University of the Built Environment

University of the Built Environment

University of the Built Environment (formerly known as UCEM) is the leading provider of supported online education for the built environment. Tune in for discussions about the real estate and construction industries, as well as insights into what it's like to study with UCEM and conversations with the institution's students, alumni, supporters and staff. Find out more at ube.ac.uk

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Episode 20: Modular promises, measurable impact?

    With Dirk Vennix, James Pritchett and Jason Phelps Overview Modern methods of construction (MMC) are frequently presented as a critical solution to some of the built environment sector’s most pressing challenges. Faster delivery, improved quality control and reduced environmental impact are often cited as key advantages, particularly as the UK seeks to accelerate housing delivery while progressing towards net zero commitments. In this episode, we explore whether modular and offsite construction methods are delivering measurable carbon impact in practice - and why the evidence base is still so thin. The discussion considers how embodied carbon is currently measured across MMC projects and examines the extent to which emissions reductions are genuinely being achieved. Looking beyond contemporary debates, the episode explores the long historical roots of offsite construction, while customer expectations and queries form another key strand of the conversation.  Bringing together research, industry practice and academic insight, the panel consists of Dirk Vennix, Chief Executive of the Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA), James Pritchett from sustainable homebuilders Greencore Homes, and University of the Built Environment senior lecturer Jason Phelps, whose PhD thesis compares historical and contemporary approaches to offsite fabrication. Links CIRIA – Construction Industry Research and Information Association Case study request: Net Zero Carbon Offsite Champions Greencore Homes  Greencore Homes Group Jason Phelps

    31 min

  2. 24 FEB

    Episode 19: Homebuying and selling reforms – can we fix a broken system?

    With Luke McMath, Katie Napier and Jordan Turner Buying a home is one of life’s most significant milestones. Yet in England, the process is widely seen as slow, opaque and prone to collapse at the final hurdle. In this episode of BE Sustainable, we examine the UK Government’s proposed reforms to the homebuying and selling system in England. The changes aim to reduce delays, minimise fall-throughs and rebuild confidence in a process that has struggled to keep pace with modern expectations. At the centre of the debate is conveyancing – the legal transfer of property ownership. Often blamed for delays, conveyancing is also one of the least understood parts of the process. The discussion considers the role of upfront property information, including the proposed ‘property passport’, and questions who will bear the additional costs.  It also examines how increased regulation, compliance requirements and growing workloads have transformed conveyancing, highlighting the structural and practical challenges involved in modern property transactions. Bringing together academic insight, legal expertise and lived experience, the episode explores whether reform can genuinely improve the system, or whether deeper structural and technological changes are needed. Drawing on his academic research and recent analysis of the proposed reforms, Jordan Turner explores the structural realities behind modern property transactions. From a legal and frontline perspective, Luke McMath from Blandy & Blandy solicitors offers insight into the operational pressures faced by conveyancers. Providing a lived perspective, Katie Napier reflected on her experience as a first-time buyer completing on a property in late 2025. Links: Home buying and selling reforms - can the Government really fix a broken system? - University of the Built Environment Home buying and selling reform - GOV.UK Luke McMath - Residential Property Conveyancing Solicitor/Lawyer - Reading, Henley-on-Thames & Wokingham

    32 min

  3. 27 JAN

    Episode 18: Are Britain’s New Builds Really Fit for Purpose?

    Overview “A crack in the window, a hole in the door, a chipped sink, up in the loft there’s no insulation – we see these things every day of our lives.” The words of the man who invented snagging inspections, which uncovers a vast array of significant defects at new-build homes.  John Cooper, founder of New Home Quality Control, was a guest on this episode that discussed: Are Britain’s new homes really being built to last, or are we prioritising speed over quality in the race to deliver more housing? With the UK Government committed to building 1.5 million new homes this Parliament, concerns about build quality have become increasingly visible, not least because of the work of John, who has amassed hundreds of thousands of followers across social media and is a TV regular.  Through his social media channels, John documents alarming workmanship failures, from basic construction errors to issues that affect safety, energy performance and long-term durability. His content has struck a chord with homeowners and first-time buyers, helping to bring concerns about new-build quality into the public conversation. This episode explores whether the problems highlighted by New Home Quality Control represent isolated ‘bodge jobs’ or point to deeper structural pressures within the housing system. Are regulations and oversight keeping pace with the speed of delivery? Is public confidence being undermined by what people are seeing online, or are these concerns well founded? Alongside John’s frontline experience, the discussion draws on national survey data from an important report authored by David Parry, Senior Parliamentary & Public Affairs Officer at the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). Hear his expert insights, including  consumer protections in place to hold developers to account for quality failures in new-build housing.  Our senior lecturer in Real Estate, Jordan Turner, tackled the issue from a real estate and policy perspective, discussing structural pressures, consumer confidence, targets, planning delays, and margin pressure, amongst many other topics.  We invited both the Home Builders Federation and the National House-Building Council to contribute to this episode, but neither organisation was available for comment at the time of recording. As pressure to deliver new homes intensifies, this episode asks a fundamental question: not just how quickly we build, but whether Britain’s new homes are truly fit for purpose, now and for generations to come.    Links:    TikTok: New Home Quality Control Instagram: New Home Quality Control YouTube: New Home Quality Control CIOB: New-Build Housing Report Articles by Jordan Turner: Overheating Britain: Can our buildings cope? - University of the Built Environment Home buying and selling reforms - can the Government really fix a broken system? - University of the Built Environment Why we must rethink the UK’s obsession with the Energy Performanc

    37 min

  4. 17/12/2025

    Episode 17: Inclusivity in the Built Environment - Progress or PR?

    Are the construction and property industries really making progress on inclusivity, or just making promises? Are we still seeing discrimination and unconscious bias within the built environment sector? Or are we happily witnessing progress? What does inclusivity really look like in practice - and are we genuinely moving the dial, or just reshaping the same conversation? On paper, the sector looks more diverse than it once did but there is still a long way to go. If we look at gender alone, women make up around 15 per cent of the UK construction workforce and roughly 31 per cent of partners or directors in architecture practices. Despite the number of public pledges, the gender pay gap in construction still sits at around 17 per cent, barely shifting in the past five years. Representation of ethnic minorities in construction hovers near 7 per cent, compared to about 14 per cent across the overall UK workforce, showing that racial diversity also lags behind national averages. (Statistics from the Office for National Statistics and the Construction Industry Training Board.) Guests: Marsha Ramroop, author of Building Inclusion and founder of Unheard Voice; Sarah Hayford, CEO and founder of The Land Collective and driving force behind Black Girls in Property; Rebecca Lovelace, Deputy Chair of CIC’s EDI Committee and founder of Building People; and Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick, CEO of RIBA. Links to discussion topics: Building Inclusion by Marsha Ramroop https://www.buildinginclusion.info/ The Land Collective https://thelandcollective.com/ Black Girls in Property https://bgip.thelandcollective.com/ Building People https://www.buildingpeople.org.uk/ CIC - Equity, Diversity and Inclusion https://www.cic.org.uk/committees-and-networks/diversity-and-inclusion-panel

    33 min

  5. 24/11/2025

    Episode 16: Sustainable housing in the UK - is it just for the middle classes?

    Sustainability is meant to be for everyone but when it comes to housing and communities, is sustainable living actually more of a luxury? In this episode of BE Sustainable, we ask a bold question: are ‘sustainable communities’ genuinely inclusive, or are they the preserve of the middle classes? The discussion comes in light of the UK Government’s latest New Towns proposal, which calls for 12 new settlements and at least 10,000 homes in each - with 40% designated as affordable and with an eye on environmental sustainability. But are ‘sustainable’ new builds more expensive to build? And if so, are we pricing lower-income workers and families out of the sustainable housing market? In this studio debate, host Mike Speight is joined by two leading voices shaping the future of British housing: Professor Samer Bagaeen, Head of Town Planning at the University of the Built Environment and Vice-President-elect of the Royal Town Planning Institute.Dr Elanor Warwick, Head of Strategy, Policy, Evidence and Research at Clarion Housing Group, the UK’s largest social landlord.  Sources of ‘Sustainable Housing UK’ topics discussed:  1. UK Government’s New Towns proposal 2. Clarion Housing Group Annual Report 3. Annual UK Fuel Poverty statistics - 2024 4. Energy Efficiency of Housing in England and Wales: 2025 5. The Guardian article on increases in housing Service Charges

    29 min

  6. 27/10/2025

    Episode 15: Should We Bin the Brick?

    Presenter: Mike Speight Guests: Dr James Ritson, Cecilia Pesce, Jordan Turner Jingles by: Matthew Smith, Programme Leader BSc Real Estate Management Traditional brickmaking produces over 1.3 billion tonnes of CO₂ each year — more than the entire aviation industry. So should we cling to the comforting warmth of brick, or finally face up to the environmental cost of our most familiar building material? In this episode of the University of the Built Environment's BE Sustainable podcast, presenter Mike Speight explores one of the built environment’s most provocative questions: Should we bin the brick? Mike is joined by: Dr James Ritson, Programme Leader for MSc Innovation in Sustainable Built Environments at the University of the Built Environment — who argues the problem isn’t how we make bricks, but whether we should use them at all. Cecilia Pesce, Principal Research Engineer at earth4Earth — pioneers of a carbon-storing brick designed to turn waste soil into a climate-positive material. Jordan Turner, Senior Lecturer at the University of the Built Environment, whose PhD examined sustainability in the housing sector and the policy barriers preventing greener construction. Together, they tackle some of the key questions at the heart of the low-carbon construction debate: Can innovation make bricks part of a net-zero future, or are we stuck with a carbon-heavy habit?Why are sustainable alternatives like hempcrete still treated as niche?Are regulations, costs and cultural attachment to the 'look' of brick holding us back from genuine progress?Hear Jordan Turner describe the M&S Cheshire Oaks project built with hempcrete and why developers struggle to use similar materials today. Listen as Dr James Ritson challenges the very necessity of brick, while Cecilia Pesce reveals how her team’s carbon-storing bricks transform waste into a building block for a circular economy. From carbon emissions and cultural identity to policy, price and perception, this lively debate delves into the future of how we build - and what it will take for sustainable materials to move from pilot projects to mainstream adoption. Click play to hear the full discussion and decide for yourself: Should we bin the traditional brick?

    29 min

  7. 25/09/2025

    Episode 14: Why decarbonising office buildings is "critical" - with Dr Mary Pothitou and Dr Pippa Boyd

    Office buildings account for a huge share of global carbon emissions - yet the pathway to decarbonisation is rarely straightforward. In this episode, we explore why tackling emissions from the workplace is one of the most urgent challenges facing real estate, and how organisations can turn strategy into action. Our guest, Mary Pothitou, is a leading real estate sustainability expert and ESOS Lead Assessor with an Engineering Doctorate focused on small power use and working practices in office buildings. She has advised businesses across sectors - from data centres to telecoms - on how to save energy, drive sustainable practices, and decarbonise their operations. Mary takes us inside the complex realities of decarbonising office space: the scale of the challenge, why a step-by-step approach is essential, and how different building types, materials, and user behaviours complicate the process. We also discuss the difficulties of applying standardised frameworks across diverse portfolios and the trade-offs organisations must weigh when deciding which properties to upgrade or retain. Adding academic insight, Dr Pippa Boyd from the University of the Built Environment (UBE) joins the conversation, emphasising how sociotechnical issues and everyday behaviours shape outcomes. Together, they make the case for embedding decarbonisation into every conversation in real estate.

    44 min

  8. 26/08/2025

    Episode 13: The Next Generation - with Kian Bruney and Jake Wright

    Sustainability is one of the defining issues of our time – but how much is it really shaping career choices, client decisions and the future of the built environment? In the latest episode of the BE Sustainable Podcast, Student Officers for Sustainability, Kian Bruney and Jake Wright, join Mike to share their perspectives as early-career professionals navigating the sector. Speaking from their own experiences, they explore what first sparked their passion for sustainability, how it influences their day-to-day work, and what they hope the industry will achieve in the years ahead. Listen to the podcast via: Apple Podcasts: Episode 13: The Next Generatio… - University of the Built Environment - Apple PodcastsSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3yeXYK1mcq6gmrC6w6b6Yj?si=CaXJ388CRSGyRphcd1zHBQYouTube: The topics discussed in this episode include: How much did sustainability and the built environment feature when considering a career path?What made Kian and Jake so passionate about sustainability?How does sustainability influence decision-making in their work?To what extent can they and their employers influence clients on sustainability?What do they hope to see in the future – and how far away are we from achieving it?How can the sector attract more talent like theirs?Guests Kian Bruney Kian is based in Saint Andrew Parish, Dominica. He is an Architectural Technician for Enviroplus Consulting INC, and is currently studying BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying. He serves as one of the University’s Student Officers for Sustainability. Jake Wright Jake is an Apprentice Quantity Surveyor studying the BSc (Hons) Quantity Surveying route. He works for Dadson and Butler, a surveying firm based in Amesbury, England, and is also one of the University’s Student Officers for Sustainability.

    33 min
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About

University of the Built Environment (formerly known as UCEM) is the leading provider of supported online education for the built environment. Tune in for discussions about the real estate and construction industries, as well as insights into what it's like to study with UCEM and conversations with the institution's students, alumni, supporters and staff. Find out more at ube.ac.uk

Information

  • Creator
    University of the Built Environment
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    90
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 University of the Built Environment
  • Show Website
    University of the Built Environment