Articles

So, for the first time Prince Charles, the future King of the United Kingdom, gave the Queens Speech, which provides the government with an opportunity to highlight its main priorities for the months ahead.

There is one bill that stood out for me most. The Energy Security Bill. But, there was also a section in the government’s background briefing entitled “Housing Reform”.

Let’s cover this first.

Given that the country is in the thick of the biggest housing crisis and property affordability crisis the governments “housing reform” announcement borders on being pathetic.

By Alastair Stannah, Managing Director, Stannah Lifts Distribution & Service
 
The digital switchover of telephone lines in the United Kingdom is happening now. By 2025, Openreach will have phased out all copper analogue telephone lines in favour of optical fibre networks. Many building managers may already be aware of the need to change phone lines in the building, but some may not have realised that their lifts will be affected by the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN) switch off.

George Clarke looks at the huge challenge to make existing homes zero-carbon
There are nearly 67 million people living in 25 million dwellings in Britain. In our temperate climate, all these homes need heating and hot water and they also need power to keep the lights on.
That means they need energy and that energy, most of the time, comes from fossil fuels. Things are beginning to change, but UK housing has a massive dependancy on fossil fuels.
Yet we live in a country where over 2.5 million currently live in fuel poverty.
What does the future hold for those in fuel poverty and the rest of Britain when household energy bills are predicted to increase by up to 50% from April?

Moisture, such as steam, vapour or water droplets can accumulate in our buildings over time. James Ayres, co-founder and operations director, Lime Green Products Ltd, explains why considering moisture build-up is so important and explores what measures you can take to help drying out.

Moisture in properties

Moisture can accumulate in a variety of ways in homes, workplaces and properties. It’s inevitable, with two active people in a home estimated to produce over 13 litres of moisture per day, through breathing and activities, such as boiling a kettle, showering and drying clothes. This is in addition to moisture, as a result of driving rain or building defects, that can enter the building fabric in solid wall buildings.

A new name is emerging in the nascent spray foam insulation industry. Huntsman Building Solutions, part of the global chemicals giant, Huntsman Corporation, has been formed following the acquisition of three existing spray foam brands – Demilec, Lapolla and market leading UK and Republic of Ireland based system, Icynene.

The merging of these three brands under the Huntsman Building Solutions [HBS] title creates an organisation designed to bring innovative solutions to the market which had principally offered only traditional forms of building insulants such as mineral wool and rigid board-type products.