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.
In a single year, the UK generates 67.8 million tonnes of non-hazardous Construction and Demolition waste, a figure that represents 62% of the nation’s total waste output.
This waste is made up of all kinds of products – concrete bricks, tiles, ceramics, insulation, wood, glass, plastic, bituminous mixtures, cement, gypsum, paints, varnishes, soil, stones, coal, tar, cables, pipes, adhesives and sealants – to name a few!
While much of this is recovered, taking action to reduce construction waste has proven to be good, not only for the environment, but also for business. Keep reading to find out more…
Tools and equipment are essential to the effective running of any construction site but, because they are used so much, they can suffer a lot of wear and tear, become damaged and eventually be unusable.
However, with proper care and maintenance, the lifespan of your tools and equipment can be extended and that’s good news for four reasons: 1) Better quality tools means better quality work; 2) It reduces costs related to repairs or replacements; 3) There will be fewer accidents/ injuries from faulty equipment; and 4) It’s better for the environment.
With so much to gain, in this week’s blog, we’re sharing some top tips for how to protect and maintain those tools.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve been sharing some of the principles and actions we want Sheriff to follow in order to improve our ‘social value’. In our two previous blogs, we looked at the things we could do to better support the communities we’re part of and the people who work with us (both in and outside of the workplace).
There’s one more area of social value which is really important to us because it’s implications go so much further than the people and places that are part of our everyday lives – the environment.
So, in the final chapter of this series, our question is this: What steps can Sheriff take to protect the natural environment?
Like most construction companies, there are times when our work involves dealing with and temporarily storing hazardous waste on site. If we were to do this poorly, it would have the potential to cause damage to both the environment and the local community (especially if it was allowed to contaminate surface water or groundwater supplies).
The good news is that we take our responsibilities seriously and follow strict procedures that comply with UK legislation and ensure no such damage comes about. As this is such an important topic, we’ve put together this quick guide to hazardous waste so that people know exactly what they should/ shouldn’t be doing.
Globally, in every town and every city, concrete is used to give our buildings shape and strength. But the huge scale of the concrete industry comes at a cost – it’s estimated that around 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacture and use of cement, which is the main component of concrete.
Now, a team from the University of Tokyo have come up with a new kind of concrete that has the potential to reduce emissions from the construction industry! Read on to find out more about this concrete of the future.
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.
A team of workers from Sheriff have recently spent their weekends improving the outside space at our office, creating a little sanctuary where staff can take a break and nature can flourish. The project has involved clearing away overgrown trees, shrubbery and debris from a stream that runs along the back of the office, as well as creating a small decking area and flower beds which have been seeded with a wild flower mix to support increased biodiversity. On top of this, almost all the materials used were reclaimed from our building sites, thereby saving them from landfill. Take a look at what we’ve done in more detail in this week’s blog.
While the central role of a roof in covering and protecting the inside of a building from what goes on outside has remained the same, advancements within the industry mean that modern day roofing often goes far beyond the basics. New technologies have added functionality and brought several benefits into roofing systems and with so much going on, we thought we’d use this week’s blog to shine a light on two fairly recent innovations – cool roofing and blue roofing.