Sustainability and investment appraisal for housing regeneration projects

Purpose – This paper assesses the selection and use, in practice, of appraisal frameworks regarding sustainability evaluation in UK social housing sector projects, which have been advocated by academics as a means of ensuring that business decisions related to potential built environment projects are driven by best value rather than lowest cost. It also seeks to identity the key features of sustainability as assessed at the project feasibility stage. The research context is housing regeneration projects undertaken by UK social housing providers. Design/methodology/approach – Using a quantitative approach, a survey was conducted of 481 built environment professionals working within the UK social housing sector, which generated an overall response rate of 24%. Research Limitations/implications – The methodological approach adopted failed to uncover fully the reasons why practitioners selected particular types of sustainability appraisal toolkits. Findings - The survey results revealed that few toolkits and models developed by academe to facilitate the development and evaluation of sustainability-led building projects have so far been adopted. The impact of organisational factors such as size, denomination, and maturity on the frameworks was analysed and, in general, no statistically significant relationship was found between organisational features and the models in use. The principal features of sustainability were found to be related to energy efficiency and asset life expectancy. These findings have implications for the UK construction industry’s commitment to enhancing the built environment’s sustainability and thereby stakeholder prosperity. Implications – This paper focuses on the current use of sustainability-led project appraisal models and the key features of sustainability whilst also providing directions for further research. It explores the adoption of sustainability-focused project evaluation practices in the UK social housing sector and outlines potential areas for further research, focused on developing a usable, holistic framework for evaluating sustainability during the early stages of project development to help to create a more sustainable built environment. Keywords - Social Housing, UK, Sustainability Paper type – Research pape

The UK housing developers' five-star rating: fact or fiction?

Purpose - The purpose of the paper is to explore how the data collected by the NHBC is used in practice to improve the service provided to the customers, the transition of any changes into practice and the overall management of the customer satisfaction process by the builder. Design/methodology/approach – A Qualitative approach to the research was adopted and the findings from the interviews provide an indication of the views from a range of private house builders relating to the areas of customer satisfaction and the ratings provided through industry based questionnaires. Findings – This paper has uncovered the views and opinions of private house builders relating to customer satisfaction and five star ratings. The findings provide evidence that the house building industry is not fully engaged with the HBF five star related concept and that they provide a differing level of service in relation to customer satisfaction. Research Implications - The research concluded that the customer can be manipulated by the builders in some cases causing a bias in the market; on the whole the customer satisfaction surveys and star rating are simply seen as a marketing tool, used by the builders marketing department as a sign of quality and a way to promote the company. Practical Implications - This paper is of interest to private house builders and the wider construction industry and will aid their understanding of customer satisfaction and quality related ratings applied by industry bodies. Originality/value – The findings within this paper provide an overview of the opinions of house builders relating to customer satisfaction and five star ratings using interview-based data obtained from private house building operatives

Inhibition of TXNRD or SOD1 overcomes NRF2-mediated resistance to β-lapachone

Alterations in the NRF2/KEAP1 pathway result in the constitutive activation of NRF2, leading to the aberrant induction of antioxidant and detoxification enzymes, including NQO1. The NQO1 bioactivatable agent β-lapachone can target cells with high NQO1 expression but relies in the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are actively scavenged in cells with NRF2/KEAP1 mutations. However, whether NRF2/KEAP1 mutations influence the response to β-lapachone treatment remains unknown. To address this question, we assessed the cytotoxicity of β-lapachone in a panel of NSCLC cell lines bearing either wild-type or mutant KEAP1. We found that, despite overexpression of NQO1, KEAP1 mutant cells were resistant to β-lapachone due to enhanced detoxification of ROS, which prevented DNA damage and cell death. To evaluate whether specific inhibition of the NRF2-regulated antioxidant enzymes could abrogate resistance to β-lapachone, we systematically inhibited the four major antioxidant cellular systems using genetic and/or pharmacologic approaches. We demonstrated that inhibition of the thioredoxin-dependent system or copper-zinc superoxide dismutase (SOD1) could abrogate NRF2-mediated resistance to β-lapachone, while depletion of catalase or glutathione was ineffective. Interestingly, inhibition of SOD1 selectively sensitized KEAP1 mutant cells to β-lapachone exposure. Our results suggest that NRF2/KEAP1 mutational status might serve as a predictive biomarker for response to NQO1-bioactivatable quinones in patients. Further, our results suggest SOD1 inhibition may have potential utility in combination with other ROS inducers in patients with KEAP1/NRF2 mutations

NQO1 targeting prodrug triggers innate sensing to overcome checkpoint blockade resistance

Lack of proper innate sensing inside tumor microenvironment (TME) limits T cell-targeted immunotherapy. NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) is highly enriched in multiple tumor types and has emerged as a promising target for direct tumor-killing. Here, we demonstrate that NQO1-targeting prodrug β-lapachone triggers tumor-selective innate sensing leading to T cell-dependent tumor control. β-Lapachone is catalyzed and bioactivated by NQO1 to generate ROS in NQO1high tumor cells triggering oxidative stress and release of the damage signals for innate sensing. β-Lapachone-induced high mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) release activates the host TLR4/MyD88/type I interferon pathway and Batf3 dendritic cell-dependent cross-priming to bridge innate and adaptive immune responses against the tumor. Furthermore, targeting NQO1 is very potent to trigger innate sensing for T cell re-activation to overcome checkpoint blockade resistance in well-established tumors. Our study reveals that targeting NQO1 potently triggers innate sensing within TME that synergizes with immunotherapy to overcome adaptive resistance

Multi-storey residential buildings and occupant’s behaviour during fire evacuation in the UK: Factors relevant to the development of evacuation strategies

Purpose – The paper aims to investigate human behaviour during fire evacuations in multistorey residential buildings through a focus on the challenges and obstacles that occupants face. Any variations in response behaviours that are relevant to the evacuation strategies/plans in the UK context of occupancy typical of multi-storey buildings in large cities. Design/methodology/approach – A literature review was conducted to identify the factors occupants face and also the decision-making of occupants regarding methods of egress. A mixed research method was adopted using interviews and a questionnaire survey. The findings from the interviews and survey are benchmarked against the information gathered from the literature review. Findings – The paper identifies various challenges that occupants face when evacuating a multi-storey residential building. In terms of the decision-making process, the research results evidence that occupants could be given more information on the evacuation procedures within their specific building. The paper also finds that occupants remain reluctant to use a lift during evacuation in fire event, irrespective of any signage clearly stating that is appropriate to do so in the context of modern lift technology. Originality/Value – This paper contributes to the body of knowledge available on the evacuation of multi-storey buildings located in large cities within the UK, outlining potential areas for future research, focused on providing an insight of the behavioural decisions made by the occupants make when evacuating a building in the event of a fire

454 pyrosequencing assessment of biodegradative bacteria from thermal hydrolysis processes

Anaerobic treatment process is a cost-effective method for treating organic wastes, since the biogas formed can be used for heat/electricity production and the digester residues can be recycled for other applications. An innovative use of the digestate could be as biodegradative and methanogenic inoculum for the stimulation of methane production in gas-producing or depleted wells. The microbial communities involved in the biodegradation of petrochemical waste are similar to the indigenous microorganisms typically found in unconventional basins. These communities also follow the same cascade of reactions: from the initial breakdown of complex molecules to the production of intermediate compounds used by methanogens. This study carried out a culture-independent assessment of the bacterial community composition of a digestate from the Bran Sands Advanced Digestion Facility (Middleborough, UK) and compared the results with the microbial populations found in unconventional gas basins. The 454 pyrosequencing analyses revealed a bacterial community dominated by Thermotogae, Bacteroidia, Clostridia and Synergistia, which are typically found in unconventional gas systems. The classification of nucleotide sequence reads and assembled contigs revealed a genetic profile characteristic for an anaerobic microbial consortium running fermentative metabolic pathways. The assignment of numerous sequences was related to hydrocarbon decomposition and digestion of cellulosic material, which indicates that the bacterial community is engaged in hydrolysis of plant-derived material. The bacterial community composition suggest that the effluent of the digester can be used as a biodegradative inoculum for the stimulation of methane generation in unconventional wells, where events of microbial methanogenesis have been previously observed

Neptunium and manganese biocycling in nuclear legacy sediment systems

Understanding the behaviour of the highly radiotoxic, long half-life radionuclide neptunium in the environment is important for the management of radioactively contaminated land and the safe disposal of radioactive wastes. Recent studies have identified that microbial reduction can reduce the mobility of neptunium via reduction of soluble Np(V) to poorly soluble Np(IV), with coupling to both Mn- and Fe(III)- reduction implicated in neptunyl reduction. To further explore these processes Mn(IV) as δMnO2 was added to sediment microcosms to create a sediment microcosm experiment "poised" under Mn-reducing conditions. Enhanced removal of Np(V) from solution occurred during Mn-reduction, and parallel X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) studies confirmed Np(V) reduction to Np(IV) commensurate with microbially-mediated Mn-reduction. Molecular ecology analysis of the XAS systems, which contained up to 0.2 mM Np showed no significant impact of elevated Np concentrations on the microbial population. These results demonstrate the importance of Mn cycling on Np biogeochemistry, and clearly highlight new pathways to reductive immobilisation for this highly radiotoxic actinide