Author Archives: martin brown

ISO14051: Turning waste to gold with ISO standard for environmental management accounting

With the proposed demise of Site Waste Management Plans SWMP under the ‘Greenest Government Ever’ red tape plans, could a new-ish ISO standard that puts costs to the impacts identified under ISO 14001 provide direction, guidance or framework for construction to measure and improve material and energy waste?

The standard, ISO 14051:2011, Environmental management — Material flow cost accounting — assists organizations to better understand the environmental and financial consequences of their material and energy use practices, so that they can identify opportunities for improvement.

The standard uses MFCA, Material flow cost accounting,  which is “applicable to any organisation that uses materials and energy, regardless of their products, services, size, structure, location, and existing management and accounting systems”

MFCA could be applied on a business wide basis across all projects, understanding material, energy and resource inputs, processing and outputs, as well as on a project basis adopting a SWMP format combined with a Carbon plan driven by ConstructCO2 could indeed turn waste into gold.

Background Reading:

Constructing Excellence SWMP position

ISO turn waste into gold  

Measure, Understand and Improve Construction Carbons www.constructco2.com

Could built environment leaders cut it in a digital world?

Leave a reply

An excellent Communique newsfeed from Nancy Settle-Murphy this morning, at looking at effectiveness of leaders in a virtual world.  It strikes me this is a lesson perhaps for built environment and construction leaders as we move into a communication era that is increasingly digital, web based, social media enabled and BIM (Building Information Model) focused:

Even the most experienced team leaders can make us weep with boredom. They torture us with their monotone narrations of 10-Mb slide decks. They regale us with irrelevant minutiae, while sidestepping the really important stuff. Their meetings are more like monologues, with everyone else listening from the sidelines. And for the most part, they probably imagine they’re pretty interesting people!

When we experience boring leaders face-to-face, we have to at least pretend to be somewhat interested. We might take notes (even if it’s a shopping list!), throwing in a few occasional nods so we won’t be called on to replay key points. Copious amounts of caffeine help to some degree, as do the many bio breaks we’ll inevitably need as a result. And who hasn’t had a colleague place an “emergency” phone call in extreme cases of ennui?

Tuning out boring virtual leaders is far easier. Once you put yourself on mute, there’s no end to the more important things you can do, like responding to emails, writing up your latest status report, or finding the best price on that new digital camera you’ve been pining for. (If you work from home, this “important” work can extend to laundry, dinner prep, weight-lifting and more.) As long as you’re within earshot of the conversation, your team leader may assume you’re present while in fact you are completely absent.

So, how can boring virtual leaders learn to become more captivating? (And no, it is not an inherent skill that some are just born with!) In this issue, I take a look at some steps even the blandest leader can take to evolve into an engaging, stimulating and captivating leader, from near or far.

No one actively aspires to be boring. And yet regrettably, few leaders actively attempt to be interesting.

Read on … from Nancy Settle-Murphy on Commique 

175 Little Acts of CSR

Leave a reply

Whilst the debate on Linkedin Group CSR in Construction asks why Corporate Social Responsibility is the domain of large organisations, SME  Emanuel Whittaker are pushing ahead with an inspiring CSR approach.  This being their 175th year, the CSR approach for 2012 is aptly called 175 Little Acts of Kindness, setting a target to deliver, record and share 175 CSR themed acts of kindness.

The Emanuel Whittaker  new look web site neatly puts CSR center stage as the envelope or wrap around for many activities (green deal, training and employment, equality and diversity, ISO 14001, carbon management, training, customer care, and more).

In a recent discussion with Rukhsana Nabi, Partnerships Manager at Emanuel Whittaker, she explained that CSR at Emanuel Whittaker reflects the culture, “its who we are and what we do – not a set of processes and procedures” and that the reason for this years initiative is simply to share what we do, rather than a PR or marketing campaign.

Emanuel Whittaker will be sharing their 175 stories during 2012, through their website,  facebook and through twitter @emanuel_whittack, using the #175littleacts hashtag.

What is BIM

2 Replies

The following article was written to introduce PauleyCreative’s excellent BIM Infographic  illustrating the recent NBS BIM survey, providing an important snapshot of our collaborative working BIM journey and future directions.

It was also hosted on the 2degreesnetwork site as part of their BIM series.

It feels the article has been ‘on tour’ and received good responses and comments via twitter and elsewhere, so it seems only correct to ‘bring home’ and post here for readers of this blog. Enjoy, and please do add comments below.

What is BIM?

There are many definitions of BIM, but unfortunately many are wrapped in technical, project management or design terminology.

We can understand and describe BIM as “the total and virtual modelling of all aspects of a project prior to construction, during construction and in use.”

A BIM would typically model all data relating to, for eg, design scenarios, costings, build ability and clash detection, scheduling and procurement, sustainability impact, life cycle and facilities management factors as well as in use predictions. Championed by the Government, milestones are set for achieving increasingly mature levels of BIM. The first being level 2 by 2016.

We should view BIM, not just as new technology but as a continuation of the collaborative working journey within the built environment sector. A journey started, or first articulated, way back in 1934 by Alfred Bossom and core to most sector improvement programmes since, from Latham, Egan, Building Down Barriers, Constructing Excellence, to the recent Never Waste a Good Crisis report.

BIM will be challenging, demanding real collaborative working and sharing of data, knowledge and costings across project parties.

The key to collaborative working being effective and open communications, coupled with trust and importantly being comfortable with sharing within a digital environment. Indeed we need the debate on the potential role of communications, and in particular social media, within BIM environments.

Perhaps understandably, the current BIM agenda is driven by technology and design. But the debate will widen, out of necessity, to include other disciplines such as Facilities Management, Quantity Surveyors, SME contractors, product suppliers and manufacturers, Many of whom still remain unclear as to how work and management will be different when working within BIM projects or suppling equipment to a BIM project.

You may recall a recent Honda advert that played on the expression “everything we do goes into everything we do.”  That ad emphasised how the breadth of Honda’s experience is applied through lean manufacturing to all aspects of their products. This is a great expression we would be wise to adopt to explain how BIM will enable us to bring built environment collective experiences, knowledge, technologies and best practice to every building.

Imagine a built environment industry where the design office, the QS office, the project management team, subcontractors operatives, the manufacturers factory and so on is so lean that everything we do goes into everything we do.

We would be able to reclaim the rule of thumb 30% waste in our sector, improve on safety and sustainability and deliver better, lower cost, fit for use facilities whilst achieving healthy profit levels essential for a sustainable industry.

Increasingly I am helping the contractors that I support on their questions of “what is BIM” and “what do I need” to do through increasing awareness of collaborative working, BIM itself and becoming comfortable with web/social media/digital communication. If you would like to know more please do get in touch or follow the conversations on twitter @fairsnape

Five Emerging Themes in Construction CSR

2 Replies

A recent CSR in construction workshop ran some very interesting discussions on just what CSR in construction is, what it could be and what it should be.

There emerged a number of salient, central themes:

CSR is not a badge, a new lick of paint or indeed something to do to generate responses in bids and PQQ’s to win work, but is something that goes deep into the organisation. It is the brand, image and reputation of the business, in many ways CSR is part of the DNA upon which the business will grow and flourish. Words such as heart or soul of the business become relevant.

CSR thinking will challenge existing business models. We have moved from a era of CSR being bad news, not seen as a business issue, to one of commitment to being responsible and doing good whilst running a business. The challenge businesses may now face is moving forward, how to make a construction business of out doing good, where social responsibility is the vision and core of the organisation. Combining triple line thinking in an integrated strategy and integrated reporting approach will give new perspectives on construction businesses.

CSR approaches cannot be simply imposed top down. Whilst needing strong leadership vision, CSR requires real engagement of all staff and indeed all those who work for the business through the supply chains. Empowering managers to lead on CSR and engaging people in sharing CSR good news stories will become essential.

CSR transparency means all aspects of construction are increasingly on open public display. We cannot put one message to clients in bids, another to staff and still allow conflicting, or perhaps irresponsible practices to exist. The recent Goldman Sachs is a timely reminder that we are in the Age of Damage as described David Jones in Who Cares Wins

The power and potential of social media is yet to be realised. On one hand it presents a phenomenal tool for sharing news, keeping informed and engaging with clients and partners, on the other hand it can be the Achilles heel, rapidly broadcasting irresponsible practices or intentions. Having an appropriately positive approach to Social Media with guidelines or codes of practice for use by staff in the business and on projects will increasingly become high priority.

Supporting built environment organisations on developing CSR strategies it is encouraging to see a real desire for strategic CSR approaches that go beyond the volunteering and sponsorship models. If you wish to engage in conversations on CSR in construction follow and join me on twitter @fairsnape, subscribe to or share this blog post, or get in touch via fairsnape@gmail.com

Lancashire: Green Deal, BIM, Green Building and Social Media events

2 Replies

Hi, here is a quick update of Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club related events in the NW region over the coming months which may be of interest:

Green Deal: If you have been following the news you will have seen that £3.5m has been released for Green Deal training and news is expected soon from Ed Davey MP on Green Deal for Busineses.

Our timely Introduction to PAS 2030 session is scheduled for the 30th March as part of our Green Deal Initiative, with monthly sessions thereafter. Also CSkills are holding an Employers Advisory Forum on March 28th, at St Helen’s Rugby League Stadium which will feature Green Deal

Bidding: The Association of Interior Specialists (AIS) are hold a A free webinar  Improve your Bids: 13th March 27th March and 17th April

BIM: Unfortuntaley we have had to push the LCBPC BIM event back until June, however, there are a lot of BIM events happening regionally.

There are Events across in Yorkshire on the 15th March looking at BIM impact on Regional SME’s and on 4th April looking at BIM Level 2.

And in Manchester BIM – Software with Tough Choices Workshop 29 March 2012, 08:30 – 11:00 at the and BIM Compete or collaborate? 16th May. You may also find this “What is BIM, and why should we care” item of interest.

Waste: Waste update will be the topic for the LCBPC event. Details to follow.

Green Building: Again there is a lot happening on this theme as you would expect: What is your Green Vision? is a Global TweetChat (online, via twitter using the #GVisChat hashtag) hosted by Green Vision on 20th March 8pm to coincide with Eco Build. In addition Green Vision Leeds 29th March will feature the lessons learnt from the greenest building on earth, live from Vancouver

Green Build Expo Returns to Manchester on 9th /10th May, I will be there with Be2camp on the 9th and talking Social Media on the Green Deal  as part of the Green Deal Debate stage the 10th, and if you are going to EcoBuild, 20-22nd March in London do let us know via twitter @fairsnape + @lcbpc or on the linkedin Lancashire Construction group

Social Media: Su Butcher and myself will be running a Linkedin and Twitter Workshop for built environment professionals in the NW on 8th May.

Finally, Progress in Procurement: the Effectiveness of Frameworks is at the CUBE Manchester 19th March, and the RICS in the NW have a full programme of events on their calendar.

If you know of any events then please do flag them on the Lancashire Construction group linkedin or in comments below and we can share across the club membership.

You can get details of club membership here and application form here

Cost of Managing Project Photos

3 Replies

Seeing the wood from the trees. Are we taking too many site photos?

Seeing the wood from the trees. Are we taking too many site photos?

Last week I was discussing the issue of site photos with a contractor. The discussion included the cost (time) of taking so many photos which were probably never viewed, the increasing storage costs and the cost (time) in trying to find suitable photos for bids, publications or to verify events on site for many reasons.

A number of solutions were discussed including the mandatory tagging of photos before being uploaded or saved on to company sites, using open sites such a flickr, or  an emerging approach of embedding photo’s into the site online diary – or blog where they exist.

At the same time Paul Wilkinson @EEPaul was tweeting live from a COMIT event where the same problem was being discussed – the vast number of photos taken across the industry, made all so easy with smart phones, picture storage requirements increasing as the mega pixel cameras on site increase and so on.

Its not surprising then that we will see construction picture applications emerge, one of the first to come to my attention is Geedra (http://www.geedra.com/) which discusses the issues above in their blog – see Construction Photo Management Just Changed

I can foresee that construction companies will baulk at the cost (just under $2000 per annum, with a limited capacity free option).  But given the cost in time on taking unused pictures, server space for unnessary pictures and time in searching, this may actually be saving costs.

We should perhaps understand, like pictures taken and developed on film, there is a real cost of taking so many digital pictures.

Green Deal Consortia Launches in Lancashire

2 Replies

The following is the press release from Industry Today ‘Green Deal’ service:

Wednesday 22nd February saw the launch of the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club’s ‘Green Deal Consortia’ initiative supported by the FMB, fairsnape, DIEMltd, the NFB, SMPR (Simply Marcomms Ltd) and UCLan.

Over 40 organisations attended the breakfast launch at the University of Central Lancashire in Preston. The event saw the coming together of like minded individuals keen to learn more about the forthcoming Green Deal which is set to go live in October 2012.

This Lancashire initiative is thought to be the first of its kind in the country to support local companies in preparing for Green Deal

The ‘Green Deal’ scheme, the Governement’s CO2 flagship programme for addressing building performance, will tackle fuel poverty and improve the energy performance of British domestic and non domestic properties, creating a high number of new jobs and work opportunities for the construction industry.

Whilst there remain many uncertainties in the detail of the Government’s Green Deal initiative, however, there is high certainty that it will happen and it will change the way refurbishments are funded and carried out.

Those that intend to carry out measures that fall under the ‘Green Deal’ eg insulation and re-newable installations will need to work in accordance with the recently issued standard PAS 2030:2012 “Improving the energy efficiency of existing buildings – specification for installation process, process management and service provision”.

As of October 2012, only accredited Green Deal contractors and installers (those that have achieved the PAS 2030 standard) will be eligible to carry out installations that fall under the Green Deal umbrella.

The Lancashire Green Deal Consortia members will be supported in understanding Green Deal, assisted in attaining PAS 2030, advised on improving green skills at operative and managerial levels, and importantly facilitated in forming consortia of organisations, who, through working together will be able to offer ‘whole house’ solutions and a far more robust Green Deal offering.

Those present and registering interest in the Consortia approach comprised of organisations such as Local Authorities, construction contractors, surveyors, electrical contractors, plumbing and heating firms alongside industry and educational bodies.

If you want to know more about how the Green Deal could affect your organisation or you would like to know more about becoming a member of the Lancashire Green Deal Consortia programme, contact Martin Brown, fairsnape, and chair of the Lancashire Construction Best Practice Club by emailing fairsnape@gmail.co.uk.

You can also keep in touch with progress of the Green Deal Initiative along with other news from the Best Practice Club by following @lcbpc on twitter or on linkedin via the Lancashire Construction group.

Posted via Industry Today. Are you into it? Follow us on Twitter@IndustryToday

Contact Information

Katie Brown @katiebrowntweets
SMPR (Simply Marcomms Ltd)
Industry Today was developed by Simply Marcomms (SMPR) Online B2B PR services. Visit www.industrytoday.co.uk to publish and distribute news from your Industry. Optimised press releases now appear in Google News.

 

Is this the Green Deal tipping point?

1 Reply

Building broke with the following news today (16th Feb), which can only serve to increase the importance of preparing for Green Deal, attaining PAS 2030 and creating Green Deal consortia to deliver.

“Local authorities team up to issue large-scale retrofit schemes initially worth £1.7bn

Billions of pounds worth of retrofitting work is set to be procured by some of England’s largest regional cities in response to the government’s flagship Green Deal scheme.

Councils across the north-east of England, as well as in the Greater Manchester, Leeds and Bristol city regions, Nottingham and West Sussex, are prepping plans to invest more than £300m in the government’s Green Deal over the next few months – a figure that could rise to billions as the schemes are rolled out.

The councils’ plans follow those of Birmingham council, which is currently shortlisting firms for £1.4bn of Green Deal work – bringing the total initial work to £1.7bn.

The push from local authorities to lead on the Green Deal came as retailer Marks & Spencer’s enthusiasm for delivering the scheme appeared to be cooling. Rowland Hill, M&S corporate social responsibility manager, told Building the retailer would not be interested in providing services for the Green Deal “if it goes too far from our core business”.

The government has been keen to involve major retailers in the delivery of the scheme in order to boost its take-up and M&S had previously indicated an interest.

Newcastle council, working with a number of other authorities across the North-east, is set to issue tender documents within the next three months for £80m of work to retrofit 15,000 homes. Leeds council, in partnership with nine local authorities across the Leeds city region, is drawing up plans that could see it leverage up to £75m to start retrofit work in a market it estimates could have a total value of £3.4bn.

Across the Pennines, the 10 councils that comprise Greater Manchester are considering investing £50m in a Green Deal programme, while Nottingham council is planning an £80m Green Deal contract.

Bristol council along with a range of partners is considering investing £34.6m in a programme, while West Sussex council is preparing a business case for a scheme that could see investment in the tens of millions”

Cities plan to invest billions in Green Deal retrofit work Building link

PQQ Secrets: Listening to the voice of the customer

3 Replies

For PQQ responses to have chance of success they need to address the requirements and aspirations of the client and project.

They also need to differentiate from the competition. So when a client organisation presents on how to differentiate at bid stage, you should be on to a winner.

But of course it’s an ever iterative game, and you will need to be better than those who also hear the customers tips for bidding.

At last weeks CSkills Forum in Salford, Urban Vision Partnership presented what they look to as differentiators when marking and selecting PQQ’s, either as direct bids, as part of a consortia or within a supply chain. Urban Vision’s overall remit is to manage, protect, maintain and enhance development within the city.

Key Differentiating Factors:

– Creation of community benefit

– Workforce development

– Added value and innovation

– Environmental performance, eg 14001 and CO2 monitoring

– Health and Safety practices, eg 18001

– An IMS (Integrated Management System) approach to quality, sustainability and safety

How many of these can you honestly tick as being well established, or well in development, within your organisation, to articulate within bids?

Many of these have been part of the construction business improvement agenda for many years now, certainly since Egans Rethinking Construction back in 1998, whilst others are relatively new as Methods of Modern Construction Management.

Through fairsnape we can help with advice or support in these areas, in practice or in bid articulation. Why not have a conversation? You can follow and join me on twitter @fairsnape, subscribe to or share this blog post, or get in touch.