October 1, 2020

EDGE adds building software to its portfolio of innovations

by Freddie Steele • Company news, Technology

Sustainable tech-led real estate pioneers EDGE have built upon their already impressive reputation as an innovator with the launch of a software platform that offers what the firm claims is a “seamless solution for optimising any office building’s performance”. It claims that EDGE Next allows “tenants and owners to transform their offices into smarter, healthier and more sustainable spaces in which people and companies can truly thrive”. The EDGE Next platform also sets out to ensure the wellbeing of employees by monitoring air quality and the numbers of people in a spaces, which it claims will make offices safer for work during the COVID-19 outbreak and beyond. (more…)

September 28, 2020

Nature positive cities have potential to transform the world

by Neil Franklin • Cities, Environment, News, Workplace design

COVID-19 recovery packages that include infrastructure development will influence the relationship between cities, humans and nature for the next 30 to 50 years. With the built environment home to half the world’s population and making up 40 percent of global GDP, cities are an engine of global growth and crucial to the economic recovery. (more…)

September 2, 2020

New strategy tackles the post-COVID climate emergency

by Jayne Smith • Environment, News

Supported by its Green Building Councils and their members, the WorldGBC (World Green Building Council) network has launched Sustainable Buildings for Everyone, Everywhere — a new strategy to accelerate and mainstream the transformation of built environments around the world. Based on climate science and the Global Goals of Sustainable Development (SDGs), the strategy tackles global warming, health and wellbeing and resource impacts to deliver quality infrastructure — a critical need for our planet, communities and economies in the context of the COVID pandemic.
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August 28, 2020

Using nature based solutions in buildings will help address climate change

by Neil Franklin • Architecture, Environment, Facilities management, News

The IGNITION project from the UK Green Building Council has published its first report for businesses, titled ‘Nature-based solutions to the climate emergency: The benefits to business and society’ The report claims to provide organisations with the data they need to make informed decisions about the types of urban nature-based solutions (NBS) available to them and how these can help meet sustainability objectives to benefit business, society and the environment. It sets out to highlight the benefits of using NBS across the built environment and aims to inspire confidence in business leaders and investors to increase the use of NBS. (more…)

August 13, 2020

People plan to retain sustainable new habits after lockdown

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

Britons are keen to continue with low-carbon lifestyle choices adopted during lockdown, according to research by Cardiff University and The University of Manchester. Two wide-ranging surveys conducted by the UK Centre for Climate and Social Transformation (CAST), which is coordinated by Cardiff University, suggested lockdown had upended people’s habits, from buying and travelling less, to reduced energy use and cutting down on food waste. (more…)

July 29, 2020

Green Building Council publishes new open innovation framework for buildings

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) and Sustainable Ventures (SV) have together published the Open Innovation Levels Framework, a resource aimed at enabling open innovation with the goal of reducing the climate impacts of the built environment. (more…)

July 28, 2020

Containing office costs in the post-lockdown era

by Guy Brett • Comment, Property

As companies transition back to the office and set out on the road to economic recovery, business leaders are focussed on developing resilient and sustainable strategies. Faced with a new business environment, companies are looking for opportunities to contain office costs, both in the short-term and in the future. Some who have been immune from cost pressures in the past are looking to contain if not reduce costs for the first time. And, after a forced trial of remote working, many are viewing their property portfolio in a new light and questioning whether they are paying for more space than they need. (more…)

July 22, 2020

Don’t be a commute Canute, Boris

by Andrew Mawson • Comment, Flexible working

So, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the British people to get back to work by Christmas. This means that millions would be renewing their season tickets, getting up in darkness to dress up for work, crowding onto those trains, buses and tubes while swaddled in facemasks and battling their way into the office (which for the time being will be a pretty dull experience with social distancing). (more…)

July 14, 2020

Green Building Council group to develop guidance on renewable energy

by Neil Franklin • Environment, Facilities management, News

The UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has announced a new task group which it says will develop guidance on the procurement of renewable energy and carbon offsets for the built environment sector. This work will build on UKGBC’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework, which was developed to ‘build industry consensus on the definition of a net zero carbon building for both construction and operation’. (more…)

June 30, 2020

A chance to build a cleaner future as economy rebuilds

by Neil Franklin • Environment, News

The European Union is strengthening its efforts to make its energy systems cleaner and more resilient, reinforcing its global leadership in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new energy policy review by the International Energy Agency.

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June 17, 2020

Research predicts decline in business travel post-lockdown

by George Eltringham • Flexible working, News

Environmental concerns and the changing work landscape could lead to a noticeable drop in both domestic and international business travel, as nearly half of UK workers (48 percent) are concerned about its negative environmental impact, according to new research from O2. (more…)

June 4, 2020

Surface Design Awards announce judging panel for 2021

by Freddie Steele • Company news

Steve Webb of Webb Yates Engineers and Basha-Franklin’s Creative Director, Nicola Osborn have been appointed as Co-Chairs of the highly respected Surface Design Awards for 2021. Webb and Osborn are joined by a multi-disciplinary team of fellow judges selected from the architecture and design communities. The Co-Chairs invite their own team of design industry colleagues to join them on the judging panel. Steve Webb has invited Sarah Castle from IF_DO; Joseph Henry of GLA’s Regeneration Team and Architecture Initiative’s Lee Mainwaring. (more…)