LINKS Future-proof historic centres

Posted on: 1 February 2013
By: mackene
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How can the challenges concerning the environment and heritage building protection be reconciled to offer a majority of people sustainable and attractive housing at the very heart of the city? This is the main question that the Network of European Historic cities of the LINKS Project have tried to answer within the URBACT Programme.

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Holcim Awards for sustainable construction

Posted on: 31 January 2013
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The Holcim Awards is an international competition that recognizes innovative projects and future-oriented concepts on regional and global levels. A total of USD 2 million in prize money is awarded in each three-year cycle. The competition seeks projects that demonstrate an ability to stretch conventional notions about sustainable building and also balance environmental, social and economic performance – while also exemplifying architectural excellence and a high degree of transferability. The latest issue of Foundations magazine is dedicated to the activities of the Holcim Foundation over the past year including the Global Holcim Awards Gold prize hand-over that took place last December in Burkina Faso, West Africa. The magazine also provides an overview of the five further winners that were acknowledged at global prize handover events held around the world.

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Retrofit Briefing

Posted on: 18 January 2013
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Retrofit Briefing is a new regular e-publication from BRE providing news, analysis and data on building retrofit and refurbishment. It provides the key facts and figures for decision makers, whether they are upgrading property, marketing new technologies or investing in the sector. The launch issue reports on how England’s cities are gearing up for the green deal. This bulletin is available on subscription but a sample can be viewed online.

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Recast of the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive: impact assessment

Posted on: 18 January 2013
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The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive is an EU measure designed to tackle climate change by reducing the amount of carbon produced by buildings. This document lists the changes to the regulations introduced on 9 January 2013 and the linked guidance documents that have been revised.

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Improving the energy efficiency of our buildings: A guide to air conditioning inspections for buildings

Posted on: 18 January 2013
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This guidance is intended to help anyone who manages or controls an air conditioning system to understand how the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulations (Certificates and Inspections (England and Wales) Regulations and the Directive, on which these regulations are based, work in practice, how to apply the regulations, what their responsibilities are and when air conditioning inspections are required.

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Green Construction Board: One year on report

Posted on: 10 December 2012
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The Green Construction Board has published its first annual report. This sets out the progress the Board has made on a broad range of issues, and outlines what has been achieved and future priorities. The Green Construction Board was established in October 2011 to provide strategic leadership to the sector on this agenda as well as own and monitor the implementation of the actions in the Low Carbon Construction Action Plan. It draws together Government and industry to discuss the business opportunities (both domestically and internationally) which will be created by the transition to more sustainable economy and how best to take advantage of them.

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Sustainable construction and innovation through procurement

Posted on: 10 December 2012
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A Guide on Procuring Innovative and Sustainable Construction Solutions has been produced by the SCI Network, containing a series of good practice recommendations. The guide is the result of more than two years of discussions, research and dialogue within the Network. A collection of over 40 best practice “Snapshots” have also been produced to accompany the Guide, offering real life examples that inspire innovative and sustainable procurement.

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Deriving and using future weather data for building design from UK climate change projections – an overview of the COPSE Project

Posted on: 7 December 2012
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The COPSE (COincident Probabilistic climate change weather data for a Sustainable built Environment) research project was undertaken between 2008 and 2011. Led by Manchester University, with eventually six academic research partners and the Meteorological Office contributing to the overall programme, the core aim of the project was to develop robust methodologies for producing weather data files for assessing building designs in future climates, considering the period up to 2080, with particular reference to comfort and energy use.

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Smartspaces

Posted on: 6 December 2012
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This EU-funded project started on 1 January 2012 and will last for three years. It has set up 11 pilot sites in 11 cities in 8 countries with the aim of saving energy in Europe’s public buildings using information and communication technology.

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Guide to building performance evaluation

Posted on: 30 November 2012
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The Institute for Sustainability has released a guide to Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) to help small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in the built environment sector gain a competitive advantage by learning which green design and technology solutions really do deliver.

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