ABSTRACT
In November 2018, following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in London, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) introduced an amendment to the Building Regulations 2010, which outlined stricter rules banning the use of combustible materials defined by the new Building Regulation 7(2). This change had a significant impact since early 2019, on the materials and systems that can be used in the construction sector. In 2020, the global pandemic caused by the diffusion of the COVID-19 virus represented a new challenge for the industry, with implications on programme certainty, material procurement, workforce management, moving towards offsite manufacture. The development of the Trent Brick Panel is set against this historical and social context. The envelope prototype is the opportunity for innovation that follows the turn of events. The offsite manufacturing of glass-reinforced concrete panel, mimicking several finishes, is the result of a design investigation carried out with the market-leading actors: developers, main contractors, subcontractors, engineering consultancies, architects, local authorities and warranty providers. The research aims to give an overview of the design principles, sequence and buildability study, assessed weathering performance according to CWCT Sequence B test and fire performance. © 2021 Institute of Physics Publishing. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: World Health Organization has highlighted the need to strengthen the relationship between health and built environment factors, such as inappropriate housing conditions. Building Regulations and Local Health Rules provide safety and building hygiene in construction practices. Currently the Italian Government is giving rise to a Building Regulation Type and the paper aims to verify the present contents of recent innovative Local Health Rules and Building Regulations of several Italian municipalities for supporting the performance approach of the future Building Regulations including hygienic issues. METHODS: The analysis examines both Building Regulations and Local Health Rules of a sample of about 550 cities, analysing some specific fields of interest: urban field, outdoor issues, housing features, housing restrictions, and qualitative aspects. RESULTS: The analysis focuses on some specific aspects defining the general data reported in Building Regulations and Local Health Rules, in particular around surfaces, heights, lighting and aeration ratio, basements and semi-basements, gas radon, building greenery, etc. CONCLUSION: The investigation permitted to have a wide vision on the present State of the Art in order to highlight some innovative aspects and design approaches of Building Regulations and Local Health Rules. New perspectives in the new regulations should have a performance approach, starting also from the recent SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.