Sharing insights from a forthcoming book, this session will discuss how we can better understand materials and their environmental impacts so we can make more informed design choices. Experts on specific materials will highlight the questions that we need to ask, focusing on how we can reduce their impact and
Read more »Growing interest in zero carbon and low embodied energy casts a spotlight on materials that are specified. While mainstream petrochemical, synthetic and cementitious materials strive for lower embodied energy , the best way to achieve this is by using bio based, renewable, natural materials. Many architects and builders are nervous
Read more »Will Arnold, the IStructE’s Head of Climate Action, will present on the decarbonisation of steel, concrete and timber in the UK. As well as critiquing the promises made to date, the presentation will give an insight into some of the exciting materials innovations that Will has come across through his
Read more »Steel is one of the most widely used and resource intensive materials used in construction. Although commonly recycled at end of life, the reuse of steel is minimal despite the apparent environmental and carbon benefits. New research shows that steel can be reused in a wide range of construction applications
Read more »Regenerative circular design consultants 540 WORLD and Accoya wood as a gamechanging innovation exemplar present gold standard sustainable timber innovations and why sustainable circularity is a broken design model without material health verification first. The global pioneers setting the international standards in design and materials explain the why, how and
Read more »David’s presentation will cover the circular economy design principles for buildings; practical examples and case studies; and a brief summary of the requirements of the GLA Circular Economy policies. Chair: Alice Purcell, AECOM Speaker: Dave Cheshire, Director, Sustainability, Buildings + Places, AECOM
Read more »With the upcoming changes to the regulation of construction products the panel, Chaired by CABE Technical Director Richard Harral will be discussing the implication of the changes for both specifiers and designers. Chair: Richard Harral, Technical Director, CABE Speakers: Hanna Clarke, Digital and Policy Manager, Construction Products Association (CPA) Richard
Read more »The Passivhaus Trust will launch updated good practice guidance on how to design and build to the energy efficiency and comfort building standard. Passivhaus experts will share their top practical tips and explain how to use Passivhaus to get to net zero on your project. Chair: Piers Sadler, Director, Delta
Read more »The built environment contributes around 40% of the UK’s total carbon footprint, and 21% of homes are over 100 years old and are characterised by traditional construction. There is an assumption that historic, traditional buildings will always have a low value Energy Performance Certificate (EPC), and energy retrofits / upgrades
Read more »Many of the well-known barriers in delivering retrofit get plenty of airtime, such the technical aspects, or the retrofit skills gap. But as social housing landlords struggle to deliver on pilots alongside ‘business as usual’, many lesser-recognised barriers are emerging. The need for soft skills such as how to communicate
Read more »Hosted by Light Steel Frame Association (LSFA), this session will feature high-profile speakers discussing the significant role that light steel frame plays in the UK’s major developments across all sectors. Steel construction provides the most sustainable and economic buildings, representing the most efficient use of resources. This longevity combined with
Read more »UK homes are increasingly at risk of overheating, which can lead to uncomfortable indoor environments for homeowners and residents. Overheating can be caused by poor housing design, uncontrolled solar gain, inadequate shading, and insufficient summer ventilation. Contextual factors such as external noise and security concerns can also restrict opportunities for
Read more »The UK is facing an energy crisis. It is estimated that by Spring 2023 a typical family could be paying 500% more for their household energy bills than before the Covid pandemic. The UK is also still committed to a net zero emissions target by 2050. With these issues in
Read more »The Modular and Portable Building Association focused sustainability group considers how modular construction delivers benefits to the net zero agenda in all lifecycle stages from manufacture through to end of life, providing model implementation of the circular economy. Chair: Richard Hipkiss, Modular and Portable Buildings, Development Director, MPBA Speakers: Andrew
Read more »How does Passivhaus provide solutions to the current energy bill crisis? The Passivhaus Trust leads a workshop exploring the energy and cost-saving benefits of building and retrofitting using the low energy building standard and methodology. Chair: Matt Bridgestock, Managing Director, John Gilbert Architects The costs and benefits of Passivhaus newbuild
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Mark Shepherd, Manager, MPA Precast Bio: Mark has worked within the precast concrete industry for over 30 years, gaining experience in planning, production management and project management at a range of precast concrete producers. Mark’s career has seen him involved in the delivery of a number of projects at various
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Claire Ackerman, Executive Director, MPA The Concrete Centre Claire is Executive Director overseeing the concrete team at MPA. She has a wide remit with overall responsibility for UK Concrete and The Concrete Centre and works with the product groups BRMCA/MPA Ready-mixed Concrete, MPA Mortar, MPA Precast, MPA Masonry and MPA-affiliates
Read more »The standard for concrete, BS 8500, is about to be revised and this update will considerably increase the range of low carbon concrete available for all concrete applications. Gareth will provide guidance on how to specify low carbon concrete, including the use of multi-components cements using limestone. Research, development and
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Chartered Architect and Convenor of the Trees and Design Action Group Sue James trained at the Architectural Association and worked in private practice in West Wales focusing on sustainable buildings in context. She has also worked as an urban design consultant. She is a founding member and Convenor of the
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Lynne Sullivan OBE, LSA Studio, board member Passivhaus Trust and the Green Construction Board and Chair of the Good Homes Alliance Lynne Sullivan is a practising Architect and founded sustainableBYdesign, finalists in all three 2010-2012 BRE-sponsored UK Passivhaus prototype Housing Competitions. Previously Lynne was Sustainability Director for 9 years at
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Head of Climate Action, IStructE Will leads the IStructE’s response to the climate emergency, bringing sustainability action into all aspects of its work. He is responsible for driving change within the profession, setting the minimum sustainability standards for institution members, producing sustainability publications and training to support this, and collaborating
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Keith Clarke CBE Partenaires de Développement Interurbain and Chair of Constructionarium Intercity Development Partners Keith has a global reputation as one of the guiding minds in the leadership and sustainable development of large-scale infrastructure programmes to enable economic and societal growth and prosperity in Europe, North America, the Middle East
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Principal, The Architects Practice and Edge policy lead Simon Foxell is a practicing architect and Principal of The Architects Practice. He is a member of Islington Council’s and the Home Office’s Design Review panels. He is the author of several books including: Professionalism for the Built Environment, A Carbon Primer, Starting a
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Principal of Twinn Sustainability Innovation, Board Member LETI With a background is building design, planning, implementation and policymaking, Chris Twinn runs his own practice after 28 years with Arup as director & Arup Fellow. The premise behind much of his work is that a more efficient built-environment should use less
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Coordinator of the Engineering Club and Adviser to the Happold Foundation Andrew Scoones is involved in professional development communications for architecture, construction and related business sectors. He is Director of ngenuity Ltd, which produces events, exhibitions, website and videos for mainly educational projects. With a background in television production, he
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Mina Hasman, Sustainability Director, SOM & Lead, Climate Framework Mina Hasman leads SOM’s sustainability and wellbeing operations and long-term vision for achieving excellence in practice. She has experience in a wide variety of projects in Europe, UK, Middle East, and Asia, bringing a greater understanding of the implications for sustainable
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Louisa Bowles is a Partner and Sustainability Lead at Hawkins\Brown. She has led several multi-disciplinary projects from inception to completion and now leads the practice’s dedicated team of sustainability specialists. She has structured the practice’s Whole Life Design strategy, and the development of the in-house H\B:ERT whole life carbon tool,
Read more »A presentation and panel discussion about the New Model Building, a project by Waugh Thistleton, Buro Happold and UCL, which has established a pre-approved construction system for a 6-storey timber residential building for use by the wider industry. The session will explore the potential of mid-rise timber residential development –
Read more »The climate is changing, and our urban areas must be prepared for more frequent heavy rainfall events and hotter summers. Summer 2022 showed us how hot weather can cause infrastructure networks to fail, and cause homes, offices, and care settings to overheat. Winter flooding events have shown the vulnerability of
Read more »What does the circular economy mean for the infrastructure sector and engineers? What does good practice look like on projects and how is it being applied? What does a resource-focused approach to infrastructure mean for the priorities of engineers and the understanding of value? Chair: Mark Edwards, Head of Sustainability,
Read more »The session will seek to explain the emerging Vision and Validate (and other synonymous titles) approach to transport planning for development; that seeks to emphasise sustainable and active travel outcomes for sites – also facilitating sites that are self contained, have internalised peak hour trips; and which operate sustainably into
Read more »Discussion of ongoing challenges and opportunities for developing green jobs and skills in the UK, including updates from members of the government’s Green Jobs Delivery Group. The session will explore: What are the key blockers and enablers for creating more green jobs in the UK? What more can be done
Read more »The purpose of this session will be to discuss the transformative qualities of light and how these might be used to create and support new types of architecture. Our work as lighting designers is in some cases very much in the shadows, unseen by the non-specialist eye but intrinsic to
Read more »There is a growing recognition of the importance of improving indoor air quality. Air purifiers and ventilation systems are seen as the answer, but these do not necessarily remove the source of hazardous emissions from building materials. This session will give an introduction to the importance of understanding emissions from
Read more »Regenerative circular design consultants 540 WORLD and international manufacturers as game changing innovation examples, HONEXT® and Graphenstone, present gold standard sustainable material innovations and why sustainable circularity is a broken design model without material health verification first. The global pioneers setting the international standards in design and materials explain the
Read more »Join our panel of experts in this myth busting session which will explore common ground source heat pump misconceptions. An opportunity to ask our panel of experts about the benefits and opportunites for ground source heat pumps – exploring the points below: Myths What is the benefit of using thermal
Read more »LETI have produced a new publication – the LETI Modelling Guide – which focuses on building energy modelling to forecast the energy use of buildings at design stage. Engaging with this form of modelling is invaluable when designing to meet in-use targets such as Energy Use Intensity (EUI), especially when
Read more »It is not only the rising cost of energy that demands improvements in the energy performance of our building stock. Given that the majority of buildings that we will have in 2050 already exist, achieving our urgent climate goals means that we must reduce the energy use in these buildings.
Read more »Heat networks have the potential to play a significant role in the UK’s transition to net zero. In this session, we explore what is needed to accelerate the growth of heat networks in the UK. We will explore the role of markets and the public sector; heat regulation, consumer protection
Read more »In this session, we discuss how ground source heat pumps can be deployed at scale to deliver low carbon heating to domestic and non-domestic buildings. We will present our ‘street-by-street approach’ which features individual ground source heat pumps in each building connected to ambient temperature district heating. Additionally, we will
Read more »The urgent and interconnected challenges of climate change, rapid urbanisation, social inequities, health risks and economic disparities demand having the right knowledge and skills (i.e. capacity) within the built environment sector, to effectively and holistically respond to these challenges in tandem, fast and at scale. Over the recent years, the
Read more »By the middle of this century the world has to reduce emissions to as close to zero as possible. This pursuit to Net Zero requires the UK to virtually eliminate emissions from the built environment and with ~28m homes currently contributing 18% of all carbon emissions, the UK has a
Read more »Whilst significant progress has been made in defining what ‘net zero’ means for the country’s buildings, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will take the next step and enable industry to robustly prove their built assets are net zero carbon and in line with our nation’s climate targets. The
Read more »Whilst significant progress has been made in defining what ‘net zero’ means for the country’s buildings, the UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard will take the next step and enable industry to robustly prove their built assets are net zero carbon and in line with our nation’s climate targets. The
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