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In October 2011 the Government brought in measures to reduce the revenue provided by the Feed in Tariff (FIT) system. This change came under a lot of opposition due to the potential affects that it would have upon the industry. The purpose of this paper is to explore the potential benefits of the FIT and the impact that the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review had upon the industry and its uptake by the householders.

For the study and to calculate the benefits of the FIT, a predictive modelling tool was built that could calculate the potential income and savings for a household. A photovoltaic (PV) installation was then monitored for over a year and the results of the predictive modelling tool were compared to actual results produced from the system to show how accurate the modelling tool was. The impacts of the Governments comprehensive spending review and the potential impacts in the industry were then calculated and discussed.

The FIT is still a good incentive for people investing in PV. However, the reduction in the FIT may impact the “Rent a Roof” system and this in turn will impact most heavily on lower income families. The research also concluded that the changes in the political agenda have had a major impact on the FIT for both the industry and the community. Thus, the solar FITs will continue to be an attractive incentive in place to pay for heating through renewable means and thus ensuring reducing the own carbon footprint. Concomitantly, well-developed ownership schemes need to be put in place.

The reduction in the FIT was the right move by the Government as it should prevent the increase in energy bill prices which will affect the people without PV at this point in time. It also has been set so that it is still generous enough to encourage the industry and stimulate installation as there is still profit but not in a way that should put people off. The UK may just have to take time to realise that the FITs are still a good deal after the very generous tariff that preceded them.

The UK construction industry produces up to one third of all waste to landfill. This study aims to identify specific project practices impeding the reduction of waste in construction projects as well as uncovering potential waste solutions throughout the project delivery process. The rationale being that for such a drastic reduction in waste to landfill, holistic and extensive measures would be required.

A two‐way methodological approach was used. This comprised qualitative unstructured interviews and a quantitative questionnaire survey of three major stakeholders in the UK construction industry: clients, architects and contractors.

Design factors remain the major cause of impediments to waste reduction to landfill. Critical impediments include clients making waste prevention a top priority in projects, overly complex designs, waste taking a low priority compared to project time and costs, lack of concerns by designers for buildability, among others. Critical solutions include early supply chain involvement in design process, choosing materials for their durability, early communication of design changes to all parties, longer project programmes and better lead times, among others.

In all, the target of halving construction waste to landfill based on the 2008 benchmark is achievable but would require construction companies to take it upon themselves to implement the proposed solutions suggested by this study.

The value of this research is to provide UK construction companies with solutions to reduce waste and aid the reaching of the landfill target, as landfill is decreasing as a solution to waste. In addition the cost savings on reducing waste could be crucial for companies in this current economic climate.

Whether in school buildings or university campuses the educational process involves many activities that include knowledge acquisition and assimilation, testing students' motivation and academic performance, and faculty and teachers' productivity. The way in which we approach the planning, design, and our overall perception of learning environments makes powerful statements about how we view education; how educational buildings are designed tells us much about how teaching and learning activities occur. Concomitantly, how these activities are accommodated in a responsive educational environment is a critical issue that deserves special attention. While it was said several decades ago that a good teacher can teach anywhere, a growing body of knowledge-derived from knowledge on “evidence-based design” suggests a direct correlation between the physical aspects of the learning environment, teaching processes, and learning outcomes. In its commitment to introduce timely and pressing issues on built environment research, Open House International presents this special edition to debate and reflect on current discourses on sustainable learning environments.