Local Authority Building & Maintenance March/April 2022

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LABMONLINE.CO.UK

MARCH/APRIL 2022

LOCAL AUTHORITY BUILDING & MAINTENANCE

SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS ROOFING, CLADDING & INSULATION KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS

SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES TO FLOURISH Nicholas Harris, Chief Executive of leading housing provider Stonewater, talks to LABM about levelling up, empowering communities and decarbonising homes.

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CONTENTS

March/April 2022 Vol.38 No.2

REGULARS 5 Comment Heart of the Agenda 6 News Magenta Living secures £137m funding — ‘Sustainable by design’ report — Footprint+ conference in Brighton — £100m Key Worker Homes Fund 8 Project Update Cheltenham Borough Council works with energy innovation specialists to tackle carbon emissions in Regency buildings 10 Drone Corner This issue Ray Faulkner, MD of iRed®, discusses maximising zero carbon budgets with thermal imaging drones PROJECT PROFILE 12 Talking About Regeneration Housing association bpha talks to LABM about Vista, it’s project to regenerate tower blocks in Bedford SPECIAL REPORTS 14 Guidance for LPAs Law firm Capsticks offers advice to local planning authorities on administering the First Homes scheme 16 Supporting Communities to Flourish Stonewater Chief Executive Nicholas Harris on Levelling Up, providing the foundations for people to thrive and empowering communities 18 Industry Comment Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH), discusses the challenging environment social landlords face

A look at how Cheltenham Borough Council is working to reduce carbon emissions from its older building stock SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS

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KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS

19 Flooring Specification for Education Facilities Creating effective learning environments

38 Factory-built Bathrooms Why offsite construction is changing the face of bathroom construction

22 Offsite Construction in Healthcare How offsite construction is helping to tackle challenges for healthcare providers

40 Helping to Build Better Advice on what to consider when specifying bathroom wall panelling for social housing

24 Balancing Energy Efficiency and Wellbeing Taking a holistic approach to HVAC

42 Round-up

26 Protecting Public Health from Tank to Tap The latest water management solutions for re-commissioning buildings 28 Round-up

ROOFING, CLADDING & INSULATION 30 Cladding Remediation Why is the grant application for cladding remediation process still so painful?

32 Decarbonisation Through Retrofit The Insulation Manufacturers Association offers advice on decarbonising existing homes and retrofit 35 Air Barrier Protection The use of external air barrier systems in offsite construction

First Homes scheme advice for LPAs

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37 Round-up

Offsite manufactured bathroom pods

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EDITOR’S COMMENT

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Heart of the agenda It’s been great to see in recent weeks an increasing number of stories celebrating important milestones in the sector, for example Lendlease announcing in mid March that more than 500 jobs have now been created during the construction of Birmingham City Council’s Perry Barr Residential Scheme. Welcome news at a time when the UK faces a chronic shortage of skilled construction labour.

Local authorities and housing associations are actively looking for their supply chain partners to offer employment and apprenticeship opportunities for local residents and the wider community. We also need to promote greater diversity and inclusion. LiveWest, the largest housing association in the South West, launched its Women in Trades campaign last year to provide more career opportunities for women.

On International Women’s Day, the housing association announced it had recently appointed 10 new apprentices to its trades’ workforce, with 50% of the intake women.

Not only is there a shortage of construction labour, but also a burgeoning construction technology skills gap that needs to be plugged, particularly as more projects embrace innovative new technologies. As the climate crisis escalates, more councils are declaring a climate emergency and cities like Nottingham are setting incredibly ambitious net zero targets.

A retrofit project in the Sneinton area of Nottingham recently saw 12 hard-to-heat council bungalows transformed to near net zero carbon — as part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) funded Deep Retrofit Energy Model (DREeM) project, which will make 138 homes in the city greener and cheaper to run, removing 513 tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.

In March housing association Midland Heart hosted a launch event for its Project 80 developments, the UK’s first homes to be built to the Future Homes Standard. Speaking at the event Midland Heart’s Chief Executive, Glenn Harris, said: “Climate change and what we can do to address it, both individually and collectively, has become the defining issue of our age.”

It’s great to see the level of ambition being displayed by councils and housing associations

across the country, especially when you consider the challenging operating environment they face.

“The need for service and property improvements comes at a time when the rising cost of living makes it harder to justify raising rents to pay for them”, says Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing. Building safety and net zero works to existing homes, as well as building more social and affordable housing all demands significant investment. One speaker at the annual Chief Housing Officers conference earlier this year referred to the situation as ‘a perfect storm’.

The call for levelling up “couldn’t be louder... ” There’s also room for improvement in the sector, as evidenced by the Housing Ombudsman’s Spotlight on: damp and mould.

The report highlighted a failure on the part of some landlords to take residents’ damp complaints seriously, believing the issue to be of their own making and putting the onus back on tenants. More open and honest dialogue between residents and landlords is needed to repair fractured relationships and win back trust.

Increasing numbers of people are facing financial hardship, and with a dramatic rise in energy prices on the horizon in April, this is only likely to intensify. Now more than ever the sector needs to come together to help tackle the key issues and ensure no one gets left out in the cold.

“With many more at risk of being stuck in the cycle of fuel poverty, the call for levelling up couldn’t be louder” says Nicholas Harris, Chief Executive at Stonewater, “and it’s important that as a sector we ensure the provision of good-quality and energy-efficient housing remains at the heart of the agenda.”

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LOCAL AUTHOR ITY BUILDING & MAINTENANCE

SCHOOLS, HOSPITA LS & PUBLIC BUILDIN GS ROOFING, CLADDIN G & INSULATION KITCHENS, BATHRO OMS & DISABIL ITY NEEDS

COVER STORY:

SUPPORTING COMMUNI TIES TO FLOURISH Nicholas Harris, Chief provider Stonewate Executive of leading housing r, talks to LABM about levelling up, empowering communiti es and decarbonis ing homes.

Rollalong is using its expertise to provide 23 modular homes for homeless families in Winnersh, for Wokingham Borough Council. Photo by Stewart Turkington (www.stphotos.co.uk). More on the project here www.rdr.link/lac001

MARCH/ AP RIL

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NEWS IN BRIEF Social housing decarbonisation In March, housing provider Orbit welcomed representatives from BEIS to mark the start of retrofitting works at its site in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire.

Orbit is working with Stratford-on-Avon District Council to upgrade 69 properties across the Stratford District as part of the Government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator.

Following the success of the initial Demonstrator phase, Orbit has secured a further £1.4m funding from BEIS as part of the SHDF Wave 1 funding. An additional 70 Orbit properties will be upgraded in partnership with the West Midlands Combined Authority, and the works in Stratford will be extended to a further 66 properties.

Orbit is also investing £4.6m into the project to help better understand the scale of the challenge ahead and explore the impact of selected sustainable technologies in a retrofit application.

Sustainable by design report A new report, ‘Sustainable by design’, by engineering consultancy Patrick Parsons, based on research with 100 senior executives of UK construction firms, reveals that they are seeing significant commercial benefits from using sustainable design and engineering to build developments with lower carbon footprint.

Two thirds (66%) said sustainable design is adding value to current developments and 83% said that projects designed with green credentials have given them a competitive advantage.

Furthermore, 68% expect the value of developments with sustainable design to increase by between 10% and 20%, demonstrating the significant premium placed on sustainable construction.

More details about the report here www.rdr.link/lac002

Housing association secures £137m of sustainable funding Wirral-based housing association Magenta Living has secured a £137m funding package from NatWest to build more than 1,000 new affordable homes over the next five years and commence its transition to being a carbon zero housing provider.

The organisation, which currently owns almost 13,000 homes across the North West, will use the funds to achieve its ambitious growth plans. This includes carrying out maintenance work on its existing homes and growing its extensive portfolio to increase affordable housing levels across the region.

Magenta Living is the largest housing association landlord in Wirral and one of the leading employers in the area with more than 600 employees. Its vision is to build vibrant homes, lives, and neighbourhoods across the region.

The funding from NatWest will also enable Magenta Living to progress its Climate Change Strategy. This involves a 30-year commitment from the business to help tackle climate change through methods such as using electric vehicles, improving local green spaces, tackling fuel poverty, and improving the energy performance of its housing portfolio.

Magenta Living will also look to retain its gold accreditation status from SHIFT environment, reflecting its sustainability credentials.

The bank has attributed environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals to

£75m of the company’s loan facilities, helping the housing association to work towards the Government’s Zero Carbon Homes target by 2050.

Ann Monk, Executive Director of finance at Magenta Living says: “Ultimately, we serve local communities in the North West region by building properties that create genuine social value, and this funding package from NatWest is helping us bring this vision to life. The bank’s backing is assisting us as we move towards our target of becoming a carbon zero organisation by 2050 with the creation of truly sustainable properties. This will allow us to continue growing and seizing new opportunities, as well as creating new jobs and encouraging investment into the areas we serve.”

Marcos Navarro, Director and Sustainability Lead for Housing Finance at NatWest, adds: “It was rewarding to work on a deal that adds such genuine social and environmental value. This new funding package will not only allow Magenta Living to build sustainable and affordable homes, but it will support its transition to net zero and create local jobs, supporting economic recovery following the pandemic.”

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Skyroom’s £100m Key Worker Homes Fund

DIARY DATES

Skyroom, the technology, design, and development company has announced the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Waltham Forest as the successful applicants to its Key Worker Homes Fund (the ‘Fund’)1.

Aerial image of Brighton ©Alexey Fedorenko/AdobeStock

Indicative sketch of airspace development to be delivered by the Key Worker Homes Fund. Credit: Skyroom

FOOTPRINT+ conference

The £100m Fund offers London’s local authorities and housing associations technical expertise and capital to deliver airspace developments above buildings in their portfolio. Skyroom launched it in March 2021 to help landowners achieve their ambitious housing delivery targets2, using sites they already own.

Over 40 sites were submitted to the Fund’s Board of Commissioners for consideration.3 The Commissioners — which include Professor Sadie Morgan, Sir Steve Bullock, and Baroness Doreen Lawrence — selected the most impactful developments, defined as the number of new homes that can be delivered, their affordability, and the benefits to existing residents and local communities. These comprise a five-storey residential building in Lambeth, and several low-rise residential buildings within an estate in Waltham Forest.

Early-stage designs indicate that over 111 new homes could be delivered across the two sites: 23 in Lambeth and 88 in Waltham Forest. Responding to a shortage of familysized homes, both proposals include a mix of one-bed, two-bed, and three-bed flats.

At least 50% of new homes would be affordable and allocated to key workers as a priority group.4 23% of working residents in Lambeth and 32% in Waltham Forest are key workers, according to data recently

published by the Mayor of London.5 Skyroom is now working in partnership with each local authority with the view to submit outline planning permission later in the year. The Fund reserves capital to coinvest in construction and development.

Cllr Simon Miller, Portfolio Lead Member for Economic Prosperity at the London Borough of Waltham Forest says: “Skyroom's solution is a win-win-win for Waltham Forest, our residents, and local communities. We can direct this investment to improve, protect, and modernise buildings in our portfolio. New homes can be offered to families and key workers on our housing waiting list.” ____________________________

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https://fund.skyroom.london/

2 https://fund.skyroom.london/events/ 3 https://fund.skyroom.london/governance/ 4 A list of key worker occupations was published

by The Mayor of London. https://www.london.gov.uk/pressreleases/mayoral/mayors-new-key-worker-list-f or-priority-housing 5 Percentages are rounded up to the nearest whole number. Source: https://www.london.gov.uk/pressreleases/mayoral/mayors-new-key-worker-list-f or-priority-housing

You can read the story in full here www.rdr.link/lac003

Launching in Brighton in June, FOOTPRINT+ is billed as ‘the new UK property event for a zero carbon future’.

The show will run from 7th – 9th June and is aimed at local authorities, developers, consultants, investors and occupiers.

FOOTPRINT+ hopes to ‘gather representatives from every sector of the UK property market to discuss, discover and how to action state of the art methods to achieve Net Zero in real estate’.

The conference programme centres around four streams — Retrofit and the Circular Economy, Efficient Buildings, Zero Carbon Energy, and Financing the Carbon Revolution.

Speakers include Joanna Averley, Chief Planner at the DLUHC, Tom Hayes from Oxford City Council, Richard Halsey, Capabilities Director at Catapult Energy Systems, Leigh Johnson, Head of Design and Master Development at Homes England, Jim Heverin, Director at Zaha Hadid Architects, Chris Langdon, Development and Investment Director at EQUANS part of ENGIE, and Yetunde Abdul, Head of Climate Action, at UKGBC. Sessions on Day one include ‘Part Z — Industry Calls for the Regulation of Embodied Carbon’, whilst ‘From wastes to valuable heat’ will look at how new generations of heat networks allow us to recover what was once low-value waste heat as an important resource.

A session on the ‘Leeds Climate Innovation District’ project will address the challenges and realities of creating a thriving low carbon community and also on the agenda in the packed conference programme is a session covering the Net Zero Carbon Healthcare Standard.

An exhibition will run alongside the conference. To find out more about the event and book tickets visit www.footprintplus.com

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NEWS: PROJECT UPDATE

Net zero ambitions Cheltenham Borough Council is working with energy innovation specialists Stark to analyse carbon emissions across its Regency buildings, so it can identify opportunities to minimise waste and decrease CO2 in order to be one of the first councils to reach net zero by 2030.

The project, which is a stepping-stone towards Cheltenham’s £10m Green Deal strategy, will involve rolling out the latest metering technologies for both electricity and gas supplies, across multiple sites including listed buildings. Utilising Stark’s analytics tools, Stark ID, Cheltenham will gain a clear overview of its energy consumption from all locations on one conveniently accessible online dashboard.

Having oversight of all its energy data in one place, will ensure Cheltenham is in a much stronger position to monitor the impact and success of improvements, and make more informed decisions about future construction plans. The project has been funded by a £380,000 award from Salix Finance.

Councillor Max Wilkinson, Cabinet Member for the Climate Emergency, says:

“Cheltenham has declared a climate emergency and set an ambitious net zero target for the Council and the wider Borough. Local people will know that our town has a number of old, draughty buildings that consume a lot of energy.

“Reducing carbon emissions among these will be part of the council’s important community leadership role. Stark’s innovative metering infrastructure will help us demonstrate how easily and efficiently energy waste can be minimised. We hope our project will be useful to other local areas with Regency buildings too.”

Alex Warren, Group CEO for Stark comments: “We are thrilled to be working with Cheltenham Borough Council on planning and successfully executing this project, as we help it realise its decarbonisation milestones. Our full-

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service offering will ensure the right infrastructure is in place and fully maintained to provide the necessary insights and measurements Cheltenham Borough Council needs to make informed decisions and reach its net zero targets before 2030 and beyond.”

Stark was appointed by Cheltenham Borough Council in June 2021 and the initial phase of the project is due for completion by end of March 2022 with Stark contracted to monitor and analyse the Council’s CO2 emission until 2026. In the next stage of the project, Stark will monitor energy use across all buildings, revealing consumption patterns and identifying alternative low carbon technologies, so Cheltenham is able to introduce changes that will bring it closer to its net zero target.

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DRONE CORNER: ASSET MANAGEMENT WITH DRONES

Image courtesy of iRed®

Thermal imaging For the second in a new regular series covering drone technology, Ray Faulkner, Managing Director of iRed®, offers advice on how to maximise your zero carbon budget with thermal imaging drones. ith the diverse nature of local authorities’ roles as place shapers, planners and trusted leaders who have influence across a range of carbon emitting sectors, decarbonising the existing housing stock is vital to achieving net zero, initially by improving their energy efficiency followed by switching to low carbon heating. With ever increasing energy prices all heat loss saved from buildings has a positive financial and social impact on occupiers.

Following the UK Government’s significant pledge of £9.3bn to fund the retrofitting of buildings in England by 2024, the pressure is on local authorities to improve their buildings, reduce carbon emissions and maximise their zero carbon budgets.

Drone thermal imaging is a technique that uses heat-sensitive cameras to detect subtle differences in temperature, providing a non-destructive assessment of heat loss in both residential and commercial buildings. Knowing where heat is escaping from means those responsible, such as sustainability officers and project managers, can take steps to improve energy efficiency, reduce heating costs and cut carbon emissions.

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Pinpointing areas for improvement Whilst traditional surveys from retrofit assessors can provide an indication of required works, thermal surveys provide a clearer, more accurate picture of what’s happening in a building or property portfolio. Using the latest technology, drone surveys are able to accurately pinpoint areas for improvement — such as

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missing, damaged, or faulty insulation — as well as being able to monitor the effectiveness of any remedial works. This means that any performance gaps, such as buildings that haven’t been built as designed, can be identified and corrected.

The easy-to-understand reports help visualise heat loss and building defects, providing quantitative data that can be easily communicated to both residents and non-building professionals.

Using the latest “technology, drone surveys are able to accurately pinpoint areas for improvement — such as missing or faulty insulation.

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These quick and non-disruptive inspections are the easiest way to prioritise retrofitting works, and provide minimal disruption to residents and occupiers of nonresidential buildings. They can even be used to clearly demonstrate improvements following remedial works.

Since 2002, we’ve been working with councils and housing associations nationwide, delivering over half a million thermal surveys on domestic and commercial buildings. In that time, we’ve seen clients save thousands on their heating bills by simply showing them how to get the best results for the smallest spend.

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Accurate information When delivered by qualified professionals, a drone thermal imaging survey will provide comprehensive evidence to assist in publishing tenders, tailored to specific property and building types. This can help drastically reduce the average retrofit cost, by showing exactly where the problems are and enabling contractors to quote with pinpoint accuracy.

Ray adds: “Previously, these types of surveys would’ve been done with expensive scaffolding, requiring the risk of working at height along with a significant disruption to occupiers. Now, using drone technology, we’re able to survey hundreds of properties in a single night.”

In the UK, the cost of retrofitting a typical household is approximately £26,000 (Committee on Climate Change).

Combine this with the fact that there are an estimated 26 million homes requiring retrofits before 2050 (The Institution of Engineering and Technology), and the cost of achieving net zero in the built environment is staggering. By accurately finding out where they’re losing heat, councils, housing associations and local authorities could potentially save billions of pounds by including thermal drone surveys into their retrofit strategy.

■ For more information on ARPASUK visit www.arpas.uk ■ For more information on Connected Places Catapult visit https://cp.catapult.org.uk/ ■ For more information on iRed® visit https://ired.co.uk/

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PROJECT PROFILE: BPHA’S TOWER BLOCK REGENERATION

bpha’s Ashburnham Court

Talking about regeneration Steve Storey, Senior Regeneration Manager at bpha, talks to LABM about Vista, the housing association’s exciting regeneration project to improve the living experience of its customers in several of its Bedford tower blocks.

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he 14 blocks within the town are home to over 1,000 residents.

Built in the 1950s and 1960s, nine of the blocks are classed as high-risk residential buildings (HRRB) being over 18 metres in height.

To ensure they are fit for the future and continue being desirable places for our residents to live, in 2018 we conducted a full review and condition survey of all the blocks. This assessed environmental performance, safety and general appearance. Although structurally sound, the main issue was their ability to retain warmth. Concerns over fuel poverty for

many households and the rising costs of energy, meant that instead of just replacing windows and roofs, we took a more holistic approach to refurbishing the blocks.

To address these issues and to achieve bpha’s goal of getting all our homes to at least a Band C EPC rating, we are externally insulating the blocks while installing new windows and roofing. With new rainscreen cladding, the new external insulation will protect the buildings from water, reduce heat loss in the winter, and ensure the flats stay cooler in summer.

We discussed our plans through a series of face-to-face consultations with

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bpha’s Vista project will see 14 tower blocks in Bedford regenerated

our customers. It was a great opportunity to hear and respond to questions, including any concerns regarding cladding on high-rise buildings. We received helpful insight on how residents use their communal areas and what improvements they would like to see.

Scope of works We expanded the scope of the project to include updating internal areas. This included redecoration, installation of new sprinkler systems, new security systems and installing new high-speed broadband

In 2018 bpha conducted a full review and condition survey of all its tower blocks

to provide an improved IT and TV service. At Ashburnham Court, to make the block safer, we replaced gas boilers with a new energyefficient central heating system. We also increased the size of the lifts to make them more accessible for residents and their visitors.

We followed Public Contract Regulations and advertised the opportunity to deliver the works through Official Journal of European Union (OJEU), allowing all suitably sized and experienced contractors to express interest. We were keen to not only improve the homes in which our residents live but create an environment and community they could be proud to be part of.

A significant part of the tender process involved demonstrating social value and how residents’ lives would be enhanced during and, more importantly, after the works had completed. The expectations included ‘into work’ training, IT support and wellbeing activities. The successful contractor was United Living (South) Ltd, who now provides this training.

Due to the scale of the project and the number of high-rise buildings involved, we took a phased approach with

A significant part of the “tender process involved demonstrating social value and how residents’ lives would be enhanced during and, more importantly, after the works had completed.

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Ashburnham Court in the heart of Bedford being the first block in the programme to be refurbished.

The tendering process coincided with the start of COVID and this made continuing to engage with residents on a face-to-face basis difficult, with early meetings between residents and United Living (South) Ltd, online.

Resident engagement As part of bpha’s commitment to continue to engage with residents a virtual engagement platform was introduced called The Place. This allowed residents to receive updates and information, ask questions and discuss the works. We asked what social value initiatives they would like to see that would benefit them and their community.

In July 2021 we were finally able to hold an in person ‘Meet the Contractor’ event in the gardens of Ashburnham Court, giving the residents an opportunity to meet the team, view samples of the cladding and windows, and discuss the significant improvement to heat retention from the new external insulation. We were also able to explain how new balcony enclosures would create new all year round ‘winter gardens’.

The refurbishment of Ashburnham Court is anticipated to take 12 months.

Works started in October 2021, with new windows installed along with the new, more efficient, heating system.

The next phase of the project, due to start in winter 2022, will see similar improvements and enhancements to our blocks at Bury Court and Brickhill, increasing their longevity and sustainability and ensuring they become places where our residents love to live.

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SPECIAL REPORT: FIRST HOMES SCHEME

©Duncan Andison/AdobeStock

Guidance for LPAs How will the First Homes scheme impact local authorities? Sarah Waite, Partner, Suzanne Smith, Partner and Jennifer Eng, Senior Solicitor, from law firm Capsticks, examine the scheme and set out the issues local planning authorities (‘LPA’) need to be aware of in administering it.

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he First Homes scheme came into effect on 28th June 2021 and is the Government’s new preferred tenure ahead of social rent. The scheme requires a minimum of 25% of all affordable housing units to be First Homes.

First Homes are a type of discounted housing, which can only be sold to persons meeting specific eligibility criteria. They must be discounted by a minimum of 30% against market value, with a maximum cap on the first sale after the discount is applied of £250,000 (or £420,000 in Greater London). The discount can be increased to 40% or 50% by the LPA, or also impose lower caps if it can be justified.

In addition, First Homes must have a legal restriction entered on their respective titles so as to ensure the discount is maintained at all onward sales.

The obligations will be secured within a Section 106 Agreement.

Template planning obligations The Government has published template planning obligations which local authorities can use as a basis for any agreements prepared locally. The template includes model wording for both the restriction to be entered on the First Home’s title and for a mortgagee exclusion clause, which allows lenders to waive the discount on market value upon onward sale.

The Government has strongly encouraged LPAs to use the model wording within the template planning obligations to attain consistency in the implementation of First Homes. The content of these obligations will therefore be fundamental in the operation and application of the scheme going forwards.

How will the scheme work?

The scheme will be administered and controlled by the LPA, a restriction on title to be entered onto the registered title of

the relevant First Home. This means that a future purchaser will need to obtain a certificate from the LPA in order to proceed with the purchase and to ensure that the discount is maintained in perpetuity (subject to the mortgagee exclusion clause).

In order to give the relevant authority to proceed with the transaction, the LPA will assess the valuation of the First Homes to ensure that the correct level of discount is being secured. It is anticipated that this will be a concern to LPAs in respect of the level of expertise and the already limited resource in order to assess applications to provide the relevant authority.

Currently, there is no formal policy position as to whether the LPA will be able to seek additional contributions from the developer in respect of this, but it is anticipated that an administration fee of £150 – £200 will be recommended per First Home. Homes England is expected to publish further guidance and materials

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in order to support LPAs in the administration of the First Homes scheme, which will also include placing the majority of the responsibility on the developer (or other party looking to sell) to provide the full suite of information for the approval.

LPAs will not be responsible for ensuring that the packs are complete and will be entitled to reject outright any which contain incomplete information.

Aside from specific guidance around the First Homes scheme, the overarching public law principles will continue to apply to any decision made by the LPA, and decisions will be capable of being challenged by Judicial Review.

Potential impact of the scheme The First Homes scheme will inevitably reduce other forms of affordable housing funded through section 106, with 25% of developer contributions reserved for First Homes. The Government claims it will ring-fence homes for social rent so that the main impact could fall on shared ownership and affordable rent. Naturally, this will result in a reduction of the number of units offered for affordable rented or shared ownership tenures operated by RPs. This will be a significant matter for the LPA to address when preparing their annual monitoring report and local plan updates to reflect whether there is an adverse impact on housing need as a result of the reduction in delivery of conventional types of affordable housing.

LPAs need to include First Homes as part of their Local Plan going forward, except for plans submitted or published prior to 28th June 2021 or plans which have been resubmitted before 28th December 2021. Whilst the current Planning Practice Guidance encourages the First Homes tenures, there is no statutory

©Smole/AdobeStock

requirement to include First Homes within the Local Plan. Therefore, First Homes is likely to be an appropriate policy requirement in most circumstances, subject to robust evidence and demonstration of housing need. Caution should be taken against attempts to exclude First Homes from the Local Plan as this may risk the plan being declared unsound.

In updating policies for First Homes, LPAs will also have the ability to set their own eligibility and local connection criteria. This will apply in addition to the national eligibility criteria and most likely, reflect the criteria that LPAs currently have in place for affordable housing allocations.

The requirement for the First Homes to be at a price within the caps, as well as physically indistinguishable in quality and size from equivalent market homes could be difficult to reconcile. Some LPAs already include provisions within section 106 agreements that any affordable housing is to be constructed tenure blind.

LPAs may need to consider imposing greater discounts in order to make the First Homes more affordable for a higher specification property but this may in turn have an impact on viability of the scheme.

Conclusion Having a big part to play in the success of the First Homes Scheme, LPAs will need to consider the policies in great detail upon the next review or update of the local plan and incorporate First Homes in a way which is most suitable to meet the housing need within the borough.

In a climate where local authority resources are stretched and underfunded, the additional pressures introduced by the First Homes scheme are likely to add to the local authority burden. Those looking to sell or acquire a First Home will need to ensure that all relevant information is provided to

the LPA at the earliest opportunity to avoid delays in the conveyancing process. It would be beneficial for LPAs to have a standardised process and list of documents setting out the evidence to be provided for their review in order to streamline the approval process.

As the scheme is implemented, the LPAs will need to monitor how this affects housing delivery in their borough and whether the price caps set are fit for purpose in order to meet market needs.

They will need to give particular note to how this affects the delivery of other affordable housing tenures and any adverse impacts in the reduction of affordable rented and shared ownership stock.

How Capsticks can help Capsticks offers a full service across development and planning law, corporate and securitisation, housing leasehold and asset management. The firm are experts on all aspects of planning law including s106 agreements, CIL advice, planning appeals, and can help you with all aspects you need to consider when planning a development.

If you have any queries around what is discussed in this insight, or the steps that you can take in any given case, you can contact Sarah, Suzanne or Jennifer at Capsticks to find out more about how they can help.

More Information ■ Contact Sarah Waite by email on Sarah.waite@capsticks.com or telephone 020 8780 4579 ■ Contact Suzanne Smith by email on suzanne.smith@capsticks.com or telephone 01962 678350 ■ Contact Jennifer Eng by email on Jennifer.eng@capsticks.com or telephone 01962 678336

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SPECIAL REPORT — LEVELLING UP & EMPOWERING COMMUNITIES

Air source heat pumps were installed in 60 homes at Stonewater’s Blackbird Leys scheme

Supporting communities to flourish Nicholas Harris, Chief Executive at leading housing provider Stonewater, discusses Levelling Up: The ambitious blueprint centred around empowering communities. he levelling up agenda was a core component of the Conservative party’s manifesto in the 2019 general election but until last month, there was little clarity on how exactly regional disparities will be tackled. Ambitious in its scope and aims, the long-anticipated Levelling Up White Paper (LUWP) sets out 12 national missions that provide a clear vision for how the Government intends to enable more people to access opportunities that will support them and their communities to flourish.

While there is no denying that the LUWP provides hope — for those living in parts of the country that have for decades felt forgotten about — but what actions are taken next, will be critical. Delivering on the missions and achieving tangible change over the next eight years will require collaboration and an equally ambitious plan in place, sooner rather than later.

In the same week the LUWP was published, a new Housing Minister was appointed — the 20th MP to hold the role since 1997 — but more importantly, rising energy costs dominated the headlines.

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Financial hardship These announcements were shortly followed with news that January inflation hit a 30-year high of 5.5%, resulting in the highest cost of living increase for 60 years — hitting those on the lowest or fixed incomes the hardest.

In a first world country, having 3.16 million people (around 13.2% of households) estimated as living in fuel poverty in 2020 is simply unacceptable. Figures report that this was a 0.2% decrease from the year prior but do not necessarily reflect the stark reality and financial hardship many individuals and families are currently facing, following the ongoing repercussions of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With many more at risk of being stuck in the cycle of fuel poverty, the call for levelling up couldn’t be louder and it’s important that as a sector we ensure the provision of good-quality and energyefficient housing remains at the heart of the agenda.

Ending fuel poverty can only be achieved if we tackle the root causes of poverty on one hand and improve the energy efficiency of our homes on the

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other. This is particularly important given that the Government’s latest figures show up to 3.9 million people live in social housing and these homes account for around 15% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions.

Decarbonising homes In 2020, we commissioned research from the IPPR which mapped out a new ‘Home Improvement Plan’, a comprehensive strategy to deliver, at scale, the energy efficiency and low-carbon heating measures needed to reduce energy demand and emissions. The plan proposed how we can tackle fuel poverty and create employment opportunities — true levelling up.

Since this report, we’ve worked on several innovative pilot projects aimed at decarbonising our existing homes. This has included having air source heat pumps installed in 60 homes at our Blackbird Leys scheme, as part of Energy Superhub Oxford, a world-first project showcasing an integrated approach to decarbonising power, heat and transport across the city.

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important that as a sector we ensure the provision “of...it’s good-quality and energy-efficient housing remains at the heart of the agenda. ” Foundations to thrive Everyone should have the opportunity to have an affordable home where they can live, raise a family and if needed, work.

While safe and comfortable homes provide the foundation for people to take advantage of the prosperous opportunities the LUWP seeks to deliver, only one mission (section 9) largely focuses on housing delivery. And somewhat disappointingly, doesn’t disclose anything new especially not on the funding front.

The Government’s target of delivering 300,000 new homes a year remains, along with policies around First Homes and the end to Section 106 and its replacement with the Infrastructure Levy — as outlined in the Planning White Paper a few years ago.

It’s encouraging to see the commitment to building more genuinely affordable homes, but the devil lies in the detail and the comprehensive plan of how exactly these

missions of intent will be brought to fruition — particularly with regards to housing — are yet to come.

Regeneration With that said, the heightened focus on regeneration to enhance town centres across England is a focal step for reinvigorating communities. But most importantly, this should be centred around those in greatest need.

The overall consensus is that the levelling up agenda remains centred around tackling the persistent inequalities in the Midlands and North of England. While there is no contesting that these regions are long in need of support and investment, many coastal and rural areas feature some of the highest levels of deprivation and should not be left behind. To address this, we support the extension to Homes England’s remit to lead on regional growth and development.

Stonewater’s Blackbird Leys scheme is part of Energy Superhub Oxford

As one of their long-term strategic partners, we’ll do what we can to deliver muchneeded regeneration and provide affordable homes to those that need them most.

This approach coupled with plans to expand mayoral devolution — giving more powers to regional combined authorities — offers the potential for policies and initiatives that more clearly reflect local housing priorities.

As the white paper shows, there are many elements and wide-ranging issues to be addressed in levelling up. From quality of life, health and pride of place, there is a key role for housing providers to further support the Government’s plans to transform people’s lives. Much of which, many operating across the sector already strive to do.

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

INDUSTRY COMMENT

Less fatalism, more empathy Matthew Warburton, Policy Advisor at the Association of Retained Council Housing (ARCH), discusses the challenging environment social landlords face and says only through open, honest and full dialogue, can they expect to win the trust and cooperation of residents. arly in March, ARCH and the National Federation of ALMOs held their annual Chief Housing Officers conference. Hosted virtually by HouseMark for the second year because of COVID, the event still provided a much-needed opportunity for council housing’s senior management to assess and compare notes on the current issues faced by the sector.

General view: a hugely challenging environment that combines powerful drivers for service and property improvements at a time when the rising cost of living makes it harder to justify raising rents to pay for them. Building safety, Decent Homes 2 and net zero all demand investment in existing homes, while most councils still need and want to build more new ones — a perfect storm, as one speaker put it.

Meanwhile, residents are becoming increasingly impatient to see the service improvements promised by a Social Housing White Paper now 18 months old.

The Regulator of Social Housing reported high numbers of tenant responses to their recent consultation on tenant satisfaction measures, but many expressed concern that they will not be fully operational for another three years. HouseMark data reports a significant decline in overall tenant satisfaction over the last three years; this may be largely attributable to the interruption of normal service by COVID, but it only adds to many other

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challenges involved in returning service delivery to post-COVID normality.

Residents rightly expect “landlords to make their

Housing Ombudsman

homes safe, decent and warm, but they also have a big part to play in making this happen.

Complaints to the Housing Ombudsman have doubled in the last two years, with the majority being upheld by a finding of maladministration against the landlord.

The Ombudsman’s analysis of these findings points three clear lessons. The first is that the complaint handling process itself is too often the problem, leaving residents frustrated and dissatisfied irrespective of the original problem that led them to complain.

Delegates at our Conference agreed that a positive attitude to complaints needs clear leadership from top management but also sustained work to turn round defensive organisational cultures. But positive attitudes and cultures are not enough; the second lesson is that landlords are too often let down by poor systems whether for tracking repairs or complaints. There is an urgent case for investment in software fit for today’s purposes.

The third lesson is the need for better communication with residents, both better listening and taking seriously what they say and better efforts to keep them informed. This is particularly clearly illustrated in the Ombudsman’s recent report spotlighting damp and mould.

Tellingly titled ‘It’s not lifestyle’, this highlights the failure of too many

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landlords to take complaints of damp seriously because they wrongly believe the problem is of residents’ own making.

The Ombudsman describes this as fatalism that too often results in a lack of empathy, and, as he says “whether or not we uphold their complaint [the residents’] experience is real and it is profound. It also reveals the strain on the resident and landlord relationship; the loss of trust and reputation”.

This illustrates clearly a crucial dimension of the emerging challenge.

Residents rightly expect landlords to make their homes safe, decent and warm, but they also have a big part to play in making this happen. Whether in relation to ensuring building safety or achieving net zero, residents will need to adopt new behaviours and lifestyles. Only through open, honest and full dialogue can landlords expect to win the trust and cooperation of residents. Any other approach is doomed to fail.

www.arch-housing.org.uk

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS

Well-specified flooring throughout an educational facility can contribute to an effective learning environment. Lewis Cooper, Segment Marketing Manager for Education at Forbo Flooring Systems, explains what factors specifiers should consider within schools, colleges and universities and the importance of looking at how different classrooms and areas require their own solution.

Forbo’s Step Safety Vinyl flooring installed at the Physiotherapy Centre at the University of Winchester

Flooring specification for education facilities looring not only allows specifiers to inject colour and pattern into educational settings, but the way it is installed can actually improve how spaces are used and how students and staff orientate around the building. It can also help specifiers to meet inclusive design needs, while even boosting learning progress and behaviour.

For guidance on the type of floor finishes that should be used in schools, HM Government’s Education Skills and Funding Agency has produced a Generic Design Brief. The guide states that flooring should be hard wearing, safe and fit for purpose — which includes choosing textures and colours appropriate to the ages and needs of the pupils, particularly those with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disability).

But how does this translate into real-life education environments?

The starting point is to understand how each area of a school will be used in terms of activity and footfall from entrance to exit.

Hygiene and ease of cleaning have always been a priority in this sector but are paramount now more than ever in the

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current climate. Careful consideration must also be given to factors such as acoustics, durability and slip resistance.

Classrooms that enhance learning Within general teaching suites, the key is to create a safe and warm environment that encourages pupils to feel secure and inspired. Similarly, acoustics are critical, as unwanted noise can seriously impair students’ learning ability. The aim is to avoid excess reverberation and optimise speech intelligibility.

Understanding the different types of acoustic challenges that education facilities currently face helps to get it right. Specifiers must look to improve levels of in-room sound absorption and impact sound reduction. The former refers to levels of sound intensity absorbed into different materials in a room, whilst the latter focuses on limiting the decibel level of certain impacts, such as footsteps or moving chairs from one floor to the rooms below.

Acoustic vinyl sheet is an all-round performer, offering excellent sound performance of 15 dB to 19 dB, along with

Forbo’s Coral entrance flooring system is designed to stop up to 95% of dirt and moisture from entering the building

easy cleaning and a range of colours and designs. Carpet tiles are also popular, achieving impact sound reductions of between 22 dB and 30 dB, to encourage maximum concentration from pupils.

Inviting, tactile, modular formats also mean individual tiles can easily be maintained or replaced if they become damaged.

Combining the best of both worlds, flocked floor coverings, like Forbo’s Flotex, provide the comfort and warmth of a textile with increased resilience and acoustic benefits, thanks to the hardwearing

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS flocked construction. Flocked solutions are ideal for classrooms that see heavy foot traffic and movement of chairs, calling for a more durable choice.

Teaching areas with specialist requirements For specialist teaching zones including arts, science, food preparation and design technology, where spillages and debris on the floor can be common, safety and high slip resistance is vital.

It’s worth considering a safety vinyl sheet specifically designed to minimise the risk of slips and trips and meeting all HSE and European safety norms. Look for floor covering options that achieve a Pendulum Test Value (PTV) of at least ≥ 36. In science laboratories or areas where there is an increased likelihood of contamination, a homogeneous vinyl sheet with an effective top surface finish will provide high resistance to chemicals, scratches and stains.

Flooring for sports facilities Understanding how a sports facility will be used will help with the specification process. Safety and comfort of its users is top priority and durability should also be taken into account, alongside cleaning and maintenance.

For school and university sports halls that cater for a variety of activities, such as team sports, meetings, ceremonies or exams, look for options that meet the requirements of Sport England and EN 14904 (P1 classification). A high-performance vinyl sheet sports flooring like Forbo’s Sportline

Forbo’s Sportline multi use collection is a safe, durable and low maintenance solution for sports facilities

In science laboratories or areas where there is an “increased likelihood of contamination, a homogeneous vinyl sheet with an effective top surface finish will provide high resistance to chemicals, scratches and stains.

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multi use collection is a safe, durable and low maintenance solution.

Corridors for calmer classroom changeovers Corridors take a pounding from foot traffic, so floor coverings need to be extra tough to withstand the onslaught. Durability, slip resistance and sound reduction are the key things to consider when choosing solutions for these noisy, busy spaces. An acoustic vinyl or general purpose vinyl (GPV) sheet is a hard-wearing option that can offer impact sound reduction to mitigate the din caused by rowdy students and maintain calmer, safer lesson changeovers.

Entrances that improve safety and reduce cleaning costs According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) 55% of all accidents in

■ To find out about Forbo’s education portfolio visit www.rdr.link/lac004

Forbo’s Tessera Layout and Outline flooring

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education are caused by a slip or a trip reference number, which is why entrances shouldn’t be overlooked.

One of the key stipulations in the Generic Design Guide is that all external entrances should feature suitable barrier matting ‘to remove dirt and moisture from the soles of shoes and wheeled traffic’.

With large numbers of pupils passing through the building every day — most of whom are unlikely to stop to wipe their feet — an effective entrance system is a must.

A robust first line of defence that might be a rigid single- and double-sided mat, or a textile clean-off system such as Forbo’s Coral entrance flooring system. Coral is designed to stop up to 95% of dirt and moisture from entering the building — which in turn, helps to reduce slips and falls. What’s more, cleaning costs can be cut by up to 65%.

Other areas must be considered too.

From toilets, dining and kitchen areas, libraries and lecture theatres to reception and administrative spaces, they all contribute to a building’s user experience.

In short, as a surface that users are in constant contact with, use flooring as an opportunity to make educational establishments that are not just safer and easier to clean, but that create places that inspire both students and teachers, creating connection and improving performance.

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS

King's College Hospital

Premier recently installed the final modules on site for a new outpatient services building at King’s College Hospital in London

Offsite construction in healthcare Why the demand for offsite solutions for healthcare continues to rise. In this article, David Harris, Managing Director of Premier Modular — one of the UK’s leading offsite specialists — looks at the renewed focus on offsite construction and how it is helping to address some of the biggest challenges for healthcare providers. here is definitely a surge in interest in offsite construction in every sector, but particularly in healthcare. The speed and quality benefits of taking a manufacturing approach to construction are clear and have been well documented — but are now more relevant than ever before. The pressure on health services and particularly on emergency care units has continued to rise year on year — and then the pandemic hit.

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Complex, specialist and highly serviced facilities The buildings required to expand capacity in the NHS can be complex, specialist and highly serviced facilities and needed on already extremely constrained hospital sites.

There is also the critical issue of minimising disruption to the provision of existing hospital services during construction.

These requirements are increasingly being met using innovative offsite solutions — on severely restricted sites, in up to half the time of site-based building methods, with much less disruption to patient care, greater certainty of completion on budget and on programme, and to stringent quality standards.

With superior design, highly efficient processes and a robust and flexible building solution, offsite construction can deliver comfortable and welcoming environments for patients and staff, with complete longterm flexibility to meet changing local needs, in compliance with NHS best practice for building design — and on some of the UK’s most challenging building sites.

Increasing use of offsite in the healthcare sector

A CGI of the completed King's College Hospital Outpatient Services Building

Significant government investment in healthcare is underway — as well as in infrastructure and education — and now with a welcome presumption in favour of offsite. Flexibility is key. Offsite specialists such as Premier Modular can deliver turnkey projects manufactured and fitted out offsite — and have the expertise to marry offsite with in-situ construction methods to create

hybrid solutions to meet individual project requirements with optimum efficiency.

Offsite construction can provide purpose-designed healthcare facilities and extensions for permanent applications, or high-quality temporary buildings to meet short-term increases in service demand or for decant use during redevelopments. Leading offsite specialists such as Premier can work as a principal contractor directly for an NHS trust, as a supply chain partner to a main contractor, or using construction management. The opportunities for offsite are then tremendous.

Rapid building solutions for healthcare New Outpatient Services Building at King’s College Hospital Premier has recently installed the final modules on site for a new 3,450sqm outpatient services building at King’s College Hospital in London — a major milestone in the build programme. The £21m contract is Premier’s largest single offsite healthcare project.

Constructed offsite, this large-scale, fourstorey building will allow the Trust to free up space within the main hospital to help reduce waiting times and improve the patient experience for urgent care services.

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Premier delivered a new, purpose-designed £1.7m ward building at North Middlesex University Hospital

A partnership approach to delivery As main contractor, Premier is leading the project team which includes delivery partner Claritas, P+HS Architects, and M&E specialists, TClarke. Awarded under the Crown Commercial Service modular buildings framework, the project follows the team’s successful delivery of a £10m contract for the offsite construction of a 62-bed Priority Assessment Unit at St Peter’s Hospital in Chertsey.

The new outpatient services building at King’s College Hospital will provide 48 purpose-designed consultation rooms and eight procedure rooms for a range of services, including dermatology and neurosciences.

Developing a highly restricted, live hospital site The use of an offsite solution for this project will ensure faster delivery and earlier occupation, to the benefit of patient care. It has radically reduced disruption during the build phase to staff and patients, and the surrounding residential community. This type of construction is also highly beneficial on restricted hospital sites such as this. The new outpatient building has access roads to three sides and is immediately adjacent to the Normanby Building.

Minimising environment al impact The scheme is designed to minimise impact on the environment over its life and is targeting a BREEAM excellent rating.

According to Stephen Hatcher, Associate at P+HS Architects: “It will have areas of green roof to encourage biodiversity, a highly insulated building fabric to reduce heat loss and running costs, energy-efficient ventilation and electric air source heat pump system for heating, along with solar panels for electricity generation.”

The façade design will be contemporary and was informed by the existing buildings on the hospital campus. A double-height

Interest in offsite construction is surging, especially in the healthcare sector

feature entrance will provide visibility externally and allow high levels of natural light for the reception and waiting area.

There was incredible “pressure to deliver this building to such a short

Clinical engagement Developed in collaboration with clinicians and patient representatives, the interior design will be crisp and modern, whilst assisting patients with sensory needs. To maintain patient flows, the new facility will be linked to the Normanby Building at ground floor level.

This project is an example of a full turnkey construction package, including engagement with the clinical team at the design stages, development of a highly sustainable M&E strategy, demolition of an existing building on the site, groundworks, offsite manufacture, module installation, and fitting out.

New in-patient accommodation, North Middlesex Hospital Premier delivered a new, purposedesigned £1.7m ward building at North Middlesex University Hospital, reducing the programme to help the Trust rapidly expand ward capacity for elective care services. There was an urgent requirement for new in-patient beds following a surge in demand for hospital services during the pandemic combined with the peak winter period.

Procured through NHS Shared Business Services, Premier was appointed to design, manufacture, and install a bespoke ward building to be in use for around 18 months.

Facilities for critical patient service provision This was a complex scheme that had to be delivered during a lockdown and just 16 weeks from order to handover. Working seven days a week, the Premier team was able to reduce time on site from around 10 weeks to just six weeks, to bring the building into use as fast as possible for critical patient service provision.

programme. Premier grasped the real-world impact this building would have on our patients waiting for treatment.

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Commenting on the project, Chris Kelly, Estates Development Manager at North Middlesex University Hospital, says: “There was incredible pressure to deliver this building to such a short programme.

Premier grasped the real-world impact this building would have on our patients waiting for treatment.

“Design choices had to be made in the context of budget, programme, and the incredibly fast changing healthcare environment. This demanded an exceptional understanding of the issues.

The modular solution allowed us to maintain services and the highest standards of patient care throughout. We have had really positive feedback from patients about the new facility.”

Optimising the benefits of offsite What we need now is for more enlightened NHS trusts and building designers to better understand how offsite manufacturing methodologies can be applied to the specification and delivery of healthcare construction projects. To optimise the benefits, there needs to be a more collaborative approach to procurement, early engagement with the offsite specialist and a drive towards best value.

■ For more information on Premier Modular’s offsite solutions and services visit www.rdr.link/lac005

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS

©trgowanlock/AdobeStock

Martin Passingham, Department Manager Product and Training at Daikin, explains how those responsible for public sector buildings can balance the need for energy efficiency with providing a healthy indoor environment, by taking a holistic approach to HVAC.

Balancing energy efficiency he decarbonisation of buildings is now a key priority as the UK strives to achieve net zero by 2050. However, the higher levels of airtightness required to achieve energy efficiency means that indoor air quality (IAQ) can be affected if it is not approached correctly.

The consequences of poor indoor air quality are increasingly well established. It has been linked to both short- and longterm physical health issues, as well as growing evidence that it may impact mental health and influence conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder. In schools, poor IAQ can be detrimental to children’s ability to concentrate and learn while in hospitals it may affect patient recovery.

Indoor air quality is impacted by a wide range of factors, and air pollutants can originate from sources both inside and outside the building. This can make ventilation a challenging issue as there is a need for indoor air to be refreshed but this must be done in a way that does not introduce additional pollutants.

Furthermore, a key energy efficiency issue with regard to ventilation is the heat loss that can occur when exchanging

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indoor air with outdoor air. Mechanical ventilation systems that include effective and efficient heat recovery can help minimise this loss and improve the efficiency of the HVAC. Where the building has areas with different needs, units with this capability can take the heat extracted from one area and use it to heat another space as well as deliver cooling if required by using the colder incoming air.

Additionally, efficiency can be increased with climate control systems that feature technologies such as variable refrigerant temperature (VRT) control. This adjusts the amount of refrigerant flowing through the system and alters the evaporating and condensing temperatures to match demand, meaning significantly less energy is required.

Source — Daikin’s ‘Delivering good indoor air quality’ whitepaper

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Indoor air quality is impacted by a wide range of factors, and air pollutants can originate from sources both inside and outside the building

Air filtration Ensuring effective filtration of the air is another central element for IAQ and energy efficiency. All HVAC units will be fitted with filters that are designed to keep them free of dust, principally to ensure good operation. However, it is important to ensure that the correct filters are fitted to remove particulate matter (PM) from the supply air. The type of filter required will depend on what is needed to achieve the PM threshold level based on the pollutants present in the exterior air. These threshold levels are derived from the Air Quality Guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Regular cleaning of these filters is important but can be time consuming, especially for larger buildings. Choosing indoor units with auto-cleaning filter capabilities ensures that dust can be removed quickly and easily. This prevents contaminants and odours circulating in the room and ensures the unit can operate efficiently. It has the added advantage of making cleaning and maintenance easier as often the collected dust can be removed during the standard building cleaning process, which is especially valuable for busy public buildings.

Additional ways to improve IAQ Beyond choosing the right system and ensuring the correct design, there are additional steps that can be taken to improve indoor air quality. Low maintenance, cost-effective devices, such as plasma ionisation technology, can be installed in new and existing systems to help remove harmful particles, volatile organic compounds (VOC), bacteria and viruses from the air.

Plasma ionisation, which does not affect the performance of the system, works by producing a stream of positive and negative oxygen ions that react with, and neutralise, the contaminants. Other airborne particles such as smoke, dust, pollen and mould spores are charged by the ions and stick together, increasing their size and allowing them to be captured easily, even by lower grade filters.

With the drive for increased airtightness of buildings, effective and efficient ventilation is increasingly important to ensure that energy efficiency targets are met while providing a healthy and comfortable indoor environment for building users or occupants.

■ For more information on Daikin and to download Daikin’s ‘Delivering Good Indoor Air Quality’ whitepaper, please visit www.rdr.link/lac006

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS

©michelaubryphoto/AdobeStock

David Meacock, Technical Director at Cistermiser and Keraflo, outlines how the latest water management solutions are playing a key role when re-commissioning buildings that have been temporarily mothballed or repurposed to meet flexing occupancy levels.

Protecting public health from tank to tap

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hile staff may be returning to UK workplaces in the highest numbers since the start of the Covid-19 crisis, levels remain far below pre-pandemic levels at just 23.3%. It’s abundantly clear that planning to return to something approaching ‘business as usual’ is presenting innumerable challenges for everyone involved in looking after buildings. As restrictions disappear it’s critical to ensure that public health continues to be protected, especially when it comes to the provision of safe water.

One potential health risk relates to Legionella in water systems that were been used during lockdowns, or that have been underutilised due to lower and flexing building demand. Buildings should have in place a risk assessment and a Water Safety Plan, but dormant water systems will result in bacterial growth, especially as we move towards warmer weather.

All aspects of a buildings’ water systems need to be reviewed before re-opening fully or in part. In some cases, these reviews will be carried out by teams of people on the ground. But for some more forward-thinking organisations, this critical work is being carried out by state-of-the-art cloud driven solutions, like LinkThru TMU from Cistermiser, which is being deployed in numerous educational, healthcare and public sector facilities across the UK.

What is TMU water monitoring?

In short, Intelligent Temperature Monitoring Units (TMUs) deliver automatic wireless monitoring, providing

real-time temperature readings on a computer screen, in order to track and monitor hot and cold water temperatures in pipework systems which are critical to risk assessments. A connected TMU can be

Diagram illustrating LinkThru system IoT connectivity

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water simply sitting still and not being used, which increases the risk of stagnation in the storage tanks. If these levels aren’t being monitored or controlled in any way, this creates a perfect environment in which bacteria thrive.

The single most important thing with a water storage tank is that the water should be turned over every 24 hours as a minimum.

Fixing Cistermiser’s LinkThru TMU onto pipework

Each TMU takes a water “temperature reading every 10 seconds and then sends temperature and flow event data to a cloud-based

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portal on an hourly basis.

retrofittable and is typically fitted onto water outlet pipework, distribution pipework including risers, calorifiers, cold water storage tanks and many other sentinel points across a building’s water system.

Each TMU takes a water temperature reading every 10 seconds and then sends temperature and flow event data to a cloud-based portal on an hourly basis.

Recorded data includes maximum, minimum and average temperatures. The sensor also records any flow events, such as outlets being utilised. The data readings are analysed by the device’s inbuilt software, batched and sent up back to the

Tank flex functionality cloud, and then on to the user’s preferred interface, which might be a phone, tablet or PC. The powerful data delivered by installed TMUs can help to show where sections of a building’s water system have remained safe and are operating to specified parameters (and therefore do not need excessive flushing) and flag areas that may require specific attention.

Legislative requirements are of course also a primary concern — in developing the system we continually referred to HTM guidelines, for instance, in setting the software’s recommended default temperature ranges for outlet types. HTM and HSE L8 ACoP guidance also emphasises the need to ensure water doesn’t stagnate, and of accurate recordkeeping. This means LinkThru users have peace of mind that they’re monitoring and recording what they need to in order to best protect against the threat of Legionella.

A sitting duck?

The other area of concern for public building owners and managers are water tanks. Where water is drawn directly from the mains supply it’s not so much of a challenge. But in larger facilities, we can often see up 20,000 litres of cold water stored in tanks on site. PreCOVID, when buildings were at capacity, use of the water would have matched the tank size and performance ensuring optimised and safe flow rates. But now there could be significant amounts of

Delayed action float valves, like those from Keraflo, go a long way to helping with water turnover and lowering the water level in tanks if required, but to take tanks to the next level of safety you need to monitor what is happening in the tank and act accordingly. This is where the WRAS approved Tanktronic from Keraflo comes into it own. This is a device designed to work in harmony with the Keraflo Valves as a tank monitoring system or with the Electro-Mechanical Filling Valve for monitoring and filling.

The Tanktronic is a modular electronic tank management system, which provides a simple solution to monitoring water levels, volume and temperature through one connection. It can also manage and control tank filling and feed all this information back to your Building Management System or other third-party devices. The system also provides proactive alarms for high and low water levels and water temperature alerts.

It’s innovative ‘flex functions’ (aka holiday functions) means you can have different water levels for different times of the year, weekends, and even different days of the week. So if you know building footfall will be higher on say the first and last day of every week, you can set it to automatically manage this.

Despite its critical function, water management has traditionally been perceived as a problem-child, approached in a fragmented and sometimes inconsistent way across the sector. Now with the additional challenges discussed above, we aim to change this for good.

■ For more on LinkThru and Cistermiser’s range of Tank To Tap solutions, visit www.rdr.link/lac007

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SCHOOLS, HOSPITALS & PUBLIC BUILDINGS ROUND-UP Raising fire safety standard in schools Door Group, a unit of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK & Ireland, is stressing the need for greater awareness of fire safety in education buildings, with a large percentage of fire doors in schools found to be non-compliant while undergoing inspections. Research released last year by Zurich shows that in the last five years schools have been hit by 2,300 fires, which have destroyed 47 primary and secondary school buildings alone. Door Group is committed to raising the standard of fire door safety in schools and provides a fully comprehensive inspection service, which can be carried out every three, four, six or 12 months to suit specific requirements.

Following inspections, Door Group then offer detailed reports containing advice and recommendations on necessary improvements, with the knowledge that identifying any potential issues that could impact safety and product performance can be lifesaving. Door Group inspectors are BRE-certified.

■ More information on ASSA Abloy Door Group’s inspection services here www.rdr.link/lac007

Cambridge school sees big improvement in IAQ A school in Swavesey, Cambridgeshire has reported a significant improvement in indoor air quality throughout the school since the installation of air purifiers, donated by Swedish air purification company Blueair and its UK distribution company, Cambridge-based BEAM Group.

Swavesey Primary School now joins several schools in the UK enjoying the benefits of improved indoor air quality as part of Blueair’s Clean Air for Children programme. 13 Blueair Classic 605 units with Particle and Carbon Filters were installed throughout the school. These filters also have an activated carbon sheet to help the removal of gaseous pollutants such as NO2, O3. Following a recent test at the school carried out by BEAM Group using a laboratory grade particulate monitor, Blueair and BEAM were able to show an impressive 95% reduction in PM10 and PM2.5 particles.

■ For more information on Blueair and its air purifiers visit www.rdr.link/lac008

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New primary school completed in 32 weeks Hatchlands Primary School in Redhill, Surrey — developed as part of the DfE’s Modular-A Primary School framework — has been completed in just 32 weeks thanks to the speed and versatility of the Elliott permanent modular building system. The BREEAM Very Good-rated school is within the top 25% of buildings in terms of sustainability, aligning with the goals of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council.

Elliott was awarded the project because it demonstrated excellent value for money and was able to provide a full turnkey solution. The Elliott Ibex permanent modular building system was specified, which is fully Building Regulations compliant with passive ventilation and has a minimum 60-year design life. The school features a contemporary style aesthetic achieved using brick, cedar cladding and purple panelling to complement the school’s branding, as well as render and significant glazed elements to create light-filled teaching spaces.

■ More information on permanent offsite solutions from Elliott here www.rdr.link/lac009

GSHP installation to generate CO2 savings for college As part of its ZeroCarbon Schools Initiative, managing contractor ReEnergise is transforming the carbon footprint of St George’s College Weybridge in Surrey, installing four Viessmann heat pumps. Initial groundworks have been completed at a large heat pump installation at the college. In late January, the sole remaining drilling machine made the last of 132 bore holes in fields that will be returned to use as sports pitches and for outdoor events. The four 230kW Viessmann Vitocal 300-G Pro Ground Source Heat Pumps being installed replace the school’s previous gas heating system as the main heat generator in an adapted plant room in the college’s Kean Building complex. Once commissioned, the new heating system will save about 250 tonnes of CO2 per year.

■ More information on the Viessmann Vitocal 300-G Pro Ground Source Heat Pumps here www.rdr.link/lac010

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The recently confirmed government funding announced for the remediation of non-ACM buildings is relatively modest at £967m

Cladding remediation Public sector cladding remediation: Why is the grant application process still so painful?

Peter Johnson, Chairman of Vivalda Group (the UK’s leading distributor of non-flammable façades), believes that the good intentions of The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (now The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities) are being undermined by an onerous and over-complex application process.

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he Grenfell Tower disaster happened more than four years ago. Yet it still casts a long shadow over the UK’s social and private housing sectors. Back in 2020, the then Housing Minister Robert Jenrick (now replaced by Michael Gove) announced a fund of £1.6bn to fix affected high-rise

buildings. Then in February of 2021 we saw an additional £3.5bn — designed to kickstart building contractors to commence work on unsafe buildings over 18 metres.

Since then, progress from the local council and contractor’s perspective has been frustratingly slow. While the funds initially sound impressive — it is now

widely considered that the £5bn figure will need to increase significantly (some say tenfold) to adequately make good all of the buildings at risk as a result of hazardous cladding. Gove’s recent announcement that he would be ‘going after’ those businesses that profited from the sale of unsafe cladding products

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signals a new line of attack from the Government. Certainly, those responsible for the sale of dangerous cladding, insulation and other aspects of the ill-fated Grenfell Tower can write-off any future government-funded work.

Non-ACM remediation update While the progress to remediate the 470 plus* towers affected by unsafe ACM cladding is now well underway, the Building Safety Programme is focusing its efforts on what is known as non-ACM projects. These buildings comprise other materials (such as laminates) that are now deemed unsafe as cladding for high-rise structures.

The recently confirmed government funding announced for the remediation of non-ACM buildings is relatively modest at £967m, with only £125m of this being prescribed for social housing.

Latest figures from the Government (January 2022) show that of the 218 grant applications received from public sector bodies, just 108 have been approved.

Due to the fact some public sector organisations had submitted applications for more than one building, this translates into approved funding for 119 social housing remediation projects. While these figures are encouraging, they are not remarkable and suggest ongoing issues with the onerous application process.

If we look at the 250 public sector buildings that have applied for the non-ACM repair grant, 119 have been given the nod, but 71 of these have been rejected or withdrawn outright. A further 60 projects are classed as being ‘under review’ according to the Building Safety Fund’s latest update.

That’s an application failure rate of close to 30%. To put it another way, if you are a council applying for a cladding grant, you have a one in three chance of failure.

Complex application What’s happening here? First off, the application process itself is highly complex (according to those council officials and contractors I have spoken to) — making the process to apply for funds slow, expensive and painful. “One wrong entry on a page and the whole application needs to be completely restarted’’ is a typical response to the process. We also see that there are still significant numbers

of project funding applications stuck in the pipeline awaiting further clarification before final approval or just waiting for that final bureaucratic tick.

Last year we saw a high proportion of ACM grant applications being categorised as ineligible or incomplete. This appears to be the case with non-ACM grants in the social sector. We may well need a simpler application process and certainly more proactive support to help local authorities and their contractors to correctly complete this onerous and complex application process.

Latest figures from the “Government (January 2022) show that of the 218 grant applications received from public sector bodies, just 108 have been approved.

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Further liability issues The contractual details surrounding the release of funds have also deterred potential applicants. Issues such as: funding penalties relating to late delivery, liability for poor workmanship associated with the original cladding system and insurance cover for the project have led to contractors questioning their confidence in the funding system and how much risk they are prepared to expose their businesses to. As the economy picks up, we have to remember these same contractors, who are in limited supply, have other options many of which are much less risky and simpler.

In addition, there is the part funding scenario created when assessment consultants or contractors peel away old cladding material only to find nonconforming insulation, framing and fixings beneath — all of which needs to be replaced. In this regard we need to remember while the Government is funding the replacement of illegal cladding boards, this does not include other elements within the façade system —

which can easily double the overall project cost if total replacement is required.

Another hugely significant cost that appears to have been overlooked is that of accommodation for residents while remediation work is undertaken. While not needed in all cases, it can be quite significant. The challenge is enhanced if we consider that it is needed in an environment of a chronic housing shortage.

People and materials Finally, labour shortages (already a challenge before the recent exodus of overseas workers) mean that the construction industry is struggling to find enough skilled installers to undertake the remediation work. Ironically, Michael Gove’s well-intentioned proposal to lower the height limit for eligible buildings from 18m to 11m will exacerbate this challenge.

The correct installation of cladding — including fire breaks, insulation, fixings and boards — is not a simple task and requires specialist installers — many of whom have come from mainland Europe. These are projects that must be done correctly — however skills shortages and the lack of available training within and for the contractor market will surely act as a further brake on progress.

There are also major material supply issues, with some contractors quoting 20 plus week deliveries on hard metals, insulation. Not to mention recent volatility in timber and aluminium prices — making cost estimations extremely difficult.

Looking ahead, despite the lack of materials and labour and the ongoing contractual discussions, we will start to see more non-ACM recladding projects coming on stream. In fairness, the MHCLG (now DLUHC) has faced a momentous task and they should at least be given credit for their genuine efforts to pull the industry together to bring non-specification cladding up to standard. However, the grant application process is still not bringing confidence to the remediation process. *

NAO quoted in Roofing Today (June 2020)

■ For more information on the Vivalda Group, its products and services visit www.rdr.link/lac011

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Decarbonisation through retrofit

The Insulation Manfacturers Association offers advice to local authorities and housing associations on meeting decarbonisation targets through retrofitting.

Examples of retrofitting insulation in existing buildings [Taken from page 18 of the IMA’s Insulation for Sustainability A Guide]

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eating our homes contributes around 17% of the total UK carbon emissions, which is why retrofitting housing is a crucial part of our mammoth task towards the net zero 2050 target. Many buildings in the UK are simply not up to the high energy efficiency standards necessary and as a result, it is widely accepted that the UK must embark upon a comprehensive retrofit programme of the existing housing stock if it is to achieve net zero carbon by 2050, as well as the other stated targets expected to be achieved along the way.

In general, homes in the UK are considerably older than elsewhere in Europe, with 5.8 million built before 1919 and more than half built before the initial insulation requirements were introduced to the Building Regulations in 1965. As a result, many homes lose heat through poor and inefficient building fabric, which encompasses a wide variety of construction

methods and materials. Many homes are also in poor and varying states of repair, so as a result, there is no simple, one-size-fitsall solution to retrofit the housing stock.

Part L updates Updates to Part L of the Building Regulations for England have recently been published, outlining the new standards required for energy efficiency of buildings in England from 15th June 2022 (Scottish and Welsh new energy efficiency updates will also follow later this year). From 2025, all new homes and other buildings are expected to be ‘net zero ready’, which means they will need to be built to ultra-high levels of energy efficiency with heating demand similar to that of the Passivhaus Standard (15-20 kWh/m2/year). Unfortunately however, there is little in the latest update for improvements to existing buildings.

The Government is expecting the energy performance of existing homes to

be upgraded by 2035, with all homes raised to an Energy Performance Certificate of at least C where “practical, affordable and cost-effective”. This will require more than 15 million homes in England alone, to be upgraded over the next 13 years.

Whilst the recently published Heat and Building Strategy expands on the detail of heat in buildings, there is rather less on improving energy efficiency,

Breakdown of energy consumption in existing homes (CCC Housing Fit for the Future?) [Taken from page 17 of the IMA’s Insulation for Sustainability A Guide]

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Insulation for Sustainability “highlights the issues associated with energy demand and the way enhanced insulation strategies play a crucial role in the built environment helping the UK meet its net zero targets.

U-values representing the current limiting values for England and the more aspirational voluntary standards such as Passivhaus and XCO2’s advisory targets. [Taken from page 5 of the IMA’s Insulation for Sustainability A Guide]

reducing demand or the essential policy needed to support any large scale approach to mass retrofitting.

Low carbon approach If we are to move to a net zero carbon country by 2050 (2045 in Scotland), it will be vital to make improvements to homes and other buildings to reduce emissions.

This means installing a whole range of energy saving measures; from new insulation and more efficient appliances, to replacing fossil fuelled boilers with low carbon alternatives, such as heat pumps.

There are probably two key issues in moving to decarbonised heating (although these do not provide the whole answer).

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be designed around each specific house.

Factors such as the building’s design, location and the constructions used for the walls, floor and roof will impact the best solution; ensuring correct detailing, using the most appropriate materials in the correct way and in the optimum place are all important considerations. Before any installation is undertaken, other issues may need to be addressed, including the need for adequate building ventilation, especially if work is to make the building more airtight.

Competency in installation

The first is the cost of fuel, especially if demand is not reduced alongside decarbonised heating. If demand is high, heating costs for consumers will rise massively compared to current heating costs. Secondly, available national energy generation to service overall demand is lacking, especially if both transport and space heating for buildings are converted to electric, requiring an enormous increase of electrical generation. Reducing heating demand in buildings will mean less generation is needed. This therefore should become an infrastructure issue as well as a climate change issue.

If we do not reduce demand, the incidences of fuel poverty will increase; if there is inadequate generation to service demand, decarbonisation could stall if less clean generation approaches are needed to service higher demand. Developing additional generation with additional power stations could also lead to rising fuel costs, increasing fuel poverty levels still further, unless heat demand is also reduced.

For the equation to work it would require a reduction of energy demand, an increase in clean generation and the installation of heat pumps at a similar cost to fossil fuel boilers.

In addition to helping tackle climate change, energy retrofit work also means that homes will require less energy for heating and power. This can help to reduce energy bills and even help lift families out of fuel poverty, whilst significantly improving comfort and wellbeing and contributing to energy security.

When improving an existing building, the improvement package really needs to

Given these complexities, it is advised to work with a retrofit coordinator and carry out the improvements to PAS 2035:2019.

This is a public specification which sets out a clear process for assessing a home, dealing with any issues and developing a medium-term improvement plan which sets out the best order for installing the improvements. Installation and commissioning needs to be carried out to a good standard via a competent and trained installer — for example to PAS 2030:2019 and via a TrustMark Registered company.

Insulation strategy Suitable for anyone looking to learn about the application of low carbon strategies through a fabric first approach, Insulation for Sustainability, highlights the issues associated with energy demand and the way enhanced insulation strategies play a crucial role in the built environment helping the UK meet its net zero targets.

Retrofitting insulation works for a whole host of reasons, from saving money to carbon reduction. Whether using internal or external insulation, it is vitally important the UK’s housing stock is raised to an acceptable standard by making the fabric of the building as energy-efficient as possible. Only then will we be able to provide a long-term asset that reduces energy usage and can be confidently passed on to future generations.

■ To download the Insulation for Sustainability white paper visit www.rdr.link/lac012 ■ For more information about IMA visit www.rdr.link/lac013

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Air barrier protection A. Proctor Group discuss simple, effective airtightness solutions that can help deliver zero carbon homes and the use of external air barrier systems in offsite construction. n a move to address the housing supply shortage, developers and housing providers turning to offsite construction are installing the Wraptite air barrier system as an essential component in achieving the most effective means of controlling and reducing air leaks.

Without the correct air barrier protection, the problem of air leakage through cracks, gaps, holes, and improperly sealed elements such as doors and windows causes a significant reduction in the performance of even well thermally insulated building envelopes.

With the increasing requirements and emphasis on thermal insulation, the proportion of energy lost through air leakage has become more evident.

However, thermal insulation will be rendered ineffective unless the airtightness of the structure is addressed.

Air leakage dramatically reduces the effect of thermal insulation and must therefore be a critical focus to improve energy efficiency within houses. In addition, energy-efficient heating systems will be ineffective if warm air can escape the building and cold air can seep in.

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External vs Internal Air Barrier The two main ways to achieve airtightness in the building envelope are internally or externally (‘inside or outside the services zone’.) In offsite manufacture, the use of traditional internal air barriers can be more complex and costly to install due to the need to accommodate building services such as electrical, lighting, heating, and drainage systems. The internal air barrier is only as good as its installation. If all the

service penetrations are not adequately sealed, performance will be compromised.

By moving the air barrier to the external side of the structural frame, external air barrier systems such as Wraptite from A. Proctor Group allow for an almost penetration-free airtight layer that can be installed faster and more robustly. Far simpler than internal options, an external air barrier system will maintain the envelope’s integrity, with fewer building services and structural penetrations to be sealed, and less room for error.

Simplifying airtightness The traditional forms of VCLs and airtightness membranes will often require mechanical fixing. The self-adhered nature of Wraptite allows for a fast and straightforward installation process, minimising the use of additional sealants and tapes and requiring no specialist contractors to achieve a robust result. This

one-step solution provides both a damage-resistant air barrier layer and effective secondary weather protection in one installation process, allowing a wind and watertight envelope to be achieved more quickly than traditional methods.

The Wraptite external air barrier system has been installed on an exciting low energy homes offsite project for developer OSCO Homes. Commissioned

by Kirklees Council, the site will demonstrate how high quality, energyefficient housing can be achieved using offsite construction. The bungalows are designed to be light, spacious, and desirable but must also mitigate fuel poverty and provide a safe and healthy environment where residents can live.

The superior airtightness performance of the Wraptite membrane offered the ideal solution, delivering significant benefits to the combination of in-factory manufacture and onsite housing construction.

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The use of high-quality “panels, with a highperformance membrane, built in a factory and assembled onsite, enables OSCO Homes to achieve a better airtightness and higher level of insulation.

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Low energy housing project Gwen Beeken, Managing Director at OSCO Homes, describes how Wraptite was key to achieving a quality airtightness solution suited to offsite construction. “Although an essential requirement is that the homes had to meet Building Regulations, both the client and OSCO Homes were keen to exceed this. The use of high-quality panels, with a high-performance membrane, built in a factory and assembled onsite, enables OSCO Homes to achieve a better airtightness and higher level of insulation, helping to reduce heating bills. The ease with which Wraptite achieves a high level of airtightness and its ability to be joined across panels was key to its selection.

“Applying it in a factory environment, we can be confident of the quality of the

OSCO Homes’ low carbon project will demonstrate how high quality, energy-efficient housing can be achieved using offsite construction

installation, and the specially provided Wraptite Tape means making the joints onsite is simple. Wraptite performs really well. We used to use a membrane, which would get damaged during transport, flapping around, and would then be difficult to make the joints neatly. Now, using the Wraptite detail means no edges are exposed during transportation.”

The air barrier system provides a fully self-adhered vapour permeable air barrier certified by the BBA. It is easily applied in the factory, bonded externally to the substrate, to ensure that the membrane is held firmly in place, even during transportation, maintaining the quality of the system from manufacture, to install, to completion.

■ For more information on the Wraptite external air barrier system visit www.rdr.link/lac014

The Wraptite external air barrier system provides a fully self-adhered vapour permeable air barrier certified by the BBA

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ROOFING, CLADDING & INSULATION ROUND-UP Patented blue roof attenuation system ACO Building Drainage’s blue roof attenuation system will help increase building resilience and futureproof performance during increasing extreme weather conditions, thanks to its specific patented design. The system, which features in a new animation, operates as an open attenuation tank that functions independently of the roof’s waterproofing and drainage system. During design rainfall conditions, the ACO blue roof attenuation system allows controlled drainage of rainwater on all roof types thanks to the attenuation tank sitting above a structural drainage layer. In exceedance conditions the roof can drain quickly. This is achieved as the system allows water to discharge by an internal overflow, as well as around the perimeter of the tank.

As a result, the system meets planning conditions and Building Regulations without compromising roof waterproofing — or overloading the roof structure. The system is compliant with Flat Roofing and Drainage building standards and the SuDS Manual hydraulic design guidance.

■ To view the new animation about the ACO patented blue roof attenuation system visit www.rdr.link/lac015

rdr.link Introducing rdr.link A new digital service for our readers With a wide array of online resources supporting the latest solutions – from videos to technical guides, PDFs to Podcasts – it can be a challenge to locate what you need.

To ensure you don’t miss out on these valuable resources, we are introducing rdr.link – a new, rapid service to transport you immediately to the online resources mentioned in our stories.

So, in articles you may now see things like: “To view an exclusive time-lapse video of the process use rdr.link/AA101” Simply enter rdr.link/ with the unique 5 digit code into a browser and it will take you directly to the mentioned resource – in this case the video.

Designed to help busy professionals rapidly locate more information – look out for & use

rdr.link

Non-combustible cavity solutions BBA certified and NHBC accepted Designed and built for best practice on site, Keyfix’s range of external cavity wall solutions have been awarded BBA Certification and are NHBC Accepted. This provides architects, contractors and specifiers with full assurance that the entire system has been tested to the highest industry standards. The Keyfix NonCombustible Cavity Tray System has been awarded a BBA Certificate and is the only non-combustible cavity tray system to not rely on tapes and mastics to make watertight joints, therefore eliminating one of the main reasons for product failure. Listed on the NHBC ‘Accepts list’, the system is approved by both Premier Guarantee and LABC. The company’s range of external cavity wall solutions also hold an A1 fire rating and are fully compliant to Building Regulations Approved Document B (ADB).

■ For more information about the Keyfix range of non-combustible solutions download the product guide at www.rdr.link/lac016

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KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS

Willmott Dixon awarded two contracts to Offsite Solutions to manufacture bathroom pods for a £78m regeneration scheme for Birmingham City Council

Offsite Solutions produced 692 steel-framed bathroom and ensuite shower pods for two apartment buildings in Birmingham

Factory-built bathrooms Why offsite manufacturing is changing the face of bathroom construction. In this article, James Stephens, Managing Director of the UK’s leading bathroom pod specialist Offsite Solutions, looks at the benefits of offsite manufacturing for bathroom construction.

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he shift towards offsite across the construction industry is being driven by the shortage of skilled labour, issues with consistent quality, and the need for greater certainty of delivery on time and on budget. There is now unprecedented demand for bathroom pods — for mixed-use developments, social housing and student accommodation, as well as for high end apartment schemes for rent and market sale.

The benefits of factory-built bathrooms 1. Reduced build programmes One of the key drivers for offsite is to reduce programme. By moving bathroom construction into a controlled factory environment, the programme saving on a major project can be as much as 20 weeks. This means less risk for the contractor, earlier occupation for residents — and much greater certainty of completion on time and to budget.

The importance of early engagement The most critical specification considerations for bathroom pods are: 1. Early engagement — essential to achieving optimal efficiency by designing pods into the early stages of a construction project. Pod installation must be accommodated in the build-up of walls and floors and take account of access for delivery of the pods to site, particularly on constrained city centre sites.

2. Economies of scale — standardised designs with minimal variations allow cost savings and time efficiencies by using the repetition of the offsite manufacturing process. To optimise efficiency, housing providers and specifiers should rationalise the number of bathroom design types (size and shape), and variations as far as possible.

2. Superior quality control The production line environment of offsite manufacture offers consistently higher quality, and improved productivity. The repetitious nature of factory production means that units can be completed to higher quality standards than on site. Predelivery testing should be rigorous and quality assurance procedures stringent for ready-to-use installation, mitigating defects and remedial works.

3. Improved cost efficiency The use of an offsite solution allows a number of trades to be combined under one contract, further reducing risk. This simplifies cost management and cash flow forecasting. The cost of factory works is more predictable and stable than sitebased labour and multiple subcontractors.

One of Offsite Solutions’ utility pods

4. Simplified procurement In-situ bathroom construction requires around seven different trades and 10-15 operations plus the required drying times.

With offsite manufacture, this is reduced to a single supplier, which means less risk of delays and easier procurement.

5. Reduced waste Offsite manufacture uses lean production techniques and better management of materials. Efficient processes optimise the

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Offsite Solutions manufactured bathroom pods for the Gascoigne West estate regeneration scheme in Barking

use of resources, avoid product damage, and improve recycling. These factors combine to radically reduce waste in bathroom construction.

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build-up for each storey whilst achieving continuous level floors.

Utility pods — steel-framed utility rooms, fully fitted out offsite for apartments or studios. A rapid build solution.

6. Improved site safety Site safety is a huge issue for contractors and clients in public and private sectors.

Moving construction offsite into a safer factory environment is a key benefit and research has shown that preassembly significantly reduces accident rates.

A good bathroom pod manufacturer will design the pods for fast installation on site, using for example, mechanically-fitted pan connectors and pre-wired junction boxes to simplify connection by the M&E contractor.

7. Design flexibility There have been significant advances in bathroom pod technology and there is now a wide range of solutions for different building types and housing tenures: ● GRP pods — widely used for student accommodation, healthcare, care homes and social housing. Lower capital expenditure and low maintenance. ● Enhanced GRP pods — additional aesthetic options such as tiled feature walls and recesses to appeal to prospective tenants, and offer significantly lower capital and operating costs for the retained asset. ● Steel-framed pods — a premium aesthetic with ceramic-tiled finishes and a high level of design flexibility. ● Demountable pods — a sectional structure for projects without access for fully assembled pods, such as refurbishments and commercial-toresidential conversions. ● Floorless pods — avoid the need for a recess in the floor slab to minimise floor

Case study: Birmingham City Council, Perry Barr Willmott Dixon awarded two contracts totalling £3.5m to Offsite Solutions to manufacture bathroom pods for a £78m regeneration scheme in Birmingham. This use of offsite manufacturing increased time efficiency by around 30% and maximised the cost, quality, and sustainability benefits.

The development, commissioned by Lendlease on behalf of Birmingham City Council, is creating 430 apartments for sale and rent on the site of a former university campus. The project is part of the £500m Perry Barr Regeneration scheme and is providing much-needed homes for local people due for occupation by 2023.

Offsite Solutions manufactured 692 steel-framed bathroom and ensuite shower pods for the two apartment buildings. Each pod features contemporary grey floor and wall tiles, a wall-mounted D-shaped hand basin, and heated towel rail. The bath has a handheld shower on a sliding rail.

Dan Doyle, Operations Director at Willmott Dixon, says: “The benefits of using offsite manufacturing for a project of this scale are unmatched.

“In one day, we could install around 20 bathroom pods. Traditionally this would involve a number of trades and take several weeks. For our customers, bathroom pods mean additional project certainty and added programme benefits, along with assured quality. The benefits

don’t stop there. The use of the pods helps to reduce the project’s carbon footprint and supported the compliance of Covid-19 safety guidance on site during the pandemic.”

The development at Perry Barr is part of a wider residential development that will create new activity and vibrancy for the area whilst providing much-needed housing. The steel-framed bathroom pods supported the ambitions of the design, offering a premium aesthetic with traditional porcelain wall and floor tiling and a high-quality finish.

Cutting edge offsite technology for bathrooms Factory-built bathrooms are delivered to site ready for installation, providing a consistent quality of finish that is unachievable on site.

Steel-framed bathroom pods offer highly flexible design options for large-scale public and private sector residential projects, and student accommodation. We recommend the wet areas to the pod walls and floor are fully tanked for long-term durability, and a composite ceiling panel in a matt painteffect finish is used for low maintenance and an enhanced appearance.

The latest offsite manufacturing technology and quality-controlled production ensures each pod is delivered to site as a complete, fully tested unit — and this is revolutionising the efficiency of bathroom construction.

■ Offsite Solutions offers the UK’s only RIBA-Accredited CPD training programme for bathroom pods. For more information on the CPD visit www.rdr.link/lac017

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KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS As the UK begins its journey towards a post-pandemic world, the shift over the past two years has left a surging demand for social housing, placing growing pressure on local authorities. The Government has outlined ambitious targets for new-build homes within the next 30 years and Steph Harris, Product Manager for Showerwall, shares what to consider when specifying bathroom wall panelling.

Helping to build better

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t has been well documented that the UK has been failing to keep up with the demand for housing requirements in the UK. Recent research has found that there has been an increased demand for single occupancy homes, highlighting that in the wake of the pandemic it’s not just family units who are seeking housing. The properties required, often bedsits or onebedroom properties, are in short supply and there have been renewed calls for a social housebuilding programme.

If new-build targets are met the emphasis on affordability for tenants is crucial, meaning that throughout the build process speed and budgets remain paramount. In the bathroom, property managers are looking for solutions that are easy to fit, but also easy to maintain, requiring fewer call outs to a property.

Shower enclosures are now replacing baths and inclusive wetrooms and level access showers are becoming

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increasingly popular not just because of their accessibility benefits but to make the best use of the space available.

Growing benefits of wall panelling Bathroom wall panelling has become a popular solution in modern homes due to the rising awareness of its many benefits, making it the fastest growing market in home interiors with the sector seeing an estimated 25% growth year on year for the past six years. Panelling has started to take away share from the tile market due to its ease of installation and hygiene benefits. The growth in this area has also been driven by the rise in popularity of shower enclosures.

Housing providers can capitalise on the benefits of this growing trend. Showerwall’s panels have the capability to fit over existing tiles, speeding up the installation process and can be fitted in just one day.

Fitted around a shower area, the panels

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can provide a completely watertight solution reducing downtime and the time specialist trades spend on site.

Wall panelling provides the ideal solution for social housing due to its ease of installation and low-maintenance properties. Showerwall’s comprehensive Laminate and Compact collections for example provide large expanses of decorative surfaces in a range of stylish decors. The panels are quick and easy to install from floor to ceiling and also easy to clean and maintain, which means there are no hiding places for mould, dirt and germs.

One solution to fit all Multi-generational homes are increasing in popularity with families pooling resources together due to the cost of living increases. Families in the UK are living together for longer as the younger generation is struggling to get on to the property ladder, and the price of care for

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the older generation is not always affordable. However, while care is often the primary reason for multigenerational living, families are now also seeing the huge cost benefits of combining households.

Bathrooms are often one of the busiest rooms in the house where multigenerational living is concerned and therefore require products that are easy to maintain. Grout-free wall panelling is easily cleaned with a quick wipe, with no gaps or grooves for dirt and soap to build up.

Property managers are also increasingly looking for longterm, practical solutions, which can futureproof homes for tenants who may require bathroom adaptations. Bathrooms featuring level access shower enclosures are very mainstream now, and offer practical appeal for users of all ages as well as those with mobility issues.

Working together for greener homes Local authorities are now facing additional challenges following the UK Government’s targets to achieve net zero in housing by 2050 and it’s vital housing providers choose sustainable solutions that help reduce the carbon footprint of housing stock.

Working with manufacturers such as Showerwall, which has just launched its Environmental Story, will give peace of mind to social housing providers that all sustainable practices are aligned to achieve upcoming targets. For example, the company has recently undertaken work within the business to ensure that its manufacturing processes and ways of working are environmentally conscious.

As part of its commitment, all Showerwall’s panels are manufactured in the UK, meaning less fuel is used to transport materials, and its Display Stands are made within the same factory, helping to reduce its carbon footprint when getting the whole package out to the customer. In addition, Showerwall’s Laminate and Compact panels are manufactured using an FSC certified core board, guaranteeing that the timber used is harvested from responsibly managed forests. By purchasing a product with such certification, it supports sustainable forest management worldwide.

Training opportunities As part of its dedication to supporting local authorities, Showerwall offers on site training for housing providers.

During a dedicated session the team can fully train people to fit wall panels quickly and efficiently, meaning there is a reduced need for specialist trades to fit the panels — an ideal additional skill for maintenance teams.

Social housing providers are under increasing pressure to tighten financial budgets, provide more high quality accommodation, and to ensure homes are sustainable.

Working with trusted manufacturers can help local authorities achieve these goals and futureproof their housing stock.

■ For further information on Showerwall’s Laminate and Compact panels visit www.rdr.link/lac018

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KITCHENS, BATHROOMS & DISABILITY NEEDS ROUND-UP New futureproof sanitaryware range

New wall panel designs and colours

AKW, one of the UK’s leading providers of accessibility solutions, launches its stylish new Livenza Plus sanitaryware.

The high-quality range is fully compliant with the latest, revised UK Water Regulations, which require a 300mm cistern overflow pipe and a visible top-fill water inlet valve, with an all-round air gap. This is to eliminate backflow and potential contamination risk of the water supply. To accommodate the revised internal design requirements, the Livenza Plus raised push button and lever flush cisterns are tall and slim, delivering both functionality and enhanced aesthetics. The range also has rounded edges and corners to minimise potential fall injuries and features a rimless pan, which is easier to clean and helps prevent the build-up of bacteria. To further improve functionality, the cistern comes with either a standard push button flush, a raised version or lever handle option for those with dexterity issues.

Waterproof wall panel manufacturer, Fibo, has added a selection of new designs to its Urban, Signature and Scandinavian collections, providing specifiers with even more contemporary choices. A new Straight Herringbone design joins the Urban Collection; a Vertical Plank design has been added to the company's Scandinavian Collection, and a new high gloss décor has been introduced to the Scandinavian and Signature ranges.

The Straight Herringbone design is available in three colours: Ocean Blue, Olive Green and Denver White.

The waterproof wall panels are a cost-effective and practical alternative to bathroom and kitchen tiles. The panels' offers excellent durability and maintaining them over a long period requires substantially less effort than tiles. The panels can also be installed up to five times quicker than tiles, thanks to Fibo's patented Aqualock ‘click' system, ensuring an effortless and simple install with invisible joints.

■ For more details about the Livenza Plus sanitaryware range visit www.rdr.link/lac019

■ For more information about Fibo's new designs visit www.rdr.link/lac020

Advertisement index Here is a useful summary of all the adverts that appear in this issue of Local Authority Building & Maintenance.

Each is listed with its page number and a direct URL that will get you straight to the relevant online information A. Proctor Group ............................................................(page 9) www.rdr.link/LAC109

Intratone UK Ltd ............................................................(page 17) www.rdr.link/LAC106

Aico Ltd ....................................................................(page 2/IFC) www.rdr.link/LAC100

Marley Ltd ........................................................................(page 4) www.rdr.link/LAC107

Akzo Nobel/Dulux ........................................................(page 21) www.rdr.link/LAC101

Pro Builder Live ....................................................(page 43/IBC) www.rdr.link/LAC108

Autopa Ltd ....................................................................(page 37) www.rdr.link/LAC102

Samuel Heath & Sons ..................................................(page 25) www.rdr.link/LAC110

Building Products/Glidevale ........................................(page 11) www.rdr.link/LAC103

Siderise ................................................................(page 44/OBC) www.rdr.link/LAC111

CHAS ............................................................................(page 34) www.rdr.link/LAC104

Sunray ............................................................................(page 28) www.rdr.link/LAC112

Harrison Thompson ....................................................(page 29) www.rdr.link/LAC105

Triton Showers ..............................................................(page 41) www.rdr.link/LAC113

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