Britain Branch to Cease Printing Sooner Than Expected

by The Searcher 45 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • TheWonderofYou
    TheWonderofYou

    Indeed printeries and factory building do not slot into the modern concept of a green city or garden town, prestigious campus are not fitting good together.

    Temple Farm Development is designed as prestigious project of green cities an urban natural environement.

    First ever BREEAM Communities innovation credit is claimed by Temple Farm Development

    It is the second BREEAM Communities project to have received an Outstanding rating.... Temple Farm is not a restricted construction zone, but a state of the art development which when completed will admit tour buses and welcome visitors. It aims to knowledge share and showcase all the new and existing technologies and design solutions that were employed to develop a heavily contaminated yet ecologically valuable piece of land outstandingly

    https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Temple_Farm_Development

    https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/BREEAM_communities

    The concept of garden towns or garden villages

    Watchtower is planning a BETHEL as green city /garden town = BREEAM community that is backed by science and technology and owned and trusted by the community. Prestigious real estate that has uncontroversial value for communities and is good asset.

    Anyhow the printeries and warehouses might not be so important in this general concept of a campus?

    http://www.templefarmdevelopment.co.uk/

    ---

    Temple Farm Development

    Temple Farm Development spreads across an 85-acre rural site in Chelmsford, England. The project comprises offices, residential and healthcare buildings, and an Energy Centre.

    It is the second BREEAM Communities project to have received an Outstanding rating.

    There are many innovative features that make this project an exceptionally dynamic and pioneering one in all aspects of sustainability, but the most prominent feature is the divergent and creative thinking that has gained Temple Farm its single innovation credit, a milestone in the history of BREEAM Communities assessments.

    The innovation credit is awarded for implementing a methodology that significantly reduces transport carbon emissions attributable to construction workers engaged on this large development.

    The methodology involves housing the majority of construction workers in accommodation on, around, or near the development site; thus significantly reducing commuting vehicle movements and transport CO2. Pedestrian and cycle paths link the adjoining accommodations to the construction site access points.

    This methodology is innovative in that it redefines the traditional practice of construction worker commuting to the development sites, frequently over great distances and for extended periods of perhaps a year or more for large developments. This approach has been applied from the start of construction work at Temple Farm in Feb 2016 and has a projected saving of 64% of Transport CO2 (2,250 tonnes) over the five year construction period.

    The primary benefit of this forward-looking solution is lessening current and future climate change effects attributable to CO2 emissions. This is a simple yet effective step that sets an example of how one of the foremost modern day issues can be addressed.

    The secondary benefits of this approach are reductions in noise and nuisance by lowering local vehicle movements and potential accidents. This will result in improvements in health and safety and construction efficiency due to eliminating stressful and time consuming daily commutes of the majority of work-force. It is believed that this will lead to an improved quality of life, worker satisfaction and improved productivity which the management aims to evaluate via worker surveys throughout the construction period.

    It is one of the aims of BREEAM to support innovation within the construction industry and its supply chain by rewarding construction projects that go beyond best practice in terms of a particular aspect of sustainability. Temple Farm clearly demonstrates going ‘above and beyond’ the requirements of the scheme to demonstrate tangible benefits not only in terms of transport related carbon emissions but also the social impacts of traffic on the local community.

    Besides the innovation credit, Temple Farm demonstrated a commitment to excellence in many other aspects of its design and construction which is worth highlighting a few:

    Due to its former use as a scrap yard/car breakers, the site has been heavily contaminated. During remediation of Temple Farm over 8,000 tyres were found buried which have been excavated and will be reused on site or recycled. This area has historically suffered from significant surface water drainage problems owing, in part, to this contamination. This has now been successfully and sensitively remediated, certified by the Environment Agency.

    Temple Farm was also classified as Green Belt land until 2010 when a 39 acre parcel in the centre of the site was removed from Green Belt and approved for development. Subsequently, the site has a number of high value ecological assets including ancient hedgerows and veteran trees, many of which required restorative work due to years of neglect. As part of the redevelopment of the site, key ecological features (ponds, ancient trees and hedgerows, native species etc.) have been protected, restored, and made a focal point in the design.

    Although it will be years before Temple Farm is completed and occupied to its full potential, there is already a sense of community and unity on and around this massive construction site. The temporary caravan-like accommodations have been individualised and turned into homes by Temple Farm construction workers and do not carry any resemblance to a temporary place of living.

    The site itself is very positively known amongst the locals and the roundabout that was originally created by the developer to ease the entrance of large vehicles into the site, is turned into an attractive tree-lined feature as well as a main connection point in town with bus stops and the beautiful scenery of the pond and the forest rather than being just a grubby entrance to a construction zone.

    Temple Farm is not a restricted construction zone, but a state of the art development which when completed will admit tour buses and welcome visitors. It aims to knowledge share and showcase all the new and existing technologies and design solutions that were employed to develop a heavily contaminated yet ecologically valuable piece of land outstandingly.

    Temple Farm can be called the realisation of the aims and objectives of the BREEAM Communities scheme, as not only does it meets the planning conditions and regulations of Chelmsford City Council, but it also pushes boundaries, and encourages innovative sustainabledesign and creates a community.

    BREEAM continues to be an instrumental tool that inspires and supports the industry to create socially, economically and environmentally viable built environments that are backed by science and technology and owned and trusted by the community.


    This article was originally published here by BRE Buzz on 19 June 2017.

    It was written by Rose Pourmatin, she is

    Rose Pourmatin

    BREEAM Communities Scheme Manager

    JW in Britain can be thankful to Jehovah for such a good cooperation partner in green villages.


    here she is in Kuwait

  • Crazyguy
    Crazyguy

    With the way things are going , to digital away from books to video and electronic downloads of media, they can probably run their whole business from a small office building one story with parking for less the 100.

  • John Davis
    John Davis

    It is not unusual for them to scale down print production. How many people here still read a newspaper that is delivered to their door or a commercial magazine that is not on your computer or tablet?

  • TheWonderofYou
    TheWonderofYou

    subject: sustainable buildings

    BREEAM is the world's foremost environmental assessment method and rating system for buildings, with 425,000 buildings with certified BREEAM assessment ratings and two million registered for assessment since it was first launched in 1990.

    BREEAM AG Bucknalls Lane

    Watford, Hertfordshire,WD25 9XX United Kingdom View Map>>

    P: +44 1923 664000

    www.breeam.org

    http://www.zoominfo.com/c/BREEAM-AG/350752432

  • careful
    careful

    Thanks, SBF, for your insightful input. One point on the ending of your first large post: Bethels are for more than just a GB HQ. They house an increasing number of administrative activities like schools, service departments, and legal offices. I'm not sure if this is what you mean by "exercise authority."

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    I can remember being well impressed with the huge printing presses in London Bethel .... My impression is that Temple Farm will be a distribution and storage warehouse and admin centre for the British "field" , nothing more.

    I think John Davis speaks for only one section of the community when he "disses" print media. A huge section of the community still chooses paper books and mags and many find them a better read. My cutting them out the WTS shuts off its core base of loyal followers

    As far as I know, field ministry stuff will still be printed.....in Germany

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot
    shepherdless - "... I have a low opinion of the Borg's management ability..."

    You aren't the first one...

    http://www.freeminds.org/bethel/dave.htm

    Probably won't be the last, ether.

  • Vidiot
    Vidiot
    Crazyguy - "...they can probably run their whole business from a small office building one story with parking for less than 100."

    Knock on wood, man.

    Anything that makes it easier for the fakers, faders, and fence-sitters to be free.

  • darkspilver
    darkspilver

    My impression is that Temple Farm will be a distribution and storage warehouse and admin centre for the British "field" , nothing more.

    FWIW I understood that all the UK individual congregation's literature orders are now already being packaged up in Germany - therefore no need for warehouse storage in Britain (though I'd expect the Britain Bethel to hold a small stock of things like Bible Teach books for 'emergency' orders)

    This was the letter from last year -

    BoE Letter June 10, 2016 - Re: Transfer of Shipping Activities From Britain Branch to Central Europe Branch

    We are writing to inform you that the shipping activities presently done at the Britain branch will soon be transferred to the Central Europe branch, located in Germany. This transfer is currently underway, and will be completed by the end of September 2016.

    What effect will it have on the congregations here in Britain? Public and study edition magazines in English will continue to be packed at the Britain branch for the congregations in Britain and Ireland when the quantity justifies it (above 50 copies for the study edition and above 100 copies for the public editions). However, foreign-language magazines, meeting workbooks and literature will be packed in the Central Europe branch once the transfer takes place.

    https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwqmWMK7dwtla25CWXlLdXVENzg/view

    On a side issue:

    I think John Davis speaks for only one section of the community when he "disses" print media.

    As a print newspaper reader myself, I thought the following recent (Jan 2017) study was interesting:

    NEWSPAPER CONSUMPTION IN THE MOBILE AGE

    Re-assessing multi-platform performance and market share using ‘time-spent’

    The results show that, of the time spent with 11 UK national newspaper brands by their British audiences, 88.5 per cent still comes via their print editions, 7.49 per cent via mobiles, and just 4 per cent via PCs.

    http://neilthurman.com/timespent.pdf

    There is also this from Deloitte

    UK News Media: an engine of original news content and democracy

    A study on the economic contribution of the UK news media industry

    December 2016

    http://www.newsmediauk.org/write/MediaUploads/In%20the%20Spotlight/NMA%20Economic%20Report/Final_Report_News_Media_Economic_Impact_Study.pdf
  • pepperheart
    pepperheart

    The watchtower do seem to be in real trouble in spite of all the cuts they have been making (since 2012) they are still going on with more cuts

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