Aug31st
Friday, August 31st, 2007
An innovation in ‘information dissemination’ this week from BASF who have a number of podcasts for you to download and listen to at your leisure. This week they feature the world’s longest railway tunnel. The 10 minute podcast explains how, in the construction of the new Swiss Gotthard Base Tunnel, concrete has to fulfill conflicting requirements. Wet concrete must not harden while being transported through the mountain for several kilometers, on the other it has to harden in an instant, when being sprayed onto the tunnel wall. (more…)
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Aug23rd
Thursday, August 23rd, 2007
We had a warning this week from Access Accounting about contractors filing paper-based returns to HM Revenue and Customs. With mistakes all to common with manual systems, companies can face hefty fines. Access Accounting have automated systems that reduce these risks but they also offer a free helpline if you have specific queries on the new legislation. (more…)
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Aug17th
Friday, August 17th, 2007
This week we start by highlighting Batimat, the major building material exhibition in Paris in November. Kestrel-BCE will be there showing their range of PVC-UE and PVC-U roofline, cladding and window trim products. Batimat is enormous. It has nearly 3,000 exhibitors spread over 225,351 square metres of space and attracting more than 400,000 distributors, building contractors, builders’ merchants and architects from 141 countries. The organisers say that sustainable development is a major theme this year. With Europe accounting for more than 1,000 billion euros of annual construction revenues - more than 30% of the world spend - its not surprising that Batimat is attracting an increasing number of UK building products and services companies. If you are exhibiting, do send some details in and we’ll give you some coverage on Buildingtalk. Among the 250,000+ visitors to Buildingtalk each month there are quite a few from Europe, so it will help get your message across. (more…)
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Aug3rd
Friday, August 3rd, 2007
We continue to get a steady stream of response to the recent government Green Paper on housing. There is a very interesting contribution from Ian Cox, Chief Executive of The Concrete Centre, explaining the role that concrete can play. He reminds us that a traditional masonry wall has up to six times more inherent thermal mass than a timber frame wall. In the light of predicted climate change this could delay the need for air conditioning by some 20 years. Concrete is also a good flood proof material for ground floor construction in the development of flood plains, is naturally fire resistant, has good acoustic performance and is durable. We are also beginning to see an increasing use of concrete basements, including retrofitting in London and other major cities, which reduces the call on new land requirements. (more…)
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