Construction National blog: 16/02/2012
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Next month sees the bringing together of the two biggest buzzwords in construction in the UK since – well, since ‘Wren’ and ‘Great Fire’. I am, of course, referring to Ecobuild, the showcase of everything there is in sustainable construction. This year the three days will reflect the upcoming London 2012, flagged as the “greenest Olympics ever”. There is a whole seminar and conference programme devoted to the delivery of sustainability in the build programme and the learning legacy. Ecobuild is an Olympics learning legacy partner and as such playing its part by delivering presentations by many of the major players from ODA and LOGOC.
What follows the Games is, of course, crucial to whether London 2012 is seen as a green triumph or a white elephant. On a much smaller scale, much of what was anticipated in Manchester has gone by the board following the banking crisis and change of government. Not only has the stadium become an advert for an Arab airline (one of the first things to go was the running track), the housing regeneration has fallen victim to the cancelling of schemes such as Pathfinder, leaving streets half-demolished and homes sometimes in a worse state than they were to begin with.
Construction National blog 31/01/2012
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There is some up-beat news to be seen on this site for the construction industry in the East of England which is forecast to be at the top of the growth table of the 12 regions/devolved nations for the period to 2016, according to the latest forecast from the Construction Skills Network. The growth rate for the region during that period is forecast to be 2.9%, more than double the national average, with the industrial sector notching up a staggering 13.5% and private housing 5.6%.
The East is one of five regions/devolved nations to be tipped to outperform the average, with the North West and the West Midlands forecast to continue their decline in output.
One of the drivers of construction growth in the region, according to the report, will be based around carbon reduction efforts.
The report says: "Increased concern over carbon emission reduction targets, along with rising energy costs, is likely to increase levels of retrofitting, energy efficiency measures and microgeneration technologies, which will become increasingly important in driving construction growth in the region over the longer term."