The third part of the BuilderScrap.com review of sustainable construction.

Q: What more could the construction industry do collectively to contribute to aspects of sustainability – what targets and actions could it sign up to?

1. Many respondents suggested that the construction industry should work in a more integrated way, with a focus on stimulating collective thinking to ensure that sustainability issues were taken into account at the early stages of all projects. It was felt that there was a role here for the Strategic Forum for Construction. Trade Associations could also help by promoting
best practice for SMEs in areas such as health and safety, waste management and management of community impacts. Some suggested that the Strategy include regional industry programmes, possibly administered by the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).

2. Some respondents confirmed their support for better control of waste, greater use of more sustainable materials and better design of buildings (domestic, industrial and commercial) to provide for a longer life span of the buildings.

3. Some suggested that there was significant scope for improved sharing of information across the construction sector. There were suggestions that benchmark standards should be established for a number of topics such as resource use, impact assessment, post occupancy evaluation, reporting of performance and lessons learnt. Agreeing benchmarks and
openly sharing information could facilitate the setting of deliverable targets to meet sustainability objectives, not only in environmental terms, but in the social and economic aspects of sustainability such as local recruitment, diversity, training and use of SMEs.

4. Some stated that the industry (including the products supply chain) should develop credible and independent certification systems for materials used – concrete, steel, glass, stone etc. This should also cover ethical and environmental issues relating to materials sourcing.

5. Some proposed compulsory annual training in all aspects of sustainable construction, for all staff levels. Knowledge about new and improved building techniques and practices and about their practical application, needed to be widely disseminated. The industry should continue to promote apprenticeships and Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

6. To help improve the level of awareness of sustainability in construction, it was suggested that an industry best practice scheme for sustainability, Draft Strategy for Sustainable Construction Chapter Title: General comparable to ‘Investors in People’, should be developed. It was suggested that public sector clients could require the standard as a pre-qualification
criterion.

7. The following list outlines some of the ideas suggested by respondents:

• Standardised schemes to assess the sustainable community aspects of the built environment.
• All parts of the industry to sign up to a charter with appropriate and specific targets, to deliver improvements in their sustainability impacts.
• A coalition of top tier contractors agreeing unilaterally to adopt sustainable construction principles.
• Professional bodies to include mandatory CPD training on sustainability for their existing members.
• Professional bodies to require their accredited university degrees to include sustainable development in all relevant parts of the curriculum.
• Ensuring knowledge of best practice was disseminated, especially between competing companies though existing initiatives such as Constructing Excellence’s demonstration programme.
• The materials industry could measure and publicise its sustainability performance systematically using a methodical assessment tool such as Eco-Profiling.
• Greater adoption of life cycle analysis and more rigorous cost modelling techniques such as whole life costing.
• Tightening of energy efficiency targets with more focus on CO2 emissions than on energy use.
• Greater adoption of lean techniques, a better appreciation of the opportunities offered by off-site construction and the adoption of a more efficient construction process to eradicate waste at every stage.
• A partnership approach between landlords and tenants, with each sharing the costs of effective action on sustainability.