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Pupdate!
Some of you may know that we’ve been raising money for Guide Dogs over the last few years, and more specifically through our ‘Name a Puppy’ fu ...
Why BREEAM is so Important
On 2nd August 2017 we reached Earth Overshoot Day. You’d be forgiven for thinking we were talking about a disaster movie starring Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck ...
The Bournemouth Development Company
In the 1960s a development corporation was established to create the UK’s first modern, planned town. Milton Keynes was touted as a new garden city that follo ...
Is the Future Modular Construction?
The concept of prefabrication is nothing new. Examples of buildings being constructed in one place and relocated elsewhere go back centuries including settlemen ...
The Impact of Super Towers
A city skyline is an incredible, romantic and striking thing. It’s also in a constant state of evolution. It’s a rare thing to look out over London and not ...
Scotland – What Do Gold Silver & Bronze Mean?
On the 1st May 2011 Sustainability labelling was introduced to the Scottish Building Standards through the Building (Scotland) Act. The labelling system has bee ...
11 Things We Talked About at Ecobuild 2017
BE was in attendance for this years headline act – so what did we talk about? 1. Overheating is…well…hot right now Heat related dea ...
CIBSE TM49 – How London Avoids Overheating
The Greater London Authority is concerned that our climate is changing. Writing for CIBSE, Strategy Manager for Climate Change Adaptation Alex Nickson sets out ...
BREEAM in China – Seven Years on
‘They’ll be lots of opportunities for British firms that can design to BREEAM’, says Jaya Skandamoorthy, the Director of BRE China. BREEAM is BRE’s ...
Zero Carbon London – Large Payments Per Plot if Targets Missed
London’s major housing developments must now be Zero Carbon or face offset payments. Changes made by the Greater London Authority to the London Plan in Oc ...
MEES – Will Your Property be Lettable in 2018?
The Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) will make it unlawful to let buildings which do not achieve an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘ ...
London is going Zero Carbon From October 1st
The Greater London Authority has announced that all new homes in major developments in the capital will be zero carbon from October 1st. A 35% reduction in carb ...
Planning Granted at the Hoover Building
We are very excited to finally be able to talk about this one! Since June 2014 we have been working closely with Oakley M&E and IDM Properties on a very spe ...
The Housing Standards Review, Reviewed.
The Housing Standards Review was published in March 2015. This included a new approach to the setting of technical housing standards in England. These changes w ...
Home Quality Mark now live
BRE have announced the opening of the Home Quality Mark for registrations. This means that any new build in England can now be registered and assessed under the ...
SAP Assessment – England Vs Wales
Local authorities across the UK use SAP Assessments to demonstrate compliance with energy efficiency standards in buildings. The targets within England and Wale ...
Sarahs leap from Big Blue to Lean Green
My 12 month sabbatical from the Big Blue to the Lean Green. ‘Can I, should I, could I? What if I do, what if I don’t ? Are you ready … ready steady ...
Who Moved My Cheese?
We were all finally put out of our misery this week when the Code for Sustainable Homes was officially scrapped – but the completed Housing Standards Revi ...
The Home Quality Mark – How will the scheme work?
What do we know about The Home Quality Mark so far? The Home Quality Mark will be a voluntary scheme for developers to demonstrate their sustainable credentials ...
The Home Quality Mark and the Code For Sustainable Homes
BRE have today issued a statement regarding the Home Quality Mark and the continued use of the Code for Sustainable Homes. This is in response to a written mini ...
The Future of the Code for Sustainable Homes
Every month another opinion piece or non-committal policy statement is released about the Code for Sustainable Homes and it’s future. So what do we actual ...
Will We Soon See Climate Change Resilience In Building Regs?
The 2014 flooding in Somerset has interested us for two reasons. The scale of the destruction and response from communities in adversity was fascinating and wel ...
Zero Carbon Costs ‘Have Halved’
The extra cost of building a zero carbon home has halved according to research from the Zero Carbon Hub. The analysis, carried out by the Sweett Group, looked a ...
Great South Run Update!
We are very happy to report that Pete and Sarah completed the Great South Run last week, and are on track to raise £1000 in the process! As part of our continu ...
Want to Help Change a Life?
Some of you may know that Pete and his wife Sarah took on the Great South Run last year in aid of the Guide Dogs organisation – raising over £1000! Well ...
Do our assessment methods work?
We recently attended a BRE / University of Reading Workshop which explored the landscape of sustainable development. The workshop specifically considered how cu ...
The Code for Sustainable Homes – What Next?
Early this month a government consultation was announced which would review the usefulness of the Code for Sustainable Homes in driving zero carbon homes by 201 ...
How Much Does BREEAM Cost?
Total floor area certified under BREEAM has doubled in the last two years, as the sustainability rating system becomes an increasingly powerful planning and mar ...
NPPF – What It Means For You
The aim of the National Planning Policy Framework is to make it easier for builders and developers to gain planning consent for the right sites, boosting jobs a ...
Pete & Sarahs Great Run – Update!
I wrote last time about my and Sarahs fundraising efforts leading up to the Great South Run. Well we are very proud to say that we made it round! It was a truly ...