Category Archives: News

Catalyst cleans up CO2 better with different preparation

An international research team led by Bert Weckhuysen (Utrecht University) and Sara Bals (University of Antwerp) has shown that a promising catalyst for clearing CO2 becomes significantly more active and selective if its pretreatment is modified. The scientists have visualized the mechanism underlying this concept with unparalleled precision. The results of the study are published in Science on […]

‘Fire engineering must keep up with green building innovation’ – Where are the blind spots?

In his keynote presentation, Guillermo Rein, Professor of Fire Science at Imperial College London, outlined the key layers of fire protection. They are, he explained: precaution; detection, compartmentation; suppression; evacuation; and structural resistance. None of them is perfect, he said, but hopefully enough will work together to prevent a disaster. Read more via IFSEC Global. 

First Minister issues cladding warning to developers

Last year, the Scottish Government announced that it had reached an agreement with developers to assess and, if necessary, make safe more than 100 buildings that are being assessed for dangerous cladding. Responding to a question from Kaukab Stewart MSP, Humza Yousaf said he would resort to legal means to get the work done if there […]

Contaminated river contains toxic ‘forever chemicals’ says Environment Agency

A river was found to contain all combinations of toxic chemicals tested for by the Environment Agency (EA) in a recent study. Officials discovered a “cocktail” of PFAS – the collective name for the group of nearly 10,000 industrial and household substances including PFOS and PFOA – in the River Ouse, which runs from near […]

Engineering options that can prevent sewer overflows

WITH the water industry in England apologising for its ongoing release of sewage into the environment, what engineering options do we have to help put a stop to it? The industry is facing significant pressure to fix the issue, with data showing it spilled sewage into the environment on average 825 times every day in […]

Which European nations are winning the heat pump race?

When Andreas Rosen decided to future-proof his home in Germany’s Mosel wine region, he knew he wanted to upgrade his heating system to a low-carbon heat pump. About half of Germany’s 41 million homes currently rely on gas heating, with another quarter running on oil. In a bid to encourage homeowners to decarbonise their heating, […]

Demand for engineers increasing, with rapid growth in green jobs

As the UK ramps up its focus on becoming a net zero economy, a new report commissioned by EngineeringUK finds that demand for engineers is predicted to grow faster than for other occupations and that vacancies for ‘green engineering’[1] roles in the UK have increased by more than half (55%) over the last 5 years. Read more via […]

Net Zero offers real ‘levelling up’, but Government must get behind green jobs

By committing to the Net Zero target, the UK has already embarked on a transition that will materially transform much of the economy; it is an opportunity for growth in high-quality jobs, distributing opportunities across UK regions. Around 250,000 jobs have already been created in the transition, but the full workforce opportunities will only be […]

Registration of buildings with new safety regulator underway

Registration is part of the new stricter regime from the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) to protect residents. All high-rise residential buildings – those that are at least 18 metres tall or have seven or more floors containing at least two residential units – must be registered by law. Read in full via IFSEC Global.