The CEW Exemplar programme  is being re-energised with the arrival of our new Director Gordon Brown, who is looking for new Exemplar projects. Does yours fit the bill?

Exemplars do exactly what it says on the tin: they are the very best and examples which others can learn from. So, is your scheme aspirational enough?

One way to find out is to talk to the new CEW Exemplar Director, Gordon Brown. He has spent over 20 years in the construction industry – as a consultant and Contractor  – delivering a wide range of major projects including from the  Senedd Building in Cardiff Bay, the Old Brewery Quarter in Cardiff and Thames Water’s Head office in Reading amongst others. Most of the time he has been living and working in Wales and recently he has been running his own consultancy firm providing training, advice and guidance on BREEAM, Defence Realm and the delivery of sustainable building projects.

Gordon has been involved with a number of schemes that have secured awards both nationally and locally in Wales. He and his staff have won five BREEAM national awards in eight years – so he knows a thing or two about excellence in construction.

Anyone with a project or scheme that might fit the Exemplar requirements need to contact Gordon for an initial chat and appraisal before being nominated – which won’t be easy as he is an advocate of best practice principles, particularly regarding the environment and sustainability of the built Environment. He has presented at numerous conferences in both Wales and the UK. Gordon  is also a CIOB and CITB Ambassador and previously been Chair of the Chartered Institute of Buildings’ Cardiff Branch, Committee Member of the CIOB Wales Branch and of the Wales Low/ Zero Carbon Hub and assisted Cardiff University with the WEST scheme. Gordon knows his Exemplar principles back to front – so if you think your project has vision or aspects of strategic thinking then contact him for some advice and honest feedback.

Email: Gordon.Brown@cewales.org.uk
Call: 02920 493322 / 07825 886868

The shortlist is out and judgement day is upon as…brace yourself as you prepare for presentations, interviews and sort the best from the rest.

Awards judging IS taking place over the next two weeks – good luck to all our shortlisted entries!

We have received over 100 entries of outstanding quality giving our judges a real headache – your award entries keep on improving and reflect real progress in Welsh construction. Take a look at our shortlist (below or via the web site) and start planning your diary, sort out your suits and dresses and book a table for the 15th July at the Celtic Manor. It is the tenth anniversary of the CEW Awards so we are planning a BIG night!

But who are the judges behind the awards? Check out who are the Judges at the CEW Awards. 

But meanwhile think about how else you can get involved. Apart from booking a table and enjoying the fun why not become a sponsor? The CEW Awards dinner is the biggest night of the year for construction in Wales – if you want to be noticed, or you want to remind stakeholders what your organisation does for the industry in Wales then talk to Sue Selkirk about becoming a CEW Awards 2016 sponsor.

House builders – do you provide good HUGs with your new homes? A HUG is a home user guide. HUGS are important and it is why we are asking you to review the Building Regs Sustainability Review.

At Constructing Excellence in Wales we have a privileged position and are able to hear from academia, policy makers and industry. This provides us with a fairly unique position in which to join the dots up and see how we could realise real change in our built environment. One area receiving a lot of our efforts at the moment is housing, both in terms of retrofit activity as well as low carbon new build.

It’s in these new low carbon houses that we have the opportunity to really secure low energy lifestyles and to help reduce fuel poverty and Wales’ carbon footprint. But this will only be possible if occupiers know how to best use the technologies within their homes.

So, we’re calling on house builders and those commissioning new housing to take part in the Welsh Government’s consultation on Building Regulations Sustainability Review and in particular the potential to introduce guidance to encourage developers to create Home User Guides (HUG) for all new domestic developments in Wales.

The guidance would potentially include the provision of a HUG template, to assist SME developers and improve the consistency of the information provided to homeowners. Review the guidance route to determine its success, with a possible regulatory route in the future, making the creation of a HUG mandatory. Be sure to take part in this consultation as we need to find the right level of detail to ensure that HUGs are useful and relevant documents for homeowners is important. As is the need to avoid adding unnecessary cost and burden on housebuilders completing sites and handing over the keys to undoubtedly excited new occupiers.

This is already happening in Scotland. You can see Scotland’s own quick start guide here.. This could be something for Wales’ to follow or learn from. The guidance is already within Scottish building regs - here

Use the links. Check all the information and by all means contact CEW for further information. Consultation responses are to be submitted by 24^th May 2016.

Cycling is one of the UK’s fastest growing sports and with Welsh athletes like Geraint Thomas and Luke Rowe riding for Sky it is never far from the headlines. But as more and more people use bikes, they all want somewhere to store them safely – especially if they ride them to work.

So, contractors, designers and planners need to think about cycling as they create the world beating Welsh build environment everyone demands.

One solution might be the Cobra cycle rack, which is now certified with Secured by Design, the national police initiative that aims to 'design out crime' through the installation of security products that meet Police-approved standards. The Cobra is a secure, space-saving cycle storage solution, that allows cyclists to lock their front wheel and frame through the solid steel loop that connects spaces, whilst also properly supporting the bicycle when parked.

To obtain Secured by Design certification and become a police preferred product, the Cobra passed through independent testing with Sold Secure, the test house of choice for security products, achieving the bronze award for bicycle parking. This test imitated opportunistic theft of a locked bicycle to the rack.

Company Director Rupert Harvey-Scholes said, “Turvec are committed to providing secure solutions to improve the standards of cycle parking across the industry and the Cobra rack passing independent security testing is evidence of this. We are proud to display the widely recognised Secured by Design brand alongside our own, giving our clients confidence that security is very important at Turvec.”

For further product information please visit www.turvec.com or call 0800 246 5484.