The Building Research Establishment

Structural Survey

ISSN: 0263-080X

Article publication date: 12 July 2011

790

Citation

Todd, S. (2011), "The Building Research Establishment", Structural Survey, Vol. 29 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.2011.11029caa.023

Publisher

:

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2011, Emerald Group Publishing Limited


The Building Research Establishment

Article Type: Internet review From: Structural Survey, Volume 29, Issue 3

The web site information included below shows two key and other informative sites. If there are any other interesting sites or sources of information that you have found useful, please e-mail me at s.todd@salford.ac.uk

www.bre.co.uk

The “News Headlines” section of the BRE web site includes information:

  1. 1.

    The BRE Group and Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft joint venture to address research and development challenges of the future. The Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP) and the BRE Group have recently laid the foundation stone for further collaboration. The Fraunhofer Institute of Building Physics IBP deals with research, development, testing, demonstration and consulting in the fields of building physics. This includes noise control, sound insulation measures in buildings, optimization of audibility conditions in audiences, energy saving measures, lighting technology, questions of indoor climate as well as aspects of moisture and weathering protection, the preservation of building structures and of historical monuments. The Institute cooperates with partners from all sectors of industry in the development and introduction on the market of new and sustainable building materials, components and systems. In a Memorandum of Understanding the research establishments have determined the key points of their future cooperation. The BRE and Fraunhofer Alliance (BFA) will help to address research and development challenges of the future. The goal is to create a new kind of research community to face the new international demands in applied research engineering. Besides environmental issues a stronger return to people and their individual needs will increasingly influence future research. One response to that shall be to focus on human centred engineering. The collaboration agenda includes aeronautics space and defence, communication and information technology, low energy buildings and renewable energy systems and health and environment issues. Further information on the Fraunhofer Institute can be found at www.ibp.fraunhofer.de

  2. 2.

    Jane Davidson (Welsh Assembly Government Minister), launches Exemplar Programme. Exemplary building projects are being invited to join an initiative that will enable the whole Welsh construction industry to benefit from the country’s most successful building schemes. With funding from the Modern Built Environment Knowledge Transfer Network (MBE KTN) and the Wales Low/Zero Carbon Hub, the Exemplar Programme is being conducted by a partnership of BRE Wales and Constructing Excellence Wales. “An exemplar is defined as something worthy of being copied that goes beyond normal industry practice,” (Caroline Weeks, BRE Wales). “The idea of this initiative is to identify, in a standardised and quantifiable way, the reasons why certain projects are successful, and then share these with the whole industry.” Newport City Council’s recent High School is one of the first exemplars to be featured on the project web site. Built to replace an underachieving school, the project epitomises what the programme is all about. As well as achieving the highest levels of sustainability, it engaged the local supply chain, the local labour market and created 14 new apprenticeships. Statistics for the first year demonstrate an increased uptake of school places, improved pupil grades and a higher income from the school’s leisure facilities. Whilst the programme is being rolled out in Wales, projects are being sought from across the UK. Three key areas of sustainability – environmental, economic and social – are being focused on. The projects selected will each demonstrate successful innovations in one or more of these aspects, while achieving at least satisfactory standards in all other areas to ensure that they are well rounded, and have not sacrificed one aspect to be successful in another. The assessment of exemplar projects includes an interview with key team members at key stages of construction and on completion, to examine how the project has performed against a framework of design and construction aims, and how the successes were achieved. The information obtained will be analysed to identify key “cause and effects” that can be repeated in other schemes. Full details of the exemplars will be made available through a web site www.exemplar.org.uk/ This site currently gives details of Newport High School. This new secondary school building was developed to replace the existing Bettws High School, which was underachieving. In addition to improving the school, a key aim was to promote the development and regeneration of the area by providing better leisure facilities at the school that could be accessed by local people. Crucial to the success of the project was the active involvement of the client, the willingness and ability of the project team to work together, and the support of the local community. Widespread consultation among all interested parties ensured that the facilities provided were appropriate and attractive. The new school building achieved an Excellent BREEAM rating for sustainability, exceeding the original target, and in its first year in the new building. Other achievements include:

  3. 3.
    • CO2 emissions were reduced by 20 per cent compared to Building Regulations Part L 2006 minimum standards, with an airtightness of 5 m3/m2.h @ 50 Pa.

    • 99 per cent of waste was diverted from landfill.

    • The local community has made increased extracurricular use of the new sports facilities.

    • 50 per cent local labour was employed and three new directly employed apprenticeships were generated, with 14 in total across the supply chain.

    • Attainment statistics for the new school in the first year were significantly improved, including increased intake, improved pupil grades and higher income from leisure facilities.

The “Spotlight” section of the BRE web site includes information on BREEAM 2011:

  1. 1.

    The BREEAM 2011 Scheme Document is now available. The BREEAM 2011 version will replace BREEAM 2008 as the current version for new building assessment registrations and certifications from 1st July 2011. Prior to referencing or using BREEAM 2011 on forthcoming projects BREEAM assessors, clients, specifiers and users are advised to read the scope section of the Scheme Document for guidance on which building and project types can be assessed and certified using the BREEAM 2011 New Construction scheme.

  2. 2.

    Ecobuild presentations. There are a number of presentations from the recent Ecobuild that can be downloaded:

  3. 3.
    • An insight into BREEAM 2011 – Tim Bevan.

    • BREEAM Refurbishment – Gavin Summerson.

    • An Introduction to BREEAM Communities – Andrew Waddelove.

    • Passivhaus Performance and Certification – Adam Tilford.

    • Passivhaus in the UK – Jennifer Hardi.

    • An Introduction to Passivhaus – Robin Brylewski.

    • Interview with Prof. Dr Wolfgang Feist (creator of Passivhaus).

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

www.rics.org.uk

The “RICS UK” section of the web site includes the following links:

  1. 1.

    UK Regions:

  2. 2.
    • England.

    • Northern Ireland.

    • Scotland.

    • Wales.

  3. 3.

    Join RICS:

  4. 4.
    • Routes to membership.

    • Become a surveyor.

    • Benefits of membership.

    • How to join.

    • Associate.

  5. 5.

    Members:

  6. 6.
    • My details.

    • Valuer registration scheme.

    • Practice standards.

    • Professional groups.

    • Red Book.

    • Benefits plus.

  7. 7.

    Students:

  8. 8.
    • What is surveying?

    • Benefits of surveying.

    • Student membership.

    • Student member zone.

    • Resources.

  9. 9.

    Public:

  10. 10.
    • Governance.

    • Corporate social responsibility.

    • RICS for Employers.

    • Useful guides.

    • Using a surveyor.

    • Market surveys.

There is also a link to the “Knowledge” section. The Knowledge area is a central resource for all the technical, practice-support publications that RICS produces for members. It is constantly refreshed and carries the latest RICS practice standards and publications, often before they are available in hardcopy. From this page there is also links to:

  • RICS Home Buyer Service – members and public information.

  • Research – recent RICS research and access to the research archive and COBRA research conference.

  • Current standards and consultations.

  • Online library catalogue – a live system giving members access to over 29,500 books, over 33,100 magazine articles and over 8,500 law reports and transcripts.

There are also links to:

  • Practice areas.

  • Practice standards and guidance.

  • Journals.

  • Modus.

  • Research.

  • Library.

  • RICS Books.

  • Isurv.

  • BCIS.

Hevar

www.hevar.co.uk

HEVAR is an event for buyers and specifiers in the UK’s heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration industry. It is the ideal forum where buyers, suppliers, specifiers and end users of heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration products and services come to source suppliers as well as learn about new products, exchange ideas and best practice and make the most of many networking opportunities. The web site includes a list of the exhibitors.

F.Ball

www.f-ball.co.uk

The main menu of this website is structured as:

  • About us.

  • Products.

  • Technical support.

  • Training.

  • Vodeos.

  • Contact us.

The site includes the 2011 Recommended Adhesives Guide which is an authorative guide to floorcovering and adhesive compatibility. Using this search facility it is possible to identify the latest recommendations for the most appropriate adhesives to use with over 5,000 brand name floorcoverings from over 200 leading manufacturers. The information is updated continuously throughout the year by F.Ball’s Technical Services Department.

Industrial Purification Systems (IPS)

www.industrial-purification.co.uk

The menu structure of this website is:

  • Home.

  • Solutions.

  • Produsts.

  • News.

  • Gallery.

  • Contact us.

  • Distributors.

  • Download.

Industrial Purification Systems Limited (IPS) has developed experience in the field of industrial and commercial water filtration. Their product range of filters, including sand filters and media filters enables them to offer equipment solutions that are commercially and environmentally acceptable. They offer many filtration technologies including high efficiency sand filters and media filters, which are often combined to achieve the desired result for each application. Their standard solutions filter from 1.0 mm down to 0.45 micron, with standard capacities from 2 m3/hr to 1000 m3/hr. Energy reduction is not generally the first consideration for installing water filtration. On HVAC systems for example, filtration to less than 1.0 micron on water based systems can result in big energy gains of up to 30 per cent, giving ROI of less than 12 months. With self cleaning filter systems they now offer many backwash recovery systems. These are often low cost solutions that minimise water losses and reduce environmental impact and cost.

The National Flood Forum

www.floodforum.org.uk

The National Flood Forum provides support and advice to communities and individuals that have been flooded or are at risk of flooding. It is a collective, authoritative voice that aims to influence central and local government and all agencies that manage flood risk. The National Flood Forum is a charity run by people who have experienced the trauma, loss and frustration that go with flooding or have first hand experience of supporting the victims of flooding both during and after the event.

The aims of the national flood forum are:

  1. 1.

    To advise and support communities and individuals that flood or are at flood risk.

  2. 2.

    To raise awareness of the plight of flood victims that experience flooding.

  3. 3.

    To encourage the establishment of community led groups for mutual support and action to mitigate their future risk of flooding.

  4. 4.

    To instigate multi agency collaboration and mediation between those that flood and those that manage flood risk.

  5. 5.

    To organise “flood fairs” to provide public information and advice from the NFF, government agencies and self help protection firms.

  6. 6.

    To work to secure effective and appropriate action by working with:

  7. 7.
    • Government.

    • Insurance Companies.

    • Environment Agency.

    • Local Authorities.

    • Water Companies.

The national flood forum supports victims of flooding by:

  • Rapid deployment of post recovery advice to flooded communities, individuals and businesses.

  • A designated help line that provides support, empathy and a listening ear.

  • Help and advice to resolve issues regarding restoration of property, insurance etc.

  • Advice on flood resilience and resistance.

  • Proactively helping to form action groups.

  • Enabling people to obtain information regarding their individual flooding problems.

Bauder

www.bauder.co.uk

Bauder is a manufacturer of waterproofing membranes. Their website’s main menu is structured as:

  • About us.

  • Our service.

  • Technical centre.

  • Media centre.

  • Careers.

  • Reinforced bitumen membrane systems.

  • Single ply systems.

  • Structural waterproofing.

  • Green roof landscaping.

  • Cold liquid applied systems.

There is also information about “Green roof landscaping.” There are different waterproofing options available beneath the landscaping; bituminous systems, single ply or hot melt.

They have four categories within our landscaping portfolio:

  1. 1.

    Biodiverse roofs. Specifically designed to support plant and wildlife by replacing the footrpint of the building with a habitat or natural ecological environment.

  2. 2.

    Intensive roof gardens and recreational areas. Recreational roofs where the design may include lawns, flowerbeds, shrubs and trees intermixed with hard landscaping such as paths, driveways and patios.

  3. 3.

    Extensive substrate systems. Lightweight option with self-sufficient plants such as grasses, herbs and succulents planted in specified depths of substrate.

  4. 4.

    Extensive sedum blanket. Very lightweight option with pre-cultivated vegetation blanket for instant greening of the roof.

The Green Roof Organisation, Bauder and others have joined forces to develop a Code of Practice which includes detail on design, specification, details of British Standards and Regulations. The Green Roof Organisation as a body is facilitated by the National Federation of Roofing Contractors and now the GRO Code has been issued, it is intended that all members will adhere to the guidelines to ensure the delivery of best practice. On an annual basis, the GRO Code will be reviewed and updated.

Stephen Todd

Related articles