All articles by Thomas Lane 鈥� Page 27
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News
Opening salvo
The last year has seen something of a surge (to use the current military terminology) in the battle for a greener built environment. A year ago housebuilders were just beginning to contemplate the implications of the Code for Sustainable Homes; now they have gone some way towards actually trying to ...
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News
Reform the Regs: The first battle is won
黑洞社区 has claimed victory in its fight to reform the regs (which just leaves the small task of implementing all the tough new environmental regulations mentioned elsewhere in this supplement). Thomas Lane rates how well the government has answered our campaign demands
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News
Architects attack plan to split 黑洞社区 Regs research
RIBA and CIAT write to the government to warn that letting 16 R&D tenders will damage coherence
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FeaturesWhitelee wind farm: Putting the wind up
You might think the biggest difficulty in building a wind farm would be the wind itself, but on the moor outside Glasgow the rain, snow and liquid peat are just as bad. Thomas Lane donned his souwester to take a look at the construction of Europe鈥檚 largest onshore wind farm.
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FeaturesPeter Bonfield: The BRE's speed merchant
Peter Bonfield is a man in a hurry, whether he鈥檚 pedalling furiously on his 36-mile round trip to work or plotting grandiose five-year plans. The question is, can BRE keep up with its energetic leader? Thomas Lane went to find out
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NewsGovernment grants eleventh-hour EPC reprieve
Six-month breathing space granted amid concern over shortage of assessors
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FeaturesSnug as a bug in rug
When the Natural History Museum decided it needed to house 20 million insect and plant specimens within one structure, building a giant shiny, ivory coloured cocoon seemed to make perfect sense. Thomas Lane buzzed over to find out more 鈥�
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FeaturesThe inside job
It was like the Great Escape in reverse. How do you get inside a prison to double prisoner capacity without giving your captive audience any funny ideas about all that scaffolding? Using a panelised system was one solution 鈥� though not half as much fun as smashing a hole in ...
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FeaturesWhite cab man
Brendan Kerr is not your typical demolition contractor. Instead, on the way to becoming one of the UK鈥檚 top entrepreneurs, he has turned the 鈥榙econstruction鈥� business into a respectable profession 鈥� and one that鈥檚 central to the City鈥檚 most glamorous developments.
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FeaturesThe A-G of energy certificates
The government鈥檚 dithering over energy labelling has made understanding how it works seem like an arduous ascent. With just seven weeks until its introduction for non-housing, Thomas Lane helps you begin the climb
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News
Error in energy rating software found
The government is taking urgent steps to prevent an embarrassing software glitch from undermining its drive to encourage the construction of more environment-friendly homes.
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News
BAA rejects T5 agreement for T5c
BAA will not use the procurement method it pioneered at Heathrow Terminal 5 on the building鈥檚 second satellite.
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FeaturesThe path to power
News analysis: The government has willed the creation of the first nuclear reactors since 1995, but to get them it needs to erect a new planning system, overcome opposition from a host of enemies 鈥� some within the construction industry 鈥� and work out a way to store toxic waste ...
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FeaturesThe secret life of buildings
We hear an awful lot about architects鈥� splendid low-energy designs, but information about how they actually work when built is rarer than hens鈥� teeth. So we should all be grateful to Simons, which not only built itself a green office, but collected a year鈥檚 data on how it functioned. ...
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FeaturesLiverpool One on-site: Welcome to paradise
How do you co-ordinate a 拢1bn budget, 40 buildings, 22 architects and 90 consultants to deliver the most ambitious regeneration scheme Liverpool has ever seen? Thomas Lane went to ask the man who has to do it
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FeaturesOne with nature
Landscape and structure meld into one in German architect鈥檚 3deluxe鈥檚 first permanent building
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NewsInsulation ruling foils government
The government will issue fresh guidance on insulation after a successful judicial review brought by a product supplier.
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FeaturesWith knobs on: Barratt's energy-saving technologies measured
These houses have had all manner of wonderful energy-saving technologies fitted to them by housebuilder Barratt. But are they any good and are they worth spending money on? Barratt asked researchers at Manchester university to find out 鈥�
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FeaturesRepeat prescription: St Helens & Knowsley hospitals PFI
For the 拢338m St Helens & Knowsley hospitals PFI, Taylor Woodrow upped the dose of replicated factory-made elements to new levels.
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FeaturesOur dark materials
As buildings become greener, the energy needed to make them becomes more and more important. Pretty soon it could add up to 40% of the total lifetime carbon footprint. And as one-tenth of that figure is used by the site office, you can bet that yet more regulations are on ...