Sustainable Construction Conference

Semple Fraser is holding a conference for the Construction Industry entitled 'Sustainable Construction Conference - Facing the Environmental Challenges'.

The half day conference will be held in The City Halls in Glasgow on Tuesday 2nd October and in the Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh on Thursday 4th October.

"The science is clear".

So say an increasing number of politicians when it comes to man-made global warming.

Whether people agree scarcely matters.

The legal juggernaut is well and truly rolling.

As a result, there are more and more initiatives out there, some already law, others on their way to becoming law, and all of the Construction Industry need to get to grips with them.

The likelihood is that they will keep on coming.

They range, quite literally, from the concrete to the conceptual.

At one end of the scale, there are initiatives to cut down on the amounts of construction and demolition waste produced by the industry, thought to account for one-third of all waste generated.

These include redefining certain materials as non-waste, and improving re-use and recycling rates where the material is waste.

To maximise its waste reductions, the industry needs to understand the latest developments in construction waste, including site waste management plans.

As well as being encouraged to make less waste, we're urged to waste less energy.

One of the legal drivers is the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, and its implementing regulations in the UK.

Buildings are said to account for 40% of all energy consumed, hence the drive to improve energy efficiency in their construction and in their design.

Energy Certificates will also soon become the norm, rating the efficiency of new buildings, and with the best ones no doubt commanding a premium.

Low-waste and low-energy initiatives all help to reduce our so-called 'carbon footprint'.

Proclamations of "carbon neutrality" or "zero carbon" have come thick and fast in recent months, whether in the context of stamp duty tax breaks, or loftier ambitions aimed at demonstrating 'green' corporate credentials.

What do these really mean? How is it assessed?.

Our conference will give guidance on the latest developments on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, explain what Carbon Footprinting really means and let people know how to minimise Construction Waste, as well as looking ahead to some of the new directives that are likely to affect the construction industry in the future.

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