Even though some people may be out off by rising energy prices and interest rates, home ownership is still very common, with many people viewing it as both a security blanket for themselves and their families and a lucrative investment opportunity.

When searching for the ideal residence, people tend to look for traditional must-haves like outdoor space, the size of the home, parking and local amenities. However, with new ideas and technologies constantly changing the way our houses are designed and fitted out, we wondered what might become the must-haves of the future. Read on for a few thoughts…

This week, the Egyptian city of Sharm el-Sheikh saw world leaders, business leaders, climate activists, civil society representatives and others arrive for COP27 – the largest annual gathering on climate action. Running for two weeks (until 18th November), this United Nations conference is seeking renewed solidarity between countries to urgently tackle the global climate emergency and deliver on the Paris Agreement for people and the planet.

Approaches that can be made by energy intensive sectors such as oil, gas, steel and cement will be discussed on the conference’s ‘Decarbonisation Day’ (11th November) so we’ll be keeping a watch on what’s said. Meanwhile, we thought we’d take this as our theme for this week’s blog and look at five ways construction companies can lower their carbon footprint.

The world we live in is constantly changing and the construction industry is certainly no exception to this. While some of the changes construction faces are incredibly challenging (for instance, the materials and labour shortages that have been widely reported in recent years) others can be seen as game-changing opportunities to boost productivity, conquer new markets, improve sustainability and support the wellbeing of the workforce.

As we start another year, still in the grips of the global pandemic along with other serious planetary concerns, we’re taking a look at some of the predicted top trends for construction in 2022.