CWCT Update
The latest CWCT update including sustainability, fire guidance, and a review of our recent AGM.
Sustainability
We were delighted to launch our façade embodied carbon calculator, in collaboration with WSP, at our recent AGM. This is a really exciting development, and we are very grateful to WSP for their very generous help and support with this initiative. This is currently available to CWCT Members via the Cladding Forum.
As always, we are very keen for feedback on the guidance we provide. In particular, we want feedback on the usability of the tool and suggestions for future developments. A user survey can be found here.
We would also encourage you to share your results from using the tool with us. This will help us build benchmark embodied carbon ranges for different façade systems.
We have also recently published a short guidance document aimed at those carrying out early stage embodied calculations, such as architects and sustainability consultants. Whilst information on the façade may be limited at early stages, it is important that realistic values are calculated. If a carbon value is determined for a façade without a thorough understanding of its complexities or calculated contingencies for unknown factors, there is a risk of proceeding with an inaccurate figure. If the assessed values are unrealistically low, this could lead to the risk of non-compliance in later stages of the project or result in missed opportunities for carbon reduction by choosing the wrong façade system. This is therefore really important guidance.
For further details, see the website.
Elsewhere, our guidance on refurbishment has been extensively peer reviewed and we are making good progress in response to the comments received.
Fire guidance
In November we published the third Technical Note in our series on fire performance, TN116 Fire performance of facades – application to built-up walls. This joins TN113 Fire performance of facades – Introduction and TN114 Fire performance of facades – Use of combustible material. A final Technical Note in the series, TN115 Fire performance of facades – application to curtain walls is in preparation, having recently been reviewed by various committees, including the SFE Technical Committee.
To celebrate the publication of TN116, we recently held a webinar to introduce the guidance and highlight some of the key takeaways. The recording from the webinar is freely available via the CWCT website.
CWCT AGM
300 people joined us for our 2025 AGM and Members’ meeting on 25 September, to great success – it was a fantastic day.
During the AGM, we focused on the importance of people, collaboration, feedback and engagement, and spoke about the membership research project that we have recently completed in order to help CWCT better serve its Members.
Our two key topics for the day were the Building Safety Act, and Façade Access. We had a series of excellent presentations, with people sharing their experiences of how they are navigating these important industry challenges.
We also had a presentation about mental health in the construction industry. Mental health still isn’t given the significance it deserves, and we all need to what we can to change that.
Our thanks to all the amazing speakers and to everyone attending for making it a memorable day.
A full review of the day is available here.
Presentations are now available for CWCT Members to download/watch via the Cladding Forum.
