Buildingtalk review of top industry stories in 2017

Howard Chapman, Buildingtalk Editor, reviews the most popular industry stories of 2017 including new product and project articles, guest blogs, videos and social media.

Buildingtalk review

2017 was dominated by the awful Grenfell tower tragedy and this is reflected in our top viewed stories during the year.

We look back at what else was making industry news in 2017 including Britain’s best new building; the role of women in construction; adding vertical forests to sustainable buildings; how Trump’s SolarWall could work; is London building the football capital of the world; tackling modern day slavery in the supply chain; and what’s new in the glass and glazing industry.

We want to thank all those industry leaders who have contributed interesting and sometimes controversial Guest Blogs during the year including on the need for a social housing revolution; maintaining heritage brickwork; history’s most iconic architects; the dangers of switching specification;  and how drones are transforming construction.

Check out the links below to the most popular articles with our 33,000 building industry subscribers and other visitors via the website or our social media followers.

Top 20 Buildingtalk stories 

Here are some of the top stories on Buildingtalk beginning with the 3 ‘most viewed’ stories that highlighted important aspects of the Grenfell fire disaster including the industry response.

1] Would non-combustible cladding have prevented the Grenfell Tower tragedy?

Why were so many towers have been clad in materials combustible enough to enable fire to spread in minutes?

2] Grenfell Tower: Exterior cladding suspected cause of fire spread

Questions raised over fire safety measures and building regulations following the fire at Grenfell Tower.

3] CA Group focuses on managing concerns following Grenfell disaster

4] Britain’s best new building 2017? RIBA Stirling Prize controversy

Buildingtalk welcomed the winner, the ‘re-imagining’ of Hastings Pier following its near total destruction by fire in 2010.

5] £50bn to fund a social housing revolution?

6] Why use a thermal imaging camera when renovating a home?

7] Winners of the 2017 Offsite Construction Awards

8] Radical changes and more diversity to attract young people into construction

9] Trump’s SolarWall: How could it work?

10] Women in construction: diversity driven leadership

11] What’s new in the glass and glazing industry

12] Hung Parliament: what does this mean for the housing market?

13] China’s vertical forest: the answer to global sustainable living?

14] New era of imaging capability with latest FLIR drone camera

15] Aluprof covers the dangers of switching specification

16] Why we should all be considering a Dry Build as a construction alternative

17] Frustration over BIM shows how badly it’s needed

18] Is London the football capital of the world?

19] Tackling modern day slavery in the supply chain

20] Kee Gate – easy to install self closing safety gate from Kee Safety

Top 10 Guest Blogs

We have many interesting and useful Guest Blogs during the year. It is an opportunity to hear from industry experts on key topics or concerns. Below are some great examples from 2017. Email [email protected] for details on how you can contribute a Guest Blog.

1] After Grenfell: Bringing clarity to fire safety

2] Why the benefits of Passive House outweigh the challenges

3] The key to building better buildings and preventing fires

4] The building blocks of Britain: How to maintain your heritage brickwork

5] Land-Mark showcases history’s most iconic architects

6] How to stop worrying about Brexit and grow your business

7] Britain at war with adverse weather, but who’s fighting the battle?

8] The drone revolution: How drone tech is transforming construction

9] Changing the face of construction – solving the skills shortage

10] Collaboration is key when it comes to BIM

Industry Awards Stories

Innovation Awards in Paris highlight construction trends in Europe

Reports on the major trends in construction in Europe that were highlighted at  Le Mondial du Bâtiment Innovation Awards.

Five alive for MRA at Construction Marketing Awards

Stunning modernist country house wins top prize at Schueco Awards

Buildingtalk on Twitter

Buildingtalk now has over 7,520 followers on Twitter up by over 800 during the year. We added 780 Tweets featuring Buildingtalk stories during the year. The construction industry is very active on Twitter because it is an easy and sometimes entertaining way to get the latest industry news and views. You can follow us via this @Buildingtalk link.

Buildingtalk on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has been a great way to reach influencers in the industry and get involved in discussions on hot topics. There are over 1,280 construction industry professionals linked to Buildingtalk via LinkedIn. We have added details of over 130 Buildingtalk news stories during 2017.

Top 3 articles on LinkedIn

1] How offsite construction solutions will revolutionise UK house building

2] Why the benefits of Passive House outweigh the challenges

3] Election 2017: the key construction industry issues

Best ‘Video of the Week’

Videos are an effective way to promote new products and projects. Each week we feature a ‘Video of the Week’. Here is my favourite one.

How ROCKWOOL re-engineered volcanic rock into stone wool insulation

Paul Barrett, Product Manager at ROCKWOOL, looks at where stone wool insulation began and how it evolved into a thermal, sound and fire safe insulation.