BAR news
Click on the links below for the latest PDF news releases from BAR:
Timber Industry fire complacency highlighted
The complacency of the timber industry highlighting the fire and structural collapse risk of only those multi-storey timber-frame structures under construction has been underlined
by last week's fire of a newly built and occupied block of flats in Hounslow, London.
Steel price increases benefits concrete construction
The admission by the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) that the spiralling cost of UK steel sections is resulting in construction companies taking profit
hits and having to cancel projects further underlines the cost benefits of concrete construction.
Locally sourced construction materials offer environmental and economic benefits
The locally sourced benefits of UK reinforced concrete are being highlighted by the inexorable rising costs of oil that are resulting in higher international transportation costs of construction raw materials.
Rebar Price Increase
Increased global demand and prices for scrap metal have resulted in reinforcement manufacturers having to increase prices by over £100 per tonne.
Reinforced concrete offers potential for discreet bomb-blast
protection
The British Association of Reinforcement (BAR) has welcomed Prime Minister Gordon Brown's proposals for increasing the protection for public buildings such as
airports, rail stations, shopping centres and sporting venues against possible terrorism but calls for the protection to be incorporated into the design where
possible rather than be intrusive.
Reinforcement steel mills welcome further opportunity to recycle
The British Association of Reinforcement (BAR) has welcomed research by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) that has found there is a potential 70,000 tonnes of scrap steel from recycled tyres that could be used for the production of rebar.
Bar Expansion
The British Association of Reinforcement (BAR) is pleased to announced the appointments of Graham Mackenzie as Chairman and Martin Southcott as Technical Director. The appointments are part of the Association's ongoing development as the industry focus and marketing champion for the UK's reinforcement industry.
Corus Confidex trick?
The carbon off-setting Confidex Sustain initiative, being introduced by Corus, is being branded by the British Association of Reinforcement as a smokescreen
to avoid real measures to tackle the reduction of carbon emissions.
Concrete answer to commercial zero carbon challenge
The Government is to launch an urgent drive to reduce the carbon emissions of commercial buildings, in particular the amount of CO2 emissions resulting from
their day-to-day use.
Who pays for proposed Timber Fire Safety Scheme?
A spate of fires on timber building sites has forced the timber industry to develop a third party timber safety management scheme. Whilst this is welcomed, the
additional site costs and bureaucracy may not be.
Further timber frame fires cast doubt on its suitability for
multi-storey construction
Another day, another timber framed project under construction goes up in flames. A three-storey student accommodation block being built in Newcastle city
centre for Northumbria University was razed to the ground on Monday night.
Sustainable construction requires consideration of more than just embodied CO2
Not only is reinforced concrete one of the most versatile and durable of construction materials, when you take account of both its ability to reduce the longterm operational CO2 emissions
of buildings and the fact that, compared to timber and steel, UK reinforced concrete is locally sourced it is also one of the most sustainable.
Construction industry should take account of shipping CO2 emissions
New research that CO2 emissions from shipping are double than those of aviation and could increase by a further 75% over the next 15 - 20 years focuses
attention on the environmental impact of global transportation for construction materials.
UK is world's third largest importer of illegal timber
A new report from the WWF has found that the UK is the third largest importer of illegal timber in the world. This seriously undermines the assumed green
credentials of timber construction believes Steve Elliott, project director of the British Association of Reinforcement.
Climate change questions future performance of lightweight construction
Higher summer temperatures resulting from climate change could mean that lightweight construction is environmentally and structurally unsound in as little as
14 years.
Cost study confirms concrete's competitive edge over steel
A new cost model study has found that reinforced concrete can be up to 5% cheaper than steel frames for typical commercial buildings.
Timber multi-storey aspirations go up in smoke
The timber industry's aspirations to increase their market share of the multistorey residential market may have gone up in smoke believes the British
Association of Reinforcement.
Environmental awareness fuels demand for heavyweight construction
There is a strong link between a building's environmental credentials and it's market value. The growing appreciation of this link will see more developers turning
away from the energy-guzzling heating and air-conditioning of lightweight steel and glass offices to the passive energy benefits of exposed concrete structures as
building owners and occupiers insist upon green buildings with lower energy bills believes the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR)
Madrid fire report
An official report into the fire damaged structure of the Windsor Tower, Madrid, begs the question should the steel industry be actively encouraging the
paring down of active and passive fire protection measures?
Primark warehouse collapsed at early stage of fire
The loss of up to half the stock of a major UK clothing retailer, which has been
destroyed in a fire at a huge distribution centre, could have been prevented
had that warehouse been built from reinforced concrete believes the British
Association of Reinforcement (BAR).
Fire-fighters, Building owners and Insurers warned about so called 'economics'
of 30 minute steel fire resistance
The loss of up to half the stock of a major UK clothing retailer, which has been
destroyed in a fire at a huge distribution centre, could have been prevented
had that warehouse been built from reinforced concrete believes the British
Association of Reinforcement (BAR).
Steel significantly increases overall gross floor area costs
Concrete construction continues to offer better value than steel despite the current price adjustment for reinforcement. This is demonstrated by the impact
of steel price rises on the cost of gross floor area reports the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR).
Concrete construction facilitates future proofing of hospitals
The call by the Future Healthcare Network for healthcare buildings that are future-proofed favours concrete construction. Unlike lightweight construction
systems, concrete offers a more structurally honest solution that accommodates flexibility and future adaptation reports Steve Elliott, project
director of the British Association of Reinforcement (BAR).
Steel industry admits failings of Offsite Intumescent Application
The steel industry has surprised consultants attending a recent Corus seminar by admitting the failings of offsite application of intumescent coatings. For
despite hailing the process as being one of the steel industry's big development successes of the past decade, they have admitted that that the
porblem of transporting and erecting the intumescent coated steel sections “without knocking ten bells out of it”.
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