Industry must promote safe building standards in airtight homes Published: 28 April, 2016 BSRIA has reminded the industry that it must promote safe building standards and correct air tightness levels at all times, following comments from the Glasgow School of Art that people who do not ventilate their homes properly
Work is set to start on a new combined heat and power plant in Kent that will convert household waste into steam and electricity. The project’s developer, Wheelabrator Technologies, has now reached an agreement with all parties and construction is due to start this month. Clugston is civils contractor for
27 April 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Events caterer Seasoned has earned a spot on historic mansion Two Temple Place’s preferred suppliers list. It is the first time Seasoned has been on this list, although its partner companies, the Perfect Wedding Company and Venue Reservations, have already worked with Two
Councillors are set to be asked to approve the tender from Wilmott Dixon Construction Ltd to build the new schools and community project in Coldside. If approved, work on the project will get under way in February with an expected completion date of June 2018. The facilities will then become
The preferred contractor teams have been named by London Underground for the £350 million Future Stations’ Civils and Tunnelling Works framework. Joint ventures between Taylor Woodrow/Bam Nuttall and Morgan Sindall/BeMo have secured places on all three lots covering tunnelling, civils and combines civils and tunnelling. Hochtief also won a contract
Howden Joinery has signed a 10-year lease term to become the newest tenant at Sanderson House in Wythenshawe, Manchester. CBRE’s Manchester industrial agency team secured the letting whilst acting on behalf of Cargo Overseas. Sanderson House is a 14,611 sq ft detached warehouse located on Roundthorn Industrial Estate in Wythenshawe.
Salix Homes has started construction work on a cutting edge training and accommodation centre which will transform the lives of young people in Salford for the better. The social housing provider is working alongside contractor Seddon to regenerate a disused hostel into a safe haven for 16 to 25 year
Companies in the utilities sector have made a commitment to a major programme of staff training in an attempt to fight the skills shortage. Contractors and clients throughout the industry have signed the Skills Accord for Energy & Utilities, a voluntary, cross-industry partnership intended to address the skills gaps. With
Byrne Group has endured a further year of losses after problem projects secured by builder Ellmer and fit-out arm Chorus took their toll. In the year to March 2016, profits at the core concrete business trebled to £6 million, though the conclusion of a number of loss making contracts secured
BDC 322 : Nov 2024
Industry must promote safe building standards in airtight homes Published: 28 April, 2016 BSRIA has reminded the industry that it must promote safe building standards and correct air tightness levels at all times, following comments from the Glasgow School of Art that people who do not ventilate their homes properly expose themselves to harmful levels of pollutants. Specialists at the school’s Mackintosh Environmental Research Unit (MEARU) said modern homes were being built to be airtight. This causes a build-up of harmful chemicals and moisture if householders do not open windows or vents. The unit has made a series of recommendations to reduce pollutants, including: Keeping trickle vents or windows open when cooking or showering Increasing ventilation when cleaning Open windows at night Dry laundry near an open window Make sure homeowners understand how the ventilation system of their property works. Professor Tim Sharpe, head of the MEARU, said: “Poor indoor air quality, particularly in bedrooms, is hard for people to detect. There are clear links between poor ventilation and ill-health so people need to be aware of the build-up of CO2 and other pollutants in their homes and their potential impact on health.” The MEARU conducted a survey of 200 homes which were constructed to modern, airtight standards. It found that most householders kept trickle vents closed, and bedroom windows closed at night. Julia Evans, chief executive of BSRIA, said: “BSRIA deals with domestic ventilation (Part F), including MEV and MVRH systems and measurement of indoor air quality, on a daily basis and promotes the importance of good ventilation. The undesired side effects and health issues people are exposed to when they don’t adopt this are tragic, especially asthma, which costs the NHS millions of pounds a year alone.” The recent ‘Ventilation in New Homes’ report published by the Zero Carbon Hub highlighted a widespread lack of understanding of the importance of correctly designed, specified, installed and commissioned ventilation systems. In the UK, people spend approximately 80% of their time indoors. The quality of indoor air is not only affected by ambient or external pollution, but also from indoor sources. Inadequate ventilation means that levels of pollutants can be five times higher indoors than outdoors. Tobacco smoke, mould and chemicals released from synthetic fabrics, furnishings and household products are some of the sources of contaminants that make indoor air worse than outdoor air at times. Common pollutants include carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOC) and radon. These various chemicals cause eye and skin irritation, damage the central nervous system and have been linked to cancer. High levels of moisture encourages growth of dust mites, which can affect people who suffer from asthma, hay fever or allergies. It also encourages mould spores in the air which causes lung infections in people with weak immune systems. Source link
Work is set to start on a new combined heat and power plant in Kent that will convert household waste into steam and electricity. The project’s developer, Wheelabrator Technologies, has now reached an agreement with all parties and construction is due to start this month. Clugston is civils contractor for the Kemsley plant, CNIM is principal contractor and Arup is lead building designer. Arup will provide civil, structural and geotechnical engineering, in addition to reviewing mechanical, electrical and plumbing building services. The new £340m facility will divert 550,000t of waste a year from Kent and the South East of England. The waste would otherwise have been sent to landfill sites or have been exported to Europe for treatment. The facility has also been designed to provide steam for a neighbouring papermill and will generate 43MW of electricity at full capacity. “As an industry we are increasingly acknowledging how valuable waste is as a resource for generating energy, but also the treatment of waste through an Energy from Waste plant reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” said Arup associate director and energy and waste buildings business leader Ben Glover. “Facilities like these are shining examples of how great engineering can produce both environmental and economic benefits.” The Wheelabrator Kemsley facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2019. This article was published on 15 Aug 2016 (last updated on 15 Aug 2016). Source link
27 April 2016 | Herpreet Kaur Grewal Events caterer Seasoned has earned a spot on historic mansion Two Temple Place’s preferred suppliers list. It is the first time Seasoned has been on this list, although its partner companies, the Perfect Wedding Company and Venue Reservations, have already worked with Two Temple Place and introduced business into the venue. Rachel Bellon, events manager of Two Temple Place, said: “We’re very much looking forward to working with Seasoned Events as they join our list of preferred suppliers. We manage a vast variety of events and it is absolutely vital that we have a team of suppliers who we can trust to provide the excellent support and impeccable service that our clients expect from such a unique venue.” Source link
Councillors are set to be asked to approve the tender from Wilmott Dixon Construction Ltd to build the new schools and community project in Coldside. If approved, work on the project will get under way in February with an expected completion date of June 2018. The facilities will then become operational for the Autumn term in August of that year. Bill Campbell, depute convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee, said: “With work completed or well underway on similar projects in other neighbourhoods across the city it is good to see progress being made on the Coldside scheme. “This will bring two new single stream primary schools designed over two storeys, a separate nursery area and a dedicated facility for community use to Coldside that will provide services for people who will live in the adjacent new houses being built in this part of the city.” Stewart Hunter, convener of the city council’s children and families service committee, said: “This new build will replace Our Lady’s RC and Rosebank primary schools and the Frances Wright pre-school centre with modern custom designed facilities. “As well as the schools there will be four additional flexible classrooms, nursery facilities and a dedicated area for community use of 500m² which together will create buildings in which staff will be able deliver a 21st curriculum and local people enjoy leisure and culture.” Vehicles will gain access to the main school, community facility, pupil drop-off and service yard car park from Alexander Street, while the nursery school car park and pupil drop-off facility will be in Ann Street. New social housing is currently being built on another part of the site, which was formerly home to the Alexander Street multis. Labour’s education spokesman Laurie Bidwell could not be reached for comment. The city development committee meets on Monday December 12.
The preferred contractor teams have been named by London Underground for the £350 million Future Stations’ Civils and Tunnelling Works framework. Joint ventures between Taylor Woodrow/Bam Nuttall and Morgan Sindall/BeMo have secured places on all three lots covering tunnelling, civils and combines civils and tunnelling. Hochtief also won a contract but only secured a place on the third combined civils and tunnelling lot with the other joint ventures. The eight year framework is part of the plan from London Underground to upgrade its stations, including Paddington, Elephant and Castle and Camden. Included in the work packages will be the construction of new ticket halls, station entrances and platforms including associated shaft works and tunnelling. Manging Director of Major Projects at Morgan Sindall, Paul Gott, commented: “Our joint venture has a strong working relationship having already worked together on a number of complex projects in the capital and we are looking forward to deploying this expertise on this framework.” The joint venture between BAM Nuttall and Taylor Woodrow Construction has a long track record having previously worked on the massive Tottenham Court Road and Victoria Tube station revamp revamps. Morgan Sindall and Austrian tunnelling specialist BeMo previously worked together with Balfour Beatty during the Whitechapel and London Liverpool Station phases of Crossrail. Last month, Morgan Sindall secured a £24 million contract to work on Southampton Ports. Port owner Associated British Ports commissioned two five-deck car storage facilities to enable the port to handle greater numbers of cars, which are shipped to meet overseas demand. Morgan Sindall’s appointment is a key element in ABP’s £50m investment to transform and expand vehicle handling facilities at Southampton. The scheme at Southampton’s Eastern and Western Docks will see the Morgan Sindall construct multi-level storage facilities, Deck 6 and Deck 7, with capacity for 8,670 car parking spaces for the port.
Howden Joinery has signed a 10-year lease term to become the newest tenant at Sanderson House in Wythenshawe, Manchester. CBRE’s Manchester industrial agency team secured the letting whilst acting on behalf of Cargo Overseas. Sanderson House is a 14,611 sq ft detached warehouse located on Roundthorn Industrial Estate in Wythenshawe. The unit offers modern features, including open plan offices with air conditioning and comfort cooling, warehouse heating and high bay sodium lighting. Secure parking spaces for 29 vehicles and CCTV is also on site. The premises is located on Floats Road in the centre of Roundthorn Industrial Estate in South Manchester. The A5103 Princess Parkway and junction 3a of the M56 motorway are within 2 miles. These provide direct access to Manchester International Airport and the M60 orbital motorway. Paul Cook, senior director for the industrial agency team at CBRE Manchester, said: “We are delighted to secure Howden Joinery for Cargo Overseas as tenants at Sanderson House. “The property is situated in a good position close to the A56 motorway in South Manchester. We have recently been successful in securing a number of deals in the North-West area demonstrating the consistent, high demand for good quality industrial accommodation within the region.” Montagu Evans acted on behalf of Howden Joinery throughout the proceedings. Meanwhile, the future of Manchester’s oldest theatre remains unclear – four years after it was bought by a hotel developer. The Theatre Royal was purchased in 2012 by the Edwardian Group, the firm behind the Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester Hotel next door in the old Free Trade Hall. Based in Peter Street, the Grade II listed theatre was built by Mancunian businessmen and philanthropist John Knowles and opened in 1845. Bosses at the Edwardian Group said they are carrying out an ‘internal feasibility study’ at the site.
Salix Homes has started construction work on a cutting edge training and accommodation centre which will transform the lives of young people in Salford for the better. The social housing provider is working alongside contractor Seddon to regenerate a disused hostel into a safe haven for 16 to 25 year olds to live in while they work, complete their education or undertake training. This ground-breaking development is part of Salix Homes’ flagship scheme, dubbed the Salford Working Out Project, and will be the first of its kind in Greater Manchester and among only a handful in the country. The site of the once-called Petrie Court, in Lower Kersal will be the first stage of this innovative project. When the modernised and refurbished building opens – set to be next spring – Salix Homes will work alongside local skills and education providers to deliver training programmes and employment opportunities, as well as one-to-one support and coaching for its 14 residents. Earlier this year the Salford Working Out Project received £1million funding from the Homes and Communities Agency to carry out the scheme, which is being match-funded by the housing provider. Mike Wright, service director of Housing Choice at Salix Homes, said: “Our ground-breaking project aims to support young people who want to make a difference to their lives, but may face some barriers that prevents them from reaching those aspirations. “We’re not just an organisation that creates homes, we have high ambitions and values to make a positive difference to the lives of our customers and we firmly believe this centre will improve the life chances – opening up a number of avenues for young people in the city.” Nikki Waud, business development manager at Seddon: “We are thrilled to have been chosen by Salix Homes to help deliver this ambitious, state-of-the-art centre for young people in Salford. As a company Seddon is dedicated to delivering regeneration that makes a difference to people’s lives.”
Companies in the utilities sector have made a commitment to a major programme of staff training in an attempt to fight the skills shortage. Contractors and clients throughout the industry have signed the Skills Accord for Energy & Utilities, a voluntary, cross-industry partnership intended to address the skills gaps. With a fifth of the sector’s skilled workers approaching retirement age, 36% of vacancies are proving difficut to fill, while 14% of all employers reporting skills gaps within their existing workforces, the Skills Accord is the sector’s solution to drive industry training. The agreement, administered by Energy & Utility (EU) Skills, encourages its signatories to put a greater proportion of their employees through formal structured development, either in specific skills that the sector currently requires or for which there is a demonstrable future requirement. The scheme’s lead partners SSE, National Grid and Amey, along with Thames Water and UK Power Networks. The Skills Accord also has 22 other signatories: ABB, Amec Foster Wheeler, Balfour Beatty, Clancy Group, Complete Asset Life Mgt, Costain, GE Power, IWJS, Kier Utilities, Laing O’Rourke, Lanes Group, McNicholas, Morgan Sindall, Morrison Utility Services, Murphy, NWH Treatment, Peter Duffy, RJ McLeod, Sapphire Utility Solutions, Siemens, Skanska and T&K Gallagher. The signatories have agreed to five pledges: a formal programme of learning; encourage suppliers to sign up; embed the Accord’s principles into new tenders and contracts; a commitment to continuous improvement; and monitor and publish company success rate, as overseen by an external auditor. Chair of the Energy & Utility Skills Group, Jan Ward, commented: “This Skills Accord is one of the key priorities of the new sector partnership now underway, and I applaud these companies for testing the art of the possible and by collaborating with each other to recruit and train skilled workers, increase mobility and efficiency, widen the available talent pool and consequently bring about strategic workforce renewal.”
Byrne Group has endured a further year of losses after problem projects secured by builder Ellmer and fit-out arm Chorus took their toll. In the year to March 2016, profits at the core concrete business trebled to £6 million, though the conclusion of a number of loss making contracts secured by builder Ellmer and fit-out arm Chorus ran up £14.6 million worth of losses. This resulted in the group suffering an overall loss of £11.9 million before tax after falling £4 million into the red in 2015. During 2016, Chorus achieved completion certificates on its three remaining loss-making contracts in London. Now, Byrne Group will look to recover cash from an under-performing M&E contractor that caused delay on one of the projects. Byrne Group saw its turnover increase by 10% to £329 million after a year of strong orders, with work getting under way on London’s Shell Centre redevelopment, an extension for retailer Westfield at Shepherd Bush and the redevelopment of the former BBC TV Centre in West London. Chief executive Micheal Byrne said that the performance of underlying businesses showed the operating profitability of the group in the future. He commented: “As part of the recovery strategy, we strengthened our commercial procedures and established a dedicated team to manage out the legacy contracts within the Chorus business. “Non-core businesses have been disposed of and the sale and lease back of our corporate headquarters was completed. “These moves have given the group a strong base to move forward from, reducing debt and strengthening the balance sheet.” He said that at the end of the year, Byrne Group had a net positive cash of £9.9 million, an increase of £14.3 million in the year. Specialist concrete frame business, Byrne Bros increased sales by a quarter to £185 million achieving an operating margin of 3.2%.
