Resource library

Next year will be a decade since the horrific Grenfell Tower fire, an avoidable incident in which 72 lives were needlessly lost, and communities changed forever. The fire and its aftermath exposed serious flaws in almost every aspect of the design, construction and management of housing, from councils to contractors, professions to products, and testing regimes to tenancies.

What can the built environment sector learn from Andy Burnham’s early appointments and policy moves?

It was back in 2012 in its Living Planet Report when the World Wildlife Fund asserted that, if the Western developed nations continued with their pattern of consumption, we would need three planet’s worth of resources by 2050. During the years since then, consumerism and population have expanded across regions like Africa and parts of Asia, with supposedly sustainable activities such as sourcing the minerals required for electrical vehicles steadily scarring once pristine landscapes.

A digital learning framework for informed decision-making.

How tracking upfront embodied carbon via digital tools is reshaping the industry’s environmental credentials.

For too long, passive fire protection has sat in the background of architectural design – acknowledged, but rarely integrated in any meaningful way. It has often been treated as something to be resolved later; coordinated on site, detailed by specialists, or absorbed into the construction phase. That approach no longer works.

Soil is often dismissed as mere dirt, but it is one of the planet’s most powerful carbon stores, holding more than all of the world’s forests combined. Yet in our rush to build, pave and develop, we are neglecting one of our greatest natural climate allies.

New research highlights how solar panels on pitched roofs may accelerate fire spread, raising urgent questions for designers, installers and regulators amid the UK’s solar surge.

In today's complex healthcare environment, NHS specifiers benefit from partnering with trusted suppliers who supply compliant, fit-for-purpose products, alongside deep expertise and ongoing support. This collaboration ensures confidence and long term-value for healthcare stakeholders.

Heat networks are becoming a vital part of the UK’s low-carbon heating strategy.

Modern homes are required to be more efficient than ever before, so when it comes to the selection of materials and solutions, specifiers need to prioritise efficiency, durability and reliability.

In the early stages of a design project during ideation and conceptualisation, tools should accommodate the broadest methods of expression.

It is a pretty gloomy construction industry in the UK at present, and one chink of light has seen growing support for the Conflict Avoidance Process (CAP).

The latest Building Insights LIVE round table focused on the circular economy in construction, featuring Chris Halligan MCIAT representing CIAT and its Climate Society.

The Future Homes Hub has published a new hints and tips document, which aims to support Chartered Architectural Technologists and other building design professionals to effectively integrate heat pumps into new homes.

This guide from Gradus helps Architectural Technologists specify mats effectively, improving safety, durability, and coordination.