Category: Construction Industry Today | Subscribe to Construction Industry Today Feed Published Tue, Mar 22nd 2016 The winners of the BREEAM Awards 2016 were announced recently at the annual ceremony which took place on Tuesday 8th March at the London Marriott, Grosvenor Square. Stroma Tech attended as the Lead Sponsor to celebrate the finest examples of BREEAM projects and to promote the importance of BREEAM in the construction industry. Posted via Industry Today. Follow us on Twitter @IndustryToday Following its inception 25 years ago, BREEAM has provided designers, developers and investors with a sustainable approach to improve the environmental, social and economic impacts of their building projects. Testing, assessment and consultancy bodies, such as Stroma Tech, provide BREEAM Assessments, and a number of complementary services, to guide development teams throughout their entire project to help them achieve the highest BREEAM rating possible. With BREEAM certified buildings now existing in over 70 countries, this leading, environmental assessment method has shaped our current environment to create sustainably conscious buildings and communities by reducing operating costs, improving returns on investments and producing more comfortable developments for occupants. The BREEAM Awards have grown in scale to celebrate all BREEAM certified projects from across the world. The 2016 ceremony awarded a number of international projects, across all categories of BREEAM, for demonstrating the implementation of innovative and sustainable solutions throughout their BREEAM Assessments. These award-worthy projects set the threshold for future developments to replicate their commitment to achieve the optimum levels of sustainability and efficiency throughout the construction and operation of their building. Attending as the Lead Sponsor for this year’s ceremony, Stroma Tech welcomed guests to the event with an opening speech from Managing Director, Rob Coxon, who discussed the importance of BREEAM for the construction industry. Under the hosting of broadcaster, John Sergeant, Stroma Tech presented the winners of their sponsored categories – the Mixed Use Award and the highly coveted Your BREEAM of the Year Award which received over 6,000 votes from the public. The awards are a great opportunity for like-minded companies and industry professionals to come together to commend BREEAM’s achievements and to discuss the future of the built environment. Guests were able to experience leading examples of sustainability and network with pioneering, international BREEAM projects, from countries including Sweden, Turkey and France. Their success demonstrates the construction industry’s tenacity and commitment to global sustainability goals. Despite the UK government’s changes to policies such as Zero Carbon Homes and the Feed-In-Tariff, BREEAM has proved that environmental targets can still be achieved through innovative design and construction practices. Rob Coxon, said, ‘We were very happy with our involvement as the main sponsor of the BREEAM Awards 2016, not least because it hopefully elevated our standing in the BREEAM world, but also because it was an excellent event – well organised, well-paced and at a great venue. It was a great privilege to present the opening speech, which I was relieved to deliver reasonably well, but in John Sergeant, we had a convivial host who showed how it should be done. Well done all!’ Congratulations to all winners and nominated projects at this year’s BREEAM Awards.  Source link

The Oceânico Group, advised by Savills, has sold its full interest and ownership in Oceânico Golf, Vilamoura, to KAY CC Portugal, a partnership between Mr. Keith Cousins and the Dom Pedro Hotels Group. Oceânico Golf is the owner and operator of five of Vilamoura’s best known courses – The Victoria Course, The Old Course, Pinhal, Millennium and Laguna courses – with The Victoria Course under-going final preparations for the hosting of the 10th edition of The European Tour’s Portugal Masters from October 20th-23rd. Christopher Howell, Chairman of The Oceânico Group, comments: “We are pleased to have concluded the sales process of our successful Oceânico Golf business with Kay CC, and what we are sure will be a positive move for both parties as well as golf enthusiasts across Europe. The five golf courses within the Oceânico Golf portfolio hold a unique position within European golf tourism, and we are sure that Kay CC will continue to positively drive the business forward.” Ian Simpson, director at Savills, says: ‘The strong interest expressed in this internationally recognised group of golf courses was a reflection of its location in the Algarve, one of continental Europe’s most favoured golf tourism destinations, as well as the  quality of the golf development and strength of the business built up by the Oceânico Group over a number of years. The Oceânico Group will keep ownership and management of its two other Championship courses, Oceânico Faldo and O’Connor Jnr at the Amendoeira Golf Resort in Alcantarilha Silves.   Source link

New research by Savills reveals that the housing market in County Durham is on the rise and will be boosted further by the region’s positive employment growth, with prime property values across the north of England expected to rise by 18.2% over the next five years. Sophie Chick from Savills residential research team, comments: “We forecast that prime values across the north of England, including Darlington and the surrounding villages, will grow by an average of 18.2% over the five years to 2020 as the local economies strengthen and buyers become more aware of the comparative value the area has to offer.” In Darlington, the housing market is yet to see prices recover since the 2008 credit crunch as local buyers remain price conscious. On average, house prices are -23.6% below their 2007 peak in line with the average for the north east. Despite this, there are pockets in and around Darlington which are bucking the trend including central Darlington and the village of Middleton St George which have enjoyed a strong market over the last five years, seeing growth of nearly 25%. The research shows that in the 15 months to March 2016, the average sale price in Darlington was £148,000, which is in line with the average for the north east. The most expensive areas are situated to the south west of the town centre, with Blackwell having an average sale price of £278,000 and a £246,000 average in Hummersknott. Melissa Lines, head of residential at Savills Darlington says: “Despite a turbulent local market over recent years, we have now started to see signs of recovery. Darlington’s West End continues to be a desirable location amongst buyers and villages on the outskirts of the town including Hurworth, Croft and Middleton St. George are particularly sought after at the moment, particularly amongst young professionals. This may be explained by the superb amenities, strong transport links, good schools and thriving local communities on offer. “We expect this trend to continue and to ripple out to areas such as Middleton Tyas, Barnard Castle and Richmond due to the impending expansion of the A1 which will further improve access to York, Leeds and Newcastle.” Sophie Chick adds: “The Darlington market is predominantly local with the majority of buyers moving from within the region. The relatively strong employment in the town plays an important role in attracting buyers with 64% of people living in the town also working locally*. In contrast, the strong transport links to Newcastle and Durham are resulting in more people seeking better value properties in Darlington and then commuting to other nearby cities. “The prime housing markets of Darlington and the surrounding villages are largely dependent on wealth generated in the local economy. As economic recovery spirals from London and the south east to the north of England, the prime housing market is likely to benefit from a continuing improvement in buyer sentiment. We expect prime urban markets such as central Darlington to continue outperforming their neighbouring villages and rural areas as the trend for urban living remains popular.” Click here to view the full Spotlight: Savills York and Darlington Residential Offices research report. Source link

Date and Location Thursday 26th May 2016, The Studio, 7 Cannon Street, Birmingham B2 5EP Event overview This ‘Free’ professional CPD seminar run by Premium Power is of interest to health and safety managers, SHE specialists, engineers and facility managers working in large scale industrial environments looking to advance their electrical safety knowledge and training. Programme includes overview of electrical safety legal requirements, arc terminology and arc flash programme, live work procedures and risk assessments and the importance of maintenance in electrical safety. Who should attend? This seminar will be of interest to: SHE Directors, SHE Specialists, EHS Managers, Operations Managers, Plant Managers, Engineering Managers, Maintenance Managers, Facility Managers, Reliability Engineers and Electrical Engineers. Further information and booking For a full programme visit the Electrical Safety and Arc Flash webpage and download the event flyer. The Event is free to attend but places are limited. You can register your place on Event Brite, email seminars@premium-power.com or tel: +44 1564 711 226. Source link

©Bloomberg More On this topic IN UK Business & Economy MPs are calling for National Grid, the company that runs Britain’s electricity system, to be broken up in a radical move they say could transform the UK’s energy supply. Members of the cross-party energy select committee have said they believe that National Grid, which is one of Britain’s 20 biggest companies with a market value of £36bn, faces too many conflicts of interest and should be split up. Such a move could prove costly for shareholders. When Amber Rudd, the energy secretary, first proposed shaking up the way the company was run, its shares dipped noticeably, though they later recovered. The company has three different parts to its business. It owns the wires and pylons that carry electricity around the country; it runs the system to make sure the lights stay on; and it owns assets such as interconnectors that bring power in from abroad. The last of these functions has proved particularly profitable for the company in recent years as the UK has relied on electricity imports to keep the power running. In May, it reported increased annual profits, partly on the back of £123m of operating profit from the interconnector with France, a 19 per cent increase on the previous year. But critics say that the company should not own such a profitable asset while also running the system that procures the power from that asset. The company says it has put safeguards in place to keep the two functions separate. Ministers are now consulting on how the company should be structured, with officials saying they have not ruled out splitting it up entirely. Angus Brendan MacNeil, chairman of the committee, said: “National Grid’s technical expertise in operating the national energy system must be weighed against its potential conflicts of interest.” His committee’s report goes further: “Unnecessary asset development, or giving interconnectors an unfair advantage over existing and emerging balancing tools, could dilute the impact of other efforts to develop low-carbon network infrastructure.” National Grid said: “We take very seriously the need to provide confidence that any potential conflicts of interest are handled correctly and have a lot of experience operating in an environment where this is a key part of what we do. “We are currently working with the government and with regulators to ensure we continue to manage potential conflicts as our role develops.” Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016. You may share using our article tools. Please don’t cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. Source link

A window fitting company and the principal contractor at a construction site have been fined for safety failings after a worker fell a total of three metres while installing glazed units Bournemouth Magistrates’ Court heard how on 4 November 2014 an employee of GFT Frames Limited (GFT), was installing glazed units in a block of flats on a construction site at Western Avenue, Bournemouth where Parsons and Joyce Contractors Limited (P&J) were principal contractors. Darren Shepherd, aged 54, of Bournemouth, an employee of GFT, had been carrying window frames through the stairwell of the block of flats under construction. There were no stairs in place, just a ledge which was part of the structure that would act as a landing half way up the stairs once they were installed. After completing the unloading all the frames, Mr Sheppard and a colleague were accessing the first floor, up through the void.   As Mr Sheppard climbed onto the first floor from the ledge, he slipped, falling approximately 1.7metres back to the landing and then a further 1.3 metres to the ground floor. He sustained two fractured ribs and a broken thumb. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found GFT had failed to properly plan, supervise or carry out the work at height in a safe manner and that Parsons and Joyce failed to plan manage and monitor the construction phase and failed to provide workers with a site induction. GFT Frames Limited, of Vantage Way, Poole, Dorset, was fined a total of £6,000, and ordered to pay £9,953 in costs after pleading guilty to an offence under Regulation 4(1) of the Work at Height Regulations 2005. Parsons and Joyce Contractors Limited, of Ashley Road, Poole, Dorset, was fined a total of £20,000, and ordered to pay £9,953 in costs after pleading guilty to offences under Regulation 22(1)(a) and 22(2)(a) of the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations 2007. Notes to Editors: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It aims to reduce work-related death, injury and ill health. It does so through research, information and advice, promoting training; new or revised regulations and codes of practice, and working with local authority partners by inspection, investigation and enforcement. www.hse.gov.uk More about the legislation referred to in this case can be found at: www.legislation.gov.uk/  HSE news releases are available at http://press.hse.gov.uk Journalists should approach HSE press office with any queries on regional press releases. Source link