Buzz Research

10th July 2017

World first biophilic design research project connects buildings with nature

A live office refurbishment will provide environmental and human data as evidence for positive health and wellbeing impacts on office occupants BRE has launched The Biophilic Office project – a ground-breaking office refurbishment project that will provide quantified evidence on the benefits of biophilic design on health, well-being and productivity of office occupants. The project … Continue reading “World first biophilic design research project connects buildings with nature”

15th December 2016

5 questions about Phase Change Materials (including one about cocktails)

BRE Global technical author Corinne Williams answers 5 questions about her new publication Assessing the performance of Phase Change Materials in buildings. Question 1: Did you have to test several cocktails during the writing of this publication? No! The ice cube example is a simple way to explain how PCMs work. Ice is a commonly used … Continue reading “5 questions about Phase Change Materials (including one about cocktails)”

11th November 2016

Reducing Gatwick Airport’s false fire alarms

Following a successful campaign to reduce false fire alarms, Gatwick Airport called on BRE experts to review its false alarm data and identify ways of further cutting these incidents. They were able to make recommendations and propose an operational process to address the remaining false alarms. Read more here

6th October 2016

Security Glazing: is it all that it’s cracked up to be?

The BRE Trust-funded research project ‘Security glazing: is it all that it’s cracked up to be?’ followed a spate of ‘smash-and-grab’ attacks to steal expensive goods such as jewellery and designer clothing from window displays. These attacks showed that in some cases glazing offers the least resistance to forced entry in situations where criminals are … Continue reading “Security Glazing: is it all that it’s cracked up to be?”

3rd October 2016

Learn more about BRE Global’s new security certification scheme for buildings and built infrastructure

SABRE Essentials is a series of publications aimed at breaking down the technical requirements of SABRE – BRE Global’s new security assessment and certification scheme for buildings and built infrastructure – into bite-size portions, helping users of the scheme to better understand its component parts and identifying the benefits that certification offers to a wide … Continue reading “Learn more about BRE Global’s new security certification scheme for buildings and built infrastructure”

6th September 2016

Sustainable refurbishment – how to better understand, measure and reduce the embodied impacts

Around 10% of UK emissions are associated with the manufacture and transport of construction materials, and the construction process; and refurbishment projects make up a significant percentage of activities in the built environment. The UK is committed to reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050; savings linked to refurbishment will have an important part to play in meeting this target. … Continue reading “Sustainable refurbishment – how to better understand, measure and reduce the embodied impacts”

31st August 2016

Assessing the environmental impacts of construction – understanding European Standards and their implications

  The context for environmental assessment in the construction sector is undergoing considerable change. This is largely due to the publication of the suite of standards from CEN TC 350, which interlink with those from International Standards Organisation (ISO) relating to life cycle assessment (LCA) and Type III environmental labelling. Our experts have written a paper, funded by … Continue reading “Assessing the environmental impacts of construction – understanding European Standards and their implications”

3rd June 2016

Mobility Scooter Fire Experiments

Lewisham Homes has partnered with the London Fire Brigade, BRE and the British Automatic Fire Sprinkler Association (BAFSA) to carry out tests to examine how effective residential sprinkler systems are on mobility scooter fires. Steve Kilden, Fire Safety Advisor for Lewisham Homes said: ‘A growing number of residents need to use mobility scooters.  Because of … Continue reading “Mobility Scooter Fire Experiments”