With the launch of the BuilderScrap Managed Service Pilot this month, we are actively seeking charities, schools and community groups in need of building materials and products. 

We will very soon be opening a new section of the website for these groups to promote their projects and list required materials, which we will be able to match with the construction materials coming in from the Managed Service Projects.

If you are, or know of, any projects who could benefit from this FREE service,

please call 0844 225 3000

or email Paul@BuilderScrap.com

At BuilderScrap we always looking at the listings for surplus building materials which our members post on the website.

We have been looking at this in more detail lately, and I have written this blog to help our users to get the most out of their listings.

The main feedback we have had is that people are much more willing to respond to a listing with a photograph of the building materials available.

Unsurprisingly free building materials have a higher response than ones being charged for! However, it is so important to put a cost on your item regardless, as many members have commented on this. If you are flexible on price ,O.N.O next to the price will make people more receptive to your listing.

A description should be fairly short and only include relevant information such as; size, age of item and current quality of the item. Include any words which people may search for when looking for this particular item.

An Example of Perfect Listing:

Name: Jacobean Brick

Description: Quantity 113, Colour – Buff, Depth – 65mm, Surplus – Never used

Cost: £30 O.N.O

Photograph:  

Liverpool Football Club will leave a lasting legacy in China this week by sponsoring the build of a new home for a low income family in Shanghai. Liverpool Football club has partnered with Habitat for Humanity. Habitat for Humanity is an international, non-profit organisation dedicated to eliminating poverty housing and homelessness from the world.

This particular volunteer build has been organised by the Chinese arm of Habitat for Humanity, in association with the worldwide housing charity’s Liverpool affiliate, which is also building 32 low-cost homes in the city’s Toxteth district.

It is believed to be the very first time a UK Premier League football club has funded a Habitat project anywhere in the world, this ground breaking move taken by the Premier League giants will also see Merseyside Business leaders roll up their sleeves and help build the home as Liverpool celebrates in the final day of its involvement at the World Expo.

Liverpool Managing Director, Christian Purslow, said: “Liverpool Football Club are very aware of the tremendous work that Habitat for Humanity do, both in our own city and abroad, and we are extremely pleased that our support will help provide a better home for this family in Shanghai. It represents a lasting legacy of the Expo, which everyone involved can be truly proud of. ”

There will be up to 20 volunteers from the Liverpool and surrounding business community to help build the new home which is for 57-year-old Ding Amao and his 85-year-old mother Chen Gengen. Their existing house was built in 1975 with wooden beams and mud bricks are not the ideal building materials for a home to be built with and the home is now deemed unsafe. This house lacks even the most basic of necessities for the family’s use.

Travelling to Shanghai to assist with the build is Rev Dr Shannon Ledbetter, chair of Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, who said: “This is a fantastic example of two Habitat organisations on opposite sides of the globe coming together to create a long-lasting legacy. Some high profile business leaders will be at the World Expo for Liverpool Day and we are really excited about the prospect of involving them in the China build and then, hopefully, welcoming them to our own site at Kingsley Road, in Granby-Toxteth.”

The General Manager of HFH China’s Shanghai office, Eric Arndt, added: “With the support of Liverpool Football Club and our sister organisation Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, we are helping complete the job of eradicating substandard housing in Pinghu. This partnership epitomises the way Habitat for Humanity brings together people from every walk of life and from every part of the world to build homes, transform lives and develop bonds between communities.”

Source: Liverpool FC official website.

The Great Pyramid of Giza (also called the Pyramid of Khufu and the Pyramid of Cheops) is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the only one to remain largely intact.

It is believed the pyramid was built as a tomb for fourth dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek) and constructed over a 20-year period concluding around 2560 BC sadly back then they didn’t have building supply stores or green materials just solid stone dug from the ground.

The size of the pyramid is astonishing considering when it was built, it’s that big you can even see it from space. It originally stood at 146.478 meters (480.57 ft) tall and each side, 230.37 meters (755.81 ft) long.

Unfortunately over 3,800 years of erosion has shrunk the pyramid by over 8 meters which to this day stands at 138.75 meters (455.22 ft) tall, the mega structure ways in at a whopping 5,9 million tonnes which was transported from 500 miles away. The volume, including an internal hillock, is roughly 2,500,000 cubic meters. Based on these estimates, building this pyramid in 20 years would involve approximately installing 800 tonnes of stone every day. The pyramids choice of buildings materials were a staggering 2.3million stone blocks, again to do this in 20 years they would have had to shift 12 of the massive blocks into place each hour, every day and night which they weren’t

Many alternatie, often contradictory, theories have been suggested regarding the construction techniques most thought the stones were either rolled, dragged or even lifted into place.

Which I personally think there was something else at work, looking at all the information given, everything seems impossible. Even with modern day technology experts predict that building this exact pyramid would be near impossible, some experts theories point at extra terrestrials saying they help build the pyramids passing on there knowledge and techniques to the Egyptians.

The Pyramid of Giza will always be a phenomenon we will never know how they were truly built. Alls we know as a fact is that the Pyramid of Giza Remained the tallest man made structure for 3,800 years unsurpassed until the Lincoln Cathedral was completed in 1300’s but still what an achievement for the Egyptians being able to build such a mega-structure thousands all with free building materials.

Councils in England are to be offered extra money for every newly-built home, as part of a government programme aimed at easing housing shortages.

Under the New Homes Bonus scheme the government will match the council tax raised on each new house for six years.

For every new home built the government will match the council tax raised on each new house for a period of six years – for a band D home that would be around £1400.

With 4.5m people now on council house waiting lists the new drive has been designed to help lower these lists and provide modern, efficient housing for their new residents.

Brendon Kenny of materials reuse platform BuilderScrap commented that, ‘this bold new initiative could help millions of people off waiting lists and into affordable housing. What the government needs to ensure is that construction site waste is minimised and that any reusable materials are put back into the community by posting them onto BuilderScrap. Statistics show that 14% (equivalent to approx 16.8m tonnes per annum)of all new construction materials are wasted and simply thrown away. Given the size of this new initiative, many other community building projects could benefit hugely if a properly managed, materials reuse policy using BuilderScrap is deployed by the construction companies’

The Labour government’s green school programme has now been scrapped by the coalition, but one school which was built under then the scheme was given the highest BREEAM rating ever for a school. Rogiet Primary School in Monmothshire was recognised as a key example of sustainability and achieved a staggering 78.18% score.

The one-storey timber frame school has 210 pupils and staff, has landscaped grounds and an outside area for sports and play time. This sustainable construction was regarded as of high importance to the former government, not only for reducing carbon emissions and using green building materials but also educating young people for a future of sustainable living.

Throughout the construction, pupils were given the chance to learn about the principles of sustainability, including insulation and what were the best regarding the buildings materials that were used during the process.

Neal Stephens, of construction company Willmott Dixon, who built the school in partnership with architect White Design, commented “The early collaboration of pupils, teachers and the community as a whole was an essential element of the building process and one that went on to reap numerous rewards. The sourcing of environmentally friendly products such as Warmcel Insulation was just one of many innovative ways in which we were able to demonstrate how construction can be sustainable, while creating a learning environment with a low carbon footprint – or in the case of Warmcel, a below zero carbon footprint!”

Other key sustainability features used in the school included:
• Single storey plan with high levels of natural daylight in all areas.
• Timber frame using responsibly sourced timber.
• Natural ventilation using both manually and automatically actuated windows, roof lights and vents to ensure good ventilation rates and thermal comfort.
• Landscape design and planting that increased both educational benefits for the school and biodiversity enhancement of the site.
• Rainwater harvesting tanks that recycle rainwater for use in the school.
• Wind turbine that creates renewable energy for the school.

Derek Downer, Head of Property Services, Monmouthshire County Council concludes “BREEAM set the standards to aim for and encouraged the site team to interact with the school in developing sustainability as an embedded culture, thus encouraging future generations to live sustainably.”

We at BuilderScrap are very impressed with this project and think it was made possible by following a few simple rules; intelligent purchasing of building supply, the use of recycled materials and obviously making sure all surplus building materials go on BuilderScrap.com.

Building materials group CRH has announced it will not be in profit the first half of the year, and will only just break even with a massive 20% fall in earnings.

In the first half of 2009 they announced £83m profit, in trading this year which is up to 30 June the firm said pre-tax profit would be “close to breakeven”.

Also earnings in terms of EBITDA would fall around 20% on the £541m recorded for the same period a year earlier.

However, the rate of decline in sales slowed, with sales over the 12 months to the end of June down 10%, compared with a 14% drop in the year to the end of April.

They expect a huge second half this year though and say they are likely to be higher than the £957m last year due to cost cutting and currency movements.

CRH said the measures taken to cut costs and reduce excess capacity since 2007 delivered total cumulative annualised savings of £1.12bn by the end of 2009, with a further £365m projected for 2010/11.

The firm’s interim results for 2010 are due to be posted on 24 August 2010.

The group also announced it had spent £111m on 13 acquisitions in the first half of 2010, and is due to invest a further £16m in Yatal Cement as its share of funding for two projects in north-east China.

Myles Lee, CRH chief executive, said:” We are seeing a good flow of bolt-on opportunities across our businesses and we continue to monitor wider developments in our industry; however, we are maintaining a patient approach in progressing transactions in light of the challenging market backdrop.”

BuilderScrap feels that if the sales are down then people must be making sure they are using all of their supply rather than throwing their building material surplus away. We urge all UK builders to use eco building materials and not throw away construction building materials that are surplus.

Geoff Cooper, chief executive of Travis Perkins, has said there could be further consolidation in the building materials sector after his firm said it planned a £553m takeover bid for heating and plumbing specialist BSS, reported by Building.co.uk.

Cooper said that although corporate activity in the sector was subdued, economic conditions were ripe for further takeovers.

“We haven’t seen a move towards consolidation yet, but it would be quite normal to see consolidation in an industry as it recovers from recession,” he said.

“We think that the construction industry is in the middle of a trough and there will be a gentle recovery from here, and believe we can get the benefits of the recovery,” he added.In a statement to the City, the £3bn-turnover firm said both companies had agreed on a strategy for the takeover that hinges on cost savings and efficiencies. The purchase will also boost Travis’ heating and plumbing business.

Cooper said: “It’s a great strategic fit for us and creates the largest plumbing and heating trade and retail distribution business in the UK.”

He expects Travis Perkins to make a formal off for BSSm which has a turnover of £1.4bn, in under a month’s time, with a final shareholder decision in the next quarter.

Kevin Cammack, an analyst with Cenkos, said: “It makes a lot of sense for Travis Perkins, but I’m not entirely sure why BSS is so keen to lose its independence at that price, given it has seen a significant turn in trading fortunes over the past six months and has no need of help. I would have thought BSS could eke out a better price than this.”

Meanwhile, Charlie Campbell, a Liberum Capital analyst, described the deal as “surprising but positive”. He said: “We liked Travis shares before the deal and like them more now, not least because the company’s fortunes become less tied to the macroeconomy.”

I read with great interest an interview in the Sunday Times this weekend with actor Jeremy Irons; he stated his fears of the implications of continued population growth and the associated impacts upon the planet and its resources.

Jeremy Irons has propelled himself into a position as a green campaigner and in the course of the interview declared his ambition to produce a documentary about sustainability and waste disposal in much the same way as Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. He is currently seeking a wealth of expert opinion as well as seeking appropriate funding in order to produce the documentary, before stating his ambition to hopefully make it into a movie.

On the issue itself Irons told the Sunday Times “One always returns to the fact that there are just too many of us, the population continues to rise and it’s unsustainable” before continuing to add “I think we have to find ways where we’re not having to scrap our effluent junk and are a really sustainable planet”.

This made me recall a seminar I recently attended which stated that we currently consume four planets worth of resources, clearly an unsustainable level; most will agree with Irons that it is something that requires our urgent focus as a global community.

Irons went on to discuss the need for a new economic vision as a response to the global financial crisis. “I don’t think things can ever be the same again. The next generation will have to think laterally and find ways to cope with this”.

At BuilderScrap this is something that we are well aware of, the consumptive nature of society in the western world places resources under immense strain, in recent years we have seen and heard of the pressures on resources such as fossil fuels, timber and water to mention a few. We must ask how this can be achieved without damaging the economic climate and promote green initiatives and innovations.

We also recognise that this consumptive nature must be reduced; goods and materials seem to be given much shorter life spans than necessary. In some cases in the construction industry we witness manufactured materials that are sent to landfill without ever being taken out of its packaging let alone used. Part of the economic vision must be to cut out this waste and extend the life of materials and products.

With this principle in mind Irons launched his own attack on the throwaway society “Why does it make sense for us all to be buying a lot of motor cars, selling our old ones and scrapping them? Why don’t we make cars that last for 40 years? We could”. Irons himself says he runs “very old motor cars”.

Undoubtedly examples exist across most industries, our experience at BuilderScrap predominantly within the construction industry shows that it is possible to prolong the life of building material. In the past as a society we have been too quick to throw away material and buy new, clearly a more sustainable approach means that we could extend the life of this material by reusing or recycling before disposing. BuilderScrap is a platform that exists to facilitate such behavioural changes.

Irons summed up by stating that we all need to live less decadently, a need to recycle before replacing goods and the need for wealth to spread about. He concluded “There’s a long way to go”.

If you are considering a new home for the future why not take a look at the eco friendly alternatives to living?  The BuilderScrap team have been looking into substitutes for conventional buildings which can be used for a variety of purposes including permanent homes, a holiday house, tree top dining or a hotel bar.  When I came across companies who specialise in building tree houses and eco lodges I was instantly enthralled with the idea of living Swiss Family Robinson style.  The tree houses are constructed in wood, and as implied by the name, are built in and around trees.  Many of the designs I’ve come across are beautiful and resemble something from a fairy tale, however I don’t know if I could bring myself to reside in one on a permanent basis, not only because of my fear of heights but also having lived in the UK all my life I know how cold and brutal our weather can be.  Trying to sleep in a tree house whilst one of the storms of the last winter are threatening to bring your idyllic castle in the trees down around you simply doesn’t appeal to me.  However, using the tree houses as holiday homes or as a relaxing part of a hotel experience are both appealing ideas and something I hope will become more available in the future. 

For those not quite radical enough to consider living in tree houses in the rather harsh and unpredictable climate of the UK there are other ways to help ensure your buildings are environmentally friendly.  Recycling is a great way to help the environment, whether you’re recycling your morning paper, old shoes or construction waste.  Research the best ways to ensure your home will be eco friendly for the future such as improving insulation and the use of solar panels.  And of course reusing as often as possible.  Using the builders exchange site BuilderScrap can help bring a stop to construction waste going to landfill and help to save our environment.  By seeing more building materials being reused by other contractors, charities and others in the third sector we are not only being more eco friendly but are also helping our local community.