CEW, Welsh Government, AECOM and the WLZCH held three workshops together as part of the 2012 consultation on changes to Building Regulations in Wales Part L (conservation of fuel and power).

As part of its commitment to tackling climate change and its duty to promote sustainable development the Welsh Government stated its aspiration that all new buildings in Wales should be zero carbon. As a step on the road to zero carbon, in June 2010 the Welsh Government announced its intentions to improve the energy performance of new housing through Building Regulations for Wales by 2013. Functions under the Building Act 1984 including those to make Building Regulations were transferred to Welsh Minister on the 31 December 2011. The Welsh Government’s current programme for government for the period 2011-2015 sets the goal of strengthening Building Regulations to achieve a 55% improvement in energy efficiency over 2006 levels (40% over 2010 levels).

The Consultation documents have been updated to include the minor revisions on the Welsh Government website.

The recordings, available on our YouTube channel were filmed at the Cardiff event on the 5th September 2012.

Over 18 months ago a number of “hands on” practitioners, from the grass roots of the industry, came together to share some thoughts and views on how “value” and “added value” could be gained from the investment that goes in to construction projects across Wales. It was an opportunity to share their experiences, potential solutions, good practices and from time to time, a few things which didn’t quite work out!

The thing is “value” is a subjective concept. It means different things to different people. The trick for those delivering construction services is to identify what the customer or stakeholder perceives important to them and how does it increase the benefit or worth of the product or service. The problem is that what’s important to one person is not necessarily important, or as important, to the next person.

Having debated the concept of value and how it can be delivered these practitioners set out to develop a forum where others could contribute to the debate and share their experiences – good and bad! And this is where the idea of a “How2” guide came from.

The intention of this web-based guide is to offer advice and guidance on where value can be added, who is best placed to do it and how they can do it. It follows the 5 key stages of a construction project from concept on to planning, design, delivery and through to operation and offers potential interventions at each of these stages. It’s been designed in a relatively simple fashion so as not to “over power” the user and in many cases it signposts the visitor to other websites containing areas of best practice and case studies. It applies to both building and civil engineering projects but obviously the terminology fluctuates from time to time!

Most importantly it’s not a prescriptive and definitive rule book – it’s a guide to how best value can be achieved based on the views, opinions and experiences of many practitioners across the construction industry in Wales. And it certainly doesn’t set out to be “perfect”!

Why not have a go by following the How2 Website. If you agree or disagree with anything or feel you can add to the contents let us know via Twitter and we can work together as an industry to “add value”.

The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is sharing the knowledge and the lessons learned from the construction of the Olympic Park through a project called the Learning Legacy. It aims to raise the bar within the sector and showcase sustainable, safe and successful construction practises, case studies and innovations that the building industry will benefit from in the future.

The launch of the project marks the first time that a construction project in the UK has sought to capture intellectual capital on this scale.

Learning Legacy is a collaborative approach between the ODA, contractors, professional institutes, government bodies and academia, and builds on the ethos set by the ODA of setting targets well above the industry benchmarks, meeting the majority of these and, in a number of cases, exceeding expectations.

The programme showcases the positive effect the London 2012 construction projects have had on the industry and will encourage businesses to perform better.

The programme is centred around the Learning Legacy website that outlines the programme and provides case studies, reports, tools and templates and research summaries across the ten industry themes. 

The ten themes are: Design and engineering innovation; Equality, Inclusion, Employment and skills; Health and safety; Masterplanning and town planning; Procurement and supply chain management; Programme organisation and project management; Sustainability; Systems and technology; Transport; Archaeology.

CEW has gained a new team member, Sarah Brennan, as the Project Manager for the Construction Waste BEST programme. Sarah will be responsible for the Built Environment Sustainability Training programme, otherwise known as BEST, working with Cardiff University, in order to support the construction industry to meet the targets outlined in Towards Zero Waste. Within her role at CEW she will manage the development and execution of the built environment waste project from initiation to closure working collaboratively with the project sponsors, partners, other contributors and stakeholders across all aspects of project delivery.

Sarah is a qualified Project Manager in the construction industry gaining experience from Lovell repairs and maintenance based at a local community housing association in Cardiff Bay. She has also gained valuable experience and knowledge of the construction industry after spending some time with a small contractor based in Newport covering quantity surveying, project management and estimation practice. Prior to this she gained extensive working knowledge of local authorities after working at both Newport City and Monmouthshire County Council as a quantity surveyor.

Sarah returned to education as a mature student to re-train whilst working for the former Westbury Homes and then Persimmon Homes, here she completed her HNC Building Studies which provided her with the basic knowledge and understanding of the construction industry and built environment as a whole. Sarah then funded her Bsc Project Management in Construction via the University of Glamorgan. This enabled her to become even more aware of the industry and the changes that are happening in this along with the relevant legislation and legal duties.

For further information click onto the BEST website

Everyone knows that Wales needs serious investment in its infrastructure, but has the Welsh Government identified the right schemes in the Welsh Infrastructure Investment Plan (WIIP)?

The WIIP is a good document, picking out some great ideas that will benefit Wales when they are completed both in terms of jobs for the local communities they affect as well as the wider economy. But do the ideas go far enough? We think that with some encouragement and support from Welsh construction – which means CEW stakeholders – Wales should be thinking bigger and bolder.

This doesn’t mean that the Welsh Government has got it wrong. We believe by taking a different point of view and adopting a bolder approach to what is going to benefit Wales we can create a blue print for a truly world class Welsh built environment. Welsh construction can go much further than anyone believes: all it needs is a chance to prove itself. By working hand in hand with Welsh Government industry can help create a document that takes the great work in the WIIP and then adds a bit of fuel injection to take it even further.

Milica Kitson outlined some of this in the Western Mail. Just as the London Olympics has galvanised and showcased the skill and tenacity of UK construction, the same results can be achieved in Wales for the Commonwealth Games if Cardiff makes a bid to host the 2026 Games. Welsh commercial property will be boosted. Welsh jobs will be boosted. 

A ripple effect can be achieved across all the major projects needing to be delivered in Wales and Welsh construction will be the delivery mechanism. But such major projects can only be delivered via a team approach that encompasses the whole Welsh supply chain and it needs the support and leadership of Government. 

We think that focus can come from the industry and Government working together. That’s why CEW is aiming to influence the delivery of these major projects by setting up a new task group to interact with Government. Our next step is to talk to the appropriate Ministers and produce a report that underlines exactly what Welsh construction can do for Wales. 

Last time we did something like this Government backed us and commissioned a total rethink of procurement. That was called No Turning Back. Now it is time to move forward together and think bigger.

The Constructing Excellence in Wales BIM programme has now delivered ten capacity events. The “BIM for learners” and “BIM intermediate level” events have gathered over 200 delegates to look at the principles, terminology and application of BIM in Wales.

The BIM intermediate sessions expanded the initial understanding from the learner session and explained the components of BIM, the practicalities of implementation of BIM and looked at some case studies in use. It also used the challenges and experiences of others to assist the delegates in assessing their own maturity, developing a BIM strategy for each business and making less risky investment decisions around BIM.

Attendees have valued an impartial and well informed view, in an open and relaxed learning environment. Delegates particularly valued the fact that their feedback is informing the Welsh Government’s BIM approach through the work of the Constructing Excellence in Wales BIM Client and Supplier task groups.

The feedback has also shaped the development of the programme and further, more detailed technical sessions are going to be organised later this year. The sessions will include full on case studies of complex parametric BIM model showcases, the nitty gritty of BIM file protocols, BIM execution planning in detail, and other BIM specific topics arising from feedback on the programme of events.

In addition, a number of delegates have requested re-runs of the early events so they can get their colleagues to gain the same understanding of BIM. If you missed out on the first round of events or would like to attend future BIM events, please contact us to reserve your place before they sell out again.

The events have been presented and facilitated by Professor Andrew Thomas, one of the co-authors of the BIM report and strategy that support clients and suppliers on the challenges and opportunities of BIM implementation.

This new focused role will be led by Emma Thomas, who was previously one of the drivers of the Construction and Demolition Waste Programme Manager at CEW. As director of for the new Sustainability Programme her work will reach across the Waste and Low Zero Carbon Hub Programmes whilst supporting the core construction agenda.

Emma joined CEW in 2008 from ARENA Network where she worked across the Envirowise programme. She has won the respect of Welsh construction opinion formers and decision makers because of a practical approach to dealing with issues that combines excellent academic knowledge of her field with business sense.

Emma said: “Waste and low carbon go hand in hand. It is far too easy for the construction supply chain to do a job with the best intentions and yet create waste, or fail to reduce carbon. We need to educate everyone from tradesmen and surveyors to clients and designers to look at the whole picture. That way we can make sure that every gain made in one agenda is not undermined by a deficit in the other.”