Image of a robot (humanoid-style) looking over a cityscape

We’re living in a time when many of our roads, bridges and buildings are getting old and showing signs of wear. It’s like they’re all getting sick at the same time, making it impossible for inspectors to keep up with the job of checking out every crack, creak or crumble. This is a big problem, because if problems are not caught early, they can deteriorate and even lead to dangerous failures.

Here’s where some clever minds at Drexel University in the US come in. Read this week’s blog to find out more about how they’ve developed a system that uses robots and artificial intelligence (AI) to help with the inspections.

Image of the earth at night time being held in human hands

At the opening of COP28 this afternoon, the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, gave a powerful speech, urging delegates to accelerate climate action. His stark message was: “If we do not signal the terminal decline of the fossil fuel era as we know it, we welcome our own terminal decline. And we choose to pay with people’s lives”.

With building operations and construction accounting for nearly 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions, our industry clearly has to be part of that call to action. Read this week’s blog for what one industry expert says are the key points that the sector should be thinking about.

Earlier this month, more than 100 UK businesses joined forces with the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) in calling upon the Government to urgently reform the planning system to tackle climate change alongside the UK’s deepening housing crisis.

In their letter to government, the coalition is asking for reforms to the planning system that would bring it in line with the Climate Change and Environment Acts and says the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill (currently going through Parliament) could also be a crucial opportunity to align planning decisions with the nation’s net zero emissions target. Find out more in today’s blog.

In recent years, drone technology has made it far easier to view aerial images of the UK’s urban landscape. But, while our towns and cities are hugely diverse in architectural character, looking down from above they are often very similar, with a common sight being a mass of black, brown and grey roofs.

However, there is a trend which has started to add patches of colour to the aerial perspective – green roofing! In this week’s blog, we’ll explain more about what a green roof is and look at six reasons why this is proving to be a great option for our buildings.

Today is International Women’s Day, a day in which people across the globe come together to celebrate women’s achievements, raise awareness of issues affecting women and girls, and take action which promotes greater equality.

This year, the campaign has the theme of #BreakTheBias. So, taking this as our inspiration, in this week’s blog, we’re looking at some of the key issues which affect women who enter the historically male-dominated trades within the built environment. Read on for some startling truths!

This week, the UN Climate Change Conference known as COP26 opened in Glasgow, bringing representatives from around 200 countries into the Scottish city.

With so much ground to cover, the conference is due to last two weeks, closing on 12th November. One pledge that’s already been made by leaders of more than 100 countries is a commitment to end deforestation by 2030. As the days progress, no doubt we’ll see more headline pledges like this but meanwhile, we thought it might be helpful to summarise what COP26 is all about and what it potentially means for construction. Read on for your five-point guide.

Calling on the world’s built environment to focus on delivering sustainable buildings for everyone, everywhere, World Green Building Week is the largest campaign of its kind.

So, although the official campaign, which is organised annually by the World Green Building Council, was officially last week (20th – 24th September), perhaps something this important deserves our attention every week! Read on for all the detail.