News archive for August, 2013
Green Materials – The Environmental Product Declaration
Posted on August 26th 2013
The Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) is a standardised way of measuring the environmental impact of a product, it includes verified information on the procurement of the raw materials, energy use and efficiency, content of materials and chemical substances, emissions to air, soil and water and waste generation. It reports the results of a product Life Cycle Assessment and is classified …
Reducing construction waste
Posted on August 21st 2013
The construction industry is the principal source of waste in the UK, producing 35% of the country’s total waste, according to DEFRA’s most recent data (Figure 1). The opportunities for the sector to improve resource efficiency and reduce waste disposal costs are significant. Figure 1: Total UK waste generation by sector, 2004 to 2008 (tonnes) (Data from DEFRA, 2011) *’Other’ …
Secured by Design and the location of letter boxes
Posted on August 14th 2013
We have recent experience in not achieving Secured by Design (SBD) in apartment blocks where letter boxes have not been located in an isolated lobby, separate from a further secure lobby (with access to dwellings). This is aimed to design out direct unauthorised access to dwelling entrances by deliverers. Where this has not been properly designed, developments are failing to …