14 April 2016 | Jamie Harris CBRE has secured an extension and expansion of its facilities management contract with Shell. Under the terms of the renewed deal, CBRE will be responsible for FM services, including essential maintenance, at 7,000 fuel stations across 22 countries in Europe, the Middle East
©Getty The financial uncertainty triggered by the UK’s vote to leave the EU has sent shudders through virtually every industry, but Europe’s renewable energy sector faces even greater insecurity. The successful Leave campaign was led by several political figures opposed to tackling climate change by replacing fossil fuel power stations
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Dame Judith Hackitt’s report on Building industry Regulations and Fire Safety: Building a Safer Future, due out this week, will expand on the December 2017 interim report which found that, “The current regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high-rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose. This applies
Construction company Pave Aways handed over, between April 2017 and April 2018, projects worth more than £15 million to private schools, universities, colleges and local education authorities in England and Wales. During the previous financial year, the company worked on education schemes worth £12.6 million. Oswestry-based contractor carried out refurbishment
People are proud of having their own home. Whether it is a house or an apartment, they chose this type of residence and built their own home in it. The most important thing for having a good looking home is to regularly clean it. People know the importance of the
The prestigious Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards has announced Glenwood School as the winner in the Community Benefit category. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) school in Benfleet, Essex was recognised for addressing the needs of SEN school places and community facilities in the local area at the RICS
During the NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) 2018 UK Roofing Awards, sponsored by SIG Roofing, charity-minded Surrey roofer, Lee Moran, has been crowned the nation’s top ‘Local Hero’. Part of the Moran Roofing Specialists business, Lee was recognised for his years of fundraising for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, which
Construction work on the 155,000 sq ft Etele Plaza in Budapest has begun. The mall, combining unique architectural solutions and digital services, will feature more fashion brands in one place than any other shopping centre in Hungary. The shopping and entertainment centre is expected to open in 2020. The area
The UK suffers from severe shortage in traditional construction skills, a pressure amplified by the fact that the average age of the construction workforce is increasing. A smart solution to this issue would be for the industry to embrace offsite forms of construction to increase the attractiveness of the sector
14 April 2016 | Jamie Harris CBRE has secured an extension and expansion of its facilities management contract with Shell. Under the terms of the renewed deal, CBRE will be responsible for FM services, including essential maintenance, at 7,000 fuel stations across 22 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. CBRE also provides real estate management and lease administration services to Shell in a separate contract. Earlier this week, the FM provider announced a contract win with energy company Vestas to provide global integrated FM services for sites in 17 countries. CBRE has reported that it has seen an increase in the number of companies sending in requests for proposals (RFPs) for real estate and facilities management requirements across the EMEA region in 2015. Source link
©Getty The financial uncertainty triggered by the UK’s vote to leave the EU has sent shudders through virtually every industry, but Europe’s renewable energy sector faces even greater insecurity. The successful Leave campaign was led by several political figures opposed to tackling climate change by replacing fossil fuel power stations with wind farms and other sources of renewable energy. More On this topic IN Energy The campaign’s strategy committee included Lord [Nigel] Lawson, founder of the Global Warming Policy Foundation think-tank which says the science of climate change is “not yet settled”. Brexit figurehead Boris Johnson, the former mayor of London, once questioned global warming during a snowy winter and likened wind farms to a “hideous Venusian invasion” that is “crucifying our landscape”. None of the contenders to replace David Cameron as prime minister are vigorous renewable energy advocates and one, Michael Gove, was once accused of trying to downgrade climate change in the national schools curriculum. With the UK political landscape in a historic state of disarray, it is unclear how the future government will behave. But the Leave victory raises questions about whether years of cross-party consensus on the need to combat global warming may fray. The EU’s largest green energy companies have so far been careful to downplay concerns about the sector in the UK, which last year had a market value of £16bn and employed close to 117,000 people, according to the Renewable Energy Association. Denmark’s Dong Energy, which is building some of the UK’s largest offshore wind farms, says the UK’s energy policy is fundamentally driven by the need to replace worn-out old power stations. Marianne Wiinholt, chief financial officer, says the subsidies Dong receives for its UK offshore projects are based on fixed private law contracts between the company and the government, “and will thus not be affected by the outcome of the EU vote”. As for the tumbling pound, Ms Wiinholt says the company has already hedged most of its cash flow for 2016 and 2017 as part of its ordinary currency hedging. Germany’s Siemens, one of the world’s largest wind turbine makers, says the general uncertainty triggered by the Brexit result may stall long-term plans to eventually export turbine blades from its new £160m factory in the Yorkshire city of Hull. But the Hull investment itself is secure. Drax, owner of one of the world’s largest renewable power plants, says it also has long-term hedging in place for its huge North Yorkshire coal and biomass electricity station, for which it imports large quantities of wood pellets from the US. But Drax, like many other EU renewable generators, has shaped its business strategy around a series of existing UK government climate commitments, including biomass subsidies and phasing out coal power stations by 2025. The energy secretary, Amber Rudd, a prominent Remain campaigner, told a climate change conference last week that the existing government was still committed to all such policies, even if the Brexit vote made it “harder” for the UK to tackle global warming. She pointed to the cross-party consensus vote in favour of the UK’s 2008 Climate Change Act, which commits the UK to an 80 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, adding that “leading Leave campaigners have made it clear they remain committed to it”. The act’s goals are more far-reaching than some EU targets, a point Dong has highlighted. However, the existence of this homegrown law has not stopped renewable energy opponents from trying to water down support for green energy subsidies in the past. To ward them off, some ministers have argued the UK is legally bound to help meet EU-wide climate and energy targets requiring 20 per cent of the bloc’s energy to come from renewables by 2020. But once the UK leaves the EU, it may no longer be constrained by such goals, let alone newer 2030 targets that underpin the bloc’s commitments to the Paris climate accord agreed in December. The UK could follow the path of Norway, which is not an EU member but has agreed to be bound by the bloc’s climate targets. But no one can be certain. Still, legal experts say there could be some benefit for the industry from a Brexit, if it waters down costly EU rules protecting birds and other wildlife. Plans for some of the UK’s biggest wind farms have been scaled back or ditched after companies hit hurdles stemming from the EU’s birds and habitats directives. Such cases underline the “over-regulation” of the wind farm industry as a result of EU rules, says Jennifer Ballantyne, a planning specialist at the Pinsent Masons law firm. But the fate of these rules, like all others based on EU policies, is now very far from clear. 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
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Dame Judith Hackitt’s report on Building industry Regulations and Fire Safety: Building a Safer Future, due out this week, will expand on the December 2017 interim report which found that, “The current regulatory system for ensuring fire safety in high-rise and complex buildings is not fit for purpose. This applies throughout the life-cycle of a building, both during construction and occupation, and is a problem connected both to the culture of the construction industry and the effectiveness of the regulators.” The interim report identified six key areas for urgent action: regulation and guidance; roles and responsibilities; competence; process, compliance and enforcement; residents’ voice and raising concerns and Quality Assurance and products. Colin Lawson, Head of Product Development, Sales & Marketing, Tamlite Lighting comments: “There cannot have been anyone in the UK whose heart did not go out to the victims and the families of those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire on 14th June 2017. It will take many years to recover from the effects on the community, residents and the emergency services. It also deeply affected those in the construction industry and supply chain who share responsibility for the safety of our homes and places of work, along with local government, regulators and legislators. “At Tamlite Lighting we are most concerned with how the lighting industry can play its part in using its influence to ensure the highest levels of safety and accountability. Dame Judith’s interim report said that “primary responsibility for ensuring that buildings are fit for purpose must rest with those who commission, design and build the project”, but what does that mean in practice for the lighting industry? “The industry must play its part; it can’t sit back and wait for central government to legislate. We must come together with our colleagues across the lighting and construction supply chain to share knowledge, encourage ongoing training and testing, adopt best practice behaviours, and develop a fully-accountable system for the life-cycle of buildings as a whole and not just for our own separate areas of ‘responsibility’. We can’t just aim for minimum compliance, but provide leadership especially regarding responsibility and competence. “While the lighting industry already adheres to stringent Quality Assurance standards in which products are properly tested and certified, there needs to be clarity on where ultimate responsibility lies – with the designer, specifier, installer or building owner.” In addition the industry must be more proactive to ensure oversight of the quality of installation. According to the interim report “This is one area where England and Wales appears to be lagging behind many other parts of the world that require key personnel throughout the system to be properly trained, assessed and in many cases licensed to carry out specific roles.” Mr Lawson concludes, “It is up to all of us in construction, to play our part, to build a culture of responsibility, of doing more than cutting costs to the bone, or simply complying with the relevant regulations on safety or sustainability. As we near the first anniversary of this tragedy, it should go without saying that the events of that awful night in June 2017 should never be repeated.”
Construction company Pave Aways handed over, between April 2017 and April 2018, projects worth more than £15 million to private schools, universities, colleges and local education authorities in England and Wales. During the previous financial year, the company worked on education schemes worth £12.6 million. Oswestry-based contractor carried out refurbishment work for schools in Dolgellau, Wales, for Gwynedd Council and extensions and refurbishments for Shropshire Council and Telford & Wrekin Council. It also finished four projects for Concord College near Shrewsbury including extra student accommodation, a new science block and dining hall extension, and the new Agritech Innovation Hub at Harper Adams University. “Our experience in this field has made us the informed choice for many organisations when it comes to major infrastructure projects as our team – from on site to back office staff – understand the issues and constraints of working on projects in this industry and offer the flexible approach to ensure that teaching facilities are maintained,” said managing director Steven Owen about the firm’s success in education. For the 2018-2019 financial year, the future looks promising, with the company already reaching more than £3.9 million on projects at Severndale Academy in Shrewsbury, work for Shropshire Council at Stoke on Tern, Long Mountain Primary and Shifnal Primary Schools, an extension and remodelling work for Tarporley C of E Primary in Cheshire and redevelopment of Castle Block, the former science building, at Concord College. “Since 2007, we have completed 19 projects worth £19.8 million at Concord College near Shrewsbury. We also have an historic relationship with Harper Adams University near Newport where we have completed 20 builds since 2006 worth £20.1 million,” said Steven. “We pride ourselves on creating long-term relationships with our clients by offering a local solution, combined with the highest standard of construction and exemplary after service.” Pave Aways carries out construction work across a range of sectors including industrial, healthcare, residential, retail and commercial.
People are proud of having their own home. Whether it is a house or an apartment, they chose this type of residence and built their own home in it. The most important thing for having a good looking home is to regularly clean it. People know the importance of the cleaning procedures, however, they sometimes fail to achieve the best they should and neglect simple cleaning tasks. What we are here for, is to give you some basic guidelines on how to achieve a perfectly clean home interior and we have some tips on improving the look of your interior as well. At the end, you will find some creative ideas which we will be glad if you consider and include in your home interior. Must-do Cleaning Routines This is the first, and most important step, of achieving a clean home environment. Before you start cleaning anything, you should at least have the idea from where to begin. The one thing, which can help you a lot for the cleaning procedures, is to put them in categories and make a list. Whatever the type of cleaning is, regular deep cleaning, or basic every-day cleaning routines, you should have a schedule and a checklist, which, with time, you will memorize and start doing without even noticing. Daily activities fall in our first category, as they are a must-do every day. They will help you maintain a good and clean home environment and will ease your deep cleaning procedures later on. These activities don’t require much time and as a habit, they are quick and easy to do: Make your bed, first thing in the morning; Wash dishes/run the dishwasher; make sure to include dishes from breakfast; Open windows to let fresh air in; Take care of clean and dry laundry; Put dirty clothes in the laundry; Take care of mail; Wipe kitchen surfaces and working areas; Find items, which don’t belong and put them in their rightful places, to avoid clutter. The second checklist you need to have is of your weekly cleaning tasks. They are also necessary if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises: Change bed linen; Dust furniture; Dust drapes and curtains; Remove cobwebs; Clean radiators; Change towels in bathroom (more often if needed, according to your needs); Vacuum carpets and/or mop floors; Clean taps, light switches, remote controls, handles; Take care of garbage (not necessarily in one day of the week as it can build up in only two days, therefore, take care of it when needed). If you want to make sure everything is done right, divide the different tasks in all days of the week. For example, make Mondays for removing cobwebs and dusting, Thursdays for vacuuming and so on. Remember that you should first dust the furniture/drapes and then vacuum, otherwise, it’s pointless. Monthly cleaning activities: Dust and clean light fixtures; Vacuum woodwork and vents; Clean mirrors and glass surfaces; Dust blinds; Run an empty cycle for the dishwasher and washing machine to clean them. The next checklist is for the cleaning activities, which must be done every three to six months: Launder pillows, blankets, comforters and furniture covers; Vacuum mattresses (you can sprinkle some baking soda and leave it for a few hours, before vacuuming); Clean kitchen appliances (oven, toaster, fridge, etc.), including under and behind; Clean furniture (behind and under bed, couch, etc.); Clean balcony/patio. What should you do once or twice every year is in the following list: Deep clean carpets and upholstery; Clear out gutters; Clean chimney and fireplace; Deep clean windows, mirrors, other glass surfaces. Cleaning Products and Tools The market offers a great variety of cleaning products and tools, but are they really worth it? The best decisions you can make advised by Cleaners London, when choosing cleaning tools and products are these: Substitute expensive cleaning products with homemade cleaner. Mix equal parts of vinegar and water and add up to twenty drops of any essential oil (preferably pine, tea tree or lavender essential oil, because they are known for their antibacterial powers). This homemade all-purpose cleaner is one of the greatest things you can use to clean, all-natural. It is suitable for different surfaces and the results are impressive. Use lemon to clean water stains; cucumber to clean stainless steel; ketchup to clean silver and copper; baking soda and vinegar to clean toilet; baking soda to get rid of unpleasant odours (including of shoes); banana to clean leather; cooled herb tea for cleaning wooden furniture and items. Switch to microfiber cloths. They are very handy to clean various types of surfaces, because they collect dirt and dust properly and are re-usable after lots of washing cycles. Forget about expensive and ridiculous cleaning tools. Just find yourself a good wide brush and pick a toothbrush and you will be doing miracles with them! Bonus Tips for Clean and Fresh Home Environment As we promised, here are our tips for achieving fresh look and atmosphere of your already cleaned home: Scented candles. The market offers a great variety of scented candles. From citrus and vanilla aromas to wood and ocean scents, you can choose to purchase whichever odour you prefer. Candles are almost necessary for every living room, at least. Putting them here and there on your home surfaces will not only bring the nice finished look of your interior, but will also add a sweet or calming scent to your evenings. Air fresheners. These could also be placed in every room, but they have another positive effect on another part of your interior. Placing air fresheners in your closet and/or in the drawers, will help keeping your clothes fresh. Cotton air fresheners are very good option, but you can also choose another scent, as they come in all forms, colours and aromas, just like scented candles. Avoid smoking in closed areas. It is hard to lay on your couch and resist the nicotine appetite when it hits you, but smoking in your home areas does not have a
The prestigious Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Awards has announced Glenwood School as the winner in the Community Benefit category. The Special Educational Needs (SEN) school in Benfleet, Essex was recognised for addressing the needs of SEN school places and community facilities in the local area at the RICS East of England Awards, which recognises outstanding developments in the region. The £15 million scheme was commissioned by Essex County Council through its own construction framework utilising leading property, construction and infrastructure consultancy Pick Everard for project and cost management services, with design and build expertise being provided by construction firm Morgan Sindall. “We’re delighted that Glenwood has won this incredibly prestigious award,” said Gary Buick, director at Pick Everard. “This project was delivered to address a chronic shortage of SEN school places in Essex, and the team worked closely with the school to ensure that the design met the needs of the pupils and fitted the ethos of the school.” The new state-of-the-art building includes 26 classrooms and facilities such as a hydrotherapy pool, swing therapy rooms and a trampoline room to help promote body awareness, sequencing, postural control and organisation of the senses. “Glenwood School provides the very best support and learning opportunities for children and young adults with special educational needs. The new state-of-the-art facilities will provide a secure and exciting learning space for pupils,” said Gary. “The new building also provides much-needed lettable space for community groups that require accessible facilities including hall spaces, a swimming pool, playing fields and a multi-use games area.” Councillor Ray Gooding, Essex County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education, named Glenwood School as the perfect example of the investment offered by the council in special school places. “We are committed to ensuring all pupils receive the best possible education and work hard to ensure this is within an environment that meets their individual needs,” he said. The RICS Awards were held on Friday, the 11th of May, and are the premier property and construction awards in the country, honouring the most innovative projects in the region and their impact on local communities.
During the NFRC (National Federation of Roofing Contractors) 2018 UK Roofing Awards, sponsored by SIG Roofing, charity-minded Surrey roofer, Lee Moran, has been crowned the nation’s top ‘Local Hero’. Part of the Moran Roofing Specialists business, Lee was recognised for his years of fundraising for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice, which cares for terminally ill people, as well as other good causes. “It was really pleasing to be nominated for the Local Hero Award and a massive surprise to actually win it,” said Lee Moran. The ‘Local Hero’ Award is a new category, introduced for this year’s edition, which celebrates the fantastic work many roofers do in their local communities. Lee has been raising funds since 2012 and he received an unprecedented number of nominations for his many charity works. A Facebook page set up by him, ‘Farnham Rants’, has raised so far more than £10,000 for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. As well as managing the Facebook group, he regularly takes on tough challenges such as the Palace to Palace cycle ride, from Windsor Castle to Buckingham Palace. “I set it up to encourage light-hearted banter and build an online community where I gently persuade people to take out an advertisement with the money donated to Phyllis Tuckwell,” said Lee about Farnham Rants, which has attracted more than 19,500 members. Lee has also raised money for the Shooting Star Chase children’s hospice and the British Heart Foundation. In addition, he has tackled the London to Brighton Cycle Ride and the Tough Mudder obstacle challenge, both on numerous occasions, to raise funds. Now he is planning a ‘width of England’ cycle marathon for 2019. Moran Roofing Specialists, which has a workforce of 10, was established in the 1960s by Lee’s grandfather Mick. Lee’s father, Darryl, took over in 1981 and now, with his father aiming to retire, Lee has become the third generation of Morans to run the business.
Construction work on the 155,000 sq ft Etele Plaza in Budapest has begun. The mall, combining unique architectural solutions and digital services, will feature more fashion brands in one place than any other shopping centre in Hungary. The shopping and entertainment centre is expected to open in 2020. The area can be accessed in only 10 minutes from downtown Budapest via direct links as it is being constructed in the meeting point of a national/international railway station, underground line 4 that connects the area with the inner parts of the city and the entrance section of the M1 and M7 highways that lead towards Austria and Croatia. Estimated to attract around 40,000 customers every day from the capital, the suburbs and the further towns, Etele Plaza will have a modern design with 200 store units, a supermarket, restaurants, cafés, a multiplex cinema, a gym, a children’s play centre and a range of other services with nearly 1,300 parking lots. The exterior design of the shopping centre will be dominated by the largest curtain wall structure of Hungary – with a height and width of 30 meters – above the main entrance and the retracted metal boxes that jump out from the facades. In the internal area, along with the soft tracing, a nearly 200 square meter interactive LED display interface will bring the latest generation of the shopping centre design to Hungary. In the immediate vicinity of the eco-friendly shopping and entertainment centre, Futureal Group’s largest and iconic office development project, Budapest ONE Business Park is being built in Őrmező. Budapest ONE was one of the firsts in Hungary to obtain the international WELL Building Platinum Precertification, which focuses on the aspects having beneficial impacts on employees’ health and well-being while designing the buildings. “The construction of Budapest ONE and Etele Plaza will give a new momentum to the most important centre of South West Budapest,” said Tibor Tatár, CEO of Futureal.
The UK suffers from severe shortage in traditional construction skills, a pressure amplified by the fact that the average age of the construction workforce is increasing. A smart solution to this issue would be for the industry to embrace offsite forms of construction to increase the attractiveness of the sector to new entrants and to improve productivity to increase output with less labour. Although the construction industry has had a slow start with regards to the smart technology, things are changing now with the integration of a range of devices that make complicated tasks much easier. Looking to the future, new roles are emerging, including Automation Technician, DFM Process Manager with digital design skills, together with hybrid manufacturing roles, for example a Digital Construction Manager, who will take ownership of the product end to end. Explore Offsite South West, taking place on the 11th of July at Sandy Park, Exeter, invited Catherine Bullough, Programme Manager for the National Skills Academy for Construction at CITB, who will be discussing the offsite skills required to meet the future needs of the industry and will be providing an update on the action plan for qualifications and training support. Moreover, Dr Sonja Dragojlovic-Oliveira, Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader, University of the West of England, will carry out a presentation on the research conducted on offsite routes to delivery for social housing commissioned by a consortium of housing associations. This represents a major opportunity for construction professionals operating in or entering the offsite arena to gain valuable intelligence. The combined conference and exhibition will bring together a range of offsite technology supply chain specialists and industry leaders to discuss the uptake of offsite construction in the South West region. The event will focus on the key themes of offsite technology options, regional supply chain resources, project case studies and the opportunities within the offsite sector. The Explore Offsite event is organised by Constructing Excellence South West, the single organisation charged with driving the change agenda in construction within the south west region which is part of the Constructing Excellence Regional Network (CERN).
