Archive for category: Latest News

Sarah Kostense-Winterton, Executive Director | Mineral Wool Insulation Manufacturers Association

British homeowners hold the key to decarbonising our homes. We must motivate them to take action now.

“It is fact that homes and buildings in the UK account for over 22% of carbon emissions. Homeowners comprise the largest housing tenure at around 64% of the UK’s 28 million households and therefore the largest potential market for financing home decarbonisation. This sector is crying out for significant new investment from the Government and the scale of this investment will determine whether we eventually cross the Net Zero finish line or not.”

Supporting a Sustainable Supply Chain

Firstly, there are no silver bullets. However, it is clear that a long-term policy and investment approach is needed to provide certainty for industry. Only such an approach will provide businesses with the confidence to make substantial, sustained investments in skills and supply chains, driving innovation and lowering the costs of technologies and installations in key markets.

In this context, Government should consider the full suite of financial support, incentives and levers to trigger behavioural change and give homeowners the full support they need to upgrade their homes and get the UK on track for 2030 carbon targets and beyond. While support has been pledged for fuel poor and low-income households, many homes will slip through the net. Millions of households are classed as “able to pay”, but the reality is that many are not in a position to afford deep home retrofits, nor incentivised to do so.

Levelling Up and Job Creation

The most recent English Housing Survey found that 33% of homeowners have no savings and those with the lowest levels of savings and wealth – and least energy efficient homes – live disproportionately in the North of England and the Midlands. These are the regions which most benefit from grant funding, supporting the levelling-up agenda. Overall, an energy efficiency investment programme to 2030 can create 190,000 jobs nationally, drive billions of pounds of private investment, and deliver energy bill savings worth £7.5 billion.

Policy and Funding Gap

The abrupt closure of the Green Homes Grant, has left a gaping funding and policy void in the so called ‘able-to-pay’ market, and there is now a clear need for support including well-known structural incentives, such as Green Stamp Duty and 0% VAT for green home retrofits.

As shown in the UKGBC’s new report “A housing market catalyst to drive carbon emission reductions Low energy adjustment to Stamp Duty Land Tax” even a modest adjustment to Stamp Duty Land Tax would build a thriving retrofit market, supporting green jobs, boosting household spending and bringing down fuel bills. Embedding building energy performance into the homebuying decision-making process, it could catalyse and drive the market to deliver both energy efficiency improvements and low carbon heat and power. The policy has the potential to be both revenue neutral and drive demand for energy efficiency and low-carbon heating measures, improving Energy Performance Certificate ratings as a result.

it will not be possible for the Government to meet its long-term net zero target without substantially scaling action and investment for British homeowners

Government’s Next Steps

The forthcoming Heat and Buildings Strategy provides the policy opportunity and must set out the Government’s vision and roadmap for the UK to rapidly decarbonise homes across the country, through new targets, regulation and strategies for each tenure. To achieve widespread uptake of low carbon heating technologies and energy efficiency measures combined, financial institutions, the construction industry, local government, owner-occupiers, landlords and tenants must be motivated to take coordinated action.

The 2021 Spending Review and Budget provides the funding opportunity to get us back on track. Treasury must back a long-term package that spurs action and investment from homeowners – many of whom will not have the disposal income or savings to pay for the upgrades their homes need. Also, as new regulations are expected to come into place, such as a phase out of fossil gas boilers and minimum energy efficiency standards for owner-occupier homes, it is vital that there is support in place for all households through this transition.

Major Benefits

Finally, an energy efficiency infrastructure investment programme to 2030 would deliver major benefits across Britain, boosting productivity and supporting the levelling-up agenda. A sustained drive to boost home energy efficiency can reduce household energy expenditure by £7.5 billion per year, support hundreds of thousands of jobs across a range of trades, and reduce pressure on the NHS created by fuel poverty and cold, unhealthy homes – potentially preventing 10,000 excess winter deaths every year and saving the NHS £1.4 to £2 billion annually.

A public investment, fiscal and financial package to 2030 will unlock billions in existing capital and private investment, supported by innovation and the growth of new markets for green financial products and services. Few infrastructure projects can do so much for economic growth: with £2 put back in economy for every £1 spent on a national retrofit strategy.

However, one thing we are sure of right now – at present, policies and investment plans fall far short of what is needed to decarbonise homes to the levels required by carbon budgets and the Government’s own energy performance targets. As stressed by the Climate Change Committee, it will not be possible for the Government to meet its long-term net zero target without substantially scaling action and investment for British homeowners.

Sarah Kostense-Winterton is Executive Director at the Mineral Wool Insulation Manufacturers Association (MIMA) the UK’s industry trade body

for non-combustible, breathable glass and stone wool insulation, representing the leading mineral wool insulation companies in the UK.

She is also Co-Founder and Chairman of the Energy Efficiency Infrastructure Group (EEIG) – a broad-based coalition of over 25 industry groups,

NGOs, charities and businesses asking for rapid improvement in energy efficiency policy for UK homes and buildings. 

 

 

 

Russia and China unveiled a roadmap for a joint International Lunar Research Station Wednesday to guide collaboration and development of the project.

Chinese and Russian space officials revealed the plans June 16 at the Global Space Exploration (GLEX) conference in St. Petersburg, Russia, stating that the ILRS has received the interest of a number of countries and organizations.

The ILRS is planned to be developed concurrently but separate to the United States’ Artemis lunar exploration program.

Wu Yanhua, deputy head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), introduced the science objectives, facilities and transportation, lunar surface infrastructure, development phases and cooperation frameworks for the venture.

The first phase of ILRS, noted as reconnaissance, involves gathering data and verifying high-precision soft-landings across 2021-25 with the Chinese Chang’e-4, -6 and -7 missions, Russia’s Luna 25, 26 and 27 and possible missions of partners.

The second “construction” phase consists of two stages (2026-30, 2031-35). The first involves technology verifications, sample return, massive cargo delivery and the start of joint operations. Planned missions are Chang’e-8 and Luna 28 and potential international contributions.

The second stage looks to complete on-orbit and surface infrastructure for energy, communications, in-situ resource utilization and other technologies. Missions named ILRS-1 through 5 would focus respectively on energy and communications, research and exploration facilities, in-situ resource utilization, general technologies and astronomy capabilities. Russian super heavy-lift launch vehicles are listed to launch the missions.

The final “utilization” phase beyond 2036 would see the start of crewed landings. CNSA later published English and Chinese versions of the roadmap on its web pages while Roscomcos shared a presentation video on Twitter.

Spacecraft shown in the video include orbiters and relay satellites, descent and ascent vehicles, surface infrastructure for energy and communications, hopping robots and intelligent mini rovers.

The location of the ILRS is yet to be decided. Possible destinations noted in the presentation were Aristarchus crater and Marius Hills in the northwest of the lunar near side and Amundsen crater near the south pole.

Sergey Saveliev, deputy director general for International Cooperation for Roscosmos, said it was “difficult to overestimate the scientific significance of the project”.

Russia and China signed a memorandum of understanding on the ILRS in March. International partners were openly invited on the sidelines of the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee of the United Nations’ Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) April 23.

China and Russia presented five cooperation domains in which prospective partners could collaborate. Wu said the parties hoped to produce a legal document detailing the principles of the ILRS before the end of the year.

Saveliev and Wu stated that discussions had taken place with the European Space Agency and CNES of France, while Thailand, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had expressed interest in the project. Wu noted however that the discussions were at a very early stage.

The development follows Brazil becoming the 12th nation to join the Artemis Accords, the U.S.-led effort to establish norms of behavior for space exploration.

Marco Aliberti, a resident fellow at the European Space Policy Institute in Austria, told SpaceNews that ILRS development “signals the progressive bifurcation of the international space community around two contending – and potentially conflicting – pathways for future lunar exploration activities.”

“To be sure, like the Artemis programme, the Moon base project conceived by China and Russia has been purposefully opened to international partners at all levels. And even if participation in the US-led Artemis would not per se preclude a possible participation in the ILRS, reality is that the two projects are to large extent mutually exclusive in terms of partnership configurations.”

The contending “international lunar exploration efforts can generate some potentially beneficial effects from a scientific, technological and industrial perspective,” says Aliberti. At the same time, it will “indirectly produce harmful spillover effects on the current international efforts towards the more cooperative space environment and eventually undermine international security and strategic stability, be it in space and here on Earth.”

The ILRS is at its early stages, with many other priorities and challenges ahead. Wu also remarked that the presentation was a “version one” of the roadmap.

Asked when Chinese citizens would first walk on the moon, Wu stated that the focus was on the Chinese Space Station following the recent launch of the Tianhe module and declined to provide a date.

The Shenzhou-12 crewed mission launched for Tianhe on June 16.

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London’s Serpentine Galleries have reopened their spaces to the public in May and on June11th , the Serpentine Pavilion 2021 designed by Counterspace, the architectural studio directed by Sumayya Vally, opened its doors. It is the 20th pavilion of the famous gallery which, for this edition, extends out to the city with four installations placed in different neighbourhoods across London, recognisable as four fragments of the pavilion.
Sumayya Vally who, as per tradition when it comes to the pavilions is completing her first work in the UK, as well as being the youngest architect to be commissioned for this renowned programme.

The pavilion’s inauguration is a splendid sign of the post-Covid 19 reopening efforts, extending across the city through the four installations located in different neighbourhoods in London and recognisable as four fragments of the same pavilion. A happy ending, to a very challenging year. The inauguration was, in fact, originally set to take place on June 11, 2020, when the lockdown initiatives undertaken by the city in order to contain the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the full suspension of the Serpentine Pavilion programme and its postponement to 2021. Moreover, after a year marked by compliance with social distancing rules, the new Serpentine Pavilion extends across London to support and facilitate gatherings and participation in different locations of great importance, above all, for their diasporic and cross-cultural communities: those groups of individuals who, as a result of migratory processes have reconstructed themselves in contexts other than those of their origin. These neighbourhoods include Brixton, Hoxton, Tower Hamlets, Edgware Road, Barking and Dagenham, as well as Peckham.

 

The Pavilion designed by Counterspace pays tribute to these places, which in some cases still exist, while in others are no longer with us. Religious places like some of London’s first mosques: the Fazl Mosque and the East London Mosque. Places hosting cooperative bookshops such as Centerprise and Hackney. Entertainment and cultural venues like The Four Aces Club on Dalston Lane, The Mangrove restaurant and the Notting Hill Carnival. Four installations designed and created precisely to reinforce this theme and its connection with the city.
Four fragments of the Pavilion installed in 4 locations across the city, carefully selected to reflect this close bond: the headquarters of the first black publisher and bookseller in the UK Beacon Books in Finsbury Park; The Tabernacle multipurpose venue and community centre in Notting Hill; the Albany art centre in Deptford; and the new Becontree Forever Arts and Culture Hub at the Valence Library in Barking and Dagenham, which commemorates the centenary of the UK’s largest municipal residential complex. The installations are not an end unto themselves, but have been created specifically for the places where they have been installed and are used as display stands for books, seats, benches and more.

Offering a viable answer to the scarcity of informal gathering and interaction places, the pavilion presents itself as a new meeting place in London’s famous Kensington gardens, with its abstract form inspired by the superimposition and union of architectural elements on different scales borrowed from the city itself. The different textures and shades chosen for the pavilion, made of recycled materials such as steel, cork and wood covered with micro-cement, also take inspiration from the city of London and its rich architecture.

As per tradition, the Serpentine Pavilion will host the summer program of initiatives of the Serpentine Galleries which, for the first time, will also include a music programme entitled Listening to the City that once again aims to link the pavilion to various neighbourhoods across London and their sounds. A Scholarship and Grant Programme, Support Structures for Support Structures, has also been created to help sustain artists from different London communities.

Images courtesy of Serpentine Galleries, photo by Iwan Baan, George Darrell

Source: Floornature, Architecture and Surfaces

The five-year research program considered the seismic design of corrugated metal decks, with and without concrete topping, as a diaphragm system that is an integral part of the steel structure.

Photo courtesy Canam, Vulcraft, Steel Deck Institute

Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative Improves Seismic Design Tools

Researchers pave the way for future explorations that could speed up construction of steel frames

In a few months, Northeastern University expects to make research history by testing the behavior, under seismic loads, of a full-scale, composite, concrete-filled steel-deck diaphragm system. The novel experiment culminates unprecedented collaborative research on the seismic performance of steel floor and roof diaphragms in steel structures. The five-year initiative already has aligned and improved design methods and relevant standards used throughout the U.S., not merely in high-seismic zones, according to those involved.

The program not only validates current design practices for different steel structures, it also promises to improve the seismic design and behavior of “bare” and concrete-topped decks under earthquake loads, says Ben Schafer, a professor of civil engineering at Johns Hopkins University and principal investigator for the nearly $2-million Steel Diaphragm Innovation Initiative. The design tools developed allow “more reliable designs” for seismic performance and offer slight efficiency gains that can result in the application of less concrete as a deck topping, Schafer says.

The findings also pave the way for future explorations that could speed design and onsite construction. These include the study of modular deck systems and bare metal floor decks that are free of concrete topping, says Schafer.

Known as corrugated metal decking, steel diaphragms are ubiquitous in steel frames. They are considered advantageous because they are relatively low weight, use recycled material and offer potential redundancies from a large number of connection points between the diaphragm and other structural elements, say the sponsors of the initiative, which include the American Iron & Steel Institute (AISI), the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the Metal Building Manufacturers Association, the Steel Deck Institute, the Steel Joist Institute, the Cold-Formed Steel Research Consortium and structural consultant Walter P Moore.

The investigation has resulted in the adoption of new provisions in seismic codes and standards that will increase the already high level of seismic safety of steel buildings, according to AISI, which, along with the other sponsors, is trying to make steel structures more attractive to engineers.

“These efforts expanded the capabilities of structural engineers to successfully employ steel in seismic diaphragm systems in essentially any situation,” say the authors in a 101-page final report on the research, published in March by AISI and released last month.

Until the recent research, funded by $1.4 million from the sponsors and $540,000 from the National Science Foundation, data had not been compiled and research was largely focused on the strength of isolated systems instead of ductility or whole-building performance, according to participants.

The initiative involved myriad design simulations and physical testing. The work resulted in a better understanding of diaphragm-structure interaction. That in turn led to new design approaches and new 3D modeling tools, say the researchers.

Under the study, researchers considered steel diaphragms as a system that is an integral part of a building.

“The ductility in these systems can be quite good and helps to address any variability in forces that might occur due to the variability in earthquakes,” says Jerome Hajjar, a professor of civil engineering at Northeastern University and a co-principal investigator, with professors of civil engineering Matt Eatherton, at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; and Sam Easterling, at Iowa State University. In total, there were 21 investigators involved in the research.

Unified Design Requirements

“The project unified design requirements, creating a cohesive basis” across the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program Provisions and relevant standards from the American Society of Civil Engineers, AISC and AISI, says Charlie Carter, AISC’s president. The unified requirements also will render the next edition of the model International Building Code “similarly cohesive,” he adds.

Achieving corresponding changes in the standards required “extensive coordination” among the standards-writing committees, says John D. Hooper, director of earthquake engineering at Magnusson Klemencic Associates and an ASCE 7-22 committee member.

Specifically, there are changes to the design approach for steel floor and roof diaphragms in AISC 342, ASCE 7-22 and AISI 400. The changes include establishing special seismic detailing requirements to ensure ductility and deformation capacity in steel-deck diaphragms and establishing the diaphragm design force reduction factor, called Rs, for bare-steel deck diaphragms using special seismic detailing and concrete-filled steel-deck diaphragms.

“For the first time, engineers are able to reliably provide ductility and deformation capacity in steel-deck diaphragms,” says Hooper. This will be especially helpful in the design of rigid-wall, flexible-diaphragm structures where the ductility comes from the roof diaphragm, he adds.

For this, researchers expanded  building archetype designs. They performed thousands of nonlinear time-history analyses of 3D steel buildings and validated the alternative-diaphragm design procedures for concrete-filled steel decks and for bare steel decks in buckling restrained braced frames and concentric braced frames.

The program kicked off in 2015. The final report is available for free download on the AISI website, under “reports.”

To date, research has been conducted in the form of cantilever diaphragm tests, generally designed to identify the effect that one factor has on strength and behavior of the system. The Northeastern test system builds off the knowledge gained from these previous tests but advances beyond typical assumptions and necessary simplifications of cantilever diaphragm tests, says Hajjar.

The Northeastern, multi-bay test program is intended to document the inherent strength and ductility in typical composite diaphragms and provide a baseline test for future exploration of innovative diaphragm designs. The 28-ft by 20-ft specimen includes two chord members that span 28 ft and two collector members that span 20 ft. Findings will be appended to the final report.

To fill knowledge gaps, the five-year program focused on traditional floor systems. Time was limited for study of irregular situations, such as floor cutouts, irregular floor plans and eccentric architecture, which create unusual demands on the diaphragms.

Schafer hopes to study special cases in the future, along with bare decks and modular systems. For now, the focus is on educating practitioners about changes in the codes and standards so they can take advantage of the advances.

Source: Engineering News Record