All Comment articles – Page 55
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CommentSchools PFI: we need to learn from past mistakes
We should welcome Gove’s announcement that upto 300 schools could be built using a model based on PFI, but we also need to be on our guard
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CommentProcuring a design team: The art of not getting shafted
What’s the best way to choose a design team? Rigid scoring systems need to change if clients are to get the best balance between cost and quality
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CommentJob losses threaten Green Deal
The industry needs skilled workers In order to meet the targets set out in the Green Deal
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CommentDevelopment: The cashless society
Yes, money is tight, yes, the challenges are many, but local authorities that work with others and use their assets creatively can still build great places to live
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CommentGeneration BIM: Creating the infrastructure
Yes, we’ve heard it all before - but this time BIM really is going mainstream, says Simon Rawlinson. Now, its development needs to be driven by the industry’s future leaders
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Comment(Nuclear) Reaction time
The Fukushima disaster has put pressure on Europe’s politicians to act expediently, says Alastair Stewart. But the signs are that the UK government will stick to its guns and go nuclear
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CommentThe CIC: Mission do-able
Wouldn’t it be great if there was an organisation that spoke for the whole of the construction industry instead of just individual professions? Oh wait, there is …
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CommentWe’re not a bunch of incompetents
UK managers have been in the firing line of late, but the Olympics will be a great opportunity to show off our skills - and building information modelling could help us do that
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CommentTaking the measure of it
If we don’t know how a building is performing, how can we know if we are reducing its energy use? Display energy certificates for commercial buildings are a start
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CommentMaking a virtue of necessity
The government’s Construction Strategy has led some to ask what’s different this time round. But they forget that until now the industry hasn’t changed because it hasn’t had to
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CommentONS statistics: Open your eyes
Everyone has been quick to blame the ONS for inaccurate output statistics, says Alastair Stewart. But what about the industry’s responsibility to provide the information?
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NewsJust another day in Helmand, Afghanistan
A day in the life of the Specialist Team Royal Engineers, by Gary Sullivan, managing director of construction logistics specialist Wilson James
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CommentHomes, sweet homes
We need to get the housebuilding market moving again and the government is doing a lot to help. But it’s not just about numbers - we need to build the right kind of homes
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CommentPublic sector procurement – time to go private
Time has shown that public sector procurement needs private investment. The industry must lay its prejudices aside, says Ken Gillespie, and get stuck in
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Comment
BIM: Designing tomorrow
BIM is the word on everybody’s lips - but do we really know what it is? David Light says we won’t make the most of building information modelling until we start asking the right questions
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CommentHas cavity wall got a future in low energy building projects?
One year on from the completion of the UK’s first cavity wall, the International Passivhaus conference takes place this Saturday (28 May 2011) in Innsbuck. Green Building Store’s Bill Butcher, project leader on the Denby Dale Passivhaus, will be speaking on the subject ’Passivhaus and cavity wall construction’. Here he ...
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CommentThe commercial sector: Tomorrow's world
The commercial sector is recovering but don’t expect to see lots more Shards and Walkie Talkies. The way we do business has changed and what we build has to reflect this
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CommentAround the world in construction projects
Moscow’s in a hell of a hurry, New York is a devil for speed; while Geneva and Montana take the slow lane. On a whistle-stop tour around the world, Jack Pringle relishes the comparisons
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FeaturesConstruction statistics: Is it really that bad ?
Government statistics suggest construction contracted 5% last quarter, but it’s hard to find anyone who believes that is true. Joey Gardiner argues the reality is actually more positive and presents alternative data to back up his case
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CommentCAD images: Where have all the humans gone?
There’s nothing so seductive as a CAD image of your dream project, computer-generated visualisations of how we want the world to be. Trouble is, they’re divorced from reality