What's New

Be Valuable - Constructing Excellence

The report of a Be/nCRISP Task Group chaired by Richard Saxon CBE.

'Be Valuable- a guide to creating value in the built environment' by Richard Saxon CBE was launched on the 23rd November 2005 at Delfina Galleries, London. The report aims to replace the single minded focus on cost in all we build with one on value, the balance between what we get and what we give to get it. Buildings support the performance of their occupiers and investors in tangible and intangible ways, and they have lifetime costs which too- rarely influence design decisions. Malcolm Dodds, Research Director at Constructing Excellence, outlined the importance of value in sustainable communities: "Value in housing includes understanding people's needs and learning how to meet them - or exceed them - consistently. For example, designing and managing housing which enhances people's health and sense of self worth". It calls for research in a number of areas but also makes the present state of knowledge clearer. It should enable all stakeholders involved to think more productively about value and how to achieve it.

G4C

Originally a Be initiative, G4C is calling on the housing sector to get more involved.

Generation for Collaboration or G4C was conceptualised with the broad aim of engaging school leavers, undergraduates and the educational sector and instil the spirit of collaboration within the new generation, creating a movement for change. The five key objectives are:

• To harness and promote innovative ideas generated by the new generation.
• To influence the educationalists to include collaborative principles within courses.
• To raise the profile of careers in the built environment.
• To make all forums of Constructing Excellence more accessible for graduates, undergraduates and school leavers.
• To be a voice for the new generation

To get involved and to find out more please register on the G4C website here.

FOR INFORMATION

The National Audit Office report: "Using Modern Methods of Construction to Build Homes More Quickly and Efficiently" is now available as a pdf from the NAO website click here .

Membership News

Concrete on Tour

In November 2005, the Housing Forum working group looking at Increasing Innovation in the Supply of New Homes offered Housing Forum members the chance to visit factories in Europe which produce high quality innovative concrete products for the housing industry. The trip was organised and subsidised by The Concrete Centre and visited Belgium and Holland. The participants saw how the concrete products are assembled off site and in a number of instances how they were erected on site. They also had the opportunity to discuss the merits of each system on a direct and informal basis with the staff of the factories and representatives from The Concrete Centre.
For full details of the tour including an itinerary please click here

A further tour is being organised by The Concrete Centre during May 2006, if you would like to attend please email Anna Scothern.

New Membership Package

The new membership package for the Housing Forum was launched at the Innaugral Joint Members Convention for Housing Forum and Be members on the 21st September 2005. There will be a two tier fee based on size of company which will provide access to all Constructing Excellence forums: The Housing Forum, Building and Estates (Be), Infrastructure, Construction Clients Group and the Local Government Task Force. We welcome your comments on the new package. For more information please click here

Joining now for 2006/07 will give new members a benefit of 15 months subscription for the cost of one year.

Demonstration Exemplar

Rotherhithe Estate Refurbishment, South East London

Construction Start: 1.1.00
Construction Finish: 31.12.07

Total Value: £11m
Construction Value: £10m

Description:
An ongoing modernisation of eight, three storey, blocks of flats that were built around 1915. The project is being developed under a partnering agreement between the client, contractor and consultants.

Main Innovation:
The Partnering Team has applied the same collaborative principles as were used in its first Housing Forum demonstration project, St Quintin Park Estate. In so doing it has been able to demonstrate tangible improvements in cost certainty, predictability and tenant satisfaction on conclusion of each modernisation phase. Where the Rotherhithe project differs however from that of its predecessor is in the significant improvements that have been secured in environmental sustainability and in the elimination of fuel poverty through features such as:

• Bike stores.
• "A" rated condensing boilers.
• Argon filled double glazing.
• Drying spaces which ensure that use of tumble dryers is minimised.

Events

A CONSTRUCTING EXCELLENCE SEMINAR:

"THE FUTURE FOR SUSTAINABLE HOUSING"

Contact details

The Housing Forum, Constructing Excellence, Warwick House, 25 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0PP.

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