Tag: Construction

Image showing workers on construction site

We are all in the climate business, now!

New writing… My latest piece for The Hub – the award-winning content platform curated by Mitsubishi Electric – looks at the declaration of a Climate Emergency and what it might mean for the construction industry, in particular. From France and Argentina, via Tuscany and Québec, to New York City and Scarborough, an ever-lengthening list of nations, states, cities, towns, councils and jurisdictions are officially declaring an Emergency and supporting the climate movement. Together, these  900-plus governments in 18 countries around the world represent a combined global community of more than 200 million people. Please click the link to read the post in full and learn more about why… ‘We are all in the clmate business, now!‘

SUSTMEME: Get the Susty Story Straight!

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Circularity: ‘Future of Construction’ in The Times

New writing… Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on the Future of Construction.

BAMB is on a mission: its goal is a systemic shift in sustainable building; its focus, construction waste and material consumption. As the name implies, Buildings as Material Banks (BAMB) reimagines a building as a dynamic repository of value, where tradable material assets can be deposited, data tracked, transferred and withdrawn. Three major changes support the BAMB vision for circular transition: change in design culture, value definition and collaboration. The question is, can a relatively traditional industry such as construction truly embrace the systemic change called for by a circular economy? What would such a shift mean in terms of technology, but more imporantly culture? Furthermore, how might it play out worldwide – across global development markets maturing at different speeds, with different histories of urbanisation? Getting down to project particulars, the article also includes a case study of an inner-city school in Swansea, Wales, which has just set new industry standards, achieving 99.87 per cent diversion from landfill. You can read more about both the scale of the material challenge and the exciting opportunities to close the circularity gap, here:

• ‘BAMB: Could this be the future for sustainable building?’.

The full 16-page Future of Construction & Development report is available to view/download here.

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Sustainability win-win: ‘Future of Procurement’ in The Times

New writing…. Pleased to say I have had another article published in The Times newspaper, as part of a special Raconteur report on the Future of Procurement.

Reconciling best-value procurement and sustainability need not be a problem, since the two carry the promise of a real win-win.  The potential synergy is clear, at least in principle. In practice, however, is where the challenge starts. Exploring how best to track and target supply-chain performance, my article takes us beyond the old backside-covering box-ticking and bare-minimum compliance of yesteryear, into the brave new world of holistic and proactive procurement, that is smart, balanced and sustainable. It is not easy, especially in an industry like construction, notorious for its aggressive contracting model and adversarial business culture. However, times are changing and so too is the sector, albeit slowly. The future of procurement will be different, and better:

• ‘How sustainability can build value in construction’.

The full 20-page Future of Procurement report is available to view/download here.

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Susty Procurement: From Responsible Sourcing to… Star Wars

New writing... Pleased to say I have another piece published in The Times newspaper today, as part of a special report on Future-Proofing Procurement, by Raconteur. It looks at how the business supply chain is increasingly viewed as a value chain, with shared value being as much environmental and social, as it is economic:

• ‘5 ways to share supply chain value with people and the planet’.

The full 16-page  report is available to view/download here.

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Future of Construction: Change is in the Air

New writing... Pleased to say I have another piece published in The Times newspaper today, as part of a special report on the Future of Construction, by Raconteur. It looks at how the construction sector stands accused as a polluter, but has an opportunity to clean up its act – not just on urban air quality, but environmental impacts and emissions in general, including carbon:

• ‘Change is in the air with city pollution’.

The full 16-page  report is available to view/download here.

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