The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) has now drawn its two year campaign on risk assessments to a close.
New sterilisation rules for dentists and patient choice for GP's have made the market more competitive.
An energy efficient home was built using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) – chosen for their fast construction time and airtightness – ensuring the property is superbly insulated, despite its extensive use of glazing.
http://www.thedesignersplatform.co.uk/documents/calendar.php
Housing minster, John Healey, has released details of £250m to build 3,400 homes and create around 5,000 jobs.
The bulk of the money comes from the National Affordable Housing Programme budget, but has been boosted by extra money as part of the housing pledge announced in June.
The money will be shared between 43 housing associations and other bodies across 97 local authority areas throughout the country.
11 September, 2009
With more and more people staying in their own homes, Hertsmere Borough Council has scrapped some of the charges made to residents who ask for advice about home extensions.
Fees for other bigger developments have also been frozen in a bid to boost the local housing market and offer a helping hand in a difficult finance climate.
Cllr Hannah David, portfolio holder for housing and planning, explained: "Whenever anyone is thinking about building or developing, we do encourage them to make early contact with planning officers so that we can work together on projects. That way developers can know early on what is acceptable, and what is not, and this can save a lot of money and time in the long run.
“Because officers can spend hours at a time helping people in such a way, historically we have charged homeowners £250 for pre-application advice for extensions to their properties. For bigger developments of homes fees can go up to £1000 for this advice.
“With the country in recession many people are staying in their own homes, rather than moving, so we have decided to scrap the £250 fee for pre-application advice for extensions, while fees for the other bigger developments will stay the same."
In 2008 Hertsmere received around 100 letters from householders about alterations to their homes, while so far this year it is around 100 already, reflecting the number of families staying in their homes rather than moving.
If you want to use the pre-application service contact the planning team on 020 8207 2277 or email planning@hertsmere.gov.uk
A new facilities building for storage of maintenance vehicles and equipment, workshop and changing/ day facilities for employees.
Tips for eco-friendly computing
The average PC takes 1.8 tonnes of chemicals, fossil fuel and water to manufacture and causes the emission of 100 kg carbon dioxide each year, but most of us simply couldn't live without one. Unfortunately, computers are becoming more power-hungry as we expect them to perform increasingly complex tasks for us.
Power drain
Desktop PCs that are plugged in all day are especially power-hungry. Unless you flick the switch on the wall or take the plug out of the wall a PC that is apparently turned off will still be using power. If you leave your computer monitor on all night you'll waste enough energy to microwave six dinners. A PC left running 24 hours per day would use £59 worth of electricity over a 12-month period and create 716 kg of carbon dioxide emissions a year.
Small is beautiful
Laptops need to be as energy-efficient as possible so that they can go anywhere. The processors are designed to run on less power, the screens use as little energy as possible, all of which adds up to significant energy savings compared to a desktop PC.
Energy-saving tips
Unplug your PC when not in use, and don't forget the scanner, monitor, printer, broadband box and audio speakers all need turning off too. Use your computer's energy-saving mode: you should be able to turn the brightness of the screen down, or set it to turn off if you haven't used it for 5-10 minutes.
Information provided by Friends of the Earth.
Remember if you buy a cheap laptop, there is a reason! its not sustainable or recyclable and toxic! Choose right.
The new 13-inch MacBook embodies Apple’s continuing environmental progress. It is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
What’s common in other notebooks is conspicuously missing in the new MacBook. Take for example, mercury used in CCFL backlights and arsenic contained in the glass of traditional LCD displays. Apple engineers have said no to both of these substances. They’ve chosen LED technology and arsenic-free glass. They’ve also said no to brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in logic boards, and PVC in cables and connectors. In fact, Apple has done more than remove these toxins from the new MacBook. They’ve done the same thing for the rest of the new MacBook family, the LED Cinema Display, every single iPod and the iPhone. Sometimes saying no is a good thing.
http://www.apple.com/uk/macbook/environment.html
We've found this week's great list from BigGreenSwitch.co.uk
Oh dear... we are amongst the most energy wasteful people in
If we can do just a number of the above, it will make a big difference! Many of the ideas above you'll see in Birchway's Green Charter. More information to follow soon.
If you've put off using an architect because of the cost, or fear you'll be ridiculed, check out our guide to affordable, approachable professionals.
Why go to an architect?
"These economic advantages come at the same time as regulatory changes that will hit masonry construction hard, but that are negligible to us. New energy efficiency regulations for the construction of new homes being introduced from 1 April 2006 can be achieved with a simple, highly insulated timber frame solution that is already standard across our industry. This means more timber frame homes that use less energy to run, which is a benefit to home buyers that will continue to increase in importance as domestic fuel bills rise.
"We are nowhere near as dependent upon expensive fossil fuels. In fact, 77% of the energy used in the production of wood products in the UK comes from wood residues and recovered wood. Through recycling our own waste we help to keep our manufacturing costs and environmental impact as low as possible.
- Open panel timber frame construction in England and Wales currently costs GBP798 per square metre, compared to GBP799 per square metre for traditional brick and block construction; - Timber frame construction (both open and closed panel systems) requires 20% fewer on-site labour days than masonry construction, and ensures a significantly faster construction period overall; - Timber frame homes are weathertight in almost half the time, leading to important quality, efficiency and health and safety benefits; - The cost of snagging timber frame homes is a third less than for brick and block homes; - There are no high risks associated with open panel timber frame, compared to traditional construction which is perceived to be at high risk of price fluctuations, delays due to bad weather, lack of key trade skills, service installation faults, health and safety hazards, construction errors and other defects at handover; - Multi-storey buildings favour modern methods of construction like timber frame because the costs of complying with stringent building regulations for high-rise buildings increase faster for brick and block construction than for off-site manufactured elements; - Timber frame systems are also particularly suited to brownfield sites with poor soil conditions (sites that favour lighter buildings), and sites with restricted access.
For UK client with plot in Caribbean,
Landlords are buying more properties than they are selling for the first time in two years, suggesting that activity could be picking up in the buy-to-let sector, according to the body that represents UK letting agents.
More than double the number of estate agents reported that landlords were buying properties in the first quarter of 2009 compared with the previous three months, according to the Association of Residential Letting Agents (Arla), which suggested that sentiment in the buy-to-let market seemed to be improving. A lower number of Arla members said landlords were selling properties.
By Daniel Thomas, Property Correspondent
Published: March 30 2009 02:13 | Last updated: March 30 2009 02:13
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Yoop architects could assist in finding plots and evaluating your options, call Bash for advice 020 8954 6291or bk@yooparchitects.co.uk
Also Castleview mortagages 0844 561 7177 for finance advice.
Published: March 12 2009 08:22 | Last updated: March 12 2009 09:07
Wm Morrison on Thursday reported sales gains ahead of rivals as the UK’s fourth largest supermarket group increased market share.
Like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 7.9 per cent in its financial year to February 1, while total sales jumped 12 per cent to £14.5bn.
For full story hit title link. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2009
Unable to move house, homeowners are turning to improvement projects as the next best alternative.
Despite interest rates falling and further rate cuts expected, moving house remains an rare event in current times. House prices have fallen a long way over the past year and opinion indicates that further reductions are very likely. That, combined with the reduced availability of mortgages, the fear of higher unemployment and of course the high costs with moving home have caused many people to pick the option of home improvement as a more savory alternative.
For full story hit title link above
source:Copyright ©2008 www.improve-your-home.co.uk
Don’t move, improve! This is exactly what’s now happening in Macau… Billions of US dollars, when they were worth anything, were poured into Macau for the leisure and gaming industry by the main players such as Wynn, Venetian, MGM, etc.
Posts
All Comments
Posts
All Comments
