Archive for category: Latest News

According to a recent report by Construction Skills Network (CSN), the construction industry will need over a quarter of a million extra workers by 2026 to meet growing demands in the UK sector (CITB). With many workers ending their careers in the UK due to Brexit and some companies downsizing throughout the pandemic, many construction businesses are facing a lack of skilled workers in the industry. And as demand soars, the most affected sectors are likely to be private housing, infrastructure, and repair and maintenance.

If you’re hoping to expand your company and bridge the skills shortage, then there are a few fundamental things you can do to benefit the industry. Below, PPE and industrial tool supplier Zoro share their top tips on how to attract — and importantly, retain — more talented workers in construction.

Updating recruitment methods

If your company wants to approach recruitment internally, it’s important to stay up to date with the current practices, trends, and resources the industry. For example, the websites or apps your company used to advertise jobs a few years ago may have already been eclipsed by a new, more popular site. These platforms are always competing, and their ranking often shifts. While Monster once dominated the online job market, sites like Indeed and LinkedIn are currently the most popular employment platforms used in the UK (TechRadar). It’s also wise to monitor your performance on job review sites like Glassdoor, to see how you are perceived by prospective employees and to work on feedback provided by ex-team members who have moved on.

However, with all these factors to consider, you may want to outsource your hiring process to a recruitment agency. While this is an added expense, it is their job to be tuned into industry trends and find talented employees for you to train, support, and progress throughout their time at your company. Handing the reigns over to an agency allows you to focus on the day-to-day running of the business, such as maintaining a positive, productive work environment that nurtures and retains your existing employees.

Prioritising employee satisfaction

When focusing on expanding your business, it’s important not to neglect the employees you already have. Once you have attracted talented people to your company it’s vital to retain them, and the best way to start doing so is by prioritising employee satisfaction in your everyday operations. Workers want to feel heard and supported by the company they work for, so creating a strong chain of command means that supervisors and managers are always on hand to provide close training, guidance, and a friendly face for new starters.

Even when things get busy, always take the time to listen to any suggestions or concerns from employees. Recognising achievements through schemes like Employee of the Month, or special mentions in company newsletters, can also be a great way to boost morale and inspire talented workers to aspire towards managerial roles. Even smaller things like organising company social events or celebrating staff birthdays can help create a workplace that people truly enjoy being a part of.

Offering career progression

Another key attraction for prospective employees is whether you can offer them the opportunity for progression. When you have the pleasure of talented, motivated staff in your company, make it clear that they can be promoted into supervisory or managerial roles when the time is right. This can help give their career direction and a goal to work towards, meaning they will be more satisfied staying with your company on a long-term basis. Not only this, but promoting your talented staff reduces your chances of having to hire externally, and instead fills management positions with people who already know your construction company inside out.

Consider your company’s diversity

A new construction technology centre has received funding of €5 million to accelerate research and innovation within the construction sector.

The State funding was announced by Tánaiste Leo Varadkar on Wednesday and the funding will be spread over five years.

The centre will be hosted by NUI Galway and the consortium includes Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and University College Cork working with the Irish Green Building Council.

In line with the Government’s Housing for All strategy, the new centre will have a particular focus on advancing innovation and productivity in residential construction.

A team of researchers from across the Construction Technology Centre consortium, with expertise in the main areas of digital adoption, modern methods of construction and sustainability will be organised under five pillars to address the urgent areas of Productivity, Affordability & Cost; Quality and Safety; Sustainability; Skills and Training; and Collaboration

Enterprise Ireland worked with Ernst & Young to develop the specification for the new centre.

Mr Varadkar said: “The Government is investing billions – substantially above the EU average – in the future, building new homes, roads, public transport, schools, hospitals and other vital infrastructure.

“This new construction technology centre will make sure we are at the cutting edge of new developments in the sector, making sure Irish companies and the taxpayer are getting the best value for money, while building this important infrastructure in the most modern and efficient way possible.”

Source: Breaking news.ie

by Nicolle PortillA of RTS (Recyle Track Systems based in the US)

With environmental, health, and economic benefits – what exactly is LEED certification? Why is it important in modern construction?

Many factors endanger the environment. Unsustainable infrastructure systems, plastic waste, and increased carbon emissions all contribute to this. But, recently, people have acknowledged the need to protect the environment from harm. As part of that effort, there is a drive to lower the carbon emissions of the construction industry. The reduction in emissions can be achieved by sourcing sustainable products and implementing sustainable construction methods.

With a greater demand for sustainable buildings, LEED certification allows the construction industry to come closer to achieving sustainability.

What Is LEED Certification?

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) developed the LEED Certification. It created LEED to help with the creation of green buildings that are more efficient. Thus, LEED ensures environmentally friendly construction. This certification evaluates a building’s design and construction based on various factors.

These include water usage, energy efficiency, and air quality. LEED also factors in building materials used, access to public transportation, and responsible land use. This certification is a benchmark for a green building’s design, construction, operation, and maintenance.

The USGBC awards buildings that enroll in the program with the four levels of LEED certification. The number of points that a building earns determines the level they are in. These levels are:

• LEED-certified buildings (40-49 points)
• LEED silver buildings (50-59 points)
• LEED gold buildings (60-79 points)
• LEED platinum buildings (80 and above points)

As per the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED certification is a globally accepted mark of achievement in sustainability.

The Value of LEED Certification in Modern Construction

So, what is a LEED certification good for? A large part of the population lives, works, and learns in LEED-certified buildings all over the globe. Some reasons why LEED certification is vital in modern construction include:

Environmental Benefits

In America, buildings make up a large percentage of the country’s total energy, water, and electricity use. It also accounts for a huge part of carbon dioxide emissions. But, the LEED program helps new and existing buildings use more sustainable practices. A benefit of green building through LEED is water conservation.

LEED encourages the use of less water and the management of rainwater. It also encourages the use of alternative water sources. In doing so, water savings from LEED buildings will rise. Buildings produce close to half of the global CO₂ emissions. A source of carbon in buildings includes energy used to pump and treat water. Other sources are waste disposal and fossil fuel used for heating and cooling. 

LEED helps reduce CO₂ emissions by giving rewards to projects with net-zero emissions. It also awards projects that produce positive energy returns. LEED-certified buildings also produce less greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions usually come from water use, solid waste, and transportation. Another environmental benefit of LEED Certification is that it encourages less energy consumption.

The construction industry produces millions of tons of waste each year. LEED encourages waste diversion from landfills. It also awards sustainable construction waste management and encourages general circular economy. When projects recover, reuse, and recycle materials, they earn points. They also get points when they use sustainable materials.

Health Benefits

Wellness is a prime concern for many people. Building green using the LEED rating system helps people live and work in healthy environments. LEED buildings focus on human health both indoors and outdoors.

Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors. But, the concentration of pollutants indoors can be 2 to 5 times more than outdoors. A health effect of pollutants found in indoor air is headaches. Other effects are fatigue, heart disease, and respiratory illnesses.

LEED promotes indoor air quality through its rating system. LEED-certified homes aim to provide cleaner and better indoor air. LEED also encourages the development of spaces that have access to daylight. These spaces are also free from harsh chemicals usually present in paints.

In-office buildings, a healthy indoor environment improves the engagement of employees. Such an environment has clean air and great access to daylight. Some benefits of LEED-certified buildings include higher employment and retention rates. Employees are also more productive in such healthy spaces.

A LEED-certified building improves outdoor air quality, especially in highly industrialized locations. Thus, LEED is essential in limiting smog. It is also critical in making air healthier for the general population.

Economic Benefits

LEED can help save on cost. Using LED lighting leads to a significant reduction in energy costs. So does the use of more energy-efficient heating and cooling methods. LEED encourages the use of these energy and cost-saving methods.

The maintenance cost of LEED buildings is also lower. That is, in comparison to normal commercial buildings. Green buildings also have lower operating costs.

Buildings with LEED certification also enjoy tax benefits and incentives. Local governments provide these benefits. These benefits include tax credits, reductions in fees, and grants. The building may also enjoy expedited building permits and fee waivers.

Some locations carry out energy audits. A LEED certification may spare a building from an audit, saving the project money. LEED buildings also have increased property values. Plus, the buildings attract tenants. Green buildings have fewer vacancy rates than properties that are non-green.

A LEED certification also provides a competitive edge. Customers are more environmentally conscious in recent times. Most are willing to pay extra for goods and services from companies also conscious of the environment. More customers mean more revenue.

The Bottom Line

LEED is one of the top international programs for sustainability in the design and construction of buildings. A LEED certification shows the use of building methods that promote circular economy and are friendly to the environment. Having the certification can enhance the contractor’s and building owner’s credibility.

With the increasing need for sustainability, LEED certification has become increasingly important. It benefits the construction industry and shines the way for an ethical system of sustainable buildings. Generally, LEED works to ensure the world is more sustainable and healthier.

Source: For Construction Pros.com

ZSW’s new process uses ecofriendly solvent to advance industrial cell manufacturing

Perovskite solar cells are brightening the prospects of photovoltaics. Easy and inexpensively made with ink, these cells recently set records in the lab with efficiency ratings as high as 25.7 percent. On the downside, nearly all manufacturing processes for these cells involve hazardous solvents such as dimethylformamide that adversely impact health and the environment. To coat large-area perovskite solar cells on an industrial scale, manufacturers urgently need a process that uses more benign solvents. The Centre for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research Baden-Württemberg (ZSW) has made a major stride towards that objective. Its researchers developed a coating process for perovskites that uses a single ecofriendly solvent, dimethyl sulfoxide. The ZSW applied this method to produce a solar cell nearly as efficient as cells made with the toxic solvent. The journal ACS Applied Energy Materials has published a paper on this scientific advance.

For several years now, researchers and manufacturers have been focusing on solar cells that use layers of perovskite as the light-absorbing material. Perovskites are materials that have the same crystal structure as the eponymous natural mineral. “Some compounds in this class of materials exhibit excellent optical and electronic properties – a basic requirement for achieving higher solar cell yields,” says Dr. Jan-Philipp Becker, the head of the ZSW’s Photovoltaics: Materials Research department. “What’s more, these materials are abundant on Earth and cheap. They could enable manufacturers to soon offer highly efficient modules at even lower costs than silicon-based modules have today.”

The benefits of perovskite layers do not end there. As a type of thin-film technology, these layers can also be deposited on plastic. This results in light, flexible modules that can be used in ways conventional solar modules cannot. For example, they seamlessly integrate into vehicles and light industrial sheds that cannot handle heavy loads.

Harmful solvents hamper large-scale production

Perovskite precursors have to first be dissolved so they can be applied in uniform layers to the substrate. This requires solvents that usually contain dimethylformamide (DMF), which is hazardous to health and the environment. This toxicity hampers efforts to scale this process up to industrial production. Manufacturers would have to produce and dispose of larger quantities of the solvent and take even more stringent occupational safety measures. Costs would rise.

This dilemma has sent researchers and manufacturers out in search of environmentally compatible solvents that are suitable for industrial applications. This use case requires chemical properties that very few substances exhibit. Jan-Philipp Becker’s team thoroughly investigated pure dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to see if it could serve this purpose. DMSO actually looks to be unsuitable for this coating process. It is a solvent with high surface tension and viscosity, which leaves an uneven layer deposited on the solar cell. DMSO also makes it difficult to control the crystallization process, which often results in small perovskite crystals and a cell that generates less solar energy.

Adapting the production process to green solvents

ZSW researchers found two workarounds for these issues. They modified the film formation process and improved the drying method to increase the efficiency of perovskite solar cells produced with DMSO. “We used a surfactant made of silicon oxide nanoparticles to coat the perovskite solar cell and adapted the drying process,” says Becker. With these two improvements, the process now produces uniform layers with large crystallites.

The 0.24-square-centimeter perovskite solar cells produced at the ZSW achieve 16.7 percent efficiency, just 0.2 percent less than the perovskite solar cells of the same size that the institute makes with DMF. The researchers use the blade coating method to this end. It is scalable to larger production numbers and therefore suitable for industrial applications.

Producing perovskite solar cells with larger surface areas

This scalability is what distinguishes blade-coated cells from spin-coated cells that have achieved record efficiencies of 25.7 percent. Although spin coating produces more efficient cells, this method does not lend itself to industrial-scale production of large modules.

“These new research findings are an important milestone on the path to industrial production,” says Becker, clearly delighted. “Now we will further optimize the manufacturing process and produce larger modules.” ZSW researchers now aim to demonstrate perovskite solar modules as large as 30 by 30 square centimeters made with industrial-grade coating methods. With this size, all basic challenges of a further upscaling to commercial module formats would already be overcome.

This effort was funded by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK) as part of the PERCISTAND and CAPITANO research projects. A paper giving an account of this work entitled “One-Step Blade Coating of Inverted Double-Cation Perovskite Solar Cells from a Green Precursor Solvent” was published at https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsaem.1c02425