PROMATECT®-H: Maximising the fire resistance of concrete structures

Leading fire protection specialist, Promat, has launched PROMATECT®-H, a high-performance fire-resistant

calcium silicate board, which  can protect concrete elements

for up to 240 minutes.

 

Many building materials, such as concrete, have an element of natural resistance to fire. However, in the event of a fire, exposed concrete can experience both mechanical and chemical changes such as explosive spalling and external cracking, both of which can cause it to progressively lose its strength, resulting in potential structural failure.

PROMATECT®-H ensures concrete columns, walls, beams, and slabs comply with UK fire and building regulations and prevents structural failure in the event of a fire. In addition, it is classified as A1 non-combustible when tested and classified in accordance with EN13501-1, making it easy to specify with confidence.

The fire protection board offers architects, main contractors, sub-contractors, and specifiers the option to upgrade structural elements of a building, creating a more flexible approach to internal fit outs or refurbishment projects. Ceilings and partitions can be easily produced using the boards. As an added advantage, they have a smooth surface leaving a great finish when painted and used alongside standard joint fillers.

Wit a high resistance to water, PROMATECT®-H will not deteriorate when used in damp or humid conditions. This enables the board to be installed and left semi-exposed so it can be brought into the construction schedule at an early stage, helping to streamline building processes in line with project timelines.

 

For more information, CLICK HERE to get in touch with the Promat team.

 

 

 

 

/0 Comments/by

British Scientists ‘Capturing Carbon’

Material scientists Barney Shanks and Sam Draper are lauded for their efforts in helping eliminate carbon emissions from the building and construction industry.

On October 06, 2022, Copenhagen-based Henrik Frode Obel Foundation announced material technology company Seratech as the winner of Obel Award 2022. The architecture award recognised the efforts of the company’s material scientists and London’s Imperial College PhD students Barney Shanks and Sam Draper in creating a solution against the alarming carbon footprint generated by the building and construction industry. The duo have created a carbon-neutral concrete through an efficient, low-cost process using materials that are naturally available all over the globe. The technology, according to Obel Award jury, best represents the 2022 theme of the award – ‘Embodied Emissions’ – referring to the irreversible and unremedied amount of CO2 that’s released in the construction of concrete architecture, and the need to sequester the problem at source.

Seratech’s solution is about capturing carbon from various industrial production processes to create a 100 per cent carbon neutral product that serves to potentially reduce embodied emissions. Though still at the ‘lab level’, the company hopes to scale up the concrete’s production in the near future to help achieve low carbon constructions.

Through this year’s thematic and the corresponding winner, the OBEL Award jury highlights the need for innovative and flexible cross-disciplinary solutions to combat climate change. Lauding Seratech’s endeavour, the jury shared that “it is necessary to encourage ambitious, cross disciplinary ideas that do not just provide a temporary or a small scale fix nor an unrealistic shift in the current practices.” The jury consisted of Martha Schwartz, as Chair (Founder, Martha Schwartz Partners, USA), Kjetil Trædal Thorsen (Co-founder, Snöhetta, Norway), Louis Becker (Design Principal and Partner, Henning Larsen, Denmark), Dr Wilhelm Vossenkuhl (Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Germany), and XU Tiantian (Founding Principal, DnA, Beijing, China).

The fourth honouree to have received the annual prize that “recognises exceptional architectural contributions to human development”, Seratech’s winning new age concrete is preceded by Professor Carlos Menos’ urban design proposal 15-miuute city (2021), German architect Anna Herringer’s multi-layered building Anandaloy (2020) from northern Bangladesh, and Japanese architect Junya Ishigami’s Water Garden as the 2019 winner.

Shanks and Draper discuss the idea behind the technology produced at Seratech Video: Courtesy of Obel Award

So how is this concrete actually produced? Co-founders Shanks and Draper have mechanised a chemical process of capturing and storing C02 to create an alternative to Portland cement in the concrete composition.

“We found a way to take the world’s most abundant waste product, CO2, and react it with the world’s most abundant mineral, magnesium silicate. In doing this, we produce two things: magnesium carbonate and silica,” says Shanks. “But the really exciting bit is the silica. We use this as a cement replacement material, and if this is scaled globally, not only does it cut Portland cement production by 30 per cent, but also sequesters the emissions from the remaining 70 per cent, resulting in carbon-neutral concrete,” Draper, the company’s CEO adds.

A private limited company comprising a team of scientists, engineers and business leaders, Seratech’s technology has been in development since late 2020 and is currently working on the design of a pilot plant to model the process at a large scale. Following acceptance into the climate-tech accelerator Greenhouse in August 2021, the company has also received two grants totalling £212k to hire more researchers in its team, in addition to being featured as a case study in The Green Construction Board’s ‘Low Carbon Concrete Routemap’.

“The overall idea with this project,” according to Seratech’s Chief Technical Officer Barney Shanks, “is essentially where finding a way to reduce the carbon emissions associated with cement and concrete is zero but without impacting the properties of cement and concrete itself. If it is fully adopted, this technology eliminates three billion tonnes of CO2 being released in the atmosphere every year.”

In this time of aggressive urbanisation where the need for concrete and cement is seeing a continual rise, and which is only expected to increase in the future, Seratech’s sustainable endeavour brings a ray of hope in significantly decarbonising the construction industry. Draper and Shanks will receive a prize sum of EUR 100,000 and an artwork by Barcelona-based artist Tomás Saraceno at the Obel Award official ceremony, to be hosted at the Utzon Centre in Aalborg, Denmark, on October 25, 2022.

Source: STIRworld

/0 Comments/by

‘STACKABLE’ HOMES IN WOKINGHAM

Work on putting together more than 20 ‘stackable’ houses for homeless families in Wokingham is nearly complete. The units at Grovelands Park, Winnersh, will provide accommodation for people as they wait for a more permanent arrangement, avoiding the need to use bed and breakfast places.

Installation at Grovelands Park started this spring, led by Wokingham Borough Council. Twenty of the 23 units are already in place and are being furnished ready for families to move in next year, when construction finishes.

The timber-clad homes are modular, meaning they’re built offsite and craned into place. The 50 sq m, double-stacked homes each have their own toilet and bathroom plus an open-plan lounge, dining room and kitchen.

One will remain single-storey and will be adapted for people with disabilities. The stackable houses should last for more than 50 years, says the council, which is replacing 12 old prefabricated mobile units which had “reached the end of their natural life and were no longer economical to repair.”

The new homes have modern heating and rooftop solar panels as well as double glazing to reduce energy costs. They also have misting systems, an advanced type of sprinkler which can target the exact location of a fire.

Some homes will also trial air source heat pumps, a system that draws warmth from outside into the home. Grovelands Park itself will be upgraded with improved parking and drains as well as two electric vehicle charging points.

Councillor Stephen Conway, the authority’s deputy leader and executive member for housing, said: “Given the rising cost of living and our announcements about the need for savings, we know many residents may be feeling anxious about the future. We hope this investment, which will more than pay off in the long run, shows we’re still here to protect them and keep families together at times of adversity.”

He added: “As well as being good for the planet and cutting unnecessary costs, providing high-quality temporary housing will help homeless local families to feel safe and well at an uncertain and distressing time. It will reduce our reliance on expensive bed and breakfasts, saving money at a time of unprecedented financial pressure and allowing people to remain closer to their schools, jobs, friends and relatives. People usually become homeless through circumstances outside their control and they shouldn’t become isolated from these important support networks as a result.”

Rollalong, a modular construction specialist which is one of three partners on the project, has just been named a finalist in the Off-Site Innovation of the Year category of this year’s London Construction Awards. The council’s other two partners are architect Edgington Spink + Hyne and procurement specialists LHC.

Source: Berkshire Live

/0 Comments/by

MODULAR UNIT TO AID BLACKPOOL PATIENTS

Work has started on a new gastroenterology facility which will ensure endoscopy patients at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals have a shorter waiting time for procedures.

The new modular unit is being installed at Blackpool Sports Centre in Stanley Park and is the next phase of a partnership between the local hospital Trust and Remedy Healthcare Solutions.

The collaboration will see the project undertake in the region of 6,900 endoscopy procedures when the unit opens in late November.

The partnership has already seen additional endoscopy activity. With the Remedy team working in collaboration with the Trust to open a fifth room in the Gastroenterology Unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, allowing for an additional 452 patients to be seen since the start of August.

Construction of the modular unit will take place over the next eight weeks. The highly sustainable and environmentally friendly approach uses offsite construction techniques and will only see the loss of nine car parking spaces at the sports centre once the unit is open for business.

Speaking as the construction of the modular unit got underway, Gareth Hobson, Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Blackpool Teaching Hospitals, said: “This partnership will allow us to more quickly treat our patients who have been waiting for endoscopy procedures.

“Our Trust colleagues are already working together with Remedy as ‘one team’ within the hospital, increasing our capacity, and relieving some of the pressure on our service. We look forward to seeing the new unit take shape on Stanley Park, and are excited about what this collaboration will achieve over the next 15 months.”Matt Marshall, CEO, Remedy Healthcare Solutions, said: “We are immensely proud to be working in partnership with Blackpool Teaching Hospitals on this project. The success of what has been achieved thus far is down to engagement and dedication of both teams who are eager to achieve the best possible outcomes and experiences for patients while creating solutions that really make an impact on waiting times. We could not be more excited about the launch of the modular unit and to keep the momentum going.”

Source: The Gazette

/0 Comments/by

KICKSTARTING THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Designed by Fletcher Priest Architects and now under construction in the City of London, the 94,000 sq ft Edenica office development at 100 Fetter Lane is on track to set a “significant” sustainability precedent for UK commercial buildings, Waterman says.

Sustainability consultancy company, Waterman says this scheme for BauMont Real Estate Capital and YardNine is harnessing the latest design techniques to optimise operational energy efficiency and slash embodied carbon.

As part of the development’s “unique” approach to cutting whole-life carbon and creating a robust platform for material circularity, Waterman says its Sustainability Team is pioneering the use of Materials Passports on the project.

Waterman describes Materials Passports as digital data sets which describe characteristics of materials and components in products and systems, giving them “value for present use, recovery and future reuse”.

Our philosophy when it comes to development and refurbishment projects is to take a ‘use less, waste less’ approach.

Edenica will act as a pilot project for their implementation and is the first scheme within the City of London to be designed as a storage bank where materials are held for future reuse, the sustainability consultancy company says.

Working alongside the project manager, Third London Wall, Waterman says its Sustainability team has set out the pathway for procurement to ensure the Materials Passports contain key characteristics of selected building materials held in a centralised database.

This can be used to provide reports on maintenance and potential future reuse over the life of the building and beyond, maximising both material life and whole life value, Waterman says.

Just as a regular passport provides personal details of an individual’s identity, Waterman says Edenica’s Materials Passports will become a snapshot of the building elements’ credentials, providing records of the materials, products, and components that have been used.

The company says that the records will enable the reuse of materials during the building’s operation or at the end of its life, turning the used materials into valuable resources instead of waste.

The scheme’s Materials Passports will facilitate the reuse of materials in the coming years by future owners, design teams, manufacturers and contractors, Waterman says.

It is hugely important that we continually try to advance and innovate to help tackle the climate emergency

BauMont Real Estate Capital’s Managing Director, Natalie Harrison, said: “Our philosophy when it comes to development and refurbishment projects is to take a ‘use less, waste less’ approach.

“We engage sustainability specialists at the outset of our projects to ensure our desire to deliver buildings with best-in-class ESG credentials is taken into account in the early stages of design.

“This leads to better collaboration and promotes innovation, a good example of this being Waterman’s Material Passports initiative being delivered at Edenica, which looks beyond policy, setting a new precedent for London.”

Waterman’s Sustainability Associate, Anastasia Stella, who led the development of Materials Passports at Edenica, said: “It is hugely important that, as construction professionals, we continually try to advance and innovate to help tackle the climate emergency.

“Our Materials Passport initiative shows how even the simplest of concepts can create the potential for a significant reduction in whole-life carbon and optimise re-purposing of materials in the future.”

 

Source: Circular Online

/0 Comments/by

UK’S PROTOTYPE FUSION ENERGY PLANT

The government has announced that the West Burton power station site in Nottinghamshire has been selected as the home for ‘STEP’ (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the UK’s prototype fusion energy plant which aims to be built by 2040.

Fusion is based on the same physical reactions that power the sun and stars, and is the process by which 2 light atomic nuclei combine while releasing large amounts of energy. This technology has significant potential to deliver safe, sustainable, low carbon energy for future generations.

The government-backed STEP programme will create thousands of highly skilled jobs during construction and operations, as well as attracting other high tech industries to the region, and furthering the development of science and technology capabilities nationally.

The ambitious programme will also commit immediately to the development of apprenticeship schemes in the region, building on the success of the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Oxfordshire Advanced Skills centre in Culham. Conversations with local providers and employers have already begun, with schemes to start as soon as possible.

The UK government is providing £220 million of funding for the first phase of STEP, which will see the UK Atomic Energy Authority produce a concept design by 2024.

/0 Comments/by

Opening Doors for the Future of Brownfield

The National Brownfield Institute (NBI) at the University of Wolverhampton’s flagship £120m Springfield Campus has launched, opening doors for the future of brownfield regeneration.

The interim vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Ian Campbell, and Professor Chaminda Pathirage from the University’s School of Architecture and Built Environment, welcomed Ian Brookfield, leader of City of Wolverhampton Council, Mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street and Jane Stevenson, MP for Wolverhampton North East to open the building.

The ‘shovel-ready’ project benefited from £14.9m of funding from the Government’s Getting Building Fund for the West Midlands. City of Wolverhampton Council worked with the Black Country LEP and West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to secure the funding with the remainder provided by the Government’s Towns Fund.

The NBI is a world-class institute that provides the facility to develop modern methods of building through innovation and partnership with the construction industry, focusing on the practical application of future brownfield regeneration and remediation through the work of research teams, leading policy development and commercial services.

 

Campbell said: “We’re delighted to have welcomed partners and our key stakeholders to officially open the National Brownfield Institute today.

“The NBI will be at the heart of a West Midlands Construction Training Offer – providing the industry with the skills needed both now and in the future. As well as being at the forefront of a transformation of the way we will build homes and communities, it will also ensure that we learn from research around the world on modern construction and remediation technique.

“The NBI will help as a catalyst in utilisation of brownfield sites and provide developers with advice and knowledge in relation to areas such as building scanning, soil analysis, ground water contamination and ground stabilisation to effectively bring those sites back into use.”

Brookfield said: “The National Brownfield Institute is a game-changing facility that further enhances the Springfield Campus as a leading Built Environment education campus.

“It will enable the City of Wolverhampton to secure its position as a world leader in sustainable construction, circular economy and brownfield development and will deliver new skills, jobs and opportunities for local people in the city.”

Street said: “It’s brilliant to be able to come together for the official opening of the National Brownfield Institute at the University of Wolverhampton’s Springfield Campus – made possible in part thanks to tens of millions of pounds in Government funding.

“Brownfield first regeneration has long been a key part of my mayoral mission as it helps us to bring derelict sites back into productive use and crucially at the same time helps us to protect the greenbelt. That’s why this centre of excellence for brownfield is great news for our region – reinforcing our already widely regarded track record in urban regeneration, pioneering modern methods of construction to accelerate affordable housing supply and equipping local people with the skills they need to work in this rapidly changing sector.”

 

The 12-acre Springfield Campus is already home to the Thomas Telford University Technical College, Elite Centre for Manufacturing Skills and the recently opened £45m School of Architecture and Built Environment.

ISG was awarded the contract to build the NBI on the construction super campus, with work starting in April 2021. The £17.5m research centre, designed by Birmingham-based Associated Architects, received planning approval in December 2020.

The NBI project team included the University’s Estates & Facilities Team, Associate Architects, CPW, Faithful & Gould, Delta Planning, Atkins and MACE.

 

Source: The Business Desk

/0 Comments/by

Homebuilding revolution set to come of age

Homebuilding revolution set to come of age as traditional builders fail to tackle housing crisis

Government backing for modular construction would deliver 20,000 low energy use homes across the UK – costing 55% less to heat than the average British ‘bricks and mortar’ family house

Planning permission should be fast tracked for modular housing to create homes 50% faster and 4,000 jobs in left behind areas of UK – Make UK Modular analysis

 

  • Modular homes cost 55% less to heat than the average UK home and 32% less than traditional new builds, delivering savings of up to £800 a year for a three-bedroomed family home
  • Modular homes are built 50% faster to make from start to finish than bricks and mortar homes
  • Building with modular can halve emissions when building a home, cutting the amount of CO2 produced as a result of construction by up to 83%
  • Modular manufacturers have already built factories in post-industrial provincial towns or cities, creating over 3,000 jobs, and delivering £700m of investment to low-growth, low employment areas
  • Government should fast track the planning route for modular homes and commit to using modular for 20% of its affordable housing programme to double new jobs overnight
  • Modular home construction is both more efficient and kinder to the environment with substantially less waste, 90% down on materials wastage than traditional builds
  • Modular building heavily reduces the amount of transport access needed for building sites, with 80% fewer vehicle movements to sites and therefore far less local disruption and pollution of the environment

 

Britain’s modular construction companies are moving at speed to deliver widescale change in the housing market unseen in the UK for generations, according to new research published today by Make UK Modular. ‘Greener, Better, Faster: Modular’s Role in Solving the Housing Crisis’, shows that while innovation has left the construction industry largely untouched till now, precision engineered homes, factory-built in areas where employment is required and delivered to regions of the UK where housing is scarce, are set to revolutionise the sector and help solve Britain’s growing housing crisis.

Factory engineering means modular homes can be built to consistently high sustainability standards, delivering savings of 55% on energy consumption compared to the average UK home and cost 32% less to heat than a traditional new build. This translates to savings of up to £800 a year for a three bedroomed family home, and energy reduction rises to 60% for single or two person households living in smaller properties. Record spending by modular construction companies in Research and Development accounts for 30% of all R&D in across the whole construction sector. This investment is set to deliver even more energy efficient homes in the coming months at a time households are struggling with an unprecedented cost of living crisis.

With housing availability and affordability at an all-time low, traditional construction is struggling to deliver Government targets for 300,000 new homes a year, exacerbated by a chronic and worsening shortage of skilled construction labour. Homes England missed its 2021-22 affordable homes target by 21.5%. However, modular housing has already proven it can build new homes at pace. Modular factories have been set up in those areas of the UK where employment is needed, creating a secure labour pipeline. Employment prospects are attractive with modular manufacturers delivering quality training and upskilling for new staff, enabling much-needed homes to be guaranteed for speedy delivery to regions of the UK where housing is in short supply.

 

Modular manufacturers already produce 3,300 homes a year, one in 60 of all new houses in the UK and by 2025, and with the right support, this could grow to over 20,000 new modular buildings each year. Not only are these modern precision-engineered homes quicker to build than traditional homes, but with no snagging or defects it is possible for a single crane to install a house perfectly in just one day. Despite the pandemic, modular has doubled its delivery of new homes since 2017 with a contracted pipeline of 8,000 homes already in place.

 

Modular manufacturers have chosen to build over 40 factories in post-industrial provincial towns or cities, creating over 3,000 jobs and delivering £700m of investment to low-growth, low employment areas – a figure which could easily double with some simple Government support.

To help give the modular sector the push to achieve its full potential, Government should:

  • Dedicate 20% of their programme of affordable housing provision to modular housing which has already shown it can deliver new homes fast
  • Offer fast-track planning, prioritising modular and green homes in land allocation
  • Raise energy efficiency standards for new housing, where modular already meets a higher criteria than traditional building, reduce stamp duty based on energy efficiency and net zero performance and require all for sale and to let homes to provide accurate date on energy bills

 

Collectively, these changes would drive up standards, while offering pipeline security for modular producers and helping the industry to scale up.

 

Steve Cole Director of Make UK Modular, the trade body for modular housing said:

“There is a housing success story in this country, and it is modular. This report shows definitively that modular is now a significant player in the UK housing market. Government must capitalise on this as opportunities to transform our broken housing market into the most sophisticated in the world do not come around every day.

 

“Government must accelerate modular delivery, building on the investment made and the jobs created, by removing the remaining barriers holding the industry back.”

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT

 

/0 Comments/by