One of the largest and most striking sustainable tourism projects in the world officially opened yesterday. Bioregional’s One Planet Living framework has played a vital role in the creation of Villages Nature® Paris as well as offering support to allow the project to meet its high ambitions. The project has
Research has shown that more than 80% of workers in the construction industry feel that Brexit will have a damaging impact on the UK’s industry and could stop high-profile government infrastructure projects being completed. A new study carried out by Researchers at Birmingham City University has been looking into the
Scottish firm DM Design has just invested £250,000 in a biomass boiler at its head office in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The Fitted Bedroom specialists will now incredibly save the equivalent of 50 large skiploads of landfill each year. The ultra-high-spec 150kW boiler is in fact cleverly fed with wood from old
Construction companies, contractors and suppliers that could be interested in working on a development at Cardiff University have been invited to Meet the Bidders. The projects will see the Welsh University invest around £300 million into the creation of a new Innovation Campus. The Meet the Bidders event will last
One of the largest and most striking sustainable tourism projects in the world officially opened yesterday. Bioregional’s One Planet Living framework has played a vital role in the creation of Villages Nature® Paris as well as offering support to allow the project to meet its high ambitions. The project has been designed in order to create a space that is in harmony with nature and the rest of the planet. Located only three miles away from Disneyland Paris, Bioregional first became involved with this family focused site in 2005, when the project was still in the early stages of planning. The organisation has supported this Paris project ever since and has regularly monitored the project’s process against the challenging targets that have been set out in Villages Nature® Paris’ One Planet Action Plan. Bioregional has said that they will carry on monitoring the sustainability of the resort now that it has been officially opened to the public. It is hoped that eventually the new resort will attract more than a million visitors each year. This sustainable tourism project is a joint venture that has been brought to life by Groupe Pierre & Vacances-Centre Parcs and Euro Disney SCA. The site offers 868 cottages and apartments which are located in a car-free landscape filled with lakes, woodlands, meadows and gardens a mere 20 miles away from the bustling French capital. This oasis in an urban landscape has been created in order to set new standards for the tourism industry. Villages Nature® Paris illustrates how such a fast growing industry can be altered in order to be a force for good while also allowing visitors to reconnect to nature. The new tourist attraction also shows how the environmental impact of the tourism industry can be reduced while also including practices that supports the local economy.
Research has shown that more than 80% of workers in the construction industry feel that Brexit will have a damaging impact on the UK’s industry and could stop high-profile government infrastructure projects being completed. A new study carried out by Researchers at Birmingham City University has been looking into the views of those working in the construction industry to gage whether they believe that jobs, projects and the industry as a whole will be affected by Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. The study has shown that 88% of the workers felt that the UK relied upon the EU as a source of skilled labour. 82% felt that by leaving the EU, there would be a collapse of a number of infrastructure projects. Because of the demand for skilled workers in the industry, and the reliance upon the EU to supply the workers to meet the UK’s needs, 86% of the workers spoken to as a part of this survey said that a rise in the demand for skilled workers is expected. In line with these responses, 92% of construction workers thought that the freedom of movement would be beneficial to the construction industry in the UK. These responses have been collected from more than 50 businesses in the industry who gave feedback for the research project. One of the respondents in the research said that Brexit will make the current skills crisis significantly more intense and could then have a knock on effect on the costs of labour and therefore the costs of projects. The research carried out by the team at Birmingham City University is titled ‘Brexit: measuring the impact upon skilled labour in the UK construction industry’. The research as first formed as a part of a final year Honours Research Project (Dissertation). Since being finished, the research has been published in a leading scientific peer-reviewed research journal, the International Journal of Building Pathology and Adaptation. The research looks into a topical and historically unprecedented situation that is, at the moment looming over the UK construction industry. The paper also includes a number of recommendations to ease the strain on the number of skilled workers. These suggestions include retaining the free movement of workers by remaining in the European Economic Area, keeping current workers in the industry by offering increased wages and guaranteed overtime as well as reducing the physical exertion needed with the increased use of technology.
Scottish firm DM Design has just invested £250,000 in a biomass boiler at its head office in Cumbernauld, Scotland. The Fitted Bedroom specialists will now incredibly save the equivalent of 50 large skiploads of landfill each year. The ultra-high-spec 150kW boiler is in fact cleverly fed with wood from old kitchen and bedroom units which have been removed from customers’ homes. The unit also assists in removing dust ensuring the 30-strong factory team have a clean working environment. Operations director Ben Taylor is delighted with the installation. He enthused, “Putting in a biomass boiler was a no brainer. It saves 50 large skips-worth of waste going to landfill, heats our entire factory and lowers our heating bill by up to £10,000 a year.”
Construction companies, contractors and suppliers that could be interested in working on a development at Cardiff University have been invited to Meet the Bidders. The projects will see the Welsh University invest around £300 million into the creation of a new Innovation Campus. The Meet the Bidders event will last for half a day and is expected to be held at the Cardiff Business School’s Postgraduate Teaching Centre. The event will be taking place on the 16th November. The Meet the Bidders event will introduce the construction companies that are interested in getting involved in the construction project with the potential subcontractors and suppliers. The Portfolio Director for Cardiff Innovation Campus, Chris Strong has said that the Meet the Bidders event has been created in order to allow companies to have early access to the bidders on the project for the construction work and the fit-out contracts. It is expected that the winners of the contract will be announced at the end of December this year. Companies have been invited to express their interest in the project from supply chain providers. It is thought that this earlier expression of interest will be beneficial at the start of the build, expected to go ahead in 2018. The bidders for the project are wanting to talk to a range of different contractors and suppliers including heavy plant operators and companies that are able to supply office fixtures and fittings. The Cardiff Innovation Campus is at the centre of the University;’s vision to develop more economic prosperity in Wales. Two of the new buildings to be constructed on the site at Maindy Road will be used to house four academic centres for excellence. These centers include The Institute for Compound Semiconductors and Cardiff Catalysis Institute, which are already creating pioneering scientific research. The Innovation Centre will be used to develop partnerships between entrepreneurs, business leaders, professional advisors, academics and students and the Social Science Research park will focus on providing solutions to societal problems with collaborative research.