All Lifetime costs articles
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Features
What it costs: Flooring
Level access showers can improve quality of life for disabled users. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance looks at the design options and lifecycle costs for retrofitting them into existing floors
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Features
What it costs: Tiled cladding
Tiles, shingles and slate can provide traditional and thermally efficient covering for external walls. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance considers the options
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Features
What it costs: Tensile fabric
Fabric roofs are becoming the topping of choice for everything from bike sheds to concert venues. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance looks through the available options
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Features
What it costs: Commercial biomass
Biomass heating systems may cost a lot to install, but they’ll pay off in no time – assuming you choose the right system and the right fuel. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance assesses the options
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Features
What it costs: curtain wall glazing
Curtain wall glazing can do many things: control temperature and light levels, and even clean itself. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance looks through the available options
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Features
What it costs: Suspended ceilings
The many choices when specifying a suspended ceiling for a hospital are made more difficult by the regulations on cleaning and acoustics. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance takes a look
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Features
What it costs: Heat pumps
They are amazingly efficient, but setting up a ground source heat pump may be tricky if you haven’t considered all the factors. Peter Mayer of BLP Insurance gives us the lowdown
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Features
What it costs: Synthetic resin floors
These hardwearing floors come in a baffling array of types, but fear not: Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans is here to simplify matters
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Features
What it costs: Pervious paving
Sustainable urban drainage systems are a must for school and hospital developments. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans gives the whole-life costs of one solution
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Features
What it costs: Insulated renders
Insulated render systems save energy and look good. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans sums up the variety of choices and highlights some topical issues and lifecycle costs
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FeaturesWhat it costs: Green roofs
Green roofs may have environmental benefits, but what do they cost to install and maintain? Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans talks us through the issues
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FeaturesLifecycle costs: New standard for whole-life costing for buildings
A new standard has been published that allows whole-life costing for buildings to be compared for the first time. Joe Martin of the BCIS explains how it works and applies it to a notional school project
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News
What it costs: Garage doors
Residential garage doors come in a variety of shapes, sizes, finishes and styles. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans considers their maintenance issues and lifecycle costs
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Features
What it costs: Thermal insulation
Insulation is an effective way to help meet Building Regulations targets on carbon emission reduction. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans examines the effectiveness of different materials
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Features
What it costs: Bathroom pods
Using modular bathrooms can save cash, labour and time, says Peter Mayer. So here’s a shower of useful information to consider when specifying and fitting
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Features
What it costs: BREEAM – how to get good grades
Many schools must now have a ‘very good’ BREEAM rating to meet regulations. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans outlines the ways to get credits and the associated costs
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Features
Tread carefully
It’s an extraordinary statistic but the Health and Safety Executive estimates that one serious slip accident occurs every three minutes in the UK.
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Features
Designs for life
European structural design codes will introduce the concept of ‘design working life’ to British engineering. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans explains exactly what that means.
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Features
Get off the fence
Whether it’s timber, concrete, steel or plastic, a garden fence has to be sturdy and secure. Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans looks at the life-cycle costs.
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Features
What it costs: CHP (combined heat and power systems)
Peter Mayer of Building LifePlans looks at the cost and environmental dividends from combined heat and power systems.With Combined heat and power (CHP) or co-generation systems, heat that might be lost as a by-product of electricity generation is captured for space and water heating. Locally supplied electricity incur lower transmission ...