‘Send three-and-fourpence we are going to a dance:’ how the green message may get lost in translation

Environmental concerns are largely a new concept and in the construction industry, we are in danger of confusion on a par with the anecdote in the title, where ‘send reinforcements, we are going to advance’ became distorted in the command chain.

Communication across the construction sector is potentially one of the principal barriers to entry into the sustainable market. This is especially so where Government targets are a key driver and those charged with delivering these ambitions are required not only to construct actual buildings but also to create a means for delivery within the timescale.

Sustainable Construction Strategy Report

The Government’s Sustainable Construction Strategy Report takes its cue from the European definition: ‘The future of our planet depends on our willingness now to ensure that the actions we take and developments we pursue, as a nation and internationally, improve the quality of life today without compromising that of future generations’.

Building Research Establishment (BRE) – Green Guide

Green products are defined generically by the BRE Green Guide and specifically by the BRE’s Environmental Profiling (these are by virtue of BREEAM and the Code most certainly accreditations). GreenSpec – a respected UK specification source – has long promoted the internationally used definition as ‘A commercially available product/material that embodies one or more positive environmental attributes or qualities that distinguish it from other products or materials in the same function category.’

Low Carbon Buildings

The two working definitions of zero carbon, by the Government in its EPCs and by the Green Building Council in its report The definition of zero carbon, are likely to converge.

The Government’s ambition for high-efficiency low- or zero-carbon buildings is to be fully supported and interpretation and delivery now sit with ‘the construction industry’, which presents us with a number of issues relating to communications, service provision and knowledge.

However, there is a lack of capacity to deliver. Also, there are many other barriers most importantly the lack of prioritisation and the paucity of product and service information, which make it difficult to set priorities, targets or standards. The Government’s own Procuring the Future Taskforce (published 2006) also identified a longer list of issues including failure to manage supply chain risk. The term sustainability has little impact. Procurers are not convinced of the merits. It is difficult to calculate the intangible benefit and hard to penetrate the public sector market with innovative solutions. Finally, there is the natural aversion to any risk in procurement.

Delivering Sustainable Construction

Each of the groups involved in a construction project tends to be ‘insulated’ from each other. This explains in part the chaos and confusion identified in the Procuring the Future Taskforce conclusions. Vital in breaking this cycle is the role of supply chain management, arguably the only place where all aspects of a construction project are connected. It is this central role that has made Burdens one of the most successful deliverers of practical sustainable products and services in the construction sector. Many of the company’s innovations have come from acquiring established products from overseas. This should provide what is known as ‘late mover advantage’ and it does: but there is a considerable gap in capacity that is not easily filled. In practical terms, the aim is to provide a clear efficient path for the use, application and delivery of sustainable construction products.

Sustainable Construction Events

Burdens Environmental supply’s a growing range of environmentally safe and integrated natural building products. For more information contact us. Burdens Environmental hold Delivering Sustainable Construction events nationwide; our events consist of seminars, practical product demonstrations and trade stands. Subscribe to our e-newsletter to keep updated with the latest events.

Our next event will be held at Dunblane Hydro Hotel, Perth, Scotland on 30th April 2009. View our press release for more information.

by Will Kirkman, Business Development Director, Burdens Environmental