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International SEEDS Conference 2017: Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society – 13th & 14th September 2017

January 17, 2017 / / 0 Comments

 

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS 

(maximum 300 words)

Healthy Environments,Buildings and Spaces: Current position and future models

Leeds Beckett University, UK 13th and 14th September 2017

The built environment has a greater impact on natural resources and produces more waste than any other industry.  However, beyond the green rhetoric research is being applied on the ground to address the balance between the built and natural environment. This holistic approach draws together the research themes of energy, building performance and physics while placing health, wellbeing and ecology at the heart of the conference.
Through research and proven practice, the aim of the SEEDS Conference is to foster ideas on how to reduce negative impacts on the environment while providing for the health and wellbeing of the society.
You are invited to submit Abstracts under the themes listed below.
Please submit Abstracts by 20th February 2017 to:
You are encouraged to submit abstracts as early as possible in order to receive prompt feedback. Early acceptance will enable you to take advantage of the ‘early bird’ rate for the Conference and make a £60.00 saving.
Seeds LOGO
Some comments from those who attended the successful SEEDS Conference in 2015/2016 included the following:
  • “Personally I consider SEEDS Conference is an excellent educational and networking event. Latin America attendants as me, will find excellent information and initiatives in order to enhance our local processes”Columbian Delegate
  • I enjoyed the range of papers presented – it made for a really interesting couple of days.  Good range of attendees from both industry and academia also.” UK Delegate
  • “Overall my experience was very positive. I especially liked the wide spectrum of papers presented. The organisation was very good at all stages and the venue was fantastic.”UK Delegate
  • “Sustainable development is crucial issue nowadays and I believe it’s rather an important matter to focus. Very well organized, very good quality of the presentation, very unique conference.” Russian Delegate
  • “Very well organised and focused in my area of research. Fantastic information gained and shared”. Irish Delegate
The conference has a strong reputation for working with established publishers. Papers will be put forward for publication with our publishing partners.

You are invited to submit Abstracts under the following themes:
 
Protecting nature and the natural environment
Building and environment design
Energy efficient modelling, simulation and BIM
Integrating urban and natural environment
Building performance, analysis and evaluation
Thermal comfort, air quality and overheating
Green spaces, enclosures and buildings
Green technologies and IT
Renewable energy
Energy flexibility
Energy behaviour and lifestyle
Dampness, water damage and flooding
Building surveys, thermography, building pathology
Water and air quality Education & Training
Planning and sculpturing positive change
Reducing consumption and waste
Sustainability, ethics and responsibility
Behaviour Change
Community building and masterplanning
Health benefits of alternative and natural materials
Urban heat island and mitigation
Building resilience
Sustainable cities
Zero energy and energy plus buildings
Local producers and urban environments, edible
Trees and green city landscape
Edible urban landscape
Biomimicry and Biophilic Design
Other related fields will be considered.
 

 

We RISE again! Joint awards for built environment industry and academia back for 2016

July 19, 2016 / / 0 Comments

RISE2016Rise2

We RISE again! We are pleased to announce that following on from last year’s highly successful ceremony at the Park Plaza in Leeds, the RISE awards are back for a second year, highlighting, celebrating and rewarding the most innovative and forward thinking research and development initiatives in the built environment across four key strands; Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Enterprise.

Across the built environment, talented groups and individuals are shaping the future of engineering and construction and our awards are unique in being the first in the region to bring academic, industry and third sector groups together to showcase their work. Our awards are truly diverse with previous winners coming from a vast range of working environments, specialisms, communities and backgrounds. What matters to us is that our entrants display the passion and dedication to do things better, pushing our industry forward.

Organised by the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University, the Rise Awards are completely free to enter and submissions are encouraged from both individuals and companies working in the built environment across 12 different categories. With awards for industry leaders in energy efficiency, new technologies, products and processes, research, design, behavioural change and more up for grabs we are sure there is a category for you!

The closing date for all entries is 1st September 2016. The winners will be judged by our panel of academic and industry experts and revealed on 15th September at a prestigious gala presentation evening at the Met Hotel in Leeds. Attended by leading sector figures, the event itself will be the perfect opportunity for you to showcase your initiative, maximising your exposure and helping you to bring your expertise to a new audience.

In addition there will be plenty of opportunities for entrants to have ongoing engagement with the University and its networks beyond the awards through our Leeds Sustainability Institute research hub initiatives and projects.

HOW TO ENTER

Entries can be made for a project, process, product or a service. In order to enter please produce a one or two page poster outlining your product, process, project or service which addresses one or more of the category themes detailed below. Your poster should include text, images and where possible facts and figures that will provide the judges with tangible evidence of performance & outcomes against your strategic aims. *Please note, shortlisted posters will be blown up to A1 size and displayed so please ensure your submitted PDF can be resized.

CATEGORIES / THEMES

For 2016 we have 12 different categories available for you to make your submission against. You can make as many submissions as you want and the same project/product or case study can be submitted into more than one category* Please indicate which categories you are applying for on submission.

Some key questions that you will need to address in your submission: 

  • What need did the product, process, project or service fill?
  • Why is it different/special/unique?
  • What challenges were faced and how were they overcome?
  • What did it achieve? What are the current and future benefits?

FOR FULL CRITERIA, CATEGORIES AND ENTRY REQUIREMENTS PLEASE DOWNLOAD OUR OFFICIAL CALL FOR ENTRIES BOOKLET AT THE LINK BELOW.

RISEawards

POSTER SAMPLES

For ideas of completing a poster, see the RISE 2015 poster set at the following link

FURTHER INFORMATION 

If you have any questions about the RISE awards please contact the CKE team on 0113 812 1902 or via email to riseawards@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

WITH THANKS TO OUR HEADLINE SPONSORKI

Applications now being taken for LSI sustainability professional doctorate programme (D.Eng)

April 1, 2016 / / 0 Comments

LeedsBeckettAd1

The Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University is now accepting applications for an October 2016 start on its successful part-time professional doctorate (D.Eng) programme. This is aimed at professional practitioners who wish to undertake a programme of research related to their own field of expertise.

Applications in the fields of sustainable buildings, green computing or energy are particularly encouraged, but projects in all areas of sustainability can be considered.

For more information, or an informal discussion in the first instance, please contact Anne Stafford at a.stafford@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

SEEDS Conference 2016 – Call for Abstracts

December 9, 2015 / / 0 Comments

SEEDSimage3

International SEEDS Conference 2016:

Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS (maximum 300 words)

 Healthy, Energy Efficient Buildings and Spaces: Current position and future models

Leeds Beckett University, UK – 14th and 15th September 2016

The built environment has a greater impact on natural resources and produces more waste than any other industry.  However, beyond the green rhetoric research is being applied on the ground to address the balance between the built and natural environment.  The International SEEDS conference brings together experts from around the world focussing on the changes that are taking place and the benefits or consequences that are being predicted and measured regarding the built environment’s impacts.  As well as addressing technical issues, measuring energy efficiency and modelling energy performance, emphasis is placed on the health and wellbeing of the users of spaces occupied and enclosed.  As we are all guardians of nature and the environment, the Conference will also explore the areas we protect and preserve for greater natural environmental influence.  Understanding how buildings and spaces are designed and nurtured to obtain the optimal outcome will be a focus of much discussion and debate.  This holistic approach draws together the research themes of energy, building performance and physics while placing health, wellbeing and ecology at the heart of the conference.

Through research and proven practice, the aim of the SEEDS conference is to foster ideas on how to reduce negative impacts on the environment while providing for the health and wellbeing of the society. The professions and fields of research required to ensure buildings meet user demands and provide healthy enclosures are many and diverse.  The SEEDS conference addresses the interdependence of people, the built and natural environments, and recognises the interdisciplinary and international themes required to assemble the knowledge required for positive change.

You are invited to submit Abstracts under the following themes:

Protecting nature and the natural environmentBuilding and environment designEnergy efficient modelling, simulation and BIMIntegrating urban and natural environmentBuilding performance, analysis and evaluation

Thermal comfort, air quality and overheating

Green spaces, enclosures and buildings

Green technologies and IT

Renewable energy

Energy flexible buildings

Energy behaviour and lifestyle

Dampness, water damage and flooding

Building surveys, thermography, building pathology

Water quality

Air quality

 

 Planning and sculpturing positive changeReducing consumption and wasteSustainability, ethics and responsibilityOccupant behavioural changeCommunity building and masterplanning

Health benefits of alternative and natural materials

Urban heat island and mitigation

Building resilience

Sustainable cities

Zero energy and energy plus buildings

Local producers and urban environments, edible

Trees and green city landscape

Designing edible urban landscape

Biomimicry and Biophilic Design

Other related fields will be considered

***IMPORTANT***

PLEASE PRINT OFF AND READ OUR ABSTRACT GUIDANCE DOCUMENTATION BEFORE SUBMITTING YOUR PROPOSAL

AbstractGuidanceThumbnail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please submit Abstracts by 18th March 2016 to lsiconference@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

 Some comments from those who attended the successful SEEDS Conference in 2015 included the following:

  • “Personally I consider SEEDS Conference is an excellent educational and networking event. Latin America attendants as me, will find excellent information and initiatives in order to enhance our local processes.” Columbian Delegate
  • “I enjoyed the range of papers presented – it made for a really interesting couple of days. Good range of attendees from both industry and academia also.” UK Delegate
  • “Overall my experience was very positive. I especially liked the wide spectrum of papers presented. The organisation was very good at all stages and the venue was fantastic.” UK Delegate
  • “Sustainable development is crucial issue nowadays and I believe it’s rather an important matter to focus. Very well organized, very good quality of the presentation, very unique conference.” Russian Delegate

The conference has a strong reputation with Springer and Greenleaf Publishing, who have previously published our proceedings.  Papers will be put forward for publication with our publishing partners.

All RISE for the next generation of green building pioneers

September 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

 

pp (107)

The winners of awards which celebrated research, innovation, sustainability and enterprise in the built environment have been announced by Leeds Beckett University.

Over a hundred industry and academic professionals gathered at the Park Plaza hotel in Leeds for the inaugural RISE awards (#RISEawards). Organised by the Leeds Sustainability Institute and the Centre for Knowledge Exchange at Leeds Beckett University and sponsored by Saint-Gobain UK, the awards celebrated the most pioneering sustainability research and development in the industry.

Presented by Professor Chris Gorse, Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett, the awards brought industry and academic bodies together for the first time, to reward innovation across eight different categories representing the four key strands of the RISE Awards; Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Enterprise. In a change from the usual application process, entrants were encouraged to use their creativity and create a one to two page visual poster outlining their project, product or initiative.

Speaking about the awards, Professor Chris Gorse, Director of the Leeds Sustainability Institute at Leeds Beckett University, said: “The construction industry faces a huge challenge to become more energy efficient and sustainable, reducing the built environment’s contribution to climate change.

The RISE initiative has brought together leading construction partners, all with a keen desire to take the construction sector forward, forging a more sustainable and innovate industry.  The level of creativity demonstrated in the entries to ensure products and buildings are successful in the field was exceptional. Those commended and whom have achieved a RISE award have set a high benchmark on which we can build.

“The strength and diversity of approaches to sustainable design and construction means there is much to build on.   We have set our journey to become, not only a Centre for Knowledge Exchange at Leeds Beckett, but one of excellence where the potential that can be achieved through industry and academic engagement is recognised.  Being part of the celebrations that recognise those pushing at the boundaries was an honour.”

Winners and those highly commended on the night were from a range of businesses; from architects to contractors to product designers and construction consultancies. Those who triumphed included Arc Building Solutions in the Field Research category for their innovative Eaves Insulator product, Leeds Environmental Design Associates in the Design, Innovation and Creativity category and BAM Construction who walked away with the behavioural change gong for their project addressing the energy performance gap on their builds. Innovative local developer CITU also picked up yet another award to add to their ever expanding trophy cabinet for their Little Kelham project, this time in the Sustainable Development category. Special awards were also given out on the night to Rockpanel, Yeme Architects and Saint-Gobain. Congratulations to all the winners (a full list can be found below)

The awards were a huge success and a fitting grand finale to the Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design (SEEDS) conference held at Leeds Beckett.  This international conference explored how buildings and spaces are designed to reduce negative impacts on the environment, with keynote speakers, workshops and presentations focusing on how to address the balance between the built and the natural environment.


 pp (114)

 

Tom Cox, Research and Development Manager at Saint-Gobain UK added: “Saint-Gobain UK was delighted to support the first ever SEEDS Conference and RISE awards with its vision to support and promote productive academic and industry research partnerships. Our team had an excellent evening which was a fitting celebration to two highly enjoyable days of learning, debate and discussion. We will continue to work closely with the forward-thinking team at Leeds Sustainability Institute in the future.”

#RISEAWARDS WINNERS

AWARD 1 – Field & Laboratory Research

Winner
ARC Building Solutions

Highly commended
Mott MacDonald

AWARD 2 – Product & Element Interface

Winner
Bauman Lyons Architects

Highly commended
Saint-Gobain

AWARD 3 – New Technologies

Winner
Saint-Gobain

Highly commended
C-Probe Systems Limited

AWARD 4 – Design, Innovation & Creativity

Winner
LEDA

Highly commended
Rockpanel

AWARD 5 – Sustainable Development & Energy

Winner
Citu

Highly commended
Green Building Store

AWARD 6 – Heritage Award for Restoration & Retrofit

Winner
Green Building Store

Highly commended
C-Probe Systems Limited

Highly commended
Studio Polpo

AWARD 7 – Behavioural Change

Winner
BAM Construction

Highly commended
Rockpanel

Highly commended
Morgan Sindall

AWARD 8 -Enterprise

Winner
Mott MacDonald

Highly commended
ARC Building Solutions

Special RISE Awards

1. Chair’s Award for Most Innovative & Sustainable Approach to Restoration

Winner
Yeme Architects

Highly commended
Studio Polpo

2. CKE Special Award

Winner
Rockpanel

Highly commended
Collett and Sons

3. Arts, Environment & Technology Special Award

Winner
Wakefield & District Housing

Highly commended
Rex Procter & Partners (Energy Services)

4. Leeds Sustainability Institute Award

Winner
Hill

Highly commended
A-one+ Integrated Highway Services

SEEDS Academic Award for Best Poster

Winner
Beverley Clifton Morris and Liverpool John Moores University

Highly commended
A-one+ Integrated Highway Services

SEEDS Academic Award for Best Technical Poster

Winner
Mott MacDonald

Highly commended
Martin Fletcher, Felix Thomas and Adrian Appleyard

SEEDS Conference Awards

1. CIOB Award for Best Academic Paper

Winner
Richard Jack, Dennis Loveday, David Allinson and Kevin Lomas

Highly commended
Joe Williams, Doctor Mike Lawrence and Professor Pete Walker

Highly commended
Fiona Fylan, Chris Gorse and David Glew

2. CIOB Award for Best Technical Paper

Winner
Guillaume Lethé

Highly commended
Francesco Pomponi, Poorang A.E. Piroozfar and Eric R.P. Farr

Highly commended
Dave Farmer, Chris Gorse, Dominic Miles-Shenton, Matthew Brooke-Peat and Calum Cuttle

3. LSI Award for Most Pragmatic Approach to Sustainability

Winner
Jody Harris, Andy Dougill and Alice Owen

Highly commended
Rachel Huxley

Highly commended
Ian Adrian Fletcher

4. LSI Award for Contribution to the Field

Winner
Fisayo Caleb Sangogboye, Olaf Droegehorn and Jari Porras

Highly commended
Iqbal Ahmed, Alexandra Klimova, Eric Rondeau and Andrei Rybin

Highly commended
Paul Chatterton

5. LSI Award for Paper Addressing a Developing Need

Winner
Oriel Kenny, Isobelle Logan, Andrew Swan and Jono West

Highly commended
Chuma Sineke and John Smallwood

Highly commended
Anthony J. Smith, Martin Pritchard and Alan Edmondson

6. LSI Award for Paper Addressing a Social Need

Winner
Martin Pritchard, Alan Edmondson, Tom Craven and Theresa Mkandawire

Highly commended
Richard Cozzens

Highly commended
Kevin Thomas and Ian Dickinson

7. SEEDS Award for Contribution to the Built Environment

Winner
Sara Lilley, Gill Davidson, Barry J. Gledson and Zaid Alwan

Highly commended
Fidelis Emuze

Highly commended
James Parker

8.SEEDS Award for Contribution to the Natural Environment

Winner
Agnieszka Knera, James Parker and Alan Poxon

Highly commended
Nicola Caravaggio and Martina Iorio

Highly commended
Hasan Hamouda, Nadine Abu-Shaaban and Eman Al-Swaity

9. Chair’s Award

Winner
Christopher Allen and Katharina Crafford

Highly commended
Erica Marshall, Julia Steinberger, Tim Foxon and Valerie Dupont

Highly commended
Benjamin A J Martin, Dawa Masih, Benson Lau, Paolo Beccarelli and John Chilton

Buildings are a climate change problem … and also part of the solution

September 28, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Buildings are a climate change problem … and also part of the solution. With buildings responsible for an estimated 40% of all carbon emissions and having a huge influence of lifestyle, commerce and industry carbon reduction efforts, we can now longer afford to incrementally be less bad. And this year, 2015, being a significant year for climate change action, with the COP21 in Paris in December and the imminent release of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is time to recognise the role of buildings as a climate change solution.

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Beyond Sustainability, as you may have seen in the media, via social media or by invite, is our significant event in London on the 5th Oct. The event highlight will be Jason McLennan’s (CEO International Living Futures Institute) first UK keynote, which promises to be an inspiring call to do more good, as being less bad is not just enough anymore

The event will also include an overview of Living Building Challenge and Well Building Standard activity in the UK from Martin Brown, Fairsnape, and Ann Marie Aguilar, Arup Associates.  Hattie Hartman (Sustainability Editor at AJ) will chair a panel debate, featuring regenerative and well being sustainability activity in the UK from a range of presenters.  In addition John Alker UKGBC will introduce the UKGBC’s new campaign ‘Better Places for People‘ 

There will, of course, be opportunity for Q and A panel debates with speakers.

Please take this as your invite to attend. The event will held appropriately, in the wonderful Royal College of Physicians building on Regents Park. More details and how you can you can still register here.

Jason F. McLennan Keynote speaker:

Considered one of the most influential individuals in the green building movement today and the recipient of prestigious Buckminster Fuller Prize (the planet’s top prize for socially responsible design), Jason F. McLennan’s work has made a pivotal impact on the shape and direction of green building in the United States and Canada and he is a much sought after designer, presenter and consultant on a wide variety of green building and sustainability topics around the world.

Earth Day 2015 – Beyond Sustainability

April 10, 2015 / / 0 Comments

martinbrown

Martin Brown is the Leeds Beckett Green Vision Ambassador, a Living Building Challenge Ambassador and through Fairsnape an innovative, leading consultant and advocate for built environment sustainability.

We are seeing the emergence of new sustainability thinking, one that is challenging our understanding of sustainability, one that uses expressions such as net positive, regenerative and restorative sustainability.

Patagonia company founder Yvonne Chounaird thinks we should not even use the term sustainability until we give the same or more back to nature than we take. 

At this free public EarthDay presentation Martin will provide an overview of EarthDay, from its origins back in the 70’s to its present day global celebration of the Earth, along with a backdrop for a new sustainability, focusing on how buildings and the built environment can deliver a restorative sustainability, starting to heal the future and to correct some of the sector’s past environmental damage.

We are limited to 70 places on this event so secure you place now at this FREE event by email to ckeevents@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

 

Constructing Excellence – why you should get involved

December 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

By Duncan Reed, Tekla & Green Vision Ambassador

I missed the Green Vision December conference as I was attending a Constructing Excellence meeting.

Firstly I have to admit that I wasn’t really aware of Constructing Excellence until about a year or so ago – is that just another example of how many organisations there are that exist to ‘support’ construction so that it can be hard to see the wood for the trees? But that is another blog all of its own I suspect.

From the ‘About Us’ Constructing Excellence webpage:

Constructing Excellence http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk/ is the single organisation charged with driving the change agenda in construction. We exist to improve industry performance in order to produce a better built environment. We are a cross-sector, cross-supply chain, member led organisation operating for the good of industry and its stakeholders.

Our Pedigree

In the mid-nineties a wide spread recognition arose of the need for the construction industry to improve the service it provided to its clients while also ensuring future viability for the wide range of organisations that operated in the industry.

In response to Sir Michael Latham’s 1994 report ‘Constructing the Team’ and Sir John Egan’s 1998 report ‘Rethinking Construction’ a number of cross industry bodies were formed to drive change. These included:

  • Reading Construction Forum
  • Design Build Foundation
  • Construction Best Practice Programme
  • Movement for Innovation
  • Local Government Task Force
  • Rethinking Construction
  • Be
  • Constructing Excellence
  • Construction Clients’ Group

Significant progress has been made in driving these initiatives into the practicing industry with many examples of projects that have been run in accordance with the fundamental principles.

In order to streamline the effort involved, all the above cross industry bodies were united as Constructing Excellence in 2003 to form a powerful, influential voice for improvement in the built environment sector.

Anyway, the meeting I attended – the CE Sustainability Group – was my second and another really interesting event with a very wide range of construction professionals present – the Highways Agency, an architect from Faulkner Brown, contractors Balfour Beatty and Skanska, manufacturers Knauf and Polypipe, myself representing Tekla, WRAP and the BRE and this is the key reason why CE events are so successful. Each person brought their own sustainability experiences and shared these in an open and wide ranging day’s discussion. Amongst other subjects we discussed were

  • Feedback from the CE National Convention held on 15th November 2013 including how CE is responding the Government Industrial Strategy Construction 2025
  • How the G4C – Generation for Collaboration group can realise change in businesses – and, yes, another new construction group for me
  • Strategies for linking this CE group to the regional CE Best Practice clubs – now these I had heard of thanks to Green Vision
  • The debate currently underway as to whether the UK housing market has the appetite to actually deliver housing that can achieve Code 5 or 6 certification.
  • The future of WRAP
  • The ICR – Infrastructure Carbon Review – and how the HA are responding to this
  • BS 8895-1:2013 Designing for material efficiency in building projects. Code of practice for Strategic Definition and Preparation and Brief. An invitation from WRAP for CE members to join the committee developing this standard
  • PAS 2070:2012 Specification for the assessment of greenhouse gas emissions of a city by direct plus supply chain, and consumption-based approaches. A document, developed by the Greater London Authority, to assess scope 3 greenhouse gas emissions
  • An embodied carbon database, produced by Arup and being developed as a tool by WRAP

As you can see, a huge amount of information was shared and discussed, from specific details to national strategies and lots of internet searches and further reading for me.

The meeting was rounded off with a lively Pecha Kucha session with myself, Lorna Stork of Knauf, Sandy Mackay from the BRE and Geri Smith of Balfour Beatty all talking ‘against the clock’ on the subject “What does sustainability mean to me/my organisation”.

So why this blog? Well quite simply as a sales pitch for everyone involved in construction to find out more about Constructing Excellence and to get involved. There are numerous specialist groups within CE looking at Construction Clients Group, G4C (Generation for Change), International, Asset Management, BIM, Collaborative Working Champions, Funding & Finance , Housing, Infrastructure, Nuclear, Social Media, Sustainability, Water Sector benchmarking and Clients’ Health & Safety so something for everyone to get involved with.

The next CE Sustainability Group meeting, on 20th March, will be all around the subject of Green BIM. See you there!!

JUST: a social justice label for construction …

August 1, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Taking built environment sustainability deeper into the responsibility agenda, the International Living Future Institute are launching (Oct 2013) a new and important transparency initiative for the built environment to sit along side the Living Building Challenge and Declare. Just will provide clients, specifiers and procurers with ‘a view of how participating organisations treat their employees and where they invest their profits’

Just will cover the important areas of gender and ethnic diversity, salary equity, gender pay equity, community involvement, responsible investing and more, taking it beyond other programmes in the built environment sector. (And arguably areas that the UK Considerate Constructors Scheme should be addressing?)

The Press Release from ILFI reads:

In today’s global economy, it’s difficult to know what your consumer dollars are really supporting. JUST gives you an insider’s view of how participating organisations treat their employees and where they invest their profits. JUST works seamlessly with the International Living Future Institute’s Declare™ materials label and the next iteration of the Living Building Challenge™ (Version 3.0 — coming spring 2014).

By providing participating companies with a clear, elegant and informative equity ‘nutrition-label’, JUST aims to transform the marketplace through transparency and open communication. It aligns with the Institute’s Declare™ materials label to provide a holistic picture of both the products a company produces and the human story behind those products.
To participate in this voluntary disclosure program, an organization must submit documentation that asks for in-depth information about twenty distinct aspects of workplace equity and justice.
We’ll be launching the JUST label and searchable database FALL 2013. Join us in this critical initiative!
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Materials – our sustainable building blocks

September 12, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Construction materials are quite literally the building blocks for a truly sustainable design, construction and maintenance industry.

No longer do we to specify and procure materials on function and aesthetics alone, but the consideration of a myriad of economic, environmental and social sustainability aspects is now essential. Balancing these ‘triple bottom line’ aspects brings a new approach to traditional material choice, to value management and engineering exercises, increasingly recognised as ‘appropriate sourcing‘.

Alternative, natural, ‘sustainable’ materials are now established in the choice mix along side the traditional petroleum based products.

Social specification and procurement of materials is key to successful and meaningful localism agendas, whilst also reducing transport miles and carbon. (Up to 70% of a projects construction CO2 is related to transportation of materials to the project)

Consideration of healthy materials is likely to dominate sustainable construction thinking over the next few years, we hear ever-increasing reference to red list materials, in their manufacture, transport, handling, impact on building occupants and disposal.

Waste is now accepted as a  huge driver and factor for sustainable construction. We have made great improvement in waste management over the last decade. Yet maybe we have to step back and understand the recycling spiral loops we have embedded in to our industry, to question whether we are really being resource efficient.

Collectively these emerging material restraints and opportunities are game changers in the world of material specification, procurement, construction and facilities management, and critical to a successful sustainable construction strategy.

Green Vision’s autumn 2012 series tackles the material issue head on, themed around the Cradle to Cradle philospohy with a collection of evening presentations, Tweetchat discussions on alternative materials and modern material specification issues, an online Tweetchat based book club discussion of Cradle to Cradle, culminating  in a half day web enabled conference in Leeds with a Cradle to Cradle keynote speaker.

If you are involved in material selection, specification, manufacture, procurement, construction or maintenance, this autumn series will be of great benefit in increasing your awareness and understanding in this crucial area.

See you there.

Series overview:

15th Oct #GVisChat  Tweetchat Alternative Materials 8pm UK Time

17 Oct Whole Life Thinking  17.30 Leeds, featuring:

‘Drivers for Sustainable Material Choice’ Paul Toyne, WSP

‘A Lifecycle Approach to Sustainable Product Strategies’ Louis Brimacombe, Tata Steel

12th Nov #GVischat Tweetchat  Specifying Green Materials/Red Lists’ 8pm  UK Time

14th Nov Specifying Green 17.30 Leeds, featuring:

‘Green Specifying using NBS Create’ John Gelder, RIBA Enterprises

‘REACH: Impact on Construction Materials’ Dr. Peter Ruifrok, Eagle Rock Life Sciences,

10th Dec #GVischat Cradle to Cradle Tweetchat discussion 8pm UK Time

12th Dec Sustainable Materials 13.30 Leeds OBC  Half Day GVis Conference

To register please click here

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