Internet review

Citation

Todd, S. (2010), "Internet review", Structural Survey, Vol. 28 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.2010.11028dag.001

Internet review

Article Type: Internet review From: Structural Survey, Volume 28, Issue 4

The web site information included below includes two key and other informative sites. If there are any other interesting sites or sources of information that you have found useful, please e-mail me at: s.todd@salford.ac.uk

www.bre.co.uk

The spotlight section of this web site includes information on:

1. 1.

   Digital solutions for the built environmentBuilding Research Establishment (BRE) state that digital solutions will impact on homes and other buildings in a variety of ways, including:

   • •

     the monitoring and management of energy, water and other resource use;

   • •

     security and access control – central control of home security and access, also accessible remotely, e.g. over a mobile phone;

   • •

     public services – assistive living – telecare and telehealth; support for the delivery of health and social care in the home setting; – education in the community;

   • •

     wired-up-communities – community intranets run by and on behalf of local communities; and

   • •

     distributed working – the use of digital technologies to support flexible working and small business startups.The BRE is leading the development of strategies and applications of digital solutions for the built environment. The BRE Innovation Park showcases innovative homes and buildings, demonstrating a range of smart home and building technologies. BRE manages the government-funded innovation programme: the Modern Built Environment Knowledge Transfer Network (MBEKTN). The MBEKTN is working with the British Homes Awards to design a demonstration home, challenging current thinking on the design of flexible spaces for two/three bedroom houses and meeting the requirements of the aging population but fit for purpose in the twenty-first century. BRE also manages a £4.4 million research project funded by the Technology Strategy Board, developing integrated assistive living solutions – telecare and telehealth to support delivery of health and social care in the community. The “assisted living innovation platform” project aims to identify the future needs of the marketplace and see how these can be met by integrated digital solutions.

2. 2.

   Corporate carbon managementThe BRE is helping clients develop carbon management plans incorporating reduction, measurement and offsetting to reduce emissions, through our partnership with PURE – the Clean Planet Trust. PURE and BRE have partnered to offer a fully integrated advice, consulting and research service for carbon verification, reduction, measurement and offsetting. The work includes:

   • •

     design stage advice to ensure a low carbon outcome is enabled from the outset;

   • •

     construction materials selection, auditing and working with key suppliers to deliver sustainable construction methods;

   • •

     remediation solutions to ensure refurbishment or refit projects achieve the lowest practicable carbon emissions;

   • •

     education at a strategic level to help change attitude and business practices;

   • •

     energy audits;

   • •

     evaluation and energy alternatives;

   • •

     in-depth carbon footprint analysis;

   • •

     air tightness, insulation, ventilation, heating and building envelope;

   • •

     resource efficiency; and

   • •

     supply chain emissions analysis and reduction strategies.

The “Case studies” section includes information on:

• •

  Development of English Housing Survey Digital Pen System – further applications for the digital pen system. The BRE reviewed a range of alternative methodologies to determine whether it should continue with using paper forms for the English House Condition Survey or move over to something more technologically advanced. In particular, there was seen to be a need for a system that would deliver clean data more quickly and cost effectively for the annual round of reporting for the continuous survey.

• •

  Code level 4, Vachell Road, Cardiff – this development of three-storey flats uses timber frame and air source heat pumps with mechanical ventilation with heat recovery in conjunction with good fabric performance.

• •

  Redeveloping Hayes Manor School – feasibility study for radically regenerating Hayes Manor School and its grounds in Hillingdon. This project offers the local community a Learning Village that includes a secondary school with performing arts and sixth form centres, an open learning and lifelong learning centres, dual use sports/leisure facilities and additional community services such as health, children’s and social services centres.

• •

  GreenPrint for Sherford development, South Hams – masterplanning for sustainable communities. BRE’s GreenPrint methodology has been developed to assist design teams in delivering masterplans that maximise the potential for sustainable communities. It can be applied to a wide range of development types ranging from urban extensions to business parks and provides an overall GreenPrint assessment score and rating of the proposed development.

• •

  Merton renewable energy targets: formalising the government’s renewable energy targets. The London Borough of Merton was the first local authority to formalise the government’s renewable energy targets in its Unitary Development Plan. The council pledged to provide at least 10 percent of the energy needs for all its new major developments from renewable energy technologies. The “Merton rule” quickly became accepted as good practice and a means of encouraging innovation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from buildings. However, it has also been criticised as a “bolt-on” approach to energy efficiency, which is not applied, on a level playing field and that is ultimately, a financial burden for developers. As a result, local authorities have interpreted and applied the Merton rule in different ways. Some insist solely on the 10 percent renewable energy requirement whilst others simply recommend that energy efficient measures be implemented as a first step to achieving CO₂ emissions reductions. In December 2008, BRE’s Strategic Assessment and Evaluation Team reviewed these claims on behalf of the NHBC Foundation and produced an independent assessment of the practical, environmental and economic effects of the Merton rule to date.

• •

  MediaCityUK and BREEAM Communities – development on a waterfront site at Salford Quays.MediaCityUK is a long-term development situated on a huge waterfront site at Salford Quays, just a few minutes from Central Manchester. The first phase, spread over 36 acres, will be completed in 2011, when the BBC and the University of Salford will be anchor tenants. MediaCityUK is being developed and managed by Peel Media, a division of the Peel Group, one of the leading property and transport companies in the UK, with an asset value approaching £7 billion. In total, Peel Media’s investment in phase one of MediaCityUK will amount to £500 million.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors(www.rics.org)

The main menu of this web site has been changed to:

1. 1.

   The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) global:

   • •

     UK.

   • •

     Europe.

   • •

     MENEA.

   • •

     Asia.

   • •

     India.

   • •

     Americas.

   • •

     Oceania.

2. 2.

   About us:

   • •

     governance;

   • •

     who we are;

   • •

     sustainability; and

   • •

     contact.

3. 3.

   KnowledgeThe knowledge area is a central resource for all the technical practice-support publications that RICS produces for members. It is constantly refreshed and carries the latest RICS practice standards and publications. This section of the web site also gives access to:

   • •

     practice areas;

   • •

     practice standards and guidance;

   • •

     journals;

   • •

     RICS business;

   • •

     research;

   • •

     library;

   • •

     RICS books;

   • •

     Isurv;

   • •

     BCIS; and

   • •

     E-mews letters.

4. 4.

   Newsroom:

   • •

     Latest news. This section includes:

     • •

       – RICS sets out rural manifesto issues to parliamentarians.James Jones of the RICS Countryside Policy Panel set out a number of key rural issues which RICS believes need addressing by the new UK Government. This was published in the pre-election edition of the Parliamentary House Magazine. In the publication, James Jones noted four of the priority policy areas which RICS will be focusing on over the next 12 months, as well as the actions governments should take to support a sustainable future for critically important rural areas. The four priority policy areas are:

       1. 1.

          The Common Agricultural Policy reform should include measures to encourage the agricultural sector to develop in a manner that reduces its reliance on fossil fuels and helps the promotion of renewable technologies. To this end, RICS believes that the review of the Common Agricultural Policy post-2013 must include measures to achieve these ends, but at the same time attempt to avoid complexity in scheme administration.

       2. 2.

          In recognition of the vital long-term need for food security, the best and most versatile agricultural land should be protected from development. RICS believes that the new UK Government needs to review the classification system and reprioritise its use in the development planning process.

       3. 3.

          Transparency and traceability in farming and land management are key issues in the public interest. RICS believes that the use of land for the growing of genetically modified crops needs to be monitored and recorded to ensure traceability for the benefit of the public, future land purchasers and farmers. Among European Union member states this is in line with an existing European Directive, which RICS was instrumental in helping to introduce and which has been implemented in varying degrees since 2003.

       4. 4.

          Thriving rural economies need access to affordable broadband to avoid becoming marginalised. The UK Government needs to promote innovative means of increasing circuit capacity for broadband to remote rural locations.

     • •

       – Guidance on “Disposal of Public Sector Assets” being prepared.The Planning and Development Professional Group is currently working on a number of papers. “Disposal of Public Sector” is one which RICS is opening for involvement from members. The Chair of this working group is Stephen Hill MRICS and lead authors are Keith Jones and Robert Lee. Local authorities are under a general duty, when disposing of land and property, to achieve “the best (consideration) that can reasonably be obtained” (Section 123 of the Local Government Act 1972). A local authority may, however, dispose of land at a consideration that is less than the best that may reasonably be obtained, for reasons of economic, social and/or environmental well-being of the area. Consent of the Secretary of State is required where the difference between the unrestricted value of the land to be disposed and the actual consideration to be received from the disposal exceeds £2,000,000. Below this, in such circumstances, local authorities are given a general consent under the Local Government Act 1972: General Disposal Consent (England) 2003. The RICS Appraisal and Valuation Standards (fifth edition), UK Guidance Note 5: Local Authority Disposals at an Undervalue, published on May 1, 2003, describes how valuers should assess “unrestricted”, “restricted” values and the value of “voluntary conditions”. This RICS advice is incorporated in the Department for Communities and Local Government Circular 06/03: Local Government Act 1972 General Disposal Consent (England) 2003 – disposal of land for less than the best consideration that can reasonably be obtained, as guidance to local authorities when they make an application to the Secretary of State. The need for guidance lies in three parts:

       1. 1.

          The use of the “less than best” approach for beneficial purposes.

       2. 2.

          Assessing and ensuring best value for money in so doing.

       3. 3.

          Making application to the secretary of state for special consent.As to the first, the Audit Commission’s Comprehensive Area Assessment of councils and local strategic partnerships includes the “Key Line of Enquiry”: “Does the organisation manage its assets effectively to help deliver its strategic priorities and service needs?” Guidance is proposed to explore how disposal of land on a “less than best” basis can be a vital tool available to councils to secure targeted outcomes. In recent years the occasions when a local authority might wish to pursue this approach has arguably grown, for example achieving spatial planning objectives, including:

       1. 1.

          Urban regeneration.

       2. 2.

          Pursuance of environmental/sustainability objectives.

       3. 3.

          Encouraging the provision of social housing or to meet housing need.

       4. 4.

          Transferring an interest to a third-sector body or another public authority.In terms of value for money, whilst guidance on valuation approaches to be adopted is relatively clear, should a local authority wish to dispose at a consideration that is less than the best that may reasonably be obtained, there are three areas where practitioners feel that guidance is required:

       1. 1.

          How “intangibles”, often a fundamental part of “voluntary conditions”, are to be evaluated.

       2. 2.

          How the final sale price (the “restricted value”) should be assessed for “value for money”.

       3. 3.

          Who should be responsible for assessing “value for money” and for its approval – and not least in terms of reconciling proposals to dispose of land on a “less than best” basis, with priorities for the generation of capital receipts to help fund other council objectives.Finally, CLG reports that applications for special disposal consent seldom initially provide the requisite information. Guidance is proposed on how an application should be made, which will also provide a template for seeking authorisation of proposed disposals on a “less than best” basis, which will also act as a check list where council’s propose to exercise powers delegated to them by the General Disposal Consent. The proposed output: a (seventh) A4 booklet in the RICS series Local Authority Asset Management Best Practice which will provide additional good practice support to those involved in this issue. This booklet would be a maximum of 12 printed sides and would include:

       1. 1.

          Good practice guidance for practitioners.

       2. 2.

          A one-page digest aimed at senior decision makers and senior professionals giving a digest of the key points and actions needed.

       3. 3.

          A suggested template for applications to the Secretary of State.

     • •

       – Major housing regeneration project crowned winner at RICS London Awards 2010.Regeneration of the Stonebridge Estate in Brent by Shepheard Epstein Hunter Architects and Hyde Housing Association fought off stiff competition to emerge as the overall RICS London Awards winner. The project has transformed the lives of Londoners in one of the capital’s most deprived and run-down estates and last night won the acclaim of judges at a ceremony held in The Crypt of St Paul’s Cathedral. The Stonebridge Regeneration project not only won the regeneration category but is the overall winner across all the other categories of building conservation, community benefit and sustainability. It will go on to compete at national level with regional winners across the country at the RICS Awards grand final in October. The Stonebridge Regeneration project has made a major contribution to the quality of life of residents in the London Borough of Brent in what was once a “sink estate” that dates from the 1960s. It is a groundbreaking exemplar that demonstrates how state of the art design and property expertise can turn around the former high-rise estate where concrete tower blocks were once linked by high-level walkways conceived as “streets in the sky”. The estate now provides 258 more homes than before as well as more open green spaces and will make a real difference to local people. The new 1,210 new homes in public ownership are joined by a further 723 homes offered for private sale to transform the old-style single tenure council estate into a striking example of a mixed sustainable community built to the highest standards. The London Awards judges were impressed by the reinvigorated social spirit that has completely replaced the old community mood of hopelessness and it is clear that the residents of what is still sometimes a deprived neighbourhood are now immensely proud and defensive of “their patch”. The full list of winners for the RICS London Awards 2010 is also given in this section of the web site.

   • •

     press releases; and

   • •

     what is new.

5. 5.

   Services.

6. 6.

   Events.

7. 7.

   My RICS.

Consumer Code for Homebuilderswww.consumercodeforhomebuilders.com

This web site explains the origins of the consumer code and how it adds to the consumer protection enjoyed by home buyers in the UK. The consumer code and the associated builder guidance are the result of over 20 months works to develop a code and a redress scheme, together with the administrative support required to run it. The consumer code was formed by agreement between NHBC and MD Insurance Services Ltd (trading as Premier Guarantee and LABC New Home Warranty). These organisations have agreed that builders and developers registered with them will be required to adopt the consumer code. The consumer code applies to home buyers who, on or after April 1, 2010, reserve to buy a new or newly converted home built by a home builder under the insurance protection of one of the supporting home warranty bodies. The code covers 19 principles and requirements of the home-buying process and in summary the purpose of the code is to ensure that home buyers:

• •

  are treated fairly;

• •

  know what service levels to expect;

• •

  are given reliable information upon which to make their decisions; and

• •

  know how to access speedy low-cost dispute-resolution arrangements if they are dissatisfied.

Wolseley Sustainable Building Centrewww.wolseley.co.uk

The Wolseley Sustainable Building Centre (SBC) in Leamington Spa is a showcase for sustainable building products and construction methods. It enables the user to experience the latest technologies and the widest range of sustainable, energy-efficient and recycled building products. The web site brings together information on the range of over 7,000 sustainable products that are available now, through Wolseley’s 1,600 branch network. The main “SBC” menu is structured as:

• •

  home;

• •

  products;

• •

  about us;

• •

  sustainable construction;

• •

  legislation;

• •

  news and events; and

• •

  gallery.

The Environment Agency – CRC Energy Efficiency Schemewww.environment-agency.gov.uk/crc

The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme (previously known as the Carbon Reduction Commitment) is a new, mandatory, energy saving and carbon emissions reduction scheme for the UK. It will act as an incentive to improve energy efficiency and will help large private and public sector organisations generate cost savings through reduced energy bills. These savings should exceed the cost of participating. This is the UK’s new carbon emissions trading scheme that started operating in April 2010. Organisations that meet the qualification criteria which are based on whether they were supplied with electricity by a settled half hourly meter anywhere in the organisation, and how much electricity they were supplied with through half hourly meters in 2008, will have to participate in CRC. The CRC is intended to capture large organisations and individuals are not required to make either an information disclosure or to participate in the CRC. Organisations that participate will have to monitor their energy use and purchase allowances, sold by government, for each tonne of CO₂ they emit. The more CO₂ an organisation emits, the more allowances it has to purchase. This will provide a direct incentive to reduce their energy use emissions.

TRADAwww.trada.co.uk

The main menu of this web site includes:

1. 1.

   Technical information:

   • •

     library;

   • •

     timber species database;

   • •

     research;

   • •

     request advice;

   • •

     design tools;

   • •

     detail drawings;

   • •

     model specification clauses;

   • •

     choose and use; and

   • •

     construction industry forecasts.

2. 2.

   Eurocodes.

3. 3.

   Regulations and codes.

4. 4.

   Case studies:

   • •

     Bodegas Protos Winery, Penafiel, Valladolid.

   • •

     Stonebridge Hillside Club, Stonebridge Estate, West London.

   • •

     Loch Lomond, Scotland, Balloch.

   • •

     Richmond Oval, Canada, Richmond, British Columbia.

   • •

     Baden Powell Outdoor Centre, Brownsea Island, Dorset.

   • •

     The Globe, CERN, Geneva.

5. 5.

   Membership.

6. 6.

   Bookshop.

7. 7.

   Training.

8. 8.

   News.

9. 9.

   Events.

10. 10.

    Suppliers directory.

11. 11.

    Commercial services.

12. 12.

    FAQs.

Stephen Todd