Adexon Fire & Smoke

Best practice using mass timber in 🌲 📐

Sustainable building methods and practices in, carbon-intensive building methods and practices out. Mass timber is slowly becoming the primary building material in construction 🏗️

With its introduction into construction in the late 1980s, we have seen a growth in popularity for mass timber as an alternative to carbon-intensive materials such as steel and concrete.

Mass timber covers different types of engineered wood that can be used as structural building materials, allowing for the construction of tall buildings (unlike regular timber). The most common types of mass timber used are CLT, dowel-laminated, and glulam timber.

Hosting many benefits, popularity has risen as a result of being a sustainable building practice as it is a regenerative building material ♻️

Mass timber can also allow for cleaner, and quicker assembly on site as well as being lighter than traditional construction materials.

Composed of layers of wood joined together to create strong panels or beams. Usually made in factories, they are engineered to precise specifications 📏

Timber has the ability to sequester large amounts of CO2, as a result of carbon that the trees removed from the atmosphere throughout their life, storing it in the wood.

These materials are being utilised to reduce and lower the embodied carbon footprint of buildings, a hot topic at 🌍

Do you think there are any drawbacks when using mass timber materials to replace the likes of steel and concrete ⁉️



(Source: https://bit.ly/3DA0EM7)

Construction waste and how we tackle it 🏗️ 🗑️

It is no secret that the construction industry produces huge amounts of waste, we already know this.

However, it is finding solutions to effectively tackle this problem 💭

Construction and demolition accounted for 62% of UK waste in 2018, with a large portion being non-recyclable. Meanwhile, a study from 2013 suggests that 13% of materials delivered to a site go directly to waste.

As COP26 surges ahead this week, waste management is coming under the spotlight, again.

Reducing waste on a construction site may seem like too big a task to make effective changes now. Although, climate change shows us that we do not have a choice whether to make the change and reduce waste, but we have to make the change.

These simple steps will get you thinking about easily and effectively reducing your waste 👇 👇

How can contractors can work sustainability into their procurement practices 🚧

Environmentally speaking, the construction industry is typically dirty business 🏗️

Almost 40% of all carbon emissions worldwide can be attributable to building construction and operations, making it the single most polluting sector (according to the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction).

Implementing sustainable processes will be key in the battle for climate change. Around 11% of construction-related emissions are associated with manufacturing building materials, the actual construction process, and the transporting materials to construction sites 🚛

These areas will be key in reducing construction-related emissions. Where contractors can build more sustainability into projects is the procurement process. A little planning can go a long way towards making projects more socially responsible and environmentally sound 🌍

Building more future-forward projects should be at the forefront of every individual involved in projects. As Nancy Kralik (Sustainability Group Chair with Flour) said, “builders should start at the procurement stage – the earlier in the process, the better”.

Here are seven tips for greener buildings from the beginning. Via - https://bit.ly/3GK5hVX

What role will 3D printing play in construction? 🖨️ 🏗️

3D printing has garnered a lot of hype in the construction industry. It has been a hot topic along with the clear benefits in numerous industries, allowing for the creation of precise dimensions with minimal to no errors❌

3D printing has been used in some cases already, such as:

◽ 2021, Madagascar School in production for half the traditional cost and sustainably designed.

◽ 2021, Fibonacci house in Canada, boasts curved walls printed at the same cost as straight walls

◽ 2021, Netherlands Nijmegen Bridge, the longest pedestrian concrete bridge in the world

But despite the potential 3D printing holds, and the impressive cases it has been used it. It is yet to become widely adopted in most construction projects.

This is down to many barriers holding back from full adoption in the industry 🚧

The construction industry has a clear skills gap around 3D printing as a whole. 3D printing requires more people who are trained to design computer models, operate printing equipment, and service it as needed.

Cost is the main barrier holding the industry back. The majority of the equipment involves high-powered lasers and is still quite expensive both to purchase and operate.

Various construction companies still remain hesitant to invest in technology that is still relatively new and untested 🆕

However, as time goes by most of these barriers preventing adoption, will work themselves out. Then construction will begin to reap the rewards and benefits of 3D printing.

Have you heard of 3D printing in construction, and do you think it will be widely adopted in the near future ⁉️

Sustainable Construction, what is it? 🔄 🏗️

When we think of the construction industry, extensive material use and huge carbon emission contributions usually spring to many minds. So, it is understandable that sustainable construction has been a hot topic since the Paris agreement and in the run-up to COP26.

Sustainable construction is the act of developing buildings and structures and incorporating the use of recycled and renewable materials. Including the utilisation of sustainable processes (electric car delivery, minimizing waste, solar thermal cladding, etc.)

With implementing sustainable processes, the final goal is the reduction of the overall environmental impact from the industry 🌍

The sector is attributable to around 50% of climate change and 23% of air pollution. So, breaking down the sustainable barrier built by the construction industry has become more of a need than a want

Since the commitment to net-zero carbon, the industry has been applying small changes to combat the impact. Many are beginning to realise it isn’t an overnight fix for the damage caused and there will be challenges along the way 🏭

Watch below for the challenges of sustainable construction methods, and the steps you can take to reduce the environmental impact of construction processes.

How drones are changing the construction industry 🏗️

As technology and artificial intelligence advance, more opportunities arise to make construction lives easier. Especially when it comes to drone technology 🤖

The development of drones has been rapid. Features of drone flight ability, data capabilities, and camera technology have allowed for the commercial use of drone applications.

The construction industry is the leading commercial drone utilization. Surging a huge 239% since 2018. The continued expansion of the industry is heavily linked to drones. From increased visibility, increased efficiencies of work, and overall improvements of safety 👷

Construction jobs can be expensive and time-consuming. There is a never-ending need for buildings and structures, meaning the construction and engineering industry is continuously working. And technology plays a key role in the endless operations 🚧

Drones have allowed construction companies to improve communication and collaboration across their workforce by as much as 65%.

Here is a list of major benefits that drones deliver to construction and engineering companies 👇👇

Can Architects reach Net Zero by 2050 ⁉️

The climate emergency, changing attitudes, and regulations, have reshaped the built environment. Architects have a major role to play in meeting the new built environment standards 🏡

The first obstacle architects face is to reduce the operational carbon of buildings. Achieving these standards, with complex and inefficient building forms, which in result will affect the design of a building.

Soon statutory measurements will inevitably come in place to tackle embodied carbon of a building. However, tackling this will create a real problem in the design stage, ultimately having a massive impact on how architects will plan and build. Drastically reducing the reliance on concrete and increasing the dependence on natural materials 🌲

Including the switch of materials and the design stage, architects must also begin to retain and re-use existing buildings. Breaking down the default attitude of demolition 🚧

With a large proportion of carbon emissions attributable to the built environment. These difficulties are a real opportunity for architects to prove their value in the role that they can play in tackling the climate emergency 👩🏻‍💼 👨🏻‍💼

Source: https://lnkd.in/gcnWcAv

📐 Architects and the battle of the climate crisis 📐

The ‘climate emergency’ continues to be a worldwide challenge.

As every human begins to change their personal and professional actions to address this pressure, architects have a huge part to play. Being directly involved with the designing of buildings and cities, they can tackle the built environment embodied emissions head-on, and plan for the future 📅

With buildings being responsible for 36% of global energy and 8% caused by cement alone. The Architectural community is deeply entwined with the flows of material, energy, and ideas that relate to climate change.

Architects have the measures to create drastic changes to the built environment.

In the UK alone, 40% of greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to the built environment. The next generation of architects has the potential to make an immense impact on this 🏞

By looking at construction as the mode of the solution rather than the problem, it is possible to build a cleaner world for future generations.

Here is a look at how architects are planning for the future and beginning to implement sustainable, and eco-friendly building techniques ♻️