Lynn Davies supports Eurobonds pledge for Safer Schools

I am delighted at the Government’s recent announcement to increase the continuing investment within UK schools and educational buildings. Having spent the majority of my working life involved in education and sport I realise the substantial impact such a scheme can have on the community and the education of our future generations.

It has become increasingly important to maintain and renew the buildings and infrastructure of schools throughout the UK; children respond well to an attractive, safe learning environment built around their needs. Many educational buildings once considered state of the art throughout the 1960s and 1970s are now in urgent need of repair, unable to comply with stringent UK standards.

Unfortunately recent figures released by the Arson Prevention Bureau have shown a dramatic rise in the number of UK schools encountering arson attacks; for many the damage has been devastating, causing vast disruption to students, teachers and local communities. The increase has identified the need for prevention methods to be factored into building design. As such a number of design guides have been published to enhance property protection and life safety.

Continuous development within product manufacturer and construction regulations ensures that educational builds throughout the UK are designed and built in accordance with these new guidelines. Building Bulleting 100 and Zurich Municipal guides are two of the most influential publications to incorporate design guidance on fire safety with schools. Eurobond Laminates, a South Wales manufacturer produces a range of non combustible stone wool core composite panels that comply with such guidelines.

I am particularly passionate about Eurobond Laminates due to the array of benefits their panel systems offer, aside from the reduction in installation time and secondary steel work; the panel systems also offer an aesthetically pleasing, architecturally flat finish thanks to their stone wool core. The core provides a fire rated solution that bares little impact on the environment and superb acoustic and thermal performance, a distinct consideration in school building design.

The overall success of this Government scheme will depend on harnessing the capacity of major suppliers such as Eurobond, the Prime Ministers acknowledgement of their success and committed to fire protection in major public buildings is recognition of their 25 years of experience with the construction industry and appreciation of the valuable contribution their systems have within schools environments.

The Economic Cost of Fire

A recent report published by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister contains new estimates surrounding the cost of fire to the economy of both England and Wales.

In summary we have pulled out a few facts and figures for your convenience:

Fire continues to impose significant costs on the economy, in 2004 total costs were estimated at £7.03bn, equivalent to approximately 0.78% of the gross value added of the economy. £2.77bn of the costs were incurred in anticipation of fire.

The cost of the Fire and Rescue Services (FRS) responding to fires was estimated at £1.74bn, with the remaining £2.52bn attributable to the consequences of fire, consisting of property damage, lost business, the economic cost of injuries and fatalities and the criminal justice service costs associated with prosecuting deliberate fire starters.

The total cost of arson in the in 2004 was estimated at £2.44bn, which includes an allocation the total costs incurred in anticipation of fire. Following this the average cost of fire in a commercial building is estimated at £43,800, of which the cost of fire damage to property represents £27,700.

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CPD on Tour

The migration of composite panels from the cold store industry into densely populated public buildings such as schools and hospitals has brought about the substantial need to educate the construction industry on their correct design and manufacture.

Our CPD’s provide a valuable and impartial insight into the fire performance and sustainable credentials of composite panels when installed correctly. This year we plan to bring our expertises and knowledge to the masses, detailing not only the manufacture and design of composite panel systems, but highlighting the legislation and industry regulations inline with the construction industries requirements.

In an effort to make our CPD programme more accessible we have partnered with a number of influential CPD service provides to deliver our CPD’s throughout the UK over the course of 2009.

A number of dates have already been booked and spaces are limited, add them to your calendar now to avoid disappointment.

The CPD Certification Service

 October 7th – Fire Performance of Composite Panels – Stage Hotel, Leicester

 October 22nd – Sustainable Panel Design – Crown Plaza Hotel, Chester

Direct Contact Exhibitions

 September 24th – Sustainable Panel Design – David Lloyds, Cardiff

RIBA Roadshow

 November 12th – RIBA Headquarters, London

Up and Coming Projects – July/August 08

The UK Government's capital expenditure programme in both the Health and Education sectors remains strong and is forecast to continue for a number of years. This considerable financial commitment underpins its commitment to continuously improve the quality of schools, academies, colleges and hospitals in our built environment. Eurobond's non-combustible panels have been used extensively in both sectors in recent years.

As a composite panel specialist, we have developed our cladding products so that they not only have the ability to meet the aesthetic requirements of designers but can also meet the stringent NHS Fire Codes and BB100 legislation in relation to the use of non-combustible materials where appropriate. The emphasis on this is even greater of late, especially after the Royal Marsden hospital fire that happened in January this year.

As a result, our composite panel products have recently been specified for numerous projects within these sectors and the following projects will receive their cladding product throughout the month of July for installation.

• Frimley Hospital in Surrey will have approximately 278m2 of our cladding panel installed
• Royal Preston Hospital
• Burnley College will have approximately 2,938m2 of Europanel delivered
• Orpington College in Kent will receive approximately 1,337 m2 of our composite panel

Once complete, if worthy, a case study will be completed on these projects and added to our case study archive and interactive map, accompanied by photographs so keep a look out for them.