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A Sittingbourne, Kent school is believed the first to benefit from Solarcentury's Solar4Schools initiative under phase two of the Department for Trade & Industry's Low Carbon Building Programme . As a result of a £10,000 Dti grant Fulston Manor School has a 4kWp installation of Solarcentury's solar photovoltaic modules on its roof generating 3,300 kWh of electricity and is now said to be saving over two tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, for half the price it otherwise would have to pay . As part of the installation a monitor allows pupils, staff and visitors to see how much electricity is being generated as well as how much the system has generated in its lifetime and how much of a C0² saving this equates to.

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The ability to create cost-effective long span floors that can be quickly installed is said to have seen TJ joists used to create a large industrial mezzanine floor. A part of the iLevel engineered wood floor system, the joists are more commonly found in new build residential and light commercial developments. The 18m x 12.2m mezzanine floor has been installed to create additional production space at a Bristol joinery company. The original floor designs called for sawn timber but the architects opted for TJI joists because of their flexibility.

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Geometric shapes are rapidly overtaking curves as the latest consumer must-have for the kitchen but achieving crisp edges requires precision manufacturing, says Franke. The company maintains it has employed expert engineers to develop 'unique tooling' to ensure the uniformity and consistency of angles to make its Mythos sinks and taps collection 'pin sharp and crystal clear.' Three sink materials are available: stainless steel; Frafanicite and ceramic. Each comes in single bowl or one-and-half bowl format, available with accessories such as strainer bowls.

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The Finnforest Merk Theatre, conceived by Maverick Designer Tom Dixon, will play host to the Low Carbon Building Seminar at 100% Detail - the exhibition being held at Earls Court later this month. Using 6m high panels of Kerto, the company's laminated veneer lumber, the theatre is designed as an organic structure.

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Global stance Kingspan Insulated Panels has issued its first full sustainablility report for 2006. The company says its 'proud to declare that it has achieved a level C report' in accordance with the standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) framework. The report covers the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability at its three manufacturing sites. Kingspan said it intends to implement an annual reporting cycle.

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The maker of Fibreglass products for the house building market, Stormking, has boosted its manufacturing capacity by nearly a quarter. The company has bought a 40,000 square foot building to bring the number of manufacturing sites in their Tamworth base to six. The acquisition enables the company to concentrate all its dormer roof production into one location and includes the wood frame manufacturing for the dormers. Established in 1985, the company is now believed to be the largest manufacturer of construction related glass reinforced plastic mouldings in the UK.

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The Tremco illbruck website has been designed to make navigation simple and easy, with clearly defined sectors for each of the company's product ranges and information on market issues and news. The new site brings together the company's product range and new features include a full searchable product sector.

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