The Building Envelope

With increasing pressure to specify building systems offering clearly defined sustainability, the use of materials that embody recycling as an inherent feature is becoming increasingly significant. Aluminium as a key building component is now used across a wide range of sectors and, as a matter of interest, is still very much the most valuable item in our recycling collection. From an emissions perspective, the use of pre and post-use aluminium greatly reduces energy consumption and adds tangible value to the economics of production. To put this into perspective, it saves around 95% of the energy consumed in the 'primary' production process.
For those specifying metal window and door systems, there is, therefore, a clear incentive to use a raw material that can be reused on an infinite basis. In terms of enabling building designs to achieve the highest level of BREEAM certification, aluminium can also provide tangible benefits when calculating an asset’s environmental, social and economic sustainability through the use of standards developed by BRE. In addition, it enhances specific aspects of technical performance such as thermal, acoustic and energy efficiency.

With COVID-19 changing the way that people live and work, new research from Marley has revealed what people value most about their homes and communities in post-lockdown Britain.  Here, Stuart Nicholson, talks us through the findings and the implications for those designing and specifying new homes.

2020 was a year like no other, with COVID restrictions, furlough and health concerns forcing large numbers of people to spend long periods of time in their homes.  The house had to become the gym, the office, the school, and the relaxation space, causing people to re-evaluate where they live, work and how they spend their time.

Despite the challenges, the construction sector faces the Crest team have been designing and producing some new brick types which have recently been added to the range. Crest has one of the best collections of bricks available in the UK and is delighted to offer Merchants, distributors and housebuilders 3 new clay facing bricks.

The Oast House Restoration is beautifully crafted, designed by the Crest team this is a quite stunning multi-coloured tumbled brick, perfect for rural, traditional and prestige type properties. These bricks are a mix of reds, browns with white highlights scattered throughout and black highlights featured on selected bricks to add an ‘aged’ appearance. Its rustic brick colours would work well with a selection of our roof tiles including the Wolds Classic Clay Roof Pantile, ‘Classic’ is a mix of different colours & finishes.

Siderise has launched a suite of new passive fire protection products specifically engineered for masonry facades, making it easy for specifiers and developers to choose the right protection for their buildings.

Our factories maintain good stock levels and delivery lead times, merchants and distributors are turning to Crest to help them through these challenging times.  

The construction material shortage remains challenging for building and construction businesses as demand outstrips supply. With little improvement in the availability of many key building materials, such as timber, bricks and roof tiles, and with suppliers’ delivery times increased sharply as the supply chain works hard to keep up.

Crest’s manufacturing partners have been actively increasing the supply to merchants, distributors and housebuilders to help remove the tremendous pressure they all face. We have adequate production capacity and the ability to manufacture more bricks and roof tiles to further help the supply shortage.

The specialist area advises on insulation for both new build and retrofit projects

Stone wool insulation manufacturer, ROCKWOOL has bolstered its technical resources, with a new Social Housing Resource Hub. The hub makes it easier for specifiers to access the latest information and advice on specialist insulation solutions for social housing, helping them create comfortable and safe properties that improve the lives of residents.  

The new Social Housing Resource Hub brings a wealth of technical information into one place giving stakeholders access to product data and benefits, case studies and direct links to further helpful resources at their fingertips.

Changes to Part L have significant ramifications for new build – but also replacement programmes. We report...

The Government is expected to unveil its interim update to Part L next month [Oct]. Stopping short of the far more comprehensive changes to follow in 2025 ,with the introduction of the Future Homes Standard, they nonetheless have significant ramifications for new build and refurbishment programmes – including windows and doors.

John Duckworth, Head of Sales, Commercial, Deceuninck, explains: “The Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is expected to publish its revision of Part L in this October, coming into effect in England and Wales from July next year.

“While it doesn’t go anywhere near as far as the Future Homes Standard, its ramifications are significant for new build and refurbishment projects, pushing up minimum standards at a time when COVID-related supply chain disruption is already pushing up costs and disrupting delivery.

“Planning now to take out the guess work is critical.”