Verksbyen, a new green neighbourhood in Fredrikstad, Norway, showcases the future of sustainable living. As part of the project, construction company Arca Nova Bolig is building five, five-storey apartment buildings situated in Capjon Park area in Verskbyen. The buildings are being constructed using Metsä Wood’s Kerto LVL (laminated veneer lumber) products – making the construction fast, light and green.

The building and construction sectors have come under fire for their contributions to climate change, with the industry churning out 39% of the world’s carbon emissions – with operational emissions accounting for 28% and the remaining 11% from embodied or upfront carbon (from materials and construction processes), writes Sam Tracey, Regional SHEQ Advisor at Actavo Direct.

With sustainability high on the corporate agenda, many construction businesses are looking at ways to reduce their carbon footprint by choosing greener building materials, some even made from waste carbon dioxide. But could they be doing more?

As one of the UK's leading providers of rainscreen systems, metal fabrications and bespoke full envelope solutions - quality is at the core of the PSP Group's operation. Here, Chairman Heath Hindmarch explains why they made a vast investment to provide a single point of procurement for the entire building envelope.

The engineered timber industry has been founded on the principles of advancing sustainable building technology. Led by innovators such as B&K Structures, the use of timber technology in UK construction has undergone a renaissance in recent years which has greatly increased the use of ground-breaking products such as cross laminated timber (CLT). Here Managing Director of B&K Structures, Andy Goodwin discusses the proposed building restrictions and the unintended consequences.

Leading European supplier of specialist building materials SIG has appointed Philip Johns as SIG UK Managing Director.

As the construction industry is seeing an increasing shift towards landfill redevelopment, Stephen Oakden, Director at BE Design – the multi-disciplinary architecture and engineering practice – outlines the biggest obstacles faced by developers when constructing on such sites and how to meet environmental challenges with practical and safe solutions.

In this article, Richard Tonkinson, Executive Director of Offsite Solutions, a UK-leading bathroom pod manufacturer, looks at the impact of Brexit on the construction industry and how taking an off-site approach can mitigate some of the economic uncertainty.

The South East Construction Expo 2018, held in Sussex for the first time, was a huge success according to organisers of the event at the South of England Showground in Ardingly on September 13.

In lieu of the Grenfell disaster and the collapse of Carillon, the construction industry is having a huge identity crisis. With the industry’s ever-widening skills shortage getting worse, modernisation of the industry is long overdue. As well as this, the industry has the added pressure to solve what is sadly the worst gender balance of any industry. As a collective, how can we challenge the typical, often negative stereotypes of an industry where less than 14% of workers are women? Jayne Hall, Vice-President of CABE, looks at this growing issue, to see how the gender imbalances can potentially be resolved.

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Future Constructor & Architect is a specification platform for architects and building contractors, which focuses on top-end domestic and commercial developments.

As well as timely industry comment and legislation updates, the magazine covers recent projects and reviews the latest sustainable building products on the market. Subscribe here.

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