piece even where there is a crossover, and with no hindrance on elasticity, it easily adjusts to local conditions.

The UV cure resin is injected into the liners at the factory so that when they arrive on site, they are ready for installation.

As a proven product of Keep Trenchless Technology, the Berolina liner has undergone a significant amount of testing to ensure it is fit for purpose. This WRc-approved system has also

Telephone 0191 415 3372 Email info@keep-ltd.com

During one of these set ups, the extent of the problem Komatsu had been facing became clear because a huge section of pipe was almost completely closed up.

The tight timescale on the project meant the Company’s only option was to attempt installation even though this made a successful outcome uncertain.

But the expertise meant that the deformed section of pipe was reached, though a hole was then found in the host pipe.

In response, Keep Trenchless Technology managed to pass a line through the defect and a pre-liner was pulled into place over the hole before it was lined with the intended reinforced liner.

Lining was successful on this set-up, as well as the other 17 that had to be undertaken.

Paul Collins is the Building Maintenance Manager at Komatsu and he praised the ‘groundbreaking technology’ and the advantages is has brought.

He said: “We selected Keep Trenchless Technology Ltd to carry out this repair due to the location of the drain and the amazing groundbreaking technology offered. The professional approach was second to none and a full survey and repair method was fully communicated.

“What could have been very disruptive to our production turned out to be a quick and simple repair with zero effect to our busy production schedule.

“Since the repair, we have used the liner method many times to maintain and repair our waste framework. The advantages of using such a repair are numerous; the fact there is very little disruption to the repair vicinity and no environmental impacts compared to other repair methods are just a few.”

www.keep-ltd.com

Construction begins on new TfL building at Stratford’s The International Quarter With a symbolic first cut of the spade, construction has officially started on the new Transport for London Building at The International Quarter - the £2.1Bn development at Stratford, which, at a total of four million square feet, is one of the largest new commercial developments in London.

Lendlease and London & Continental Railways (LCR), joint venture partners delivering The International Quarter, recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for the landmark 265,000sq ft building, which sits at the gateway to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and will provide TfL’s third accommodation hub, housing 3,000 TfL workers from autumn 2017.

An estimated 1,200 jobs will be created on site at The International Quarter by spring 2018 and to ensure as many of these roles are given to local people as possible, Lendlease has recently partnered with Newham Council, Newham Workplace and Building Crafts College to deliver a ten week training programme to upskill unemployed Newham residents in construction. The programme has already seen four trainees offered jobs at The International Quarter development in Stratford by the site’s specialist contractor Prater.

The ground-breaking ceremony was attended by Victoria Quinlan, Chief Operating Officer, Lendlease David Joy, Chief Executive, LCR Steve Allen, Director of Finance, TfL Cllr Lester Hudson, Deputy Mayor of Newham, Neale Coleman, Chair, London Legacy Development Corporation, Ian Crockford, Project Director, The International Quarter, Lendlease.

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Ian Crockford, Project Director, The International Quarter at Lendlease, said: “Construction starting on the landmark Transport for London Building is a key milestone in our ambition to create the most agile, healthy and flexible workplaces in the capital. The International Quarter will be London’s newest and most progressive business district, delivering significant local employment opportunities and cementing a lasting legacy for East London’s economy.”

The joint venture partners behind the project, Lendlease and LCR obtained detailed planning permission for the new TfL office building in March 2015. Designed by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners, and developed by joint venture partners Lendlease and LCR, the new TfL building located on Plot S6 at The International Quarter, adjacent to the London Aquatics Centre and the Westfield Stratford City shopping centre.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) recently committed to 425,000sq ft within a new 515,000sq ft building at the development, while Lendlease and LCR are in discussions with a number of other major tenants about moving to The International Quarter.

Heathrow will work with Government to deliver expansion for ‘all of Britain’ Welcoming the Airports Commission’s clear recommendation that “the best answer is to expand Heathrow’s runway capacity”, Heathrow will now work with Government to deliver expansion for all of Britain.

Heathrow’s new expansion plan addresses concerns raised by local communities and by politicians, with the Airports Commission recognising that “the benefits are significantly greater, for business passengers, freight operators and the broader economy” and that “all passengers will benefit from enhanced competition.”

The Commission’s final recommendation follows three years of extensive and robust consultation, evidence gathering and analysis. It recognises the unique role that Heathrow plays as Britain’s only hub airport. The Commission finds that Heathrow expansion is the only solution which can help British businesses compete for global growth, and support a truly national recovery built on exports, skills and investment.

The Commission also confirms that Heathrow’s new plan can be delivered while reducing its local and environmental impacts. It confirms that it can be delivered within carbon and air quality limits and with significantly fewer people impacted by aircraft noise than today.

its position as a well-connected open trading economy in the twenty first century.”

With expansion Heathrow can realise its vision of building the next generation of airport, one that is designed around not only the passenger but also the environment and the local community.

John Holland-Kaye, Chief Executive of Heathrow Airport said: “This debate has never been about a runway, it’s been about the future we want for Britain. Expanding Heathrow will keep Britain as one of the world’s great trading nations, right at the heart of the global economy.

“Our new plans have been designed around the needs of local communities and will meet carbon, air quality and noise targets, and provides the greatest benefit to the UK’s connectivity and its long term economic growth.

“We will create the world’s best connected, most efficient and most environmentally responsible hub airport at the heart of an integrated transport system.

“The Commission has backed a positive and ambitious vision for Britain. We will now work with Government to deliver it.”

The Airport Commission has urged the Government to make an early decision on its recommendations, saying that: “ further delay will be increasingly costly and will be seen, nationally and internationally, as a sign that the UK is unwilling or unable to take the steps needed to maintain

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SUPPLYING THE RAIL INDUSTRY WITH EARTHING MATERIALS SINCE 1999 Kingsmill are a registered and qualified RISQS company and are proud to have been supplying into the rail industry since 1999.

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Prime Minister and Mayor of London celebrate completion of Crossrail’s tunnelling marathon The Prime Minister and Mayor of London Boris Johnson celebrated the completion of Crossrail’s tunnels by going 40 metres below the capital to thank the men and women who are constructing the new £14.8Bn east-west railway.

Passengers will also benefit from quicker connections and will be able to travel to Tottenham Court Road in three minutes, Heathrow in just over 30 minutes and Canary Wharf in nine minutes.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Crossrail is an incredible feat of engineering that will help to improve the lives of working people in London and beyond. The project is a vital part of our long term plan to build a more resilient economy by helping businesses to grow, compete and create jobs right along the supply chain.”

Crossrail will add ten per cent capacity to London’s rail network. It will serve 40 stations, connecting Reading and Heathrow in the west with Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east. TfL-run Crossrail services through central London will commence in December 2018. An estimated 200 million passengers will travel on Crossrail each year.

Crossrail tunnelling began in the summer of 2012 and ended at Farringdon with the breakthrough of tunnelling machine Victoria. Eight 1,000 tonne tunnelling machines have bored 26 miles or 42 km of new 6.2m diameter rail tunnels under London.

On 31st May this year the rail services between Liverpool Street and Shenfield joined the TfL transport network. This is the first phase of the introduction of Crossrail, which will be fully integrated with TfL services. Customers will benefit from stations staffed at all times trains are operating as well as better accessibility provision with turn up and go services being offered for those who need ramps to board trains.

Construction is also advancing on the ten new Crossrail stations and on works above ground west of Paddington and east of Stratford. Over 10,000 people are currently working on Crossrail, including over 450 apprentices.

With the arrival of Crossrail in 2018, Farringdon will become one of the UK’s busiest rail hubs with direct connections to London Underground and upgraded and expanded Thameslink services. This brand new interchange will transform the way passengers travel through London and the South East, providing more capacity and direct connections to three of London’s five airports and international rail services at St Pancras.

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The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This is a landmark moment for London that puts us a gigantic step closer to the launch of an absolutely vital new railway, which will hugely improve our ability to speedily move people across our city. Crossrail has already created tens of thousands of jobs and helped boost the skills of many thousands of people not just in the capital, but all around our great nation. It is a wonderful example of our nation’s talent for engineering, a talent that must not be allowed to founder and that I hope will eventually be put to use on the construction of Crossrail 2.”

Initial proposals for new Elephant and Castle town centre revealed Delancey’s client fund DV4 and Europe’s largest pension fund asset manager, APG, have published their emerging proposals for a new town centre at Elephant and Castle.

They include a partnership with University of the Arts London (UAL) to create a new centre for core university services and a new cutting-edge campus for its London College of Communication (LCC), which will reinforce the status of the area as a major cultural and educational destination in central London.

The proposals formed the centrepiece of a public exhibition held at the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre earlier in the month. Local stakeholders, businesses, residents and community groups were invited to contribute to the evolving proposals and meet some members of the team including lead architects, Allies and Morrison.

Incorporating the redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre and the adjacent London College of Communication’s existing site, initial proposals will include a first class shopping and leisure destination with new homes to rent for people living and working in London, state-of-the-art educational facilities for UAL students, excellent transport links and enhanced public spaces. It will build upon the existing community and cultural diversity of the area and sit at the heart of the changes within the local area.

The Elephant and Castle town centre redevelopment is the lynchpin to the wider £3Bn regeneration underway in the area and integral to Southwark’s wider regeneration plan, which includes the creation of a new pedestrianised town centre, market square, 5,000 new and replacement homes, approximately 500,000sq ft of retail and leisure space, an integrated public transport hub and five green spaces.

The new campus for London College of Communication builds upon a number of high-profile estates investments undertaken by UAL including a £62M regeneration of Camberwell College of Arts, the relocation of London College of Fashion to the Olympic Park at Stratford by 2021 and the completion of its Central Saint Martins campus in King’s Cross in 2011.

Nigel Carrington, Vice Chancellor, University of the Arts London, commented: “We are delighted that a new centre for UAL’s core university services and a new cutting edge campus for London College of Communication will be at the heart of one of London’s most exciting regeneration projects.

UAL is proud to have been at the heart of Elephant & Castle for more than half a century and this development will mean we are there for years to come. This investment will mean a great deal to our staff and students, many of whom live and contribute in many exciting ways to the vibrancy of Elephant & Castle.”

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IT’S ALL IN TH

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East London regeneration scheme steps into third phase Work has begun on Phase III of the Rathbone Market regeneration scheme from English Cities Fund (ECf) - a joint venture between Muse Developments, Legal and General Property and the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) bringing a further 216 new homes to Canning Town.

The £180M Rathbone Market scheme is the flagship development within Newham Council’s £3.7Bn Canning Town and Custom House regeneration programme. The Rathbone Market development has already delivered more than 430 new homes, 44,000sq ft of retail floor space, 12,000sq ft of new community facilities and two new public spaces.

Phase III will deliver a further 216 new homes, comprising 162 privately-owned properties and 54 affordable properties, including both shared ownership and rental homes. Contractors Sisk have begun to clear ground at the site before work begins to construct the multi-block phase, designed by Shoreditch-based architects Project Orange.

Duncan Cumberland, Development Director for ECf, said: “The third phase will round up what is one of the most exciting and innovative developments in London, breathing new life into a once unloved part of the city.”

The tallest block will stand at 14-storeys and the lowest six. It will comprise of one-, two-, and three-bedroom properties formed in a horse-shoe configuration around a verdant communal garden. The garden is approached through a secure double-height entrance and leads to the access cores serving all apartments.

All ground-floor properties will be two-storey, in the style of a town house, with double-height ceilings and private gardens leading out onto the communal courtyard area.

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Apartments on upper levels will all have a generous balcony, and the great majority will have a double aspect.

The building will be made from brick in the London tradition using two colours; on the outside a black/grey mix, with silver brick around the garden area.

Christopher Ash, Director of Project Orange said: “The intention is to create a building of visual richness where golden balconies and embossed panels create a studied patchwork effect of cascading informal links and connections across the weighty brick facades.”

The new phase will stand alongside the striking silver grey and aluminium cladding of the award-winning Phase I, Vermillion, and the recently completed Aurelia, Phase II of the regeneration, with its terracotta rain-screen cladding in shades of deep burnt orange.

Residents in Phase III will benefit from being at the heart of one of London’s oldest street markets, Rathbone Market, set within a new, high-quality market square delivered as part of Phase II, offering a vibrant retail scene including established traders as well as welcoming new stall holders.

A new landscaped entrance to the existing subway beneath Newham Way has been re-conceived to improve pedestrian links east of the site and under the A13 to the south, ensuring the development is well connected to key transportation routes from Canning Town station and bus interchange.

Mr Cumberland said: “This phase represents the next piece in the jigsaw for Rathbone Market and will put Canning Town firmly back on the map as a residential destination in East London.”

20 Fenchurch Street recognised for its sustainability credentials One of the newest additions to London’s City skyline, 20 Fenchurch Street, EC3, has been confirmed as one of the most sustainable buildings in the City of London after achieving a BREEAM 2011 Excellent rating.

The development was given a post-construction score of 80.2% by the Assessors at BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology), the world’s leading design and assessment method for sustainable buildings.

Joint developers Canary Wharf Group and Land Securities set out to ensure the 38-storey tower, known as ‘The Walkie Talkie’ was one of the most sustainable buildings of its type in London, and have deployed a number of innovative measures throughout the design, construction and operational phases.

These include: • Themographic surveys: using the same technology as fire and rescue search teams, the thermal conductivity of the entire facade was checked and found to conform with exacting heat loss performance standards.

• UK’s largest green wall: providing a much-needed plant and insect ecosystem, an important habitat for nesting birds, and valuable green infrastructure.

• Low zero carbon (LTC) technologies: roof mounted solar PV (photo voltaic) panels are predicted to generate 27,300kWh of electricity per year.

• Certified Sustainable Sourced concrete and structural steelwork: all certified as Sustainably Sourced in accordance with the BRE Global Standard BES 6001 Responsible Sourcing of Construction Products.

• FSC certified timber: one of only 80 projects globally and 44 in the UK that have achieved this certification which recognises the incorporation of wood products from responsibly managed forests that provide environmental, social and economic benefits. 20 Fenchurch Street was a FSC Full Project for the shell, core and full fit-out of the Sky Garden and restaurants, common areas, the pocket park, annex building and levels 14, 15, 16, 17, 35, 36, 37.

• Recycling construction waste: 96.4% of all construction

waste was diverted from landfill and either reused, recycled or recovered through a variety of onsite and offsite resource management processes. For example, all excavated material was reclassified under the CLARE Code of Practice and was sent for use as fill material in an offsite land reclamation project. Unwanted timber pallets and packaging was re-used by an exporter of military memorabilia.

• Noise and air quality monitoring: real time noise and dust monitoring stations were established during the construction process which were used to help the site team monitor and maintain noise and air quality within acceptable thresholds. The data was used to help inform a pioneering report on construction air quality within the City of London, in conjunction with City of London and Southbank University.

Additionally, 20 Fenchurch Street boasts the first hydrogen fuel cell to be installed in a commercial building in the City of London. The fuel cell, which will be switched on later this summer, produces heating cooling and electricity, generating 300kW of low carbon, low emissions electricity, reducing the building’s carbon dioxide emissions by at least 270 tonnes per annum.

Caroline Hill, Head of Sustainability (Energy & Environment) at Land Securities, said: “We’re delighted that 20 Fenchurch Street has achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating. Together with our joint venture partners, Canary Wharf Group, we’ve worked hard to find innovative ways to enhance the building’s sustainability credentials, and we’re proud that the finished product is having as positive an impact on the environment as it is on our office customers and visitors to the Sky Garden.”

The office space at 20 Fenchurch Street is nearly fully let while the Sky Garden opened to the public for free in January.

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Riverside Offices reach completion, promising an estimated 70% cut in carbon emissions for two councils Riverside Offices, a purpose built office development in Lowestoft which brings together shared public sector services for Suffolk County Council (SCC) and Waveney District Council (WDC) is now completed.

Colin Law, Leader of Waveney District Council, said: “We are absolutely delighted that we will shortly be moving in to Riverside as part of a programme that has delivered a vital new building on time and on budget.

The project enables both councils to demonstrate efficiency and sustainability in providing rationalised offices, improved and consolidated public services, case conferencing and the rationalisation of training, conference, meeting and council chamber and assembly meeting facilities.

“The outline cost of construction will be covered comfortably by the reduction in maintenance and energy bills for the two councils and I am absolutely delighted that a project, which will ultimately save taxpayers’ money, is now completed.

The building, designed by LSI Architects, is a landmark structure in Lowestoft and is designed around passive design principles, using elements of Passivhaus standards and techniques to reduce the energy consumption and carbon footprint of the building.

An integrated landscape scheme combining parking facilities for vehicles, motorcycles and cycles will is provided in a sustainable setting.

Administrative staff from a number of different sites around the town will be the first of about 450 to occupy the Kirkley Waterfront site, which will eventually house workers from ten offices, including the town hall.

Both local authorities say the move will reduce the overall cost to taxpayers by up to £3M over ten years.

The three-storey building, constructed by Kier, features conference room facilities and public cafe on the ground floor, with workstation areas on the upper floors.

The new building will reduce energy and maintenance costs for the two councils and is part of a wider £13.6M accommodation programme which includes a redeveloped Marina Customer Service Centre in the heart of Lowestoft.

It is estimated that the entire programme will cut the councils’ carbon emissions in the town by up to 70%.

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“Maintaining our existing buildings could have cost the two councils up to £16M and with funding for councils under increasing pressure, we had to deliver a cost-effective alternative.

“This is the ideal solution, providing the necessary accommodation for our staff while also protecting the services that our local community wants and depends on.”

Trevor Price, Partner at LSI Architects, said: “The building form grew directly from the layout and the relationship of the office wings either side of a central atrium. Externally materials have been chosen for their robustness against the weather and corrosive marine atmosphere. The double height space is accentuated externally with a two-storey brickwork corner feature, which addresses the main approach to the building.

The upper levels have insulated rainscreen cladding, with horizontal bands of high performance double glazed windows, and are interspersed with coloured insulated cladding panels which enliven the facade. Projecting vertical coloured shading fins reduce solar gain and provide articulation to the elevations. The central atrium is glazed at each end to provide a welcoming and airy entrance space, combined with a projecting high level canopy for solar shading.”

LSHP win top award Liverpool Sefton Health Partnership (LSHP) has won a prestigious award for their work on the city’s new mental health hospital Clock View.

LSHP was first formed back in 2004 as part of the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) to create innovative health and community facilities.

The LSHP team were shortlisted for a total of eight awards at the North West Construction Awards and won Client of the Year for their work developing Merseycare’s Clock View hospital.

The LIFT Programme has resulted in more than £150M of investment in Merseyside in the last ten years delivered by LSHP and partners.

The North West Construction Awards were held in Manchester on the 14th June and celebrate the region’s most innovative construction projects.

Clock View hospital is a revolution in the design of a mental health facility. Unlike older units using traditional buildings, the purpose built centre features single rooms with en-suite bathrooms, constructed to maximise natural light, with safe inner garden courtyards, activity and therapeutic areas.

The LSHP team collected their award at The Palace Hotel, Manchester where the ceremony was attended by over 400 guests.

Michael Webb, General Manager of LSHP said: “Clock View sets a new standard for mental health care in the UK and it’s brilliant to receive recognition for the work and effort that all the team and our partners have put into delivering what is outstanding new facility.”

Liverpool Sefton Health Partnership Limited (LSHP) coordinated the construction of the project on time and to schedule, in just over 22 months.

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WHY USE RE-MATCH TURF RECYCLING? Stadiums and sports arenas throughout the world are increasingly using artificial turf. One field covers on average a total area of 8,000 square meters (roughly 86,100 square feet). After 8-10 years, even the highest quality turf is worn-out, and the enormous amount of artificial turf will be sent to the landfill.

Disposing of used artificial turf typically means either incineration or landfilling. Both methods of disposal have a large negative environmental impact and cost the owner a significant amount in terms of disposal fees.

Many companies today wish to use and supply environmental friendly solutions. With Re-Match’s solution, sports arenas and stadiums can now dispose of their old artificial turf with a good conscience, and for the first time manufacturers of artificial turf can produce turf also made from recycled materials.

In addition to recycling artificial turf, Re-Match now also offers cut & roll and handling including transport of the old turf if required by the customer and sale of the finished clean products. Re-Match has all required permits, notifications and authorisations in place including permits for transportation of used turf across borders.

Owner and installers can hand over used artificial turf to Re-Match without concerns of any legal or public issues.

The Re-Match process separates as the first of its kind 99.9% of the artificial turf system on an industrial scale.

The use of artificial turf in stadiums and sports arenas is increasing throughout the world. In most cases, there are environmental benefits from using artificial

THE RE-MATCH SEPARATION TECHNOLOGY turf rather than natural grass, as grass will typically require large amounts of water and the use of chemicals and pesticides for maintenance.

Artificial turf becomes a large environmental liability as soon as the turf it is no longer fit for use and needs to be replaced. Worn-out artificial turf is normally disposed of either by incineration or simply landfilling it. Stadiums, sports arenas and municipals pay huge disposal fees to dispose of used artificial turf, without getting an environmentally safe option.

Re-Match makes it possible to protect the environment when disposing of used artificial turf without leaving any waste from the original components. The worn-out turf is picked up by Re-Match and separated into clean, raw components using our advanced separation technology.

Re-Match has, as the first in the world, developed a separation process that makes it possible to clean and recycle 99.9 percent of the old artificial turf. The separation is a mechanical process. The used artificial turf runs through several separation steps, where we use both air and sieving to separate. In addition, Re-Match uses separation tables and gravity to separate the individual components and remove waste. Re-Match’s advanced separation technology is tested thoroughly for the cleanliness of the end-product and the efficiency of the process. Once the Re-Match process is complete, we have 99.9% clean products. These are ready for use in production and installation of new artificial turf – completing the life cycle – a cradle to cradle solution.

Re-Match provides sports arenas and stadiums the opportunity to dispose of their used artificial turf without effecting the environment. Re-Match will pick up your old artificial turf for less than what you would pay in disposal fee at the landfill. This means you will be able to dispose of your old turf in an environmental friendly way and save money at the same time.

Please contact Re-Match at: Email: info@Re-match.dk or phone: +45 77 34 67 34 www.re-match.dk

“The long-term health impacts of poor air quality asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease - continue to pose a significant threat in many parts of the country. “

Sustainability in the NHS Based in Cambridge, The Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) is a national organisation working on behalf of the health and care system in England.

The Unit supports the NHS, public health and social care system to be sustainable - environmentally, financially and socially - by engaging across the system to identify the frameworks, networks and mechanisms that will encourage a healthier environment and enable services to be resilient to adverse weather effects and climate change.

Established since April 2008, the SDU is jointly funded by NHS England and Public Health England to ensure that the health and care system fulfils its potential as a leading sustainable and low carbon service.

David Pencheon, current Director of the SDU, was previously Director of the NHS Eastern Region Public Health Observatory, serving the East of England from 2001 to 2007. David now heads a core team of industry experts and advisers, each of whom provide expert advice and support to the health and care system in England.

At an environmental level this includes addressing issues of energy, travel, waste, procurement, water, infrastructure adaptation and buildings. The Unit also considers sustainability in more broader terms however, with the long-term needs of the health service being paramount. To this end, the SDU examines the adaptation of heath service delivery, health promotion, corporate social responsibility and developing new sustainable models of care.

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The Unit also provides practical advice to colleagues hoping to meet stringent carbon reduction targets, and engages with those individuals and organisations looking to change existing attitudes and behaviours and embrace a fully sustainable lifestyle. This is indicative of the SDU’s most ambitious goal - to affect a cultural sea change in which dated thinking is abandoned in favour of innovative new methods.

But what is sustainable development? The SDU identifies the overarching aim of sustainable development as being to ‘meet the needs of today, without compromising the needs of tomorrow’. Stabilising and reducing carbon emissions is key to living within environmental limits. For England’s health system this is no small feat however.

The NHS employs over 1.3 million people alone, all of whom contribute to a sizeable carbon footprint. Indeed, the NHS emits a staggering 21 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year and is the largest public sector contributor to climate change in Europe. The onus is on individuals and organisations alike to mitigate the effects of climate change, which the SDU argues is the most significant heath threat we face this century. The health system therefore has an obligation to become a highly effective public sector exemplar in sustainable development and carbon reduction, and the SDU is instrumental in achieving this.

The Unit is currently supporting the system to become a good corporate citizen by helping it to find the optimum

Adapting to climate change The long-term health impacts of poor air quality - asthma, lung cancer and cardiovascular disease - continue to pose a significant threat in many parts of the country. In addition to taking immediate action, the SDU is also attempting to understand how changes in our climate might effect air quality in the future.

Particulate matter, ambient ground-level ozone, and nitrogen dioxide account for the three most prevalent air pollutants with the greatest population health burden and, while increased airtightness is necessary in the pursuit of energy efficiency, the absence of adequate ventilation may compound risk further. With this in mind, the SDU has assembled a number of responses to help mitigate the effects of air pollution. These include identifying those most vulnerable to harmful exposure the elderly, the very young and those with a pre-existing condition - and increasing awareness for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affair’s daily air quality index and health advice.

the most sustainable NHS trust by 2020. To achieve this, Barts Health is cutting emissions that contribute to poor air quality around various hospital sites and helping atrisk community groups to cope with the negative effects of air pollution.

Ian Basnett, Director for Public Health at Barts NHS Trust, explains: “Within our communities we see widespread prevalence of both health and social inequality.

By actively engaging with our communities and empowering individuals to take action the ‘Barts Health Cleaner air for east London project’ we can start to tackle some of these significant issues, which currently result in a significant number of premature death each year.”

In this sense, Barts Health is a prime example of the SDU’s ideal - a responsible organisation that seeks to minimise its environmental impact on the world around it, while also educating and encouraging health and sustainability in the surrounding community.

“Within our communities we see widespread prevalence of both health and social inequality.”

balance between financial, social and environmental sustainability. This will help save money, improve overall quality and build a resilient healthcare service that is effectively future proofed, without imposing a toll on our natural resources. The Unit is also investigating the potential implications of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on the health and care estate. BIM is currently revolutionising the way key infrastructure is maintained and delivered, and its adoption could increase efficiency across the sector.

Sustainability in the NHS But what of the future? Following the recent Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) in March, the Chair of the Committee, Joan Walley, noted good progress in the sustainable development of the NHS - with specific praise for the SDU’s highlighting of the ‘potential for sustainability improvements with substantial cost and quality co-benefits’.

While a great many challenges remain ahead of 2020, it is clear that the sustainable development of the NHS is a genuine possibility thanks in part to the efforts of the SDU.

The SDU is also working alongside Barts Health NHS Trust in east London to help realise their vision to become

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W ith e nv i ro n m e nt a l s u s t a i n a b i l it y a n d cl i m ate c h a n g e h i g h o n th e G ove r n m e nt ’s a g e n d a , s p r awl i n g o rg a n i s ati o n s s u c h a s th e N H S m u s t c u r b i n e f f i ci e n c y a n d d e c re a s e unnecessar y spending.

UK Construction Excellence spoke with David Pencheon, Director of the Sustainable Development Unit, about the critical importance of a sustainable healthcare system and the often forgotten benefits of responsible infrastructure.

answer ‘I think it will save me money, I think it will help me to remain compliant with the law, I think it will improve the reputation and resilience of the Organisation’, and lastly, it might improve health.

Could you provide our readers with an introduction to the Sustainable Development Unit (SDU)? What would you describe as being the core aims and objectives of the organisation?

Very briefly, the SDU is a policy research and good practice unit whose role is mainly to ensure that the health and care system - that’s the NHS but more widely Public Health England, social care, and the health aspects of local government - are acting today in a way that is compatible with a health and sustainable future.

As far as I’m concerned, the main reason for doing this - and this is true in many sectors but particularly true of health - is that many of the actions that you would undertake to make a system sustainable in the long-term have additional and more immediate benefits as well.

This is not a trade-off. This is not about “Can we afford to do it?” If you do some of these things then you are going to save money, comply with the law, improve health and also make the system sustainable in the long-term. You would do these things even if you weren’t trying to make a sustainable system.

How can sustainable development benefit health care in the UK? There are a number of reasons - they are all interlinked and they can all be used to frame the case for different organisations within the sector. If I was in front of a lot of NHS Chief Executives and I asked them ‘Why do you think sustainable development is important?’ they would probably

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The paradox is that you’ve got commercial companies who are trying really quite hard to square their commercial interests with their long-term, while the health system which has even more to benefit by doing that - is actually doing less. This is somewhat tragic as people often look to the larger parts of the public sector and say ‘If it were that

Is enough being done to raise awareness for the importance of efficient and environmentally responsible infrastructure?

There is always apprehension about any sort of change even if you make a very good case for it being beneficial for everybody. The natural inclination of most human beings is to live with the devil they know rather than to embrace the benefit they don’t. We’re quite happy to sit in traffic jams, breath polluted air and die early because what else can we do? Well, we could actually be doing quite a lot but it involves the C-word - change - which is not to everyone’s liking.

How is the SDU working with the NHS to make it a more sustainable organisation - both environmentally and economically?

Broadly, the first thing we do is raise awareness and measure what avoidable harm we are doing in the health service. Everybody thinks the NHS is a wonderful thing but it does cost a lot, both financially - through we should treat that as an investment rather than a cost - and environmentally. The health and social care services create about a third of all public sector carbon emissions. A lot of that would be avoidable if only we took a little bit of thought and care, and were a bit crafty about how we did it.

The NHS is currently under a considerable amount of strain. How can the Organisation continue to increase efficiency and reduce emissions in the face of rising demand and budget cuts?

It’s difficult in one way, though it does give us a hook in another. People could well turn around and say ‘What is the NHS doing getting involved in sustainable development?

Why don’t they concentrate on treating as many patients as possible and building bigger hospitals?’ In a sense it is politically and publicly acceptable to have more doctors, nurses and buildings but, if you look at the bigger system, we’re actually wasting a lot of money in the way we deliver healthcare. This could be done in a much more sensible way that would save money and, incidentally, would be less environmental impactful as well.

People aren’t primarily interested in environmental sustainability but if it helps to deliver something that they are working towards - such as patient safety or convenience, saving money or reducing carbon taxes - then that’s a way into it.

Do long-term targets - such as the Government’s 80% reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 - provide enough incentive?

The health service is such a creature of the here and now that the 2050 carbon targets aren’t going to engage anyone really. It’s very easy to look towards the future and think on what you would like to do, but if your nose is to the

grindstone and you’re being performance managed then despite what your own personal values might be - you don’t necessarily have the opportunity or the tools to say “Gosh, we’re wasting a lot of money here and we could be doing it a lot better.”

It is a challenge but the good thing is that the values that most people in the health service hold are very compatible with a sustainable future. That’s why they’re in the health service - because there’s a certain amount of compassion and a willingness to be a public servant.

How important is responsible infrastructure when developing a sustainable system?

Buildings are very important because that’s where a lot of healthcare gets done. They’re also quite large consumers of money and energy, and how we design and run them is critical.

I think there are quite a lot of myths in the health system about buildings. One is that they’re expensive to build and cheap to run, when in fact the converse is true - they’re relatively cheap to build and very expensive to run. We have a tradition in the health service of building cheaply and running expensively and it’s that short-sightedness that we have to get away from. I think any sane person would say “Build what you need to build, invest very carefully in it and make it as cheap as possible to run.”

For more information about the SDU please visit www.sduhealth.org.uk

important they would be doing it’. We have an obligation and a responsibility to be acting in a visible way.

Flexibility is possibly a very underrated asset in healthcare buildings also. We’ll build a minor surgery unit for ear, nose and throat surgeons and that is all it can be used for.

If the patterns of disease change or a wonder drug is found, the surgery is no longer required and you’re stuck with a lost asset. Other sectors, such as retail, look at their fixed assets and think about how they can absolutely, positively use them to give as much benefit as possible. The NHS on the other hand is very comfortable having whole buildings left semi-deserted or underutilised, which is just not good commercial sense.

Are there any final thoughts that you would like to share?

David Pencheon If you could wave a magic wand and ask how you could make the NHS environmentally sustainable, it would be by doing less, and how would you do less? You would do less by preventing the preventable diseases that we spend most of our time treating. That is by far the most sustainable thing to do and it’s what we call sustainable models of care.

Everything has a degree of preventability, sometimes almost 100%. The phrase that’s used is to shift care upstream - to stop something happening before it happens.

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REDUCING COSTS, ENHANCING SECURITY A NEW APPROACH TO PROTECTING THE UK’S CONSTRUCTION SITES When it comes to security, there are few types of site as dynamic and varied as construction sites. From acquisition to fit-out and completion, every stage of their lifecycle will involve a new approach to security to accommodate each site’s unique requirements. Flexibility is therefore of paramount importance, for sites of any size.

Naturally, this represents a wide variety of challenges for the security companies tasked with protecting the UK’s construction sites. Environmental factors need to be given serious consideration, as well as human issues such as theft of plant and vandalism. Any loss or damage is certain to hold back a project’s completion, or worse, result in death or injury for which the site owner will be liable.

Consider these statistics: • The UK construction industry typically loses over £1 million per week to theft and vandalism • Individual thefts typically cost around £50,000 in materials, plant and damage

• 1 in 5 construction sites will experience some form of vandalism each week • The cost of delays to projects for materials, re-instalment, extended labour costs, and contract damages clauses regularly extends to six-figure sums Bearing these figures in mind, 24-hour security is absolutely essential for construction sites throughout every stage of their lifecycle.They must be kept secure at all times. Unfortunately, cost is often a prohibitive factor in this regard. Put simply, most project budgets will not extend to having a full-time security presence on-site at all times, especially if the site is going to be undeveloped for an extended period of time.

This is one of the reasons G4S – the world’s leading provider of integrated security solutions – has formed a partnership with VPS – who are responsible for protecting, managing and monitoring Europe's property and construction sites. Our security experts are now working closely with our clients, and VPS, to provide tailored security solutions for a wide variety of

Using technology in this way is not about providing a substitute for the skills of a trained, experienced security officer. It’s about enhancing their abilities through the intelligent application of these new tools.

clients all over the UK and Ireland – solutions that not only provide the standard of security they expect, but also suit their available budgets.

Technology has proved invaluable in this regard, especially in recent years when we have enjoyed a period of rapid growth throughout the whole security industry. New developments in security technology have dramatically enhanced the capabilities of security officers, allowing smaller teams of officers to effectively secure sites of all sizes. For example, the use of VPS’ JCB Smart Tower® CCTV systems provides an economical monitoring solution that frees security officers of the need to provide a 24/7 on-site presence, while still enabling them to monitor and respond quickly to any threat.

delivering considerable cost savings – the best of both worlds.

Furthermore, modern security technology’s versatility means security can easily evolve in parallel with the site as it moves through the different stages of its lifecycle, without incurring any unexpected costs.

These developments have major implications for the construction industry. If current trends persist, the need to sacrifice quality of security for the sake of budget constraints will soon be a thing of the past.

Using technology in this way is not about providing a substitute for the skills of a trained, experienced security officer. It’s about enhancing their abilities through the intelligent application of these new tools. This way, smaller teams are able to effectively monitor sites of all sizes, providing a higher standard of security while still

Tel: 0208 722 2000 www.g4s.com www.vpspecialists.co.uk

Budget 2015: Construction industry reaction.

R I C S , C I O B a n d S A S D a n i e l s of f e r th e i r th o u g ht s o n th e b u d g e t The first all-Conservative budget for 19 years was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, this month, with many measures put in place that directly affect the construction industry.

He said: “We agree with the Chancellor that we are not training, building or investing enough and the apprenticeship levy will help address the skills gap in our industry.”

UK Construction Media has gauged reaction to the measures outlined to see if those involved in the industry believe that they will be of benefit.

The Chancellor also focused on road investment. As RICS has highlighted, the miles of new motorway constructed in the UK compared with France is vastly inferior and as such, a New Roads Fund of £3Bn has been established to pay for investment.

The commitment to apprenticeships is something that was referred to regularly by those reacting to the budget.

George Osborne reiterated the drive to provide more apprenticeships, with a further three million apprenticeships created by 2020 – funded by a levy on large employers.

Furthermore, the firms committed to training will get back more than they put in.

At the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Jeremy Blackburn, Head of Policy, thinks that it is crucial to address the issues associated with skills shortages.

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Again, this is something RICS see as crucial if the Government is serious about devolution and Jeremy Blackburn added: “We know that property is central to productivity but so is mobility.

“Fixing our infrastructure with a new £3Bn roads fund will drive locational investment and fuel Government’s commitment to devolving powers and funding across Britain.”

The Chartered Institute of Builders (CIOB) also spoke of the importance of the apprenticeships plan, and Edward Tuttle,

Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager, said that this commitment is recognition of the “acute skills shortages.”

Elsewhere, others still believe uncertainty needs to be addressed regarding the skills shortage.

He said: “The Government has set itself an ambitious target of delivering three million apprenticeships over the next five years – equivalent to 600,000 new apprenticeships a year.

Roger Allsup is Head of SAS Daniels, the Construction & Engineering Practice and he believes that while supporting apprenticeships is a good thing for the industry, more thought needs to be put into filling the current demand for workers.

“The introduction of a new apprenticeship levy is a big ask for business, but one that recognizes the acute skills shortages industries such as construction will face in the future unless significant investment is made in training.

“If the Government is to deliver on its ambitions, more needs to be done to promote construction as a viable career path.”

Despite this though, the CIOB questioned whether the National Living Wage should have been extended to include apprentices.

“The introduction of the National Living Wage is another promising addition and the CIOB now asks whether the Government should go further and increase the minimum wage for apprentices, which is likely to improve the appeal for individuals considering this route into industry.”

Another measure announced in the budget focuses on the Employment Allowance, which will see an extra £1,000 cut from a business’ national insurance bill.

Starting next April, this will see the Employment Allowance rise from £2,000 to £3,000, resulting in further opportunities to create full-time jobs.

Edward Tuttle said: “The CIOB welcomes the rise in employment allowance to £3,000 which will allow small firms to employ four people on the national living wage without paying any national insurance.”

He said: “We really need more skilled labour in the construction industry now if we are to continue on the same growth trajectory.

“The Chancellor has announced that education and training will be biased towards apprenticeships. This is great for the skilled labour part of the construction industry, but eight years of recession will mean that it will take longer than until 2017 to correct the current skills shortage. He hasn’t tackled where the current demand for a workforce will be fulfilled.

“This means looking for labour from the rest of the EU as the only way to tackle the current skills shortage, driving wages and the cost of investing in new building and infrastructure to go up.”

Roger did, however, also say that the plans laid out in the budget that will see companies get more out than they put in from the levy could result in businesses offering apprentices the living wage.

He added: “If construction and engineering businesses can really get more back than they put in from the apprenticeship levy, apprentices should be attracted to the industry and be offered the living wage.”

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Budget 2015: Construction industry reaction A b u d g e t “ w h i c h b a c k s B r itis h m a n u f a c t u re r s a n d i n d u s tr y.”

Others canvassed by UK Construction Media also added their opinions on apprenticeships.

Many link this to the skills shortage experienced in the industry and whether or not this will alleviate some of these problems.

Charles Egbu, Dean of London South Bank University’s School of Built Environment and Architecture, believes employers should be pleased with the apprenticeships measures and says: “It (apprenticeship target) should also go some way towards addressing some of the issues of skills shortages and skills gaps in the construction sector.”

However, he stresses that quality rather than quantity should be a focus, adding: “It is important that the construction industry plays a significant role (in terms of standard setting, organizational support) in qualitydriven apprenticeships. Employers, professional bodies, and providers need to work closely to make this work.”

The Government used the budget to announce that a new

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National Living Wage will be introduced for over 25s.

Therefore, from next April, it will be £7.20 an hour, rising to £9 by 2020.

Charles believes this should have been extended because it would have been an extra incentive for apprentices.

Meanwhile, he welcomed the Employment Allowance changes, which will see it rise an extra £1,000 next year to £3,000, commenting: “The rise in employment allowance should benefit small construction firms as they could employ four people without paying the national insurance.”

The Construction Products Association (CPA) hailed the budget as one “which backs British manufacturers and industry.”

One of the Government’s policies saw a change to the annual investment allowance announced.

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will help businesses plan their spending on longer-term investments.

The CPA is happy with this measure. Dr Diana Montgomery, Chief Executive of the CPA, spoke of the confidence this will give to the industry.

She said: “This will offer industry confidence in the longterm to invest in new innovative plant and machinery equipment which will impact positively on productivity.”

The budget also saw a commitment to lowering corporation tax announced. The current level is 20% but this will fall to 18% in 2020, which will undoubtedly benefit businesses.

It is something that “pleased” the CPA, and Dr Montgomery feels that the commitment to road infrastructure spending will give the industry a degree of “certainty.”

She said: “The Chancellor’s commitment to the £15Bn road spending plan and his recognition of a long-term road investment programme offers certainty to industry.”

Meanwhile, CH2M’s Regional Managing Director for Europe, Mark Thurston, was encouraged to see the Government show so much commitment to infrastructure spending, something he believes shows that the

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Government know this can “boost economic productivity.”

He said: “It is encouraging to see infrastructure take such a central position in the Government’s first budget of this Parliament.

“With over £40Bn invested in transport infrastructure in the last Parliament and a further £56Bn committed in this, it is clear to see the Government recognizes the benefits renewing old and building new infrastructure can have on boosting the UK’s economic productivity.”

Navigating life’s passages using Project Management

By Michelle LaBrosse, CCPM , PMP ® , PMI -ACP, Chief Cheetah and Founder of Cheetah Learning

As with any project, the more experience the people on the project team had and the better the quality of their tools, the more likely it was we would achieve our goal. The projects that take you through life’s passages are just like navigating the Inside Passage - you might have some of the fundamental skills required, but success ultimately depends on the strengths of your team, how you use those strengths, and the quality of the resources you assemble to achieve your goals.

Keep these four points in mind when navigating the important projects through your life’s passages: 1. Use qualified resources and know their capabilities and limits.

Through one of the rougher passages called Johnston strait, I jotted a note in my navigation book: “put the sailboat on a barge to ship it to Alaska.” I knew that boat was not up for this trip. The boat is too small for big seas. To cruise across Johnson Strait in that small sailboat would require waiting for the weather to be calm. This could be a long wait, as the area has perpetual rough seas.

The same is true for any project. If you have the right tools and the right people (i.e. resources), achieving your project objective is possible. The reality of many projects, though, is that people go into them without doing adequate due diligence of the resources required for the project. BEFORE undertaking a new project. Evaluate what is required by studying how others before you have accomplished what it was they achieved.

2. Time the activity to go with the flow.

There is extensive documentation of tides and tidal currents. So for the Inside Passage trip, going with the flow was a matter of being prepared (yes, this seems a bit of an oxymoron). Yet it’s the same with any project - knowing when to do some activities requires an awareness of the impact of the external environment.

3. Know where the risky passages are and plan your way around them.

There are numerous narrow channels on the Inside Passage that actually have tidal rapids. You can only traverse these during “slack” times - and some of them have slack times of just five minutes four times a day. When looking at the challenges for your projects, it makes sense to plot the path as well to know the best time and way to navigate the most challenging passages.

4. Make mid-course corrections to account for changing conditions.

We anchored one night in a quaint cove that was protected and calm. When we came into the cove at 5 pm, it was relatively calm and at high tide. Since it had been a long travel day, we had planned to have a leisurely breakfast and pull anchor around 10 am. As we were eating a late dinner, the tide was going out and we noticed all the exposed rocks at the inlet. We also heard the weather report of the sea swells starting around 2 pm the next afternoon right when we would be hitting an outside passage. We decided to leave five hours earlier, at 5 am, to avoid any rocks at the inlet and to get through the outside passage in calmer seas. The same things happen on all projects: pay attention to those things that can make your life easier and change your plans accordingly.

www.cheetahcertifiedpm.com

I recently took a class to learn how to navigate the Inside Passage to Alaska. The goal of the class was to get our sailboat, the “David B,” 740 miles from Bellingham, Washington to Ketchikan, Alaska in twelve days. The speed the boat travelled was dependent on the capabilities of all the systems on the boat, the strength of the crew to be at sea, the wind, the tides, the currents of the various channels and passages, and any obstacles or distractions encountered en route.

Learning how to better navigate the projects of your life using your innate strengths and the strengths of those around you can significantly enhance your journey as well. Learn how to chart your unique life path in the way that is best for you. Become a Cheetah Certified Project Manager - learn more at www.cheetahcertifiedpm.com.

About the Author: Michelle LaBrosse, PMP, is an entrepreneurial powerhouse with a penchant for making success easy, fun, and fast.

She is the founder of Cheetah Learning, the author of the Cheetah Success Series, and a prolific blogger whose mission is to bring Project Management to the masses.

Cheetah Learning is a virtual company with 100 employees, contractors, and licensees worldwide. To date, more than 50,000 people have become “Cheetahs” using Cheetah Learning’s innovative Project Management and accelerated learning techniques.

Michelle also developed the Cheetah Certified Project Manager (CCPM) program based on Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality profiling to help students master how to use their unique strengths for learning, doing projects, and negotiating. CCPM graduates are able to choose the right projects and complete those projects “cheetah fast” based on their personality. They also learn how to leverage others’ strengths which significantly improves overall project team performance. When an employer has a cadre of CCPMs on staff, they achieve whatever they set out to achieve in record time. This is why over 90% of Cheetah’s clients experience an increase in both profitability and revenue within the first year of retaining Cheetah Learning for their Project Management training needs.

Michelle LaBrosse

Honoured by the Project Management Institute (PMI®), Cheetah Learning was named Professional Development Provider of the Year at the 2008 PMI® Global Congress.

A dynamic keynote speaker and industry thought leader, Michelle is recognized by PMI as one of the 25 Most Influential Women in Project Management in the world.

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Wellbeing Dynamics For Life at the Sharp End

wellbeingdynamics.com @wellbeingfirst

Wellbeing Dynamics was created by Caroline D’ay, Master Practitioner and Trainer of NLP, Performance Consultant, Business Coach and Content Creator for Talent Dynamics and the Entrepreneurs Institute.

Over the past 25 years Caroline has seen many business improvement tools, techniques and theories come and go.

We asked her which one, in her opinion works?

Without hesitation, the answer came: TRUST. WE’RE IN CONSTRUCTION – WHAT’S TRUST GOT TO DO WITH US? Managers in the Construction Industry have to maintain authority when facing challenging situations; from dealing with conflict on-site and the pressure of late running projects to the on-going demands of the job. Truly, they work at the Sharp End! (And we have great courses to help them.)

But whilst the Construction Industry appears to be booming, it would also seem to be undergoing a crisis of trust that is affecting the perception of both industry workers and consumers. Many now have an expectation of spurious delivery, late running projects and poor quality control; all of which are symptoms of a lack of trust.

WHAT IS TRUST AND WHY IS IT IMPORTANT? Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something and all of us trust to a greater or lesser degree depending on the context. Indeed, trust underpins and affects the quality of our every waking moment; our relationships, our communication, every effort in which we are engaged.

When Trust is consistently high productivity speeds up, people feel more empowered and make better decisions.

Accuracy levels increase. Quality increases. Absence decreases. Staff

turnover decreases. People enjoy their work and feel more connected to the organisation and team. Consequently, the organisation performs at a much higher level, consistently. Clients are more trusting and complaints become a thing of the past.

successful and, in some cases, out-performing their competitors by as much as 10 times.

HOW IS TRUST CREATED? It is said that the easiest way to create trust is to just ‘do what you said you were going to do’. But we believe that Corporate Trust in particular relies on 3 things..

To start reaping the benefits of trust in your own organisation, visit our website: www.wellbeingdynamics.com or call us on 020 8213 5898

1. HOW CONNECTED YOUR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS ARE: the degree to which clients experience that their main contact is both in tune with and available for them.

But the biggest benefit is that in a trusting environment, everybody at the Sharp End can and does deliver of their best.

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2. HOW CREDIBLE THEY ARE: the degree to which clients experience that their main contact has the authority and the strength of character to take action if required.

3. HOW CONSISTENT THEY ARE: the degree to which clients experience that their main contact maintains a consistent standard of personal and professional behaviour.

Sometimes events conspire and Trust can be lost but the good news is that it can always be repaired. By far the fastest way is by re-establishing Connection, reaffirming Credibility and being Consistent in all interactions with the client.

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST BENEFITS OF TRUST? In the Construction Industry, the most trusted companies today are the most

The UK Trust Awards is a celebration of the most trusted, respected and loved businesses in the UK as voted for by the public and Wellbeing Dynamics is on a mission to find the most trusted construction companies in the UK. Nominate your business now at wellbeingdynamics.com

Building a lasting legacy of learning - how Shepherd led the redevelopment and restoration of Liverpool Central Library and Archive Voted the best attraction in Liverpool by TripAdvisor users in 2014 and with a consistent five-star rating, the multiple award-winning Liverpool Central Library and Archive was redeveloped and restored by the engineering and construction teams at leading built environment specialist, Shepherd. The result is a world-class example of what can be achieved when you marry the ‘old’ with the ‘new’ in a live city centre environment.

The £50M project involved the refurbishment of this 12,583sq m Grade ll listed building as well as a new build section to bring the library into the 21st Century for the estimated one million people who visit it every year.

The pressing challenge for Shepherd’s expert teams was striking the right balance between the restoration, renovation and new build elements of the project while

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working within restricted site space on a conservation area and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In an innovative move designed to help protect the original features of the building and significantly reduce the project’s carbon footprint, more than 60% of the mechanical and electrical (M&E) components used on the scheme were manufactured away from the historic building, at Shepherd’s pioneering prefabrication and off-site manufacturing facility, Shepherd PRISM. The redevelopment also included significant demolition to sections that were previously affected by World War II bomb damage. This technically complex work involved retaining the existing facade while carefully separating the side walls from the adjoining buildings. Given that the World Museum Liverpool and the Walker Art Gallery

are the library’s neighbours with priceless artefacts and paintings just metres away, Shepherd’s construction and engineering services teams had to work with optimum care and precision throughout.

The end result is a contemporary space that both complements the existing architecture and achieves the library’s vision to attract future generations.

Upon entering the building, visitors are first struck by the newly built grand entrance to the library which provides exceptional design and style features to entice the general public.

The library itself hosts a number of facilities including a unique space for children to discover 15,000 rare books in the Hornby Library and Oak Room, the magnificent Picton Reading Room, Wi-Fi access throughout the building, 150 computers and iPads, an archive repository meeting exacting national standards, a ground floor cafe and spectacular views from the roof terrace.

Duncan Edwards, Senior Build Manager at Shepherd, said: “Successfully delivering the redevelopment of this iconic public building in Liverpool city centre was a real achievement for our team. We worked closely with Liverpool City Council to ensure our collaborative vision was achieved and are immensely proud to have contributed to the city’s legacy of learning.

“The confined city-centre location presented a unique challenge and our industry-leading PRISM off-site manufacturing facility enabled us to offer the most effective solution and avoid the cost and time implications of traditional on-site manufacturing methods.

“As a business, we are always considering ways to improve our working practices and strive to provide clients with workable, smart solutions to any on-site challenge.”

John Keane, Divisional Manager for Libraries at Liverpool City Council, said: “The redevelopment and restoration have combined to make a stunning and unique blend of new and old of the very highest quality, which has been admired and enjoyed by thousands of visitors of all ages and interests.

“It is once again a jewel in the crown of the city of Liverpool and one of the best libraries and archives in the world.”

Following successful delivery of the project on time and on budget, the library was re-opened to the public by HRH The Earl of Wessex. It has since achieved a BREEAM rating of ‘Very Good’ and won numerous awards from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) to name a few.

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BAFE – HELPING YOU TO MEET YOUR FIRE PROTECTION OBLIGATIONS Current fire protection legislation across the UK requires property managers of all non-domestic residential premises to have adequate fire protection. It is their responsibility to ensure that there is an adequate, updated fire risk assessment and that all aspects of the requirements are carried out competently. This is not only to ensure that tenants, staff and premises are adequately protected, but also to minimise the risk of costly unwanted false alarms.

A competent fire risk assessment is one of the basic requirements for any landlord. The most recent CFOA guidance for the Reduction of False Alarms and Unwanted Fire Signals highlights some of the solutions to this problem, amongst which is the use of third party certificated providers of fire protection services: www.bafe.org.uk/uploads/DOC53C531E465792.pdf. There is now significant evidence that the Fire and Rescue Services are taking action against both property owners and fire risk assessors if the assessment is not adequate. The first prosecutions have recently been successful in Court.

To demonstrate that the responsible person (duty holder in Scotland) has met their legal obligations a large number of public authorities and commercial organisations large and small, now insist that their fire protection services are carried out by a company that has been third party certificated. Many now specify that providers are BAFE registered.

You can find out if your potential provider is third party certificated, by looking on the BAFE website: www.bafe.org.uk/companies.php BAFE is the independent third party certification, registration body for the fire protection industry. We develop schemes for UKAS accredited certification bodies to assess and approve companies to recognised standards. There are now more than 1200 BAFE registered companies across the UK. Our aim is to support property managers to ensure that they get quality fire protection for their premises, staff and service users.

In 2012 BAFE launched the first UKAS accredited, independent scheme for Companies who carry out Fire Risk Assessments (SP205) which is a vital part of meeting obligations under fire legislation. The scheme considers the competence of the individual assessors as well as the

quality management procedures for the organisation. Each assessment must be approved by an authorised signatory within the organisation, but the scheme has been designed to ensure that competent SMEs are able to register. There are a growing number of companies registering to the scheme, throughout the UK and increasing recognition that an independent measure of competence is a vital requirement.

If you are looking for the supply and maintenance of portable extinguishers, look for one of the 330 Companies accredited to BAFE Schemes SP101/ST104. Companies are certificated to ISO9001 and all of their technicians are assessed by BAFE for initial and ongoing competence. There are currently more than 1250 BAFE registered technicians, working for our registered companies.

For fire alarm systems Companies should hold BAFE modular SP203-1 scheme approval. This scheme includes design, installation, commissioning and maintenance of automatic fire detection systems and also requires that all equipment used is third party certificated. The scheme now has over 770 registered companies. Registration to this BAFE scheme is often a key requirement criteria in tenders for the provision of fire alarms for both specifiers and end users.

Our Emergency Lighting scheme (SP203-4) sets out the standards and staff competence criteria to be met. It is modular, as with the fire alarm scheme, and is achieving growing recognition from end users. In buildings with multiple occupancy this aspect is often overlooked, especially when the original systems were installed during the building of the premises and the internal layout has been changed subsequently.

There are a range of other BAFE schemes covering particular sectors of the fire protection industry and details can be found on the BAFE website, along with a complete search facility to find registered companies in your area.

So if you want to be sure you are getting your fire protection from companies who are properly and regularly assessed look for more information at: Website: www.bafe.org.uk Email: info@bafe.org.uk

Don’t gamble with FIRE

INFO@BAFE.ORG.UK

WWW.BAFE.ORG.UK

What stops us Acting and Engaging with Renewable Energy?

W h at d o we k n ow a b o u t R e n ewa b l e E n e rg y ?

Ask anyone today and they will have an understanding of the impact on society and our reliance on fossil fuels for our energy needs.

We also know the carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels is having an effect on the climate and is leading to global warming. And we’ll know it has consequences now, and for future generations.

Or maybe you think this is hype to get everybody to buy into renewables because Government and Business is using big stick techniques to bully us into renewables?

Why would they do that?

Because that’s what they always do. And because even if they thought about it, they don’t know how to engage with their own managers, leaders or implementers.

But then the question is so what? Is it all about fossil fuels?

Do we really believe what we’re told? What can Mr and Mrs Public do about it?

In reality, apart from lobbying, driving the car less and recycling or moving to ‘green ‘ energy providers we can do very little. Like all things Global, it’s down to Governments to act.

Without going into the failures of the past, the UK government now has a legally binding target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050.

Meeting the Targets – does money talk?

To meet this target it has introduced various financial incentives for homes and businesses to switch to renewable energy technologies, thereby reducing carbon emissions.

These incentives take the form of the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) and the Feed in Tariff (FIT).

Solar power is a clear winner in the switch to renewables because the price of installation has fallen substantially over the last decade. More and more households in the UK are installing solar panels and enjoying the benefits of lower energy bills. In fact it is believed that 10 million homes in the UK will have solar panels by 2020.

The added financial motivator to switch is the fear of being open to the raising of prices, by big energy companies as recent history….?

By switching to these new energy sources, consumers are given more control over their future, less exposed to cost

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fluctuations and save money on ‘lower’ prices. What more can you want?

Of course at the moment we’re also living in a dream world of 50% lower oil prices than a year ago and we’ve seen about a 33% reduction in petrol and diesel prices. And today that affects us as of now, with more money left in our pocket. So we know the value of money. But if it were money as the only drive, wouldn’t we have all switched to renewables by now?

What’s the reality?

In the last few years £millions has been spent on an awareness campaign focused on consumer choice and the opportunity we all have to switch energy provider and reduce household energy costs. How many households have switched to a cheaper provider? In reality very few.

What does Google Say? Why Google? Because it’s where we seem to think the authority is on everything. It’s on a website, in print so it must be true - really? Many people ‘google it’ and find 1 article on the first page of 200 million hits and believe what we read – perhaps because we don’t have enough time to do much else – we’re all too busy.

The two scientists responsible for Google’s failed attempt to launch a renewable energy revolution have written an article explaining what, according to them, went wrong with their project. They have come to the conclusion that fighting climate change with today’s renewable energy technologies won’t work – but they present no evidence for it, writes Energy Post editor Karel Beckman.

Critics of renewable energy are having a field day in the blogosphere. It has now been proven beyond doubt, they cry, that “renewables simply won’t work”. Why not? Well, because Google says so.

Breaking the myths... reality check again!

People need to understand how renewable energy can be beneficial to their wallet, and to the environment.

Advising them specifically on their business, allows them an understanding of the financial benefits, from their own point of view. This almost always creates a sizeable shift in perception, as it is usually far more beneficial than they had been led to believe.

By teaching and sharing knowledge about the current developments on this area people will start learning the truth behind these technologies, and will stop using myths like “solar energy doesn’t work during winter” or “Wind turbines kill birds.

Facts from the Bigger Picture – Sustainability In the recent Accenture and UN Global Compact survey 93% of CEOs view sustainability as important for the future success of their business.

Although many organisations have built their strategic approach to sustainability, they are struggling to achieve full management and employee engagement in the agenda.

They are therefore yet to see the results – if they ever will.

Research proves that the successful organisations are those who engage the hearts and minds of their people, and who demonstrate positive beliefs, attitudes and behaviours to drive business results. These organisations are also more innovative and take advantage of opportunities – in effect they are the early adopters, winning all the way!

They also acknowledged early on, that implementing a successful sustainability strategy requires achieving a mind shift – maybe a paradigm shift - at an executive and operational level within the organisation. Developing positive leadership and ‘Can do’ attitudes helps organisations achieve outstanding results and outperform their competitors.

Engaging Hearts and Minds There’s lots written and known about the value of an engaged workforce. But if it were common place the results would be much better – Gallup’s 2013 survey shows similar engagement levels to previous years and at 17% of the workforce it’s nothing to be proud of. Imagine what a 1% increase would mean? That’s 1/17th increase or 6% improvement overall – is that worth looking at?

With our experience and results we’d agree with Accenture’s findings – because it’s great leaders that get great results as they find the solution to engage each individual in their team.

Great leaders have the right mind-set, and as Warren Bennis said: “Managers are people who do things right and leaders are people who do the right thing. Both roles are crucial, and they differ profoundly.”

But today we seem to have too many managers and too few leaders. So the balance is way out! We need both and effectively applied to every context so we get the best answer.

Who are your great leaders? History proves that developing great leaders is not easy.

and that of your business about how your attitudes and behaviours and that of your people, impact on everyone’s ability to perform to their optimum, lead and engage, work in teams, and ultimately improve performance. So we not only assist you in understanding and incorporating renewables we also can ensure that you and your company have the following; • 16% Increased profit • 18% Productivity increase • 60% Reduction in quality defects • 12% Customer satisfaction improved • 37% less absenteeism • 25% Reduction in staff turnover We do not assume that we know your issues and that we have the solutions that you need before we start to work with you and your organisation. We work in partnership with you our client so that the input activities that you choose to change are relevant to you and your business.

So what next?

The choices are all yours: • You can continue on your own path and engage in renewables • Use traditional training and coaching methods to improve your engagement • Free yourself, your people. your business from those blocking behaviours, outperform your expectations enhance and expand renewables at the same time as growing your business If you choose to reduce the negative attitudes and behaviours blocking your success, then we’d be pleased to help.

But whatever you do, make it a conscious choice on your business and on renewables in general, including water reuse, which is also a renewable!

A combination of renewable energy technologies including PV, Eco Grady, multi-source and air source heat pumps and smart controls will eliminate or greatly reduce fuel poverty For example a typical home PV system can produce around 40% of the electricity a household uses in a year, greatly Read more on page 54

But leaders aren’t just born, as many still believe, leaders are made. So how do you make them? Again all the evidence and research shows training and coaching, the traditional approaches don’t work – only 10% might be converted into workplace improvement.

What about an alternative?

The recent “Good to Great” by McKinsey report referred to case studies and rigorous academic research that shows if you want to create and spread excellence, eliminating the negative is the first order of business. How you do that, McKinsey leave it to you to fathom out.

At DJO Eco we identify negative activities through the term ‘Behavioural Waste’ and the experience of being trapped or ignoring gaps between beliefs and reality generates much of that. The Mind Fit process further raises your awareness

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reducing electricity costs. (Based on a 2.8kW system). How would that impact on your business?

Don’t forget – you even get paid for the energy you use Using the sun to generate energy can save you, our client money on utility bills, and the client can take advantage of the Feed-in-Tariff, so the client will be able to cut their energy bills and get paid for doing so. Solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels are widely regarded to be the renewable energy of choice across the globe. 12% of everyone’s electricity bill goes towards paying for green energy initiatives, why not get paid for part in the generation of clean power?

EcoGrady: is a low power, energy saving, electrical heating system developed specifically for water tank heating applications, which is patented and has accreditations for use in most countries around the world.

Singular, Modular, Multiple?

One System – Every Application This cost effective integrated revolutionary product is simple in design and ideally lends itself to retro-fit applications to an existing hot water cylinder as well as integration within manufactured hot water cylinders or thermal stores.

The EcoGrady system consists of a dual configuration 24V 130W insulated self-adhesive heater pad using a revolutionary flexible polymer.

This has a built in thermostatic controls and is operated either by the supplied safe low voltage plug-in power unit.

In addition a renewable energy source such as a solar PV array or wind generator can also be linked.

The simple plug in design with built in thermostatic controls and safe low voltage operation lends itself to quick and easy expansion of the system, desirable if the system is to be generally powered by an off grid renewable power source such as solar PV or wind power. EcoGrady can safely operate up to 50V AC or DC and can be operated directly with Solar PV or Wind generated electricity.

Without the need for an inverter or voltage regulator and can comfortably utilise the power generated by such a system to generate free hot water with a lower installation cost.”

An automatic control unit can be used with this simple in line unit which can automatically switch from transformed mains power to solar or wind power when sufficient electricity is being generated from renewable sources.

This in conjunction with battery technology, will mean that you can heat and light your building for 24 hours per day 7 days per week.

Vertical Turbines Will generate energy at a lower price than the retail mix in a number of major markets in both the developed and developing world, in comparison to comparablysized conventional wind turbines then vertical turbines reach efficiencies of up to 38% which are unprecedented generating efficiencies from a Vertical-Axis Wind Turbine Significantly greater tolerance of high and complex wind

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conditions, lengthy operational lifetime due to much lower rotational speeds, leading to lower OPEX and fewer maintenance requirements, the design leads to lower foundation, transport and installation costs, and a far longer operational life.

A smaller carbon footprint, as well as less environmental impact due to lower height, slower rotational speeds and less noise, the simplicity of construction requires less sophisticated manufacturing and the lighter weight and smaller component sizes enable access to sites deemed too difficult for conventional turbines to be deployed.

Earth Remediation Originally developed for the treatment and cleaning of oily drilled cuttings, the system is now well suited to provide a method of remediation on a range of contaminated solids, e.g. sands, soils, sludge’s, and to integrate into other remediation technologies including water treatment benefits are modular and portable, on site treatment hence no transportation of contaminated materials and a massive reduction in fuel costs, lower operating costs and a scalable process with in house laboratory facilities.

Ceramic Filtration New ceramic membranes for water filtration and purification for use in industrial wastewater treatment processes will help industrial operations to be more environmentally friendly and efficient. The reliability of the ceramic membranes enable businesses to reduce maintenance and energy usage and make associated cost savings.

Traditionally polymer or ceramic tubular membranes are currently used to clean and conserve water in industrial wastewater applications. However, polymer systems need replacing regularly, especially if not tailored to the application, and ceramic tubular membranes need high water flow rates to operate effectively. The ceramic is robust and gives high performance where high temperatures and aggressive cleaning chemicals are prevalent. The filters can withstand the harsh environments found in wastewater treatments and as a result, they are long-lasting and do not need replacing as often as plastic alternatives. They do not need the high flow rate required for current ceramic tubular membranes, saving energy and costs associated with pumping water at lower flow rates.

The porous ceramic membrane systems are ideal for use in ultrafiltration applications that collect bacteria and purify industrial wastewater allowing it to be reused in the plant or safely discharged into the environment.

Capacitive Recovery System This is a process used for the removal of contaminants from drinking water by removing both nitrates and ammonia this process is part of electricity based desalination process and it removes anions and cations.

The process has a much higher water recovery than Reverse Osmosis ie it is up to 90 % more efficient.

Pure Water This is a practical solution for short or long term clean water supply, is easily transportable, fully automated, can be remotely monitored and controlled, has a low capex and conforms to HSE requirements as well as exceeding and

or meeting DWI (Drinking Water Institute) and WHO (World Health Organisation) standards, has very low energy usage, does not use reverse osmosis or traditional chlorine generators. The treated water is microbiologically safe to drink and with no detectable presence of coliforms ( including E Coli) Clostridia Perfringens or Enterococci, its sterilising and disinfectant qualities means that system is kept clean and prolongs storage life of treated water.

Anaerobic Digestion Anaerobic digestion is widely used as a source of renewable energy. The process produces a biogas, consisting of methane, carbon dioxide and traces of other ‘contaminant’ gases this biogas can be used directly as fuel, in combined heat and power gas engines or upgraded to natural gasquality biomethane. The nutrient-rich digestate also produced can be used as fertilizer.

Anaerobic digestion is a collection of processes by which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. The process is used for industrial or domestic purposes to manage waste and/or to produce fuels. Much of the fermentation used industrially to produce food and drink products, as well as home fermentation, uses anaerobic digestion.

Anaerobic digestion occurs naturally in some soils and in lake and oceanic basin sediments, where it is usually referred to as “anaerobic activity. This is the source of marsh gas methane as discovered by Volta in 1776 The digestion process begins with bacterial hydrolysis of the input materials. Insoluble organic polymers, such as carbohydrates, are broken down to soluble derivatives that become available for other bacteria. Acidogenic bacteria then convert the sugars and amino acids into carbon dioxide, hydrogen, ammonia, and organic acids. (See profile’s later in document).

These bacteria convert these resulting organic acids into acetic acid, along with additional ammonia, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide. Finally, methanogens convert these products to methane and carbon dioxide the methanogenic archaea populations play an indispensable role in anaerobic wastewater treatments.

It is used as part of the process to treat biodegradable waste and sewage sludge. As part of an integrated waste management system, anaerobic digestion reduces the emission of landfill gas into the atmosphere. Anaerobic digesters can also be fed with purpose-grown energy crops, such as maize.

With the re-use of waste as a resource and new technological approaches which have lowered capital costs, anaerobic digestion has in recent years received increased attention in the United Kingdom.

The most important initial issue when considering the application of anaerobic digestion systems is the feedstock to the process. Almost any organic material can be processed with anaerobic digestion however, if biogas production is the aim, the level of putrescibility is the key factor in its successful application the more putrescible (digestible) the material, the higher the gas yields possible from the system.

Listed below are feedstock’s that can be commonly used in anaerobic digesters: • Livestock manures • Waste feed • Food-processing wastes • Slaughterhouse wastes • Farm mortality • Corn silage (energy crop) • Ethanol stillage • Glycerine as the product from biodiesel production • Milk house wash water • Fresh produce wastes • Industrial wastes • Food cafeteria wastes • Sewage sludge Biomass Biomass is biological material originating from living, or recently living organisms. Biomass for energy is generally from plant material, but biomass can also be from animal waste.

What is the difference between Biomass and fossil fuels?

Biomass is the matter from plants that have taken carbon out of the air as carbon dioxide in recent times. This is then burnt and displaced back into the atmosphere, as it was before.

By burning the fuel we are displacing less carbon than if the wood were to rot on the floor. Also if a tree is planted every time a tree is felled the younger tree takes out approximately twice the amount of carbon dioxide as the older tree in its attempt to grow. Renewables in action?

Also, biomass is not only trees, it is also plants, this means that waste products such as rape seed straw, (which is generally put back on the floor), can be burned.

It can also include municipal consumer waste, construction and demolition woods, animal waste.

Coal, Oil and Gas were originally biological material (plants), but the carbon these plants took out of the atmosphere is from millions of years ago, therefore by burning this we are adding more carbon monoxide to the atmosphere and increasing the greenhouse effect.

In conclusion, the difference between biomass and fossil fuels is that biomass is carbon that has recently been taken from the atmosphere, and uses a waste product such as windblown timber and brash from trees.

If biomass fuels are grown on a professional scale, the operation forms a continuous cycle as the fuel, whether it is Short Rotation Coppice, Straw, Miscanthus, Coppice Woodland or Forest’s, biomass is a renewable energy.

Fossil fuels on the other hand are plants from millions of years ago, therefore when burnt they are releasing carbon that has not been in the atmosphere for millions of years and add to the greenhouse effect. Also fossil fuels are not a renewable energy, so therefore will one day run out.

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THE PROBLEMS CAUSED BY JAPANESE KNOTWEED AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM In the last few years leading experts within the Japanese Knotweed industry working closely with the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, major lenders, building societies, the Property Care Association, insurance underwriters and more recently revised Government regulations have combined to both resolve and assist private and public land owners with solutions to Japanese Knotweed infestations.

The outcome has been the adoption of advice from the RICS which in turn removes the risk identified by lenders and by the Property Care Association Invasive Weed Group members who now have access to 10 year insured treatment polices. This has been followed by Home Office guidance designed to enforce control and to protect property owners from infestation spread from adjoining land i.e. more specific legislation. The guidance explains how Council officers or police can use community protection notices to “stop of prevent” people allowing growth of Japanese Knotweed if it is causing problems. It is important to understand that the public sector are not exempt from this guidance and local government and public sector land has the same obligations as private.

Individuals who ignore control orders will have committed a criminal offence and can be fined up to £2,500.00, organisations could be fined up to £20,000.00.

We hope that this will lead to improved collaboration between neighbours, local authorities and miscellaneous land owners where cross boundary issues have historically been difficult to resolve.

Composite treatment programmes between all parties is the sensible way forward.

What would we recommend? The first and obvious question is “Do we need to control or do we prefer to eradicate?”

There is no singular solution to the problem, it is always dependent upon individual circumstances, usually dictated by other constraints from an infestation in a domestic garden through to a redevelopment programme which requires more immediate actions for the sale of land or a redevelopment proposal with a strict timetable for construction implementation.

In the last twelve months we have dealt with a small single stand in a front garden through to a major infestation on a multimillion superstore retail development.

Experts within the Japanese Knotweed industry such as ourselves will be compliant with adopted code of practice and can offer options for eradication.

What you need to be looking for should include: • Expert site assessment.

• A follow up report and proposal in the form of a Japanese Knotweed management plan.

• The plan should include consideration of the options and an explanation as to how the recommended action was arrived at.

• The plan should include or be accompanied by costs or a programme of costs.

• If relevant to circumstances you should be offered an appropriate warranty for the work and the option of an insured guarantee.

• If you accept the Japanese Knotweed management plan and associated costs you should be offered a contract to agree the works with the Japanese Knotweed specialist.

Remember, if you want to know more or simply seek advice then your contact will always be welcomed.

Assuming the answer is to eradicate then as with most things seek professional advice but choose wisely.

Guide to Japanese Knotweed: If you would like a free copy of our Guide to Japanese Knotweed please email michael@i-v-m.co.uk to request one.

If you choose control then compare the cost of continuous control without defined outcome with the induction of professional expertise and peace of mind for at least 10 years.

Michael Alderwick Director IVM

LEADING THE WAY IN JAPANESE KNOTWEED ERADICATION THROUGHOUT ENGLAND AND WALES All IVM’s techniques for vegetation control have been developed with the environment at the forefront of thoughts

MIDLAND OFFICE: Hilltop, 11 Ley Rise,Sedgley, West Midlands DY3 3EU T: 01902 650 094 M: 07843 017 974 E: kevin@i-v-m.co.uk

SOMERSET OFFICE: Hillcombe House, 8 West Street, Ilminster, Somerset TA19 9AB M: 07889 634 237 E: michael.wiehahn@i-v-m.co.uk

CAMBRIDGE OFFICE: 118 Greenhaze Lane, Great Cambourne, Cambridge CB23 5BH T: 01954 710 853 M: 07977 134 723 E: patrick@i-v-m.co.uk

HEAD OFFICE: 77 High Street, Coleshill, Birmingham B46 3AG T: 0121 366 8916 M: 07836 321 219 E: michael@i-v-m.co.uk

www.knotweed-uk.com

Property Care Association P ro m oti n g s k i l l s a n d g o o d p r a c ti c e Japanese Knotweed causes huge problems for the UK property market as it puts down deep roots, affecting the foundations of buildings and invading drains.

But the Property Care Association (PCA) insists there’s a straightforward approach to tackling the problem and in a film - available to view at http://bit.ly/1cUWSie - the Organisation dispels some of the myths surrounding what has become a major issue.

Entitled ‘Dealing with Japanese Knotweed Effectively’, the film reveals how the PCA can help consumers to reach professional treatment companies - offering assurance, standardisation and certainty in tackling the problem.

Steve Hodgson, Chief Executive of the PCA, said: “Japanese Knotweed has been in the news a lot recently as it has caused big problems within the UK property sector.

“It’s a very fast growing and very vigorous plant that has even caused problems to buyers trying to obtain mortgages and people seem to be running scared.

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The PCA is an established organisation that has built a strong reputation over decades by promoting good practice.

It represents building preservation specialists who help consumers deal with a range of building defects.

The Association is also a member of Trustmark, the Government-backed scheme which aims to help consumers find reliable and trustworthy tradesmen when making improvements or repairs to their homes.

In recent years, the PCA has worked with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors - supported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and The Building Societies Association - together with Japanese Knotweed control companies to develop the Invasive Weed Control Group.

The trade body, noted for its technical expertise, has also developed a code of practice and an industry-recognised training programme for its professional members and those interested in the biology and control of the plant.

“But the problem can be dealt with just like so many other household problems and there is a recognised framework to tackle it.

Mr Hodgson said: “The control of Japanese Knotweed has attracted a string of rogue traders claiming they’re able to eradicate problems in a short space of time and for very little money.

“People affected by the plant just need to make sure they get the right people doing the right diagnostic investigation and producing the right specifications for treatment.”

“But the PCA’s Invasive Weed Group has been created to uphold standards and make sure clients get the correct outcomes.

Education remains the deciding factor when combating Japanese Knotweed effectively - a consideration that the PCA fully understands. The Association, which provides courses and qualifications for the control and eradication of Japanese Knotweed, is launching a new training programme geared specifically towards local authority professionals looking to broaden their knowledge of issues surrounding invasive plants.

Of the programme Mr Hodgson commented: “Japanese knotweed is just a plant and we are taking all steps necessary to ‘normalise’ it, so it is viewed generally as any other type of property problem, in that it can be identified and treated, with minimal impact.

“Our comprehensive training programme already operates different courses, at technician and surveyor level, and this latest course is a further step in achieving this objective.”

The course follows a recent announcement from the Home Office that it has reformed anti-social powers to introduce Community Protection Notices. These may be used to deal with Japanese Knotweed and other nonnative invasive species.

The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 could see fines of up to £20,000 imposed on companies failing to address the issue. Individuals would also be compelled to comply or face a fine of up to £2,500.

In order to remain flexible, the new powers do not explicitly reference Japanese Knotweed or any other non-native

plants. Local authorities are now able to issue a Community Protection Notice if a person or organisation’s conduct is deemed unreasonable or having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in the locality.

Officials and environmental pest control services are also able to enter private property without permission if that land is deemed to contain Japanese Knotweed or any other potential threats.

The revised legislation has been welcomed by many longstanding campaigners frustrated by the environmental havoc and financial burden caused.

The potential cost of eradicating Japanese Knotweed in Britain is estimated to be in excess of £1.25Bn. Previously a staggering £70M was spent clearing the invasive species from a ten acre London 2012 site.

Mr Hodgson added: “The recent Home Office Guidance that could be applied to Japanese knotweed means there is a requirement for those in local authorities to be able to correctly identify Japanese knotweed and also to identify workable strategies for its control and eradication.

“As a result we are offering this short course to council officers, who need to understand the technical problems and solutions to dealing with Japanese knotweed, as part of their updated duties.

For more information on the effective control and eradication of Japanese Knotweed or the training and qualifications available, please visit the PCA website - www.property-care.org

“Members have been audited and meet the necessary standards to gain admission to the Association.”

“The training will include modules on the identification of Japanese knotweed, setting and defining community trigger points and an outline of suitable control and eradication strategies.”

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Are you a home owner or potential buyer/seller with mortgage on hold due to knotweed?

We are a PCA accredited contractor for invasive weeds We provide package for mortgage funding for most situations very promptly Call and give us some info and we will give you a cost guide or a quote for all you need; from knotweed management to the complete removal, we can help

The myths of Japanese Knotweed ; Most of us have seen the Hype!

Triffid The truth is that Japanese Knotweed obeys the laws of science and creation not science fiction. It must have water and nutrients and must open leaf and carry out photosynthesis to survive and grow.

Spreads like wildfire The impressive upward spring growth of Japanese Knotweed, 0-3 meters high in 6 weeks is supported by a large mass of below ground rhizome that has probably taken 20-50 Years or more to form. Rapid spread over large area is almost always man made by movement of material containing knotweed. It is 3 meters deep and more on occasions.

Can regenerate from a .7 of a gram of material Amazing? Not really. Millions of new ornamental plants are commercially produced each year by micro propagation from very small sections of plants of far less vigour than Japanese Knotweed.

Grows through Concrete It does not grow through concrete! It does grow through existing fractures or voids in concrete and will if ignored for years, cause heave and add to fractures.

Knowledge from Experience With experience in Japanese Knotweed removal and treatments going back to 1982, Elcot Environmental have been providing specialist Japanese Knotweed management services since the mid 90's to clients including the Welsh Development Agency, local Authorities, and major developers; Elcot Environmental is the company many contractors use time and time again.

When you appoint Elcot Environmental as your Contractor Whether you are a major Contractor, we..

Are a "Contractors Contractor" Talk your language Want to work for you again Are a culture and system driven company Will deal with the Knotweed removal Provide robust warranties for your end client with paid up front insurance backing

Contact Us. 01793 700100 enquiries@elcotenviro.com

The Industrial Strategy 2025 sets out a vision of an industry that is innovative and technologically advanced including the concept of a Digital Built Britain

Exclusive interview: David Philp, BIM Task Group David Philp, MSC, BSC, FCIOB, FRICS, FICES, FGBC, is Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group and has spent time as Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office.

The Cabinet Offices’ BIM requirements are delivered through the Task Group and David is responsible for this.

This Group is the driving force in supporting and delivering the objectives of the Government Construction Strategy and the requirements to strengthen the public sector’s capability in BIM implementation.

David Philp spoke with UK Construction Excellence about his own journey and how BIM’s importance is continuing to grow.

Please could you give us some background as to your own career and what attracted you towards BIM? I graduated in the early 90s (engineering and project management) and then joined a leading infrastructure organisation (Balfour Beatty) as a graduate engineer. I advanced through the Company, becoming Director of Technical Services and BIM Programme Director before leaving to join Mace as Head of BIM. I am also a Professor at Glasgow Caledonian University and visiting Professor at Middlesex University.

In 2011, I was seconded into the Cabinet Office’s construction team as Head of BIM Implementation for the Government’s Construction Strategy. I have continued this secondment with the BIM Task Group core BIM team (Head of BIM).

I have always enjoyed highlighting the potential of new technologies and how we interact with them to bring added value to the client and unlock new ways of working throughout the entire life-cycle. I am passionate about our industry and perceived BIM as being a catalyst for reform and rebranding as a technologically advanced sector. I was however initially attracted to BIM as an enabler of more integrated and concurrent working practices.

At what point in your career did you see BIM becoming as influential in the industry as it is and what steps did you take to make sure the companies you worked for got involved within this?

It was in the noughties that BIM caught my interest though perhaps in a different guise than we recognise it today. I was lucky to be steered by some great folks such as Andrew Wolstenholme (CEO, Crossrail) and John Tocci (Tocci CEO) who showed me a vision of a more integrated industry powered by digital data.

Whilst BIM has been about for many years it was 2011 and the publication of the Government Construction Strategy that we really saw a tipping point in motion with clients looking to leverage the benefits of computer readable data.

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I think at this point we started to herald the beginnings of digitised construction sector.

Tell us a little bit more about BIM and how it would typically be better for projects than more traditional methods?

BIM has many definitions but essentially it is about the creation and management of digital data in our built environment, it allows the virtual production, analysis, evaluation and optimal development of an asset in a digital environment that mimics the understanding and behaviour of the solution to the realisation of that solution in reality.

Level 2 BIM maturity in the Government pilot projects has in addition to a more for less agenda is achieving a whole range of additional benefits: • Improved stakeholder engagement and better decision making • Encourage collaborative working including early engagement of FM and Operation • Visualisation, prototyping & lifecycle solution testing • Accurate and complete data improving quality of bids, reducing risk allowances in target prices and lump sum bids • 3D model input into the assessment of the impact changes at all stages in a project lifecycle • Input of a populated asset data set into CAFM systems – saving time and avoid duplication • Better outcomes for the end user How were projects undertaken before BIM became so prominent and what changes have been made?

Firstly we must recognise that the UK has a built environment sector to be proud of, one that is rich in heritage and has delivered many world class projects.

As our sector becomes more globalised we are having to compete on a new basis and need to ensure that we stay at the vanguard of efficiency and digitisation of our sector is a key enabler.

Smarter BIM-enabled procurement and operation is fundamental to this process ensuring clients are buying their information only once in a validated and co-ordinated form which they can reuse for many purposes.

You were Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office and now Head of BIM at the BIM Task Group. How did this come about and how do you drive projects within the industry?

I was interviewed for the position which was identified in the Government Construction Strategy.

I am proud to be part of a team working with industry and Government to leave a strong digital legacy. We help clients Read more on page 66

What is SketchUp? SketchUp Pro is like a pencil with superpowers. Start by drawing lines and shapes. Push and pull surfaces to turn them into 3D forms. Stretch, copy, rotate and paint to make anything you like. More advanced? Start modelling from CAD and terrain data, photographs or even hand sketches.

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can now draw precise rectangles unbound by default axes. ways to draw arc’ed edges.

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SketchUp Pro licensing is now friendlier than ever before. Every SketchUp 2015 download starts with a 30-day trial of Pro features. Even better, 2015 Pro licenses can be used on a Mac or a PC.

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E: sales@elmtec.co.uk

T: 01844 263750

W: www.elmtec.co.uk

www.bimtaskgroup.org

understand the purpose of the data (use) and how they best define this in a computational form, procure it and use it.

The Government has previously said that it wants BIM in public sector contracts by 2015/16. Are you still on target for this?

As set out in the Government Construction Strategy launched in 2011 the UK Government is aiming to achieve Level 2 BIM maturity on all centrally procured projects by 2016. Significant progress has been made with this and there are already just around £9.5Bn of public sector Level 2 BIM projects in the pipeline.

With the heavy lifting on the enabling processes and tools being almost complete I would say that Government is exactly where it should be at this stage of the programme.

How has the industry’s involvement of BIM increased over time? What are the numbers now to say, five years ago?

The UK’s ambitious BIM objectives and their centralised approach has been envied by many other nations – a client offering clear leadership in a switch to digital.

The Task Group programme has always been about working with industry and we are seeing significant increase in adoption; indeed a recent survey by High Speed 2 noted that 56% of organisations that responded now had leading projects that could be considered as Level 2 maturity.

Furthermore a 2014 Hill McGraw report said that the mandate had inspired 76% of organisations to initiate a specific BIM project with 66% encouraged to add BIM resources to their organisation.

What steps are being taken to ensure this target is met?

The departmental adoption pipeline is reviewed regularly along with a maturity index to ensure the Level 2 BIM is truly imbued within the Government organisation.

It is essential that the adoption is tested against the objectives set out in the original strategy such as: Valuable, Understandable, Non-proprietary, Competitive, Open and Verifiable. There is also a BIM Stewardship group with Departmental BIM Champions that are helping drive adoption within their portfolios.

Is it just public sector contracts or are there targets for other sectors?

The Government Construction Strategy and its associated mandates are limited to the central government departments. However we are seeing a great uptake from local authority and private sector clients such as Great Portland Estates who are equally reporting a positive return in investment from BIM. How is the reputation of BIM spreading and what do you do to make this happen? What are the best methods to spread the message within the industry?

Good communication and knowledge share is really important to us.

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We have established with industry a series of BIM4 groups with CIOB acting as secretariat. These are communities of practice such as BIM4SME, BIM Regional Hubs that allow us a two-way communication conduit to and from the Task Group.

We have also recently formed a BIM4 Clients group that is growing rapidly, allowing us the chance to share knowledge around consistently procuring Level 2 BIM services and data.

We also have our website www.bimtaskgroup.org and we like to tweet @BIMgcs. We also have a regular online newsletter to ensure we share latest developments in the programme and highlights what going on around the various BIM4 parishes.

Beyond the 2016 targets, how do you see BIM’s involvement in the industry? Are there further targets set out?

The Industrial Strategy 2025 sets out a vision of an industry that is innovative and technologically advanced including the concept of a Digital Built Britain (essentially the shift to Level 3 BIM).

What does the future hold for BIM? Where do you see it going in terms of different sectors and companies?

As we move upwards from the solid foundation set by Level 2 we will start to address the functionality for delivery of operational data sets and integration of telemetry. Level 3 will address these in sector delivery and operational stages, with a focus on enabling total cost and carbon outputs.

This move towards real time and often open data, senor rich assets will see us partnering and learning more from other sectors out with construction, especially those that employ data science skills. I also see there being much more concurrent cycles in the design and construct process.

Are any new technologies being developed that can improve the process further?

We are already starting to see a convergence with lots of other technologies such as laser scanning and augmented reality. As we shift towards Level 3 maturity we will see more consideration of telemetry and other senor technologies to provide real time feedback from our assets.

David Philp

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Exclusive interview: BIM4Water

Open to all organisations involved in the management and delivery of water and wastewater assets, BIM4Water aims to assist the UK water sector in its adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM).

Jon de Souza, Business Improvement Manager at Galliford Try and Chairman of BIM4Water, spoke with UK Construction Excellence about the creation and remit of the Organisation and the integral role that education and standardisation has to play in the successful adoption of BIM. Could you first of all provide our readers with an introduction to BIM4Water? What would you describe as being the aims and objectives of the Organisation?

The Government’s BIM strategy has been a mixture of push and pull. On the push side, Cabinet Office and the BIM Task Group have launched a number of BIM4 groups looking at various different sectors across the UK Construction market.

BIM4Water is one such group. Each of these organisations exists to assist its own part of the market in its BIM adoption and, essentially, this is our mission - to support those organisations in the water sector with an interest in BIM. In terms of how we achieve this, we have looked at a number of key priorities which were decided upon by our membership. We initially identified four points, though this has now grown to five and some of these are interrelated.

The first is a need to gather evidence from the water sector and other sectors on the value of BIM. We’re doing this through two main strands of work. Firstly, by using retrospective case studies to highlight warts and all stories from a number of sectors. We’re not just interested in good news stories as we recognise that there is a huge amount of learning to be had from projects that perhaps don’t go quite as well as intended.

We’re also launching a programme of live demonstration projects. We’ve had a number of projects brought to us by our members which will be using aspects of BIM. Those members are quite open to other organisations observing their progress through the design and construction process and into asset operation, to give an understanding of the

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impact that BIM has had on the success of the capital delivery and asset management.

The second area that we are looking at, which is interrelated, is developing a business case for BIM in the water sector. What we’re currently producing is something that’s reasonably generic as we’re still waiting on that data to come from live projects before we can really build a proper cost benefit.

Area three is around guidance and communication, and we’ve recently completed an FAQ for BIM4Water which we will be publishing shortly.

The fourth area that we have been concentrating on is standard libraries. Most manufacturing organisations in water want a consistent approach to the data demands that are placed on them through project lifecycles. One of the worst things we could do as an industry is have as many different approaches as there are clients or contractors, and so the Standard Libraries Task Group is trying to produce a standard for what data is asked for from product manufactures at different points of the process. It’s also looking at standard PMIDs and other areas around standard data.

The fifth area, which we’re starting to work on now, is around common data environments for the water sector and how they link into things like PAS1192.

What is your own professional experience? How did you become involved with BIM4Water?

I’ve been with Galliford Try for about two and a half years.

Prior to this I worked for Constructing Excellence - an industry improvement organisation. I was involved in the development of the initial Government BIM strategy and, having moved to Galliford Try’s water division, I was surprised to see that there had been a huge push from the Government to say that organisations delivering to central government clients would need to be ready for a world with BIM by 2016. There was very little talk about BIM in the water sector however.

I found some likeminded people from other organisations and worked with David Philp to put together a BIM4Water

What advantages can BIM offer the water sector, specifically in its delivery of AMP6?

One of the most significant benefits of BIM will be in capital delivery, including using BIM as a way of engaging with the water company staff responsible for the operation and maintenance of an asset. The facilitation of a collaborative approach is central to the benefit of BIM. Something that we’re noticing from clients in the water sector that are beginning to think about BIM is either a lack of understanding of its value or a concern about the technical aspects. Obviously, with BIM there is evidence of capital delivery savings but the greatest benefit will come through asset management - how an asset is operated and maintained and the data that will be available to make that a better process.

In terms of the challenge however, one water company recently said: “We like the sound of this BIM stuff but what we want you to do is demonstrate that you can make savings in the capital delivery process before we start thinking about using it for asset management” which is to me entirely the wrong way round. And in terms of the technical challenge, I know that a lot of water companies have invested quite heavily in recent years in their asset management systems.

There is a challenge in terms of how the data from a BIM process can be fed into that asset management system as seamlessly as possible.

You’ve mention some of the difficulties facing the water sector with regard to BIM adoption. Are there any other significant challenges that BIM4Water is working to overcome?

This isn’t a criticism of clients because this is new to

them as well and I think the only way that we can solve some of these issues is to work together as an industry, but helping clients develop their employer’s information requirements has been a challenge. Quite a few clients have looked at early BIM pilot projects. Certainly for those it’s been rare that the client has come forward at the outset of the project with a set of defined employers’ information requirements stating what they want at each stage of the project. It’s been left to the supplier’s side to second guess what will be required. I think this is certainly something that BIM4Water can play a role in because again, coming back to my point about standardisation, it would be nice if the requirements were broadly aligned even if the data wasn’t exactly the same. And actually, more importantly than that, that they were using the same language to ask for the same thing.

There is still a huge amount of education to do also. I think we’re still coming up against a lack of understanding of BIM in the market. At BIM conferences I often hear people say that they’re doing Level 3 BIM, which doesn’t even exist yet. I would say that if a company is doing Level 1 BIM right now and moving towards Level 2 then they are not in a bad place. Where this becomes an issue is when you have a group of procurers who don’t understand what Level 2 BIM means - this will come over time but may not be there at the moment. They need to be careful when procuring to ensure that the organisations coming forward are being honest about their capability.

The last thing we need as an industry is for organisations to be overselling or BIM Washing as it’s called. All that will do in undermine the confidence that both supplier and demand side organisations will have in what BIM can do.

For more information about BIM4Water please visit: www.bimtaskgroup.org/bim4water

group. The water sector has generally adopted quite collaborative integrated working alliancing type practices and, with BIM being an enabler of better collaborative working, it seemed likely that water clients would cotton on to it sooner rather than later. We realised that there was an interest but, as mentioned, it would be disastrous to have lots of different approaches to BIM out there. What we really need is to have the right standards in place. Hence BIM4Water being launched, probably about 18 months to two years ago.

Within BIM4Water we have representation from pretty much all of the main water and wastewater companies.

We’re trying to get the message out that way, through our networks and by working with organisation such as British Water and the Water industry Forum, regarding the benefits of BIM but also the reality of where we are as a sector and what people can and can’t do.

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THE OPPORTUNITIES FROM 4D SIMULATION To enable the people involved in a project to gain an easy understanding of project progress and the planned sequence of works, 4D simulations are well recognised as an excellent medium to communicate.

The same applies at tender stage, when representations prepared by multimedia teams are often used in Client presentations to help explain the Contractors plans.

model and a single programme are fused together for this one off exercise. This fusion is permanent, so when amendments are required the whole task needs repeating from scratch, wasting time and resource.

However, the next level of opportunity, connecting the Building Information Model (BIM) to the programme, an option previously constrained by the lack of available easy use tools, has now become a realisable opportunity.

Traditional 4D tools are too restricting to make them practical in the delivery phase

It is commonly accepted that about 10% of design and construction time can be saved by the use of BIM, 4D communication is part of the step change to realise and improve upon this opportunity. Wherever and whoever you are trying to communicate to, operatives at site inductions, directors at project reviews, visitors to site, or for your own purposes, the power of a visual representation, or indeed an interactive time-lined visual representation is immense.

Technology to date has not made it quick or easy for people to repeat the process of linking dates with objects in a model and enabling rapid re-sequencing, this is a critical downfall as activities are commonly amended and dates changed frequently during project delivery. This is caused because currently, a single

The traditional way to link the 3D model to the project programme is to take individual activities and associate them with modelled components. Projects naturally range in size but a good size complex project can easily yield 10,000+ activities and tens of thousands of objects in the model. Currently the task of association is not be for the faint hearted and will only be possible if your viewing software can handle the file size of the model in the first place. Once the model and programme are hard-wired, pushing another programme into the same model is generally not possible.

Accessing the BIM at a data level enables new faster ways of working In BIM we know a lot about the object; we know what it is, its size, its location, potentially its cost and the labour associated with it. Indeed, in a data centric solution to BIM such as the Clearbox BIMXtra solution, all the associated information is held in a central data environment. This can

be accessed readily by project stakeholders through a variety of interfaces within the system.

If the model and data association is undertaken in a data environment the connections, including those between programme and object, can be re-created at will. This is especially important when consultants update models as the re-association can take place with minimal effort. The BIMXtra process relies on its toolsets within the system to find the right objects to associate with the activities, as opposed to current solutions which require the manual adding and updating of codes in the model, which is a task that constantly causes frustration to the numerous people that need to participate to provide the output.

Associate via a data platform and we can add value to the outcome This approach of associating the model and programme within BIMXtra also allows all the material resources to be aggregated, by activity from the components that are automatically associated with the activities in the programme. This aggregation of the material resources comes with the flexibility to associate cost and labour and allows all of these resources to be pushed back to the programme. In effect the association of the model and programme along with material, cost and labour resources can be updated within minutes, not the days or weeks currently required.

The flexibility and speed of this solution which allows you to derive 4D simulation allows repeatability. It is this repeatability, combined with the effective association of an installation date for every component that allows the process to be completed quickly at regular intervals, perhaps even a few moments before the inevitable monthly progress meeting!

Visually compare versions of programmes With 4D simulation via the BIMXtra data centric approach taking place outside of the programme and/or the animated sequence, we are also able to run visual programme comparisons i.e. between planned and as built or comparison of different build solutions.

This takes place at the same speed as the single programme association and provides valuable simulations and comparisons with minimal effort.

Our ability to associate and repeat, and then compare and repeat the association of model and programme in superfast time changes our ability to be able to use 4D visualisation on the main construction model and in doing so enables better communication to all, and more accurate association of the work scope with a most essential aspect of our project controls.

At Clearbox we have a unique blend of people, mixing people with many years of project delivery with software engineers to provide focussed technology solutions to overcome project delivery issues.

Our solution to provide 4D simulations is targeted to provide ease of use to those involved in project delivery, not limited to those with specialist training in CAD solutions. It allows you to quickly develop and subsequently change and visualise build sequences with the objective of opening up the benefits to the whole project team, saving time and money in the development of the visualisations and the project delivery.

Access to Clearbox website can be found at www.clearboxbim.com

www.clearboxbim.com

+44(0)800 085 9872

BIM sums add up.....

Niven Architects + KTP = BIM Strategy Ltd In November 2011, Niven Architect’s Director, Simon Crowe found himself invited to a dinner in Darlington with senior staff from Teesside University. Early in the evening he was asked whether the University could assist in any way with developing his business. This was not quite what he was expecting: in the first instance, it’s rare to find anybody genuinely offering to help you develop your business but especially not a group of academics who from previous experience might be more usually considered as rather ‘removed’ from the realities of the business world.

As befits a forward thinking Practice, the discussion inevitably turned to Building Information Modelling (BIM) and its impact on the future of construction. Due to its potential for design and cost efficiencies, BIM had been on the Niven radar since 2008 when the practice had first begun to introduce Sketch Up and Revit software. As a business, Niven was also committed to implementing BIM fully into the practice preferably, ahead of its competitors.

With the support of Business Innovation Managers at The Forge, Teesside University’s business hub, the partnership decided to apply for a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). Knowledge Transfer Partnerships lead the way in Europe in helping businesses to improve

their competitiveness by working with higher education or research and technology organisations to embed strategically important knowledge, technology and skills.

Key to their success is the recruitment of a talented graduate to work in the Company under academic and industrial supervision. The UK- wide programme is overseen by Innovate UK (previously known as Technology Strategy Board), the UK’s innovation agency, and supported by 16 other public sector funding organisations.

This mutually beneficial collaboration would involve Niven’s BIM Manager, and senior academics Professor Nashwan Dawood and Dr Mohamad Kassem, leading a project to manage the introduction of BIM into the practice by sharing industry knowledge and experience as well as existing BIM insights and expertise from the University’s Centre for Construction, Innovation and Research. This would offer Niven Architects an opportunity to up skill all its team and embed BIM protocols and practices, whilst enabling the University to apply and expand its research on ‘live’ projects.

Both Professor Dawood and Dr Kassem have a vast array of experience and have worked on BIM projects across the globe including Europe, South America, Asia and the Middle East.

Their work has included research into how BIM can be used to improve construction processes in Qatar and working with the Brazilian government to help implement BIM processes.

Professor Dawood says: “The key to delivering a successful KTP is understanding what a business needs and how a graduate can deliver that, supported by academic staff.

“KTPs inject new life into a business and new thinking that can really revolutionise how they work.

“The impact of a KTP on a smaller business can be nothing short of phenomenal.”

Having collaboratively agreed an appropriate scope, applied for and achieved the KTP funding and recruited a graduate to undertake the work-plan, the partners began work in August 2012. The research initially focused on industrial analysis which enabled Niven to understand its competitors’ positions in the market, nationally and internationally.

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Niven Architect’s Director, Simon Crowe

The practice then developed a business strategy for the implementation of collaborative BIM throughout Niven Architects, its stakeholders and supply chains.

The KTP started paying dividends immediately through the opportunity it provided to access infrastructure and build relationships with the academic team at The Forge, who are worldwide leaders in the world of BIM processes and technology. Other benefits came in the form of invitations to sponsor leading industry and academic conferences such as CONVR (Construction Virtual Reality) and present the research at the International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering in Florida, which as an SME the Company would never normally have been able to access.

One of the major benefits was clearly the opportunities the KTP presented in raising the profile of Niven Architects, not just in relation to how BIM was being integrated throughout the Company but also in a general business sense. There is no doubt this collaboration has helped the Practice to bid for and secure much more valuable work than it was able to previously, such as the £30M Feethams project in Darlington, won partly on the basis of the Company’s BIM capabilities. Niven Architects’ reputation was further enhanced when it won key awards in two consecutive International Build Live BIM Competitions; Build Qatar in 2012 and Build Sydney in 2013. In terms of bottom-line benefits to Niven, the overall impact of the KTP is expected to increase turnover by up to 35% by 2017.

been worth it. We have achieved our main objectives of having BIM embedded in the Practice well ahead of others which, for an SME in the ‘unfashionable’ North East, is a considerable achievement that sets us above competitors in the market place. We are now moving quickly to achieve BIM accreditation with BRE, our Technical Manager, Marc Warren has recently completed his BIM AP accreditation and the rest of our staff should begin the process later in the year.”

Laura Woods, Director of The Forge, adds: “Niven Architects are a fantastic example of the bottom-line impact a KTP can have on business.

“For Niven, the KTP with Teesside University has not only meant new cutting-edge BIM technology in the business - it has also led to expansion of the Company.”

By March 2014, with the KTP proceeding well, Niven Architects launched a new venture, BIM Strategy Ltd, to inform construction professionals in both the private and public sector how best to integrate BIM into their business.

Following a significant capital investment in hardware, software and training, the Practice felt well placed to be able to offer other construction professionals advice not only on the benefits of the BIM knowledge gained through the KTP, but also on how to avoid the pitfalls and unnecessary expense that can be inevitable with embracing BIM into your company. Since its launch, BIM Strategy has gone from strength to strength.

In April 2015, Niven received confirmation that Innovate UK had graded its KTP as ‘Outstanding’. Niven Architects Director, Simon Crowe, says: “Whilst it has been a long two and a half years, we can say wholeheartedly that all the hard work, effort and significant cost has most definitely Professor Nashwan Dawood and Dr Mohamad Kassem

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The team at ISA delivered one of the most comprehensive documentation packages we have seen.

SimpsonHaugh and Partners uses generative design to shape One Blackfriars Tower concept Architects let daylight into neighbouring properties with blade-thin 50-storey skyscraper modelled on Bentley’s BIM Software.

Central London landmark London’s leading property developer, St George PLC, retained SimpsonHaugh and Partners to fulfil a vision for mixed-use development at the junction of Blackfriars Road and Stamford Street at the head of Blackfriars Bridge in the central London borough of Southwark. The award-winning practice, ranked among the largest and most influential in the United Kingdom by Architects’ Journal, designed the £250M signature skyscraper One Blackfriars using GenerativeComponents, Bentley’s parametric modelling software, to set out the curved geometry of the building form, and define the relationships between internal and external facades. The 170m tower joins a sequence of landmarks along the Southbank of the River Thames, where its minimal footprint and slender profile allow it to rise skyward without overshadowing its neighbours.

One Blackfriars presents 74,925sq m of prime space for a 152-room boutique hotel and 274 luxury apartments, as well as retail shops, restaurants and bars, a health and fitness centre, community viewing lounge, and underground parking. The site also makes space for a landscaped public piazza. Targeting ambitious performance standards for sustainability and energy, the tower was designed to Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) Level 4 whilst the hotel was designed to Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methodology (BREEAM) Rating Very Good.

Being a good neighbour In an age of austerity and popular criticism of the contemporary tower form, the introduction of another sculptural skyscraper to the Central London skyline could have been controversial. One Blackfriars achieved the balance between form and function to earn its place on the cityscape, but not without a struggle. Conceived in 2004 as a hotel-led tower, the concept for One Blackfriars eventually earned community approval and planning permission, having been tested during a public inquiry in 2008 where they were responsive to public feedback.

To stand the test of time, the tower design needed to address form, scale, proportion, as well as deal with the recurrence of element repetition. Moreover, it had to provide a contextual response to the particular place. The number one challenge was to establish a base at the bottom of the tower on the site without obstructing the daylight of neighbouring properties.

At the same time, SimpsonHaugh had a responsibility to fulfil numerous functional pragmatics of the original program.

Finally, the building had to be beautiful from every aspect.

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The final tower design marks the southern bridgehead of Blackfriars Bridge and is a gateway to Southwark.

SimpsonHaugh conceived a thin form with ‘shoulder blades’ on the east and west elevations that reduce its apparent width. To develop the design for this flaring shape, SimpsonHaugh developed a set of innovative tools based upon existing applications such as GenerativeComponents, Bentley Architecture, and other software that integrated with the core Bentley applications.

The aim was to use the technology to deliver the scheme with fewer people, in less time, and with fewer errors due to reworking or inaccurate coordination.

Building within a building SimpsonHaugh benchmarked its existing processes, team structures, and uses of technology against best practices in architecture, engineering, and other industries. For example, the design and manufacture of boat building and luxury yachts inspired the development of the building canopy.

Bentley applications provided a solid platform for parametric modelling and building information modelling (BIM).

SimpsonHaugh customised and enhanced the available scripts and tools to push the boundaries of what could be achieved.

The design created a double-skin facade, where the outer leaf is a substantially transparent glass surface that traces the curved geometry of the envelope. The solid elements of the more orthogonal inner leaf are coloured to overlay the interior volumes with a subtle variation of rendering that lightens as the building extends skyward. The buildingwithin-a-building concept resulted in an outer skin comprising 5,496 panels - each one different from the other - including flat, single and double curved. The inner skin provided thermal lining and opacity. The building breathes through the skin, so ventilation and solar gain had to be quantified and accommodated.

From the base geometry, SimpsonHaugh developed five modules for the external and internal facades, structure, residential areas, and the 3D surface model. External components included the tower cap, mechanical ventilation, purge ventilation, panel type drawings, setting out drawings, unwrapped elevations, and schedules. Internal components comprised unwrapped elevations; panel type, setting out, scoping, and rain screen drawings; panel wall division; and set out colours. The structure involved slab set out drawings, column set out, clash detection, slab openings, and an analysis model. Residential areas required matrix drawings, apartment types and views, area labels, and accommodation schedules.

Model exchange Panel types, analysis model, and facade zones were entered into the 3D surface model. The analysis model of the structure - comprising points, lines, and meshes - was imported directly into analysis software used by the project’s structural engineers, WSP Building Services. The results were then fed back into the parametric model, which ensured consistency and accelerated the collaborative process.

Aret Garip, WSP Building Services, said: “Bentley 3D modelling tools enabled efficient exchange of information between architectural and structural models. We were able to directly import complex building geometry into our structural analysis packages with ease. It helped us to explore many structural solutions quicker than other methods. It also provided an effective coordination tool among our teams.”

The parametric model was also imported into the building information model in Bentley Architecture, allowing the team to generate detailed schedules and general arrangement drawings. In addition, the parametric model was used to draw, annotate, and dimension the elements related to the facades and the setting out of the structural slabs and frame. The team used MicroStation to develop details and assembly drawings based on dynamic views extracted from the model.

The 3D model of the external facade contained crucial information on the facade zones, panel geometry, curvature, warp, inclination, skew, stack joint group, stack joint deviation, glass wastage, and pinstripes. This information was then made available to contractors as editable files, which helped to explain the complexity of the design.

One particularly challenging aspect of the tower design was the tower cap, where facade mullions lie on a plane defined by the facade joints. The transom planes were set on a bestfit geometry segment by segment, so that they are nearly perpendicular to the glass surface.

Productivity gains By integrating a parametric workflow within traditional BIM and 2D processes, SimpsonHaugh was able to

investigate and resolve a number of unique design issues and respond quickly to client requests and requirements.

Bentley’s parametric tools significantly increased project team efficiency and productivity, while ensuring project delivery exceeded client expectations.

Many innovative design options explored within the virtual environment would never have been considered, much less developed for buildability. Complicated tasks that might have been insurmountable in the past were not only completed but delivered within very short timeframes. For example, it took just two days instead of weeks to produce visuals for viewing angles from each and every apartment.

www.simpsonhaugh.com

SimpsonHaugh quickly realised that the parametric model could be used to provide more than the initial building form. Development of the model allowed the team to explore the relationship between the inner and outer glazing systems, internal spaces, structural column positions, and other systems. For example, SimpsonHaugh used the model to investigate and rationalize the geometry and manufacture of the outer facade, the colouring of the glazing schemes, and the size of the shadow gaps between facade panels.

As the main collaborative tool for the key disciplines on the project, the parametric model saved both time and money by simplifying data exchange and producing a model format that could be easily imported into various analysis packages. This completely eliminated redrawing and double-handling of data shared among design disciplines.

Facade delivery Using Bentley’s generative design software allowed the project team to deliver a complex facade system that might not have been possible otherwise. GenerativeComponents allowed SimpsonHaugh to fine tune the facade to reduce the number of panels and minimize the number of doublecurved panels. These measures had a direct impact on cost savings. Architects Matt Smith and Ralf Lindemann, SimpsonHaugh’s computational designers, noted that GenerativeComponents gave them the ability to: • Describe and analyse the complex form of the tower and its panelisation.

• Quantify all the panel characteristics in order to test them against industry criteria.

• Study all conditions of a particular detail and rationalize this to a minimum number of variants.

• Test ventilation results for all apartments by quickly varying the parameters.

• Quickly quantify overall proportions of solid to void for the whole building for the SAP calculations and Building Regulations/Part L testing.

• Respond swiftly to client requests for information on quantities of a material.

• Quickly transfer data within the design team, allowing for highly interactive design development, space planning, and the structural grid development.

• Quickly study alternative design solutions for the random internal panelisation and colour gradation across the entire tower.

Toby Clark, a member of the Arup Facades engineering services team, said: “The team at SimpsonHaugh delivered one of the most comprehensive documentation packages we have seen. Taking our advice, the facade was modelled, detailed, and documented to clearly show the complexity of this unique building using the latest in parametric tools and BIM software. One Blackfriars is a truly outstanding job that will set a new benchmark in delivering complex facades.”

Though some were sceptical that One Blackfriars would be built, the ground-breaking ceremony in October 2013 marked the start of construction, which is expected to be completed by 2017. With a mix of residential, commercial, and retail properties, One Blackfriars represents a significant investment by the developer. The 50-storey tower is now being marketed worldwide.

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Taking place at the Birmingham NEC from 6th - 8th October, UK Construction Week combines nine shows under one roof, uniting 1,000 exhibitors with an expected audience of 55,000 visitors.

Industry falling short of mandatory BIM target Three quarters of construction professionals do not believe the industry is ready to meet mandatory BIM Level 2 requirements by 2016, according to research conducted

by UK Construction Week in partnership with BRE, the leading authority on the built environment.

Just over 74% of respondents think the industry will fall short of this target, which is due to come into effect for all procurement projects from central government and its agencies next year. Worryingly, a further 62% of respondents replied that they do not understand what is needed in order to meet the requirements of BIM Level 2.

The research, which questioned more than 1,200 architects, contractors, developers, engineers and product manufacturers about their experiences of BIM, revealed a number of uncertainties throughout the industry. In particular, the results uncovered a tension between the expectations of the specification community and the perceived demand for BIMcompliant products by manufacturers and suppliers.

Nearly 71% of the non-manufacturing respondents believe that suppliers are not moving quickly enough to provide BIM ready information. This figure appears to be borne out by the survey results, with two thirds of the building product manufacturers contacted by UK Construction Week stating their products are not yet available as BIM objects. Conversely though, when questioned about the main obstacle to creating BIM-ready components, 41% of manufacturers said there is simply not enough demand for this from their customers.

Looking at the barriers to more widespread adoption of BIM and the most-cited challenges are a lack of in-house expertise (25%), inadequate understanding within the supply chain (15%) and limited time to commit to training (14%). Overwhelmingly, 96% of respondents replied that there is a need for greater support and training in BIM. Interestingly though, only 23% of respondents admitted to actively seeking out employees with existing BIM skills, while the remainder either do not have the requirement for this yet or are prepared to provide training to new recruits.

Overall however, acceptance and adoption of BIM does appear to be on the increase, with the majority (85%) of respondents claiming that its introduction is a positive development for the industry. Only 16% of the sample have never used BIM and have no plans to do so, while the

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remainder are already active or are preparing to embark on BIM projects in the near future.

Paul Oakley Associate Director at BRE commented: “The creation of accurate, complete and unambiguous information delivered from a single source is a fundamental principle of BIM. It is therefore somewhat ironic that the industry has to struggle with multiple sources and levelled information in order to ascertain the requirements for BIM Level 2.”

Richard Morey, Group Event Director at Media 10, the event company behind UK Construction Week, commented: “It’s interesting that the survey results have revealed such a gulf between the expectations and reality of BIM implementation. It’s clear that there’s still a high level of confusion about what’s needed across the industry and there’s an obvious thirst for high quality information and training - which is exactly what we are aiming to provide through the dedicated BIM Prospects Theatre at UK Construction Week, in conjunction with BRE.” Hosted as part of the Build Show, the BIM Prospects Theatre will feature a packed programme of seminar content examining how BIM can increase efficiencies, save time and reduce costs. Topics covered will include: practical deliver of COBie, delivery of International Foundation Class (IFC), making BIM work for product manufacturers, classification of products and making sure your business is ready for BIM Level 2.

In addition, the main UK Construction Week stage will bring the entire show programme to a close on Thursday 8th October with a panel discussion about the outlook for BIM in the UK. Featuring influential speakers including Sasha Read from Bluebeam Software, Paul Oakley from BRE and BuildingSMART UK and Andy Sneyd from Laing O’Rourke, the debate will take a close look at how BIM is being implemented in practice across the industry.

Taking place at the Birmingham NEC from 6th - 8th October, UK Construction Week combines nine shows under one roof, uniting 1,000 exhibitors with an expected audience of 55,000 visitors. Visitors will be able to attend the Build Show incorporating Civils Expo, Timber Expo, the Surface and Materials Show, Energy 2015, Kitchens & Bathroom Live, Plant & Machinery Live, HVAC 2015, Smart Buildings 2015 and Grand Designs Live.

We’ve been shortlisted at this years British Construction Industry Awards in category “BIM Project Application Award” for our work on the new UBS Headquarters at 5 Broadgate, London with ISG. The Awards take place on 14th October 2015 and we’ll be sure to let you know how we get on - www.bcia.nce.co.uk

bim@ibsecad.net

Professor Jason Underwood, Programme Director MSc. BIM & Integrated Design, University of Salford, Chair BIM Academic Forum t:+44(0)161 295 6290 e: j.underwood@salford.ac.uk www.salford.ac.uk

The Education of a Transforming Construction Industry Within the UK construction industry, the last few years has seen momentum to transform the sector; this is driven by the Government’s commitment and mandate to digital information delivery and Building Information Modelling (BIM). BIM is presenting a relatively new phenomena/ concept for an industry that has operated predominately in the same way for over a century.

May 2011 brought about a real commitment from the UK Government to drive change and to transform the industry through the launch of its Construction Strategy. For over a decade, other national construction initiatives/strategies have taken the approach of mandating the use of BIM on public procured projects such as in the US, Scandinavia, and Singapore. The UK Government Construction Strategy, on the other hand, is committed to working with industry to facilitate the transformation through the provision of a set of supporting standards, protocols, classification system, documentation, etc.

Expected to be completed this year, the Level 2 BIM suite goes a long way to provide elements that help to define ‘what’ Level 2 BIM is. However, the key to the success in transforming the industry to operate at Level 2 BIM by 2016 now lies very much with education and training providers who need to consistently support ‘how’ the industry now goes about implementing the suite. As the UK construction industry indirectly employs over three million people and is highly diverse with a range of discrete sub-sectors, educating, training and upskilling both the existing industry and future professionals presents significant challenges.

A BIM Academic Forum (BAF) survey published earlier this year indicates that the understanding, acceptance and importance of BIM amongst Higher Education (HE) academics within the built environment, engineering, architecture, etc. is still considerably low.

As students enter and subsequently graduate from HE, the nature of education serves to reinforce the siloed mentality that continues to be entrenched within the industry.

Changing such culture and mindset that exists among

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many academics presents a huge challenge requiring the transformation of HE curricula from one that currently reinforces a silo mentality and leads to the development of disciplinary-specific (siloed minded) professionals.

The current curricula also need to evolve so that BIM becomes consistently but not prescriptively embedded; ensuring that Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) maintain the flexibility and creativity in their delivery of education.

As the industry continues to develop its understanding of BIM and gear itself for the 2016 mandate, the demand for graduates with not only disciplinary competences but also with a level of BIM knowledge and capability continues to increase.

Professional bodies, HEIs, and other bodies, such as the BIM Task Group, BAF, etc., need to come together in order to begin to address the implications for a transforming industry and the accreditation of HE programmes that incorporate BIM. HEIs are presently in a fluid and transitional period of needing to educate graduates who meet the current needs of industry and are fit for purpose but also future-proof them for a transforming industry.

The UK construction industry is at the early stages of a transformation driven by Government commitment and working with industry to provide the required enablers.

The UK Construction/BIM strategy, which is continuing to attract attention internationally, offers a significant opportunity to transform the UK industry to one that is world leading in the digital delivery and management of the built environment; realising the aspirations of the Construction 2025 Strategy. At the same time, should the UK industry be slow on the uptake then the implications could not only be a missed opportunity but more importantly being exploited by external market(s). A key to the success of the transformation is educating and training both those in the current industry and future professionals.

However, in a similar vein to industry, a number of challenges face education providers of also transforming to support changing the face of construction

enquiries@salford.ac.uk

www.salford.ac.uk/built-environment

To register for the Tata Steel’s BIM content, visit www.tatasteelconstruction.com/bim

Smarter Bim = Smarter Collaboration The digitisation of the construction industry has been increasing rapidly since the turn of the 21st Century and as more devices have become connected to the internet, architects, developers and engineers continue to look for ways to increase productivity and enhance the design of buildings across Europe. Steve Thompson, BIM Programme Manager for Tata Steel looks at the use of BIM in the industry and how the process and collaboration between designers, engineers and the wider supply chain can be made more efficient.

In addition to the rapid growth of worldwide connectivity and the emergence of ‘The Internet of Everything, the United Nations has predicted that global population will increase by 2.3 billion people before the year 2050 with urban population increasing by 2.4 billion. In short, that means to house the increase in population at an average of 100 people per building, around 2,000 residential buildings need to be built every single day for the next 35 years.

So, as the world becomes smarter, more connected and the construction industry continues to focus on the challenge that the population boom will create, new buildings also need to integrate physical, digital and human systems to become smarter and deliver a sustainable future for the world’s cities. This includes creating buildings, which connect to and can provide data on energy usage, water usage and transport throughout their lifecycle, for example.

One way in which this can be achieved is through more efficient use of BIM (Building Information Modelling).

In today’s construction industry, BIM is increasingly accepted as a modern design process, enabling improved multi-disciplinary integration and the ability to detect and resolve design issues earlier in the process where they have most potential to be resolved efficiently. This means there is potential to build a more complete picture of a construction project at the design stage, showing how it can be delivered, operated and maintained to achieve the best possible outcomes. But further than this, BIM can enable manufacturers, architects, engineers, builders and the end users to collaborate easier throughout the procurement, assembly, operation and renewal stages to achieve smarter, more efficient buildings.

However, many manufacturers and contractors feel that there is a great deal of “BIM-wash” in the industry and a lot of mixed messages about the use of the technology.

Similarly, many users of BIM technology state that there is simply too much information currently available to them and are becoming overwhelmed with the task at hand to decipher, unpackage and ultimately understand what is required to ultimately benefit from the technology.

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With BIM user-experience in mind, forward-thinking manufacturers, such as Tata Steel have seen an opportunity to evolve BIM content beyond current requirements to ensure the correct level of information is available at each stage of a project. The new format is based on information that remains with the product through its lifecycle, which involves the provision of selectable detailed product information alongside 3D objects.

By providing the data in this way, BIM users will be provided with appropriate, timely and relevant BIM information for construction products, which can be tailored to a specific point or requirement in the project process such as the location, context, profile or geometry.

This means BIM users can make better decisions about the products they use by having the right information in the right format, for their projects.

Additionally, through this approach, contractors can start to find a more efficient BIM process and easier collaboration with architects, manufacturers and the supply chain. Tata Steel’s BIM content, for example is being created to include software agnostic content along with 2D and 3D geometry for over 7,000 products in over 41 countries.

The data is organized to include accessible content in IFC, to meet national requirements (for example COBie in the UK), and to provide additional specification, support and software-specific information where relevant; the aim being to maximize the flexibility of the information available to enable users to tailor it to their needs.

Steve Thompson

Creating a Castle in the Cloud I t is a re a l l y f a s ci n ati n g ti m e i n th e wo r l d of c o n s tr u c ti o n a n d a rc h ite c t u re , th e d eve l o p m e nt of b u i l d i n g s , a rc h ite c t u re a n d i nf r a s tr u c t u re is g e t ti n g q u i c ke r a n d e a si e r.

So who is designing in the cloud?

Architectural and construction organisations have started to realise the challenges faced when trying to manage ever-growing volumes of information across multiple projects, locations and with a variety of different stakeholders. Building Information Modelling (BIM) design processes can often create a great deal of changes, alterations and has proved to be one of the biggest drivers for organisations to consider a move to cloud based operations.

BIM projects can produce enormous files and often involve a great deal of complexity and engagement from a wide range of additional contractors and key stakeholders. These multifaceted challenges can often create miss-communications, rework and difficulties when facilitating crosspartnership working. All of this has created the need for greater collaboration and a better way of interacting.

Many of the organisations using cloud-based services currently are those that are often working on multiple projects, in localised offices, requiring a variety of inputs from different partners. Some need the opportunity to adapt and change the model, whereas some are only required to interrogate and understand their particular section.

To operate effectively these organisations require a way of communicating with a number of stakeholders clearly, precisely and effectively to achieve their targets. The move to cloud is an easy way to solve these issues without the need for expensive internal and back–up data storage data storage capacity. By implementing cloud-working, organisations have benefitted from more efficient working practices, a reduction in the level of rework and design improvements.

So why are people reluctant to use Cloud-based CAD? Well in reality a lot of organisations are fearful for putting highly complex and often sensitive data in the cloud, which is often perceived as less secure. Recent scares in the media have made people wary of the security of using cloud based storage and many industries, such as the nuclear industry, have expressed concerns about using this medium due to worries about security and the importance put upon the industry to keep confidential and restricted data secure.

However many other organisations haven’t considered cloud-based storage for a range of reasons, many of them without substance.

high-speed internet connections and connectivity rates have improved around the country, so has the opportunity to operate in a cloud-based environment.

Another concern organisations have voiced is around the security of the data. Contrary to the belief of many, the security of data through cloud-based systems has developed substantially over the past few months and years. Most platforms available adhere to the ICO 27001 security standards and are rigorously tested to ensure the security of the data. Stakeholders can gain access to documents via passwords and can be given varying levels of rights to change, alter and save over documents. They can also be restricted to purely view the model or specific sections of the model if required. This means that data can be transferred and amended where and when appropriate.

So why should you consider working in the cloud Disaster Recovery - The data is stored off site protecting it from local damage. The cloud service provider is responsible for continual access to the data, removing the need for a managed local backup solution.

Collaboration - The most up-to-date data is accessible by all designers, engineers, quantity surveyors or facilities managers. Project communication may also be conducted through the cloud portal, which allows a range of users to access the same screen at the same time.

For more information about whether your organisation should be looking to the cloud, get in contact www.quadrasol.co.uk or bim@quadrasol.co.uk

But this is creating a whole new set of challenges and while some organisations are just coming to terms with BIM workgroups and changing software, some are now moving towards point clouds and cloud working to construct and deliver their projects.

Ubiquitous - Access to data stored on cloud services is not limited to desktop workstations. Many portable devices such as tablets and smart phones are also able to view and interrogate the data.

So where’s your castle?

There are many good reasons to consider a move towards cloud working and there is a growing belief that the cloud is rapidly becoming the way to interact and develop good business relationships as well as improved efficiency and effectiveness.

Broadband speeds have often been highlighted as one of the issues especially when dealing with multiple users working on and saving large data-heavy documents. However as

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FOR COST EFFECTIVE CAD SOLUTION THE CAD ROOM HAS IT COVERED The Cad Room Ltd was founded in 2003 to provide an outsource cad service for consulting engineers and mechanical and electrical contractors for the building services industry. We are one of the UK’s leading cad outsource companies providing high quality, cost effective cad solutions for the built environment.

Our capabilities have grown from just simple 2D draughting to now fully co-ordinated multi service 3D CAD/BIM services and visualisations. In the past 2 years we have completed numerous high profile projects implementing the latest BIM Software (building information modelling). We are now fully integrated with Revit and all the latest BIM processes ahead of the 2016 government deadline.

The secret to our successful working relationships and most importantly repeat business and client referrals is our professional and flexible approach to meet the ever demanding project time constraints and budgets.

Our senior BIM/CAD Coordinators have the necessary experience to carry out all aspects of the project helped with our cad operators who strive to constantly improve and develop their skills in coordination and the latest Autodesk software technologies.

tel: 0161 427 0348 www.thecadroom.com

WWW.ICE-BIM.COM

www.interserve.com

Interserve first contractor to achieve BIM Level 2 certification Interserve, the international support services and construction group, is the first main contractor to be certified as BIM Level 2 compliant under BRE Global Business Systems Certification Scheme.

To receive BIM Level 2 certification, an assessment-based procedure is undertaken to measure BIM management systems and processes. Interserve is now permitted to use the BRE Global Badge of Compliance.

Commenting on the certification, Ian Renhard, Managing Director of Interserve Construction, says: “We are incredibly proud to be the first contractor to have achieved this certification. It is concrete evidence of Interserve’s commitment to BIM as a key vehicle for delivering the best value to our customers.”

“We have definitely earned this certification and we are very proud, having implemented UK BIM standards across demanding public and private sector projects. This is another milestone for Interserve as we transition from analogue to digital in preparation for the 2025 construction strategy target.”

Ben Curtis, BRE Global BIM Scheme Manager, concludes: “Congratulations to Interserve on their certification - they have shown full commitment to BIM and offer a mature set of policies and procedures to their clients, performing confidently in a BIM Level 2 environment. We hope they inspire other contractors to take their lead and get their businesses ready for BIM, as the Government compliance target is now less than a year away.”

Through on-going commitment to policies and procedures, Interserve is the first contractor to meet the Government’s 2016 mandate, which states that all projects are BIM Level 2 compliant.

Alex Jones, Interserve’s National BIM Manager, comments: “Despite a vigorous two-day site audit process, the BRE Global assessment team were both practical and helpful, and I would recommend their services to anyone wishing to test their compliance.

The annual BIM conference is a unique opportunity to help any organisation or individual develop their own BIM awareness

Annual BIM event provides launchpad for collaborative working A company which specialises in the implementation of integrated software solutions and services for the construction industry is celebrating the success of its sixth annual BIM Conference.

Applecore Designs Limited, providers of unique Building Information Modelling (BIM) authoring software and implementation training, hosted the sell-out one day conference at the stunning Coombe Abbey, Warwickshire on Thursday 11th June, which was dedicated to promoting best practice to SMEs and helping to ensure they’re fully prepared ahead of Government legislation on BIM processes due to come into force next year.

The event’s morning agenda welcomed renowned industry experts including Head of BIM Implementation at the Cabinet Office, David Philp; Viewpoint Construction Software’s Benedict Wallbank; BIM Technologies’ Neil Marshall; and RIBA Enterprises’ Alan Smith.

Scott Berry, Managing Director of Applecore Designs, commented: “This year’s BIM conference was yet again a phenomenal success with exceptionally high demand from across the whole construction industry. The event offered clear, accurate and unbiased guidance from industry experts on how Open BIM should be used on projects.

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“The calibre of speakers at this year’s event was once again outstanding, with a programme of presentations and workshops focusing on core areas, including federated model workflow, model checking and validation, and Open BIM as a process.”

The annual BIM conference is a unique opportunity to help any organisation or individual develop their own BIM awareness and capability by the sharing of valuable information that can be put into practice and implemented.

Attendees had the option of twelve afternoon workshops which they could attend, covering a broad range of subjects addressing the importance of collaborative people, processes and technology.

The date for next year’s BIM Conference at Coombe Abbey has already been set for Thursday 16th June 2016.

With over twenty years’ experience being at the forefront of implementing innovative design software and solutions for the construction industry, organisers Applecore Designs Limited works with their customers to help them work smarter and win more business.

Digital Construction Week will showcase and explore the digital technologies and processes changing the face of the architecture, engineering, and construction industry from design all the way through to operation.

Whether you’ve been exploring BIM adoption, experimenting with emerging smart technologies or investigating advances in manufacturing and materials, you’ll have witnessed the impact of digital technologies and the changes taking place in the AECO world.

Join over 5,000 industry professionals at the Digital Construction Show on the 21st & 22nd for our free seminar series and features, network with peers, and meet some of the most innovative suppliers in the AECO industry.

Meet with leading industry figures and government at our Westminster Reception. Showcase your work and expertise at The Digital Construction Awards.

Take part in our DCW Fringe Event Series.

Digital Construction Week is the event series for the entire built environment throughout design, construction, engineering, management, and operation.

IMAGE: CROSSRAIL

TO EXHIBIT OR ATTEND GO TO www.digitalconstructionweek.com

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The Annual Investment Allowance and what it means for your business In 2008, the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA) was introduced to help small businesses increase productivity and scale with large investments by allowing them a 100% tax allowance on qualifying capital expenditure such as equipment and machinery in the year of purchase.

Initially, AIA provided 100% allowance on the first £50,000 investment of qualifying purchases. The maximum allowance was then increased to £100,000 from 1st April 2010 and then reduced down to £25,000 with effect from 1st April 2012. The Chancellor announced in his Autumn Statement on 5th December 2012 a temporarily increase to £250,000 for a two-year period from 1st January 2013 to 31st December 2014.

In the budget statement in March 2014, the AIA limit was temporarily increased further from £250,000 to £500,000 per annum, with effect from April 2014. The limit was due to revert to £25,000 with effect from 1st January 2016 but the recent emergency budget saw Chancellor George Osborne increase the permanent

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level of AIA from £25,000 to £200,000 for all qualifying investment in plant or machinery made on or after 1st January 2016.

Whilst a reduction from the temporary figure of £500,000, the increased new permanent AIA is designed to encourage investment by providing a permanent generous incentive to invest in plant and machinery and give certainty to businesses planning to invest. The initiative is also expected to help suppliers and manufacturers by increasing their order books.

The level of reassurance provided by this measure should see those business owners who have been holding off making purchases of plant and machinery because of economic uncertainty, be able to proceed and invest with a significantly reduced level of financial exposure.

AIA is available to any business paying corporation tax or income tax, with the only exceptions being a mixed partnership and trusts.

Most assets purchased by a business qualify for the AIA and include office furniture and equipment; vans, lorries and equipment, building fixtures, eg. shop fittings, kitchen or bathroom fittings; business machines, eg. printing press, lathes, tooling machines; tractors, combine harvesters and other agricultural machinery, gaming machines, amusement rides; computer hardware and qualifying software; computerised/computer aided machinery including robotic machines; wind turbines and fibre optic cabling; and driving school cars (adapted with dual control mechanisms).

Items of that don’t qualify are land, buildings or cars; expenditure incurred in the accounting period when trade ceased permanently; existing plant and machinery; plant and machinery that was gifted.

Further exemptions are plant and machinery used by a person for leasing under a long funding lease and subsequently brought into use by that person for the purpose of a qualifying activity; and a change in the nature/ conduct of the trade carried out by a person other than the person incurring the capital expenditure and the AA is the main or one of the main benefits of making the change.

The Annual Investment Allowance is also relevant to those companies leasing equipment. The AIA can be claimed where a hire purchase (HP) agreement is in place with intent of ownership. The full amount does not have to be paid in full for the plant or machinery to qualify for the allowance. The AIA is given as though an outright cash payment was made and ownership is deemed form the beginning, even though the rental payments are made over the HP term agreement.

Tax relief is also available on interest charged to the profit and loss account.

Assets that are purchased under lease agreements where the lessor has the right to claim capital allowances are not eligible for the Annual Investment Allowance. If a lease is treated as a long funding lease, the lessee will usually be entitled to claim capital allowances and it is advisable that any person in this situation seek advice from their tax advisor to check their AIA entitlement.

Another thing to consider is that investment in certain green technologies is eligible for enhanced capital allowances (ECA). There is no maximum limit for ECA and it is a 100% first year allowance (FYA) available for the cost of the purchase in the chargeable period in which it incurred. The FYA is not subject to time apportionment if the chargeable period is less than a year.

In terms of claiming AIA, the allowance can only be claimed in the period the item was purchased. This is defined as when a contract is signed, if the payment is due within less than four months and when payment is due, if it’s due more than four months later. Also, if you sell an item after previously claiming AIA on it, you may need to pay tax.

Before the AIA limit falls to ÂŁ250,000 on 1st January 2016, it may be prudent of those businesses looking to invest in the near future to investigate the possibility of investing before this date while the higher temporary limit is in place.

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Advertisement Feature

AS THE UK’S LARGEST PROVIDER OF ASSET FINANCE, LOMBARD HAS BEEN PROVIDING FUNDING FOR BUSINESSES FOR OVER 150 YEARS UK Construction Excellence spoke with Neil Lloyd, Head of Sales Development for SME Division, about the company and the many benefits asset finance provides.

Could you provide our readers with an introduction to Lombard? What is Lombard's expertise?

Lombard is the asset finance business of The Royal Bank of Scotland.

We specialise in providing funding for businesses to acquire a wide range of assets, from vans to dumper trucks and IT equipment to specialist excavation machinery.

As the largest provider in the UK, we have around 400 relationship managers throughout the country, working with businesses across the spectrum, from start ups to FTSE 100 companies.

What can Lombard offer?

We have an extensive product range to meet different customer needs. For example, we offer traditional debt products like Hire Purchase which gives the option of ownership at the end of the term, but we can also provide Finance Lease and Operating Lease products which offer rental over a specific period of time which may, for example, span the fulfilment of a contract. In addition, we have bespoke product options like Capital Import Finance, which simplifies the process of buying assets from overseas, while reducing the risk.

With 25 locations across the country, from Aberdeen to the Isle of Wight, our team of 400 relationship managers are based in the community. This means that our customers have easy access to our relationship managers, each of whom has valuable local knowledge, in addition to being specialists in asset finance.

Importantly we take time to understand each customer’s business and their specific funding needs in order to find the right solution for them.

How would you define asset finance to the uninitiated?

How can this form of funding benefit companies – those in the construction industry for instance?

It's a method of funding that allows businesses to acquire assets when they are needed, whether excavation machinery or laptops,

lombard.co.uk

while spreading the cost over a term that suits their financial circumstances. This is particularly important in the construction industry when specialist equipment may be needed for a specific period to fulfil a contract.

Asset finance is also very flexible and payment terms may be spread over three, four, five years or longer depending on the type of asset and how it will be utilised.

As the assets required in construction can be expensive and many companies don’t want to dip into valuable capital, asset finance enables these companies to make crucial investment that may, for example, allow them to compete for a specific contract. By using asset finance to fund this equipment, companies are able to acquire assets quickly and make their repayments from the cash generated.

How has asset finance helped businesses – SMEs in particular – to recover from the economic downturn?

The awareness of alternative funding products like asset finance and peer to peer lending has increased in recent years. There is also more awareness of the benefits provided by asset finance. For example, as well as the advantages mentioned earlier, asset finance is a fixed term facility and therefore provides certainty that the terms won’t be changed once agreed.

Also as the asset itself is the provider’s security, there's rarely a need for another form of collateral such as a director’s guarantee or a charge over a property. This means that asset finance is a very accessible form of finance.

In recent years the asset finance sector has experienced considerable growth. What factors have contributed to this?

What future growth does Lombard envision?

We have seen an increase in investment levels in recent years. This is partly because many businesses were putting off acquiring new equipment during the recession - we saw a trend towards businesses 'sweating' their assets – making them work harder and last longer.

Replacement cycles were pushed further and further. While a business would normally upgrade their machinery after five years or so, we saw more companies holding on to equipment and experiencing higher maintenance bills to keep assets going for longer. You can only push that so far however. If a company wants to remain competitive and win contracts, it needs to keep up with the latest technology and innovation.

As business confidence has returned, we’ve seen an increase in investment levels. In addition, incentives to increase investment have helped. For example, the introduction of the enhanced Annual Investment Allowance, raised to £500,000 until the end of 2015, which allows businesses to offset the purchase against taxable profits.

In terms of future growth, we tend to look at the Oxford Economics forecast. For the construction sector, their forecast is that investment in the sector will grow 10% over the next two years, a figure that matches our own projections.

Lombard is unique in that it is a specialist asset manager.

What does this entail? Which specialist sectors does the company provide for?

Asset finance is all that we do and we’ve been providing this form of funding for over 150 years so we understand not only the product and the market but through our team of asset managers, we have a lot of experience of the assets themselves and their future value which helps us to structure the right deal for our customers.

While we work with the business as a whole, we focus on five core sectors which are agriculture, manufacturing, construction, technology and commercial transportation, as well as having a specialist green energy team. In addition, we have specialists who operate in the marine and aviation markets.

How do you anticipate Lombard continuing to develop in the near future?

I think we'll carry on investing in our people – improving our skill-set and making sure both our frontline and back office staff are provided with the best product and sector knowledge. We’ll also continue investing in our technology to ensure that we have efficient processes in place to support our customers. This would include being able to apply online in the future and to get credit decisions immediately.

What are your thoughts on the Government's Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)? How is the initiative helping to encourage industry growth?

The increased allowance has been a big step in the right direction. The AIA has gone from £25,000 to £250,000, and then last year it was increased again to £500,000. This higher level covers about 90% of all the assets that we fund so it is very significant and means that most of our customers can benefit from the AIA, providing they've got the right profits to offset it.

The £500,000 level is due to come to an end on 31st December 2015.

In the March 2015 Budget, the Chancellor stated that he would address AIA in the Autumn Statement. On the one hand that's good because we know it will be available until the end of the year. It’s also possible that this may create a push for investment while it is still available.

However, the feedback that we have had from our customers is that many find it complex and, as a result, it's been difficult for the Government to get the message out there. JCB did a survey and they found that only 17% of their customers were aware of the AIA. Lombard followed that up and we found that only 23% of our customers understood what the AIA was (JCB Survey conducted September 2013). There's a real lack of awareness that the initiative is available and also how companies can benefit, so we recommend that businesses looking to purchase assets talk to their accountants or financial advisers to find out more about how they can benefit from the increased allowance.

To find out more about how Lombard could help you finance eligible assets: Security may be required.

Product fees may apply.

Call 0800 502402 Text Relay 18001 0800 502 402

VeloPark, image taken by Anthony Charlton at the Olympic Park in London, shortlisted in the Professional category of the EEF Photography Competition 2014 sponsored by Lombard, Canon and The ERA Foundation

The Smart Dilemma?

We a re to l d th at S m a r t C iti e s , S m a r t G r i d a n d S m a r t M e te r s (n ot to m e nti o n c e r t a i n c o m p a n i e s th at p ro m ote a S m a r t P l a n e t ! ) wi l l b e th e s av i o u r of a l l k n ow n p ro b l e m s .

Te c h n o l o g y we a re a l s o to l d wi l l s o l ve w h at m a n h a s b e e n u n a b l e to g r a p p l e with s o f a r… … … . d o i n g m o re fo r/with l e s s !

Smart, it appears, is the new wonder drug that will solve all ills. The reality is that much of this is seen as hype or, at best, proof of concept projects that find it hard to deliver the figures needed for commercial roll-out.

The assumption that underpins all of these other assumptions is that we have the right governance structures in place to deliver these benefits. This basic assumption is the Achilles heel of the Smart Future. From this basic assumption we have developed all of our key delivery metrics; lowest cost is always best (qualification – lowest cost CAPEX is always best), by delivering ‘silo’ based projects to deal with one or a small collection of related issues e.g. transport or energy we will Smarten our Cities and Communities, if the market is a monopoly (e.g. electricity transportation) then regulation will make it competitive and the list could continue.

Smart technology can only deliver the maximum benefits when used in conjunction with a Smart Governance model.

This is confirmed time and again when Local Authorities

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try to make a business case and impact analysis for technology led projects. They have to be “inventive” in their business case constructs in order to be able to make the benefits add up and flow to the investor and also promote “soft” benefits to sell the project to the authorisers.

A new more realistic approach is required if we are to really benefit from the interfaces between technology, people and infrastructure. It starts with questioning if the governance model is fit for the purpose we are trying to achieve. How can it evolve rather than be changed? – legislation is hard to change but easy to get wrong. How can standards, regulation, procurement, contracting, management, etc play a constructive part in delivering the main aim?

Our approach lately has been to innovate and create technology that will be useful……..if, and only if, a problem can be found to maximise the technology’s functionality. It is then deemed a success because the problem that we didn’t know we needed solving has been solved!

People, on the other hand, living their lives are told that these technologies will result in a more cost efficient and richer lifestyle. So where is the balance between designing infrastructure to match the technologies that exist (or are imminent) compared to designing infrastructure that is how we wish to live our lives? It is only after this question is answered that we can stop the oft quoted requirement that “behavioural change” is required to meet our technology deployments…..does a Smart Meter fit into this category?

The other interesting issue to confront the “Smart Infrastructure” debate is the fact that technology is often seen in a complete vacuum to the world that it will exist in, save for the “technical” aspects. Given that many of our challenges are with Market Structure, Procurement, Commercial Contracting and Environmental issues, not to mention Government legislation cycles, Standards cycles, regulatory cycles and many others that could be listed (you will note that social is usually well down the list, if mentioned at all!), dealing with the technical issue and then telling a story as to how this can deal with all the other issues seem to be rather cathartic!

So what can be done? Is it all too difficult? Is the problem of whole system modelling unable to take account of these complex relationships and that just accepting product after

product and service after service as the only solution to our future. Will people be able to adapt to the technology solutions being proffered? But wait a minute, did we not want technology to help us live the lives we wanted to live not the other way around!

The rejection of much of the behavioural change required by technologies such as Smart Metering, driverless cars, health regimes, living in hermetically sealed boxes, etc. are all symptomatic of using technology to drive people rather than people using technology to live their lives.

Global Smart Transformation is working with likeminded partners and local authorities to design smart infrastructure to support cities and communities to live their lives and make the best use of the limited resources available to support their life choices. A Smart City or Community is not one with the ability to only cater for those that are technology literate or able to pay for the latest widget or live in the right post code and socio-economic class. A Smart City or Community understands that some citizens know the art of the possible, while others need to be supported in that discovery. It provides local decision support, not centralised or monopoly based organisations prioritising on their behalf. It caters for all ends of the social spectrum by Read more on page 96

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Author: Duncan Botting, MD Global Smart Transformation Ltd. duncan.botting@globalsmarttransformation.com

using technology to develop new and innovative business models that have hitherto been assumed incompatible with the need for profit to be the only driver.

By starting with understanding the various governance frameworks that exist and how these can be used to advantage, rather than as a barrier, allows a freedom to operate that is not normally considered for communities. By understanding the needs of the community in terms of their particular direction of travel, a holistic approach to energy, transport, built environment, etc. can be understood and developed with the community. Communities often already have champions but lack the support to encourage them to think about underlying requirements such as infrastructure – that is something that others do to them – like the council or government!

Using toolsets to remove complexity and allow communities to focus on how they wish to develop their neighbourhood rather than focus on how they can incorporate this widget or that standard liberates thinking. New business models tend to become ‘obvious’ with new social enterprises or not-forprofit entities seen as vehicles to deliver community services.

This approach can relieve hard pushed local authorities and also allow partnerships to flourish. It is only then that technology options can be considered to allow the local economy to flourish and provide local SME’s with the lion share of implementation. Why local? Because the challenge for most trials and pilots is they become unmaintainable when the trial finishes and they become a ‘legacy problem’!

By developing local solutions and implementers the skills and competencies are rooted in the area so that it becomes their ‘domestic market’ before they grow and export those skills elsewhere and become local there.

Is it the cheapest way to do things? Well if you look at the normal way of evaluating these things then no! E.g. based on lowest cost capex project evaluation for that particular silo then the cost could probably be achieved at a lower cost. The impact and cost when evaluated with how it integrates into other projects and the running

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costs over time, if considered, could demonstrate how multiple pay back might be achieved. The moral of the tale lies in changing the KPI’s to reveal the true cost of NOT integrating in a holistic approach.

The approach is complex but not complicated. Planning departments, economic regeneration, social care and many more departments suddenly find that pooling resources with local private enterprises can result in major simplification of their goals and technology can play a key role in assisting the community to unlock local solutions otherwise not considered. The subtle difference between technology first and people first is often difficult to perceive but the result of people pulling technology rather than authorities pushing technology is seen in the results of people living their lives as they wish to and the success of the technology deployed.

Smart then becomes a mixture of people, place, technology and time. Often the ideas are transferable but also some communities can be more mature than others which becomes a challenge if the receiving community has not achieved the same stage of understanding. This is where the art of support and a learning community differs to the top down ‘support’ that is seen as an imposition or requiring behavioural change. In these situations the technology requirement is different and less obtrusive but provides an opportunity to learn and grow as a community. Cities are made up of multiple communities and they are not all uniform. Smart in one place may be someone else’s spy or privacy imposition.

Security, safety and wellbeing are the first key elements of Smart Infrastructure, followed by efficient management of limited resources for the benefit of the community with regard to all not just those that are in the right part of town.

Technology enables our way of life – it does not dictate it. People, in general, want to feel in control. Smart Cities and Communities is not about technology – it’s about how people can live their lives aided in their ambitions by technology – a subtle and often overlooked differentiator.

Being “Smart” is not the point – having the right understanding of governance, people, place and time is the point. None of which starts with technology but definitely ends with it to enable the Smart City or Community!

Global Smart Transformation Limited is here to help both the public and private sector From Strategy to Implementation -

• Founder member of DECC/Ofgem Smart Grid Forum (SGF)

From Global to Local Insight -

• SGF Work Stream 9 Co-Chair on Supply Chain Challenges

Facilitation - Consultancy Influence - Coordination - Delivery

• Chair of the Institution of Engineering and Technology Energy Sector Panel • Innovate UK Assessor • Assessor for French Government on Energy research • International Assessor for Swedish Government Energy research • Former member of Birmingham Smart City Commission • Former Vice Chair for the European Technology Platform for SmartGrids

Tel: +44 (0)1651 851 019 Email: Enquiry@globalsmarttransformation.com Web: www.globalsmarttransformation.com Global Smart Transformation Ltd. Cardrum Steading, Inverurie, AB51 0BT

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