This DTI funded Partners In Innovation project has brought together those tasked with promoting and controlling development and those who deliver development to consider a practical set of measures that could be requested and delivered on different types of sites. We have explored the planning mechanisms available to ensure the measures are adopted in future development and have produced a training package for planners, RDAs, local authorities and developers covering the measures they should be promoting/adopting and the actions they can take to make sure they are implemented.

The sustainable construction industry is plagued by cowboy builders and rogue traders just as the rest of the construction industry is. Cowboy builders can be deterred with the use of building contract. You should also only employ construction companies who are registered with a governing body such as the Federation of Master Builders.

Using the most energy efficient tools is as important in the sustainable construction industry as in the general construction industry. Stanley Bostitch offer a full range of energy efficient compressors, pneumatic tools nailers and other power tools for any construction job large or small.

There is currently a Crisis in the Spanish Construction Industry due to the downturn in the Spanish housing market. Its looking very bleak for many developers with talk of 90% going bust. Rental Spanish property however is seeing a boom in the amount of people wishing to rent property rather than buy over priced over priced shoe box's located miles from nowhere. The long term sector is booming.

Sustainable construction planning and methods should consider using, where possible, materials that are recycled or will last. The usage of composite railroad ties is increasing in the construction of commercial railroads. Not only do these rail ties last much longer than traditional ties, they are made from recycled plastics.

Rome has apartments in buildings that were built in the middle age and many of its monuments are 20 centuries old or more. The challenge for the Eternal City is now to build new Rome apartments within a sustainable construction program.

The Polaris World Resorts consist of Condado de Alhama, Mar Menor Golf Resort, Terrazas de la Torre, Hacienda Riquelme, and La Torre Golf Resort. All developments were sold Off Plan but now offer Polaris World resales key ready for those clients who don't wish for construction to be completed over a number of years. Polaris World Golf Resorts were predominantly sold off plan but bargains are now available key ready

We believe that near every part of construction can be adjusted to be sustainable or sustainable to some part. This includes mezzanine floors & flooring and other industrial materials and parts. We need to think to the future and being sustainable is one way in which we can guarantee a future with the resources that we require.

Sustainbility can be achieved through many products installed within a new build. Underfloor heating can truly enhance a home, there’s nothing worse than walking out of a Hansgrohe shower after having a shower and walking on cold flooring. Other than the comfort factor, underfloor heating is also efficient and space saving.

The construction industry produces a large amount of waste, a lot of which can be recycled into usable materials again. Plasterboard recycling is one such instance where broken, unusable plasterboard and gypsum can be recycled and recent legislation changes in 2009 now forces this recycling process.

With regards to people trying to sell on their newly built overseas off plan property, many turn to portals like right move overseas to sell them. However others are building their own websites like Side Property Turkey.co.uk The owner of this website spent maximum £300 for this and the advantages are they can add more pages as they collect more info to publish. Portals are very static and allow only one page of text.

Different building styles may need to be adopted to build a more sustainable house or building. One possible way is using office partitioning services as an alternative to conventional walls. Not only can this suit particular building designs it provides a more flexible and timely manner of installing walls in a building.

Planning and developement should always take into account the access and use of vehicles. My used vauxhall corsa is a small car, but other vehicle sizes should be considered.

Sustainable Construction means looking at every possible aspect of a construction project and determining where improvements can be made. Can they be made in the lighting hire in Norfolk , the building materials, the construction machinery? All these aspects need to be considered and concluded whether or not improvements can be made.

One major way of helping sustainability on a construction project is effective recycling. Using services in your areas such as recycling in Leicester is an important way of ensuring that your construction project runs sustainably.

One of the most onerous jobs I face as a contractor is making sure my staff and sub contractors are scheduled to be at the right job, at the right time. This used to be a huge time suck for me but since I started using scheduling software from Victor Schedule, it's almost enjoyable! The software is very easy to use and I can print schedules, post them on a web page or even email them! This is a huge time saver for me.... check it out!


Click here for an introduction to the project from Mr Nigel Griffiths, MP, Minister for Construction.

Drivers for sustainable construction – Why do it?
Covering the European, National, regional and local drivers for building in a more sustainable way.


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The development context – How to make it happen
Covering the planning framework, planning mechanisms, an overview of development economics and whole life costings, as well as what planners and developers think.

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Sustainable design and construction measures – their costs and benefits
Covering the most common SDC measures, example costs and benefits. Includes a cost-benefit matrix of measures to be used as a discussion tool.

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Training materials
Provides all the materials required to run an interactive training day for mixed groups of planners and developers on sustainable construction and planning.

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Background to the project
Covering the background to the project and provides details of all project partners.


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