Gamechangers 2018 Award
Buildings/ Infrastructure/ Industrial/ Construction

UK – Gamechanger of the Year
Brian Murphy
National Green Specification Ltd.

July 2018

ACQ5 Game Changers 2018

National Green Specification (NGS) is an innovative UK based environmental specification consultancy that is developing an innovative online resource called Green Building Encyclopaedia (GBE).

In 2009, NGS uploaded 300 CPD, Specification and Jargon Busters to Scribd website to see if this information was of wider interest. These files achieved more than 265,000 reads, NGS decided it needed to increase it’s offering, and in 2012 GBE was formed. GBE’s first 2000 (of 30,000 planned) pages include the Scribed files alongside additional information, including user-friendly environmental checklists and jargon busters.

GBE has created a spectrum of 400 criteria by which it judges potential solutions; GBE interrogates the offering, seeking out its strengths and weaknesses, recording its properties and highlighting any ‘greenwash’. Users can see the analysis for themselves and judge if it fits their needs.

GBE website Shop contains very low cost CPD, Specifications, Calculators; a blog sharing insight and information on the sustainable building industry as well as offering space for sustainable building solutions providers with or without their own online presence to showcase their systems. GBE appeals to a wide range of visitors and is both accessible and informative.

Drawing on the expertise and over 40 years of knowledge of Brian Murphy, who coordinates the site; GBE works to act as a one-stop-resource for its visitors, so that they can find everything they need in one convenient, easy-to-use space. All related information is linked from the page visitors land in.

As part of GBE’s commitment to providing users with up-to-date information, the site is working with solution providers to help determine the right information and messages about the competency and environmental characteristics of their products or services. GBE uses 6 core pages, which currently cover solution providers: manufacturers, suppliers, installers; and their solutions: products and accessories that make up systems.

Essential to the success of the website is the linking of these 6 core pages to the relevant content of the GBE Encyclopaedia. This enriches the user’s learning with greater understanding, to enable better-informed decisions. This know-how will enable them to apply special properties of products and then arm them with reasons and ammunition to defend against cost cutting and substitutions; enabling Value Engineering of green stuff into projects rather than out.

Looking ahead, GBE will continue to create an ultimate guide to all things sustainable, allowing users to discern the truth behind the marketing when it comes to supposedly ‘green’ solutions, and choose the service or product that meets their exact needs. GBE will continue to grow over the coming decades as Brian and his collaborators enhance it further.

Contact Details

Company: National Green Specification Ltd.

Contact: Brian Murphy

Contact Email: BrianSpecMan@icloud.com

Phone: 01733 238148             0044 1733 238148

Website: https://greenbuildingencyclopaedia.uk/

© GBE NGS ASWS BrianMurphy
aka BrianSpecMan
30th July 2018 – 31st July 2018