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Author Archives: martin brown
Views sought on Public Private Partnerships
Following on from the PPP Conference we are seeking views on PPP to contribute to the PPP Research Road Map and Reports.
Click here to take the very short PPP survey
Results will be posted here to the CSD Blog pages
A live blog record of the PPP Conference can be viewed here Also check out related CSD Blog PPP Conference posts
The Good the Bad and the Awkward
Lessons from the National Health Service – Allyson Pollock’s PPP Conference 2013 Presentation
Green Vision for Social Media at Green Build Expo
Be2Camp returns to Greenbuild Expo in May with Green Vision.
This year’s session, taking place on 8th May at Manchester Central from 1pm, will be the most exciting yet, with an amazing line-up of speakers (see below for programme).
GreenBuild Expo itself attracts over 4,000 built environment professionals and takes place on 8th and 9th May. It features over 100 free seminars and workshops on all aspects on sustainable buildings, from integrating renewable energy and BIM for beginners to skills for Green Deal and strategies for climate change adaptation. Speakers include UK Green Building Council, Energy Saving Trust, Warm Up North, Manchester City Council and many more. For free registration visit www.greenbuildexpo.co.uk.
Be2Green
The speakers will include some of the top presentations from Green Visions last three years programme, along with BE2 friends old and new. Join us for the whole afternoon, or one of the three great sessions we have planned.
1.00 Welcome
1.15 – 2.00 Green Knowledge – how social media can help us learn, share and advance green sustainability knowledge, including essential tips on promoting your green credentials and featuring Integration is the name of the game Paul Toyne , Global Head of Sustainability WSP
2.15 – 3.00 Green Materials – transparency in green and healthy materials, featuring presentation from Kelly Grainger, Interface and Janet Beckett,Carbon Saver UK
3.15 – 4.00 Green Futures – whats emerging in the world of green building, featuring Green Towns Prof Angus McIntosh , Oxford Brooks University and a keynote live presentation from Amanda Sturgeon, VP Living Building Challenge, from the recently completed Bullitt Centre in Portland, called by many the greenest commercial building in the world. (Not one to miss)
Do you have something to share, Pecha Kucha style (thats 20 slides, each 20 seconds) that will fit one of the above sessions? We will keep one slot free for on the day contribution But if you are interested please let the Greenbuild Expo organisers know in advance. (1st come, 1st served ….)
As in previous years, our afternoon session will be live streamed and web enabled allowing real global sharing from and into the event.
BE2 (Be2Camp) are Greenbuild Expo’s social media partners, and a social media advocacy for built environment sustainability and collaborative working
Green Vision, part of the Leeds Sustainability Institute and Centre for Knowledge Exchange and committed to driving sustainable change for construction professionals
Built Environment Earthday Inspiration
Today, April 22nd is Earthday.
Earth Day is an annual day on which events are held worldwide to demonstrate support for environmental protection. Earth Day is observed on April 22 each year. The April 22 date was designated as International Mother Earth Day by a consensus resolution adopted by the United Nations in 2009. Earth Day is now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network and is celebrated in more than 192 countries every year.
Google once again is celebrating with an interactive doodle. 
“Today we are celebrating Earth Day with an interactive doodle that captures a slice of nature’s subtle wonders,” wrote Doodler Leon Hong. “We hope you enjoy discovering animals, controlling the weather, and observing the seasons. Use the sightseeing checklist to make sure you do not miss anything!” (end of blog below)
But for Built Environment inspiration on Earth Day – take a look at the video on the philosophy behind the Bullitt Centre in Seattle – “driving a wedge into the future of buildings”, officially opening today and now home to the Living Building Challenge.
Seattle’s Bullitt Center: The World’s Greenest Office Building from EarthFix on Vimeo.
An inspiration for the UK Built Environment. The UK Collaborative was launched on the 3rd April (see Introduction here) Find out more and keep in touch with Living Building Challenge UK via @UK_LBC
……
Finally PAS91 update issued.
At last, the updated version of PAS 91 Construction prequalification questionnaires has been issued and is available as a free download on the BSi website.
The updated version is aligned to the Government Construction Strategy and set to be madatory for Government projects from 2016, hence is aligned to BIM level 2 requirements for the same year.
In preparation for the Government BIM mandate, optional questions have been included within PAS 91 examining competence in BIM and collaborative information exchange.
Working with organisations on PQQ’s, and indeed supporting the ‘modern construction management’ activities across the organisation necessary to win work in todays industry, we see many contractors unsure as to where to start with Building Information Modelling.
Yet now is the time to address BIM and get ready, at the least in awareness and understanding of how you will respond to and manage BIM requirements. Increasingly we see BIM related PQQ questions, not only through PAS91 but down through many PQQ documents.
Update 15/4/13:
The National Federation of Builders is optimistic the latest incarnation of PAS 91 will enjoy a wider take-up than much criticised previous versions. Paul Bogle, policy manager at the trade association, said: “The new version will be mandatory for central government and while that is not the case for local authorities we’re optimistic the new version will gain wider acceptance among local authorities too.” Source
But, already others are planning an alternative to PAS91
“Last month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said its proposal to create a simpler pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) to boost SME access to contracts could replace PAS 91.. The plan for a new industry standard PQQ, to be drafted with the support of the Construction Industry Council, was one of the key recommendations in RICS’ recently published Construction Policy” Source
Lcbpc pas91 from martin brown
Green Deal Guidance for the Property Industry
The Department of Energy and Climate Change has published The Green Deal: Guidance for the Property Industry in Great Britain aimed at property practitioners dealing with domestic or non-domestic properties
The Green Deal is designed to help householders and businesses increase the energy efficiency of properties and therefore reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Great Britain.
This guidance covers aspects of the Green Deal that will be of interest to the property industry, and it applies to both domestic and non-domestic properties. It is accompanied with some illustrations on how the Green Deal interacts with various property transactions.
This guidance will be of interest to people selling, letting (social or private rented sector) or transferring a property other than through sale or letting, as well as those advising them. This guidance also contains some information which may be relevant to those wishing to make alterations to a Green Deal improved domestic or non domestic property
Green Deal Strategic Support
Related Green Deal articles
My latest GD presentation: Revisited: More than just a Green Deal from martin brown
See also earlier More than just a Green Deal presentations
Introducing the Living Building Challenge in the UK
It was a real treat to introduce the public lecture from Amanda Sturgeon as part of the UK Living Building Collaborative launch at the Interface showroom in London last night.
Here are my introduction notes …
Good evening and a warm welcome to Living Building Challenge UK
Firstly a huge thank you to Interface, Kelly Grainger for hosting this evening and Claire Bowles at Green Vision for making it happen, and of course Amanda Sturgeon from Living Building.
I and a few others have waited a long time for this …
As you may have read in Hattie Hartmans AJ article, our awareness with Living Building started via twitter and through twitter dialogues during the Living Futures conference in Portland in 2011
Later that same year I was privileged to have a guided tour of the CIRS building in Vancouver, during the week before completion (The CIRS building is one of the few buildings scheduled for LBC certification) Since then we have received Living Building related remote presentations live into Green Vision and Be2camp events.
Over the last few months we, that’s myself and Claire at Green Vision, have held regular Skype chats with Amanda and others at LBC, to set up this UK Collaborative and this event, so it’s a real pleasure to welcome Amanda along this evening
But before introducing Amanda a word about the Living Building UK Collaborative. We are part of the Green Vision / Leeds Sustainability Institute with two main aims:
One of advocacy to increase awareness and understanding of the Living Building Challenge
Secondly to provide support to clients for living building design, construction and certification in line with the challenging Living Building principles.
If you want to know more about the collaborative, would like to get involved or indeed would like support on possible future Living Building projects here in the UK please do get in touch.
We cannot let this evening pass without mentioning Mel Starrs, and her advocacy for deep green thinking. Mel, in her last blog piece (an article which you must read) welcomed the idea of LBC in the UK as a standard worthy of the green credentials of leading clients.
Mel’s blog was read by Su Butcher.
I am sure you will agree – launching the LBC here in the UK is in fitting honour for Mels passion for sustainability, green building and challenging standards.
Amanda – Vice President Living Building Challenge
Amanda is an award winning architect recognised as a pioneering leader in the green building movement in the US northwest, a founding member of the Cascadia Green Building Council and is a visiting professor at the University of Washington
Amanda was awarded with better bricks Architect Award in 2008 and recently gained Fellowship of the AIA, the American Insitute of Architects
…
Amanda, welcome to London and the UK Collaborative
The event was well tweeted, to catch up on comments and pictures view the #lbcuk and #uklbc hashtags (don’t ask) and follow @UK_LBC.
Record of the evening now on Storify
There will be a Slideshare record very soon
Image Building Pieces
A low carbon diet for construction boards
Question for you:who on your board is really championing sustainability and the low carbon agenda?
Board members, as Lucy Marcus reminded us at construcTALKs, need to balance continuity with change, to embrace the changes in technology.
From my experience in (small-medium) construction organizations, boards are too focused on looking back at performance, rather than forward; and when looking forward, tend to do so with the risk-eye of past problems. And sustainability is often only discussed when necessary, as part of an ISO 14001 project or incident issue. Too often, as 14001 sits with Health and Safety, sustainability takes a back seat. Rarely do construction boards view sustainability as a critical strategic, opportunity issue, rather than simply one to be dealt with at project level.
Yet the world is moving forward, and increasingly so towards a low carbon environment and economy. Only those with proven performance and attitude of low carbon approaches may well survive—all the more reason to have board members champion change. Non-execs tend to provide the independent financial and governance role, but increasingly they should drive the organization towards change.
Perhaps it’s because construction boards are slow to embrace the communication power social media can bring that they remain out of touch. I do wonder whether we had the same issue when other, now well-established, means of communication emerged; did we resist telephones, faxes, conference calls and emails as we seem to be doing with social media?
If construction boards were more diverse and embraced a wider range of views and outlooks, through board composition and social media awareness, the transition to a low carbon construction economy would be more successful.
Construction boards really do need to embrace social media potential, not just as a tool for others in the organization, but for the board itself, tuning into discussions and commentaries on emerging standards and legislation and sharing what is working or not. The likes of Twitter, Linkedin groups, blogs, forums and news aggregators are abundantly rich with low carbon and sustainable construction information.
This is all vital client, competitor and industry intelligence that enables boards to move their organization forward – and, through embracing social media in this manner, become role models for its mature use.
To quote from Lucy, boards need to be both Grounded and Stargazers.Are construction boards so grounded they go underground? Or do they at least from time to time stand on a hill and gaze the stars to wonder, then to understand what is out there?
This post originally appeared on CSRWire in April 2011 and savedhere from now defunct Posterous blog
From Greendeal to Mindfulness in Sustainability
My More than Just a Green Deal keynote to the Merseyside Construction Conference March 13th 2013, making the case to see Green Deal as part of the Green Build and Sustainability agenda, and the need for doing the right green thing every time.
PAS91: Update for LCBPC
Although we still await the revision to PAS91 that will align it with the Government Construction Strategy, PAS91 was included in the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club event looking at winning work, reducing costs and adding value through adapting the elements within the Strategy;
To be updated when the revised PAS91 is issued!
Lcbpc pas91 from martin brown
The other presentations from the Winning Work event can be viewed on the LCBP Slideshare page or via links here:
Nw b im_hub_-_march2013 Mark Stodgell
Be fa ir framework explained Chrissi McCarthy
Fairsnape 