As we head towards the end of another challenging year for construction, one thing is becoming increasingly clear. Designing better buildings isn’t simply about choosing better products. It’s about understanding how those products work together, how buildings will perform over time and, perhaps most of all, how the decisions we make today will affect the people using them tomorrow.
That message came through particularly strongly at our recent Specify & Build retrofit round table, which we explore further in this issue. Bringing together architects, consultants and manufacturers, the discussion highlighted the need to move away from treating retrofit as a series of isolated improvements. Installing a heat pump, replacing windows, the roof or upgrading insulation might all deliver benefits in their own right, but without a proper understanding of how the building works as a whole, we risk missing opportunities for even greater efficiency and performance, as well as potentially wasting money and creating problems further down the line. It’s a fascinating discussion, and one that deserves much greater attention across the industry.
The theme of thinking ahead runs through much of November’s issue. We explore how the latest developments in overheating assessments are encouraging designers to prepare buildings for a warmer future, while our housing feature looks at everything from creating developments that respect their surroundings to the growing role of timber frame in construction across the UK. Elsewhere, we examine why acoustic performance needs to be considered much earlier in the design process.
With changing regulations, the impact of the latest Budget, economic pressures and increasingly demanding performance requirements, specifiers certainly have plenty to think about. But there are opportunities here too, even in such a challenging market. Better collaboration, earlier planning and more informed product choices can make a real difference.
Spacetherm A1 is a flexible, ultra-thin aerogel insulation delivering high thermal performance with limited combustibility. Suitable for thermal upgrades, it improves energy efficiency and reduces thermal bridging, including around window reveals and shutter boxes. See page 12 to learn how Proctor Group can help.