Building the Future Commission: review of January

Our Building the Future Commission has set off at a roaring pace: since officially launching on 16 January we have published over a dozen separate articles that provide the starting point for our year-long investigation into how to improve the built environment.

We have also partnered up with the industry body, Constructing Excellence, which had its annual general meeting last week - at which its head Alison Nicholl told industry leaders about the commission’s series of regional roundtable debates that will take place this year.

Here is a quick summary of the commission’s work so far. We have:

• Recruited 19 high-profile commissioners to help guide the project from across the built environment
• Set out our work streams in a series of introductory guides setting the scene for the commission’s scope of work
• Examined Modulous’ asset-light approach to modular development along with its TESSA software - a model that could help unlock the MMC market 
• Looked at the case for demolition over retention by focusing on a building with a 1920s facade on a prominent block in the heart of London’s West End 
• Published the first interviews in a series of Q&As to introduce our expert commissioners, starting with Mark Wild, Andrew Mellor, Lara Oyedele and Richard Steer.

In February we will:

• Launch a Young Persons’ Advisory Panel. This will look to harness the knowledge of the next generation of leaders in the construction sector. We will have regular roundtables with the panel, weekly LinkedIn discussion topics and an ideas competition for younger people. 
• Visit the University of Salford to assess the eHome2 concept for our energy and net zero stream
• Look at what the government’s proposed ban on single staircase developments is likely to mean for construction and housebuilding for the building safety stream
• Investigate the potential of building performance rating system NABERS as an alternative to Part L for the energy and net zero stream
• Interview two big hitters in the world of infrastructure for the infrastructure stream
• Examine whether the qualifications landscape needs to change and assess whether more flexibility is needed for our education and skills stream
• Investigate the extent to which the for-profit affordable housing can deliver the homes we need for the housing and planning stream
• Assess a potential new model of procurement used by the Ministry of Defence for the project delivery and digital stream
• Look at models of flexible working in the industry for the  workplace, culture and leadership stream
• Finalise plans for a nationwide tour of roundtable discussions with experts around the regions as part of a consultation programme in partnership with the regional arms of industry body Constructing Excellence
• Publish more Q&As with our commissioners.

This is a year-long project that we will document as we go along to keep track of our progress, for more information and details of how to get in touch see below.