New POST work: January 2021
The POST board has approved 4 new POSTnotes and POSTbriefs. Coastal management, Environmentally efficient residential building, Net zero and decarbonising construction and Remote and flexible working.

The growing use of smart phones and data intensive services (such as video streaming), has increased demand for both fixed and mobile internet. This POSTnote looks at patterns in broadband access and use, and the technical and policy challenges of enhancing UK broadband infrastructure to meet future needs.
UK Broadband Infrastructure (432 KB, PDF)
The UK Government has identified broadband internet access as key for economic growth and the delivery of public services. It has made a number of commitments for expanding broadband infrastructure, which include targets to provide ‘superfast’ fixed-line broadband (with download speeds above 24 megabits per second) to 95% of the UK population by 2017, and to provide mobile broadband to 98% of premises by 2017. There is debate over how best to meet such targets and how this affects innovation, consumer choice and geographical variation in services. Approaches for enhancing the UK’s broadband networks include building new infrastructure, sharing existing infrastructure and operating networks more efficiently.
UK Broadband Infrastructure (432 KB, PDF)
The POST board has approved 4 new POSTnotes and POSTbriefs. Coastal management, Environmentally efficient residential building, Net zero and decarbonising construction and Remote and flexible working.
A POSTnote on green building will summarise the key criteria affecting the environmental performance of buildings. It will review the challenges and opportunities for improving the UK housing stock to meet likely future standards.
A POSTbrief on decarbonising construction will discuss opportunities for achieving net-zero in the built environment. It will look at options for reducing carbon emissions across the lifecycle of buildings and how this could inform sustainability targets and construction standards. It will provide an overview of innovations in low carbon building materials and the technologies that could be incorporated into buildings to reduce emissions.