The extensive refurbishment of the Palace of Westminster, a project estimated to cost over £20 billion, could significantly impact the availability of specialist craftworkers needed for the UK’s net zero targets, according to Historic England. The public body is warning that the project, which could take up to 43 years and require around 3,000 specialist workers annually, would absorb a large portion of the nation’s skilled heritage plasterers, carpenters, and window specialists. This is likely to strain an already limited workforce at a time when the country faces a shortage of traditional building crafts essential for refurbishing older buildings. (more…)

CIBSE has launched what it claims is a ground-breaking initiative titled Building Performance Reimagined [registration], a project aimed at transforming the landscape of building engineering and sustainability. Commissioned by CIBSE and researched by Arup, the Building Performance Reimagined project diverges from conventional engineering paradigms. Rather than focusing solely on system sizing, maintenance or controls, the initiative takes a holistic, future-oriented perspective on building performance. (more…)