Search Results for: engineering

November 12, 2013

UK leads the world in talent, but it needs the right culture in which to thrive

by Philip Ross • Comment, Technology, Workplace, Workplace design

We should never take the UK’s talent base for granted. According to a new report from Deloitte, when it comes to employment levels of people in knowledge based jobs in high skill sectors such as digital media, banking, legal services, software development, telecoms and publishing, London is comfortably the world’s leading city. The study found that London employed 1.5 million people in the 22 sectors surveyed, compared with 1.2 million in New York, 784,000 in Los Angeles, 630,000 in Hong Kong and 425,000 in Boston. The report also predicts that London will enjoy rapid growth in employment levels in these sectors over the next seven years, adding around 100,000 more people and that while a decline in employment is foreseen in financial services, this will be more than offset by strong growth in creative and media businesses.

October 29, 2013

What the endless debate about HS2 can teach us about how we work

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Technology

A man working on a train

One of the most fascinating aspects of the debate about whether the UK should spend £50 billion (or whatever you think it might be) on the new HS2 rail network, is the way in which it has formed a touchstone for a discussion about how we work. But people on both sides of this debate can have things either spectacularly or misguidedly wrong. On one side, the people behind the scheme, including the Government, used the jaw-dropping assumption that nobody worked on trains as the foundation of a business case. That was the familiar sight of large organisations working their relentless way towards a number they wanted, regardless of inconvenient facts. This idea has now been so widely discredited and mocked that it has been dropped completely from the latest business case, tellingly the sixth in just three years. And yet on the other side, we have people arguing that we should travel less and use videoconferencing as an alternative to face to face meetings, which can be almost as problematic.

October 2, 2013

Refurbished office named ‘best of the best workplace’ in BCO awards

by Sara Bean • Architecture, News, Property, Workplace design

A refurbished building which houses the manufacturer of the hi-tec GoreTex fabric range has been named the best of the best workplace in the British Council of Offices (BCO) annual awards. W. L. Gore’s Edinburgh headquarters was recognised for its transformation from a building which was no longer fit for purpose to a modern, green and inspirational workplace. National winners in the BCO 2013 awards include the Crystal in London for innovation; Birmingham City Council offices for fit out of workplace; Cannon Place in London for refurbished workplace; and Astellas in Chertsey and Nestle Product Technology Centre in York for projects up to 2,000m²

September 25, 2013

Google is Generation Y’s choice as world’s most attractive employer

by Sara Bean • News, Workplace

Cool offices, generous employee perks and of course being a successful global tech firm may seem the obvious reasons why Google is perceived as the world’s most attractive employer by Generation Y, according to a global poll. However, employer branding company Universum Global’s annual list of the 50 companies business and engineering students would choose as the best to work for, finds the most common characteristics young workers consider most important in a potential employer are pretty much the same applicants of all ages would cite. These are; market success, professional training and development opportunities, supportive leaders and job security. So maybe Millennials aren’t so easily swayed by nap pods after all. More →

September 11, 2013

Three quarters of companies allow BYOD, but most admit data security concerns

by Sara Bean • News, Technology, Workplace

In the same week that Apple launches the iPhone 5S, over half (56%) of CIOs have said they allow employees to use their own smartphones in the workplace, and over three quarters (76%) of staff are allowed to use their own mobile data devices. While the research from Robert Half Technology found the biggest BYOD challenge is security, cited by over half (53%) of respondents, the Verizon 2013 Data Breach Investigations Report into global data breaches provides some reassurance that 86 per cent of cyber-attacks do not knowingly involve insiders. However lax internal practices, like copying data onto a USB drive or leaving a device in a cab does lead to security breaches, accounting for 41 per cent of cases of misuse. More →

August 28, 2013

New guidance for designers on bridging energy performance gap

by Sara Bean • Environment, Facilities management, News, Workplace design

Evaluating operational energy performance of buildings at the design stage

So-called “low energy buildings” are increasingly being found to use more energy than their designers thought they would, with the performance of low energy designs often little better, and sometimes worse, than that of an older building they have replaced, or supplemented. This difference between expected and realised energy performance has come to be known as the “performance gap”. To help address this problem, the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) has just issued new guidance on how to address operational energy use at the design stage. ‘TM54: Evaluating operational energy performance of buildings at the design stage’ is now available from the online CIBSE Knowledge Portal. More →

August 7, 2013

UK construction and manufacturing buoyant but mixed picture in global property market

by Mark Eltringham • Knowledge, News, Products, Property

There are signs that the UK’s faltering economy is on the road to recovery. Construction activity in the UK jumped sharply in July to hit its highest level in over three years, according to the latest Markit/CIPS survey of purchasing managers. This may have been driven primarily by a surge in house building, but even the recently moribund commercial construction sector saw an increase in activity. However a new report from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors has highlighted that while the UK may have reason to smile, the picture of global commercial property markets is very patchy.

July 11, 2013

Green Building Council Awards recognise European environmental leadership

by Sara Bean • Environment, News, Property, Public Sector

The UK Green Building Council is accepting nominations for the first-ever European Regional Leadership Awards, part of the World Green Building Council Leadership Awards 2013, which recognise international best practice in city-level government policy for green building initiatives. The regional awards are for best practice in green building initiatives, projects, and policies that are supporting healthier and more sustainable communities within the European Region. “The awards promote leadership and inspire governments to replicate best practices in green building policy,” said the WorldGBC’s Chief Executive Officer, Jane Henley. “Buildings represent an unrivalled opportunity to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, and cities play an increasingly critical role in seizing this opportunity.”

July 9, 2013

First “green-rise” commercial office building announced for Los Angeles

by Sara Bean • Architecture, Environment, News, Property

High-rise buildings tend to evoke a love-hate response, and being green is usually not a strong feature. However a new high-rise is being planned in California which aims to join the handful of tall buildings in North America to achieve the U.S. Green Buildings Council’s LEED Platinum certification. The 37-storey Century City Center will integrate the best new engineering and technological practices and innovations to deliver the first new build LEED Platinum “green-rise” in Los Angeles and Southern California. It promises, say developers JMB Realty Corporation, to effectively create a new benchmark in sustainable performance for the commercial office market in America’s second-largest urban region.

July 4, 2013

Government public sector construction reforms net £447 million in savings

by Sara Bean • News, Property, Public Sector

Reforms to strip out inefficiencies in public sector construction – including the use of building information modelling (BIM) and the creation of a sustainable supply chain have generated £447 million in savings and will deliver up to 20 per cent savings in project costs by 2015, Cabinet Office Minister Chloe Smith has announced. By making links across departments the Government has also been able to act as a single customer to the construction industry and provide clear benchmarks for budgets by setting out the average price it expects to pay for projects. The Government has now published a new set of benchmarks that are designed to drive down project costs even further and encourage the industry to offer more competitive and innovative solutions. More →

July 2, 2013

Video: is this the world’s most sustainable office building?

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, Workplace design

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What is claimed to be the world’s most sustainable office building has just achieved a platinum LEED certification. The NuOffice building in Munich was supported by the EU funded Direction project which promotes energy efficient and sustainable building design along with the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics (IBP). The focus of the building’s design is on energy efficiency and applies radiant heating and cooling technology, switchable glazing and innovative insulating material to reduce the environmental footprint and running costs of the building. The developers claim that local energy costs have increased by 50 percent over the last decade so the new building which is expected to reduce energy consumption by 90 percent can offer a substantial cost saving over conventional designs.

June 18, 2013

Online BIM discussion group created for the built environment

by Sara Bean • Facilities management, News, Property, Technology

The BIM4FM group, representing institutes, trade associations and professional bodies within the built environment has created an online discussion group to stimulate the conversation around the engagement of facilities managers, owners and occupiers in Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Government Soft Landings (GSL). Geoff Prudence, Chairman of the BIM4FM group explained: “Since our launch many individuals have asked to join the BIFM4FM group. However, the group has been set up as a steering committee of institutes, trade bodies and professional associations, supported by the Cabinet Office Government Property Unit. That said, rather than excluding the enthusiasm of individuals, we thought we should encourage and harness their input from across our communities, as it’s often those who are operating at grassroots level who raise the most valuable insights.” More →