Tag Archives: environment

Built to Last – Designing Out Landfill

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There has been an increase in circular economy thinking and the built environment recently, and no doubt we will see much more in the coming weeks and months.  It forms a core element behind the Green Vision half day conference in Leeds on the 12th Dec.

Whilst researching back ground information on “Designing Out Landfill” for a client I was struck by these useful paragraphs from Sophie Thomas  co-director of design at the RSA and published in a Guardian Sustainable Business article in September 2012

Built to last

Design sits at the heart of the challenge to create a circular economy. Approximately 80% of a product’s environmental impact is “locked in” at the design stage, so understanding production cycles and reconfiguring them for maximum effectiveness is key. We cannot simply substitute one material for another without understanding the consequences.

Designing in this way is complex. Gone are the days of “sustainable” or “eco” design, when a simple change of material to a recycled alternative would give a project environmental credibility. This system calls for investigation into materials at a molecular scale. It demands true co-creation, with all stakeholders involved in the lifecycle of a particular product. Finally, it requires a new logistical approach to capturing and recirculating materials.

This effort needs to be led by businesses. At the moment, it is rare to see a company setting a design brief that includes requirements to recover material. Now, however, the business model is changing and the economic imperative for recovery is growing stronger.

So…

How well is design, construction and facilities management prepared for such ‘deep green’ thinking to waste elimination?

Simple Rules: Addressing Sustainability

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Addressing climate change, environmental harm and sustainability can seem far to difficult and complex to tackle, so often we dont, or we do so with approaches that are masked by process and checklist.

Daniel Goleman, in Ecological Intelligence gives us three simple, yet remarkably comprehensive rules for reducing impact:

1. Know your impacts

2. Favour improvement

3. Share what you learn

Imagine the power of everyone in your organisation fully understanding the environmental impact of what they do, favouring improvement to address (over doing nothing) and continually sharing with colleagues, supply chain, clients and the wider industry.

In respect for sharing, social media has enabled unparalleled learning and sharing for sustainable improvement, something the built environment is just awakening to.

Does your organisation have Ecological Intelligence and a set of simple rules for reducing environmental impact?

Simple Rules:
Through facilitated workshops, we can help you explore a ‘simple rules’ approach to dramatically improving effectiveness of your processes and procedures, increase buy in whilst reducing red tape bureaucracy.
Behind seemingly complex issues there are simple rules. The concept of Simple Rules is a key principle within complexity and emergence thinking. The oft cited simple rules being those for flocking birds. 
 This blog series will explore application of simple rules to sustainability and the built environment. Based on the premise: if we were to discard all strategies , policies, processes, procedures, work instructions and checklists, what simple rules would emerge or would we need.
Next: Simple Rules for Business Improvement
 

Five questions to drive sustainable construction

Whilst being a great advocate for learning from others, sharing and benchmarking best practice, often it is essential to ask questions of our approaches to topics such as sustainable construction, before comparing.

In this mornings twitter fed reading stream was an article describing the five questions that Interface ask of themselves.  Interface are world leaders in design, production and sales of environmentally responsible modular carpets “Design is a mindset and sustainability is the journey of a lifetime”

Now whilst Interface’s responses in the article are inspiring, it struck me these are the questions we should all be asking of ourselves. Asking across the built environment, in design and specification, in product manufacture, in construction procurement and supply chains. Asking within project sustainability meetings, within company sustainability development and review sessions, at board level and even in ISO14001 audits.

Asking until we have answers and approaches we can live with.

1. How can we increase use of recycled and bio-based materials? 

2. How can we prevent our materials from ending up in landfill?

3. How can we reduce carbon and GHG emissions and at the same time increase our use of renewable energies?

4. How can we reduce water consumption?

5. How can our clients and customers make decisions about materials based upon trustworthy environmental facts? 

Once you have answers to these questions, you will want to take a look at Five Questions Businesses Must Answer to Advance Toward Sustainability According to Interface, Inc.

Join the discussion on these questions, share your responses and learn from others through twitter with @fairsnape and others, through leaving comments below or getting in touch.

Building Down Green Deal Barriers

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Themes covered in the Cumbria Green Deal workshop yesterday, both within round table groups and in general discussions were strikingly familiar, being the age old improvement issues that the construction and built environment sector has been trying to address for the last few decades.

It is encouraging that Green Deal is raising these themes with a new audience, and reinforces the point that Green Deal is another important improvement step on route to construction excellence. However, it is also a reminder that Green Deal may be doomed to failure it its just another sticking plaster applied over our industry core problems

So, forgetting for a moment the mechanics of Green Deal, what are the underlying themes …

Collaborative Working – the need to work together, across supply chains and in consortia is emerging as a pre-requisite for Green Deal.  The six principles of Collaboartive Working, (Compete on Value, Relationships, Integrated Working, Collaborative Cost Management, Continuous Improvement and People Development), first developed under the Building Down Barriers are very appropriate to Green Deal today.

Added Value and Lean Construction – the need to reduce costs whilst improving value. The need to be lean across the Green Deal process. The first Lean Management principle of identifying and stripping waste out is key to effective Green Deal delivery

Open and Transparent Costing – essential to get back to real costs, adopting new and radical approaches to pricing and dealing with risks, and the need to eradicate competition by profit / lowest cost.

Communications – across Green Deal players, with customers and consumers to the way in which we market and promote ourselves.

With the main root of construction problems being related to communication issues, effective approaches to Green Deal communication is vital

Sustainability and CSR – from technical sustainability of how to improve performance of hard to treat properties, to green skill development, to procuring local and appropriate resourcing all get a good outing in Green Deal discussions

Value Management – the need to evaluate between differing Green Deal Plan options, products and quotes across a differing range of criteria (cost, life cycle, replacement, appearance, performance etc) will benefit from robust value management approaches.

Quality Management – our industry SME resistance to adopting processes and certification that applied correctly will improve quality and consistency, reduce errors, reworking and costs, but importantly offer confidence to clients now shifts from ISO 9001 to PAS 2030.

Automation – will automating processes without loosing face to face relationships usher in a world of iPads, social media and improved streamlining of routine / back of house processes?

What will Green Deal do for your organisation?

Related:

On this blog:  Where Greendeal will succeed …

See Su Butcher’s Just Practising blog and comments to What will the Green Deal do for us?

Building Down Barriers Supply Chain Handbook 

Heros and Texts for a future Built Environment based on #CSR

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“suddenly the air smells much greener now”

Listening to ‘These Streets’, lyrics by Paolo Nutini summed up the brilliant, inspiring Green Vision conference in Leeds – exploring CSR within the built environment.

A mix of talks, presentations, round table discussions and pecha kuchas from Mel Starrs, Eden Brukman, Tamara Bergkamp, Eddie Murphy, Martin Brown, Faye Jenkins, Claire Walker, Rick Hamilton, Mark Warner, Pedro Pablo Cardoso-Castro, Andy Ainsworth, Paula Widdowson and many others showed that there is real emergence and a future for a Built Environment founded on social responsibility principles.

The air smells much greener …

We heard of excellent progress being made by individuals, projects and organisations on the CSR journey, and how behind these are great influential thinkers, often outside of the sector, many, unsurprisingly, related to the ‘outdoor’ sector.

Many of the speakers were enthusiastic in sharing CSR heros and recommended CSR reading. So here, as a summary, or reading list are those mentioned during the day. I wonder how many of these are on the reading list within design, construction and fm education? (Book titles link to Amazon)

Yvon Chouinard

Rock climber, environmentalist and outdoor industry businessman, noted for his contributions to climbing, climbing equipment and the outdoor gear business. His company @Patagonia is widely acclaimed for its environmental and social focus. According to Fortune magazine, Chouinard is arguably the most successful outdoor industry businessman alive today.

The Responsible Company What we have learnt in the first 40 years at Patagonia by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley (see my blog)

Let My People Go Surfing Yvon Chouinard – Probably the ‘must read book’ to understand CSR in Business

(On my blog: How can construction learn from Patagonia?)

Ray Anderson

Founder of Interface Inc., one of the world’s largest manufacturers of modular carpet for commercial and residential applications and a leading producer of commercial broadloom and commercial fabrics. He was known in environmental circles for his advanced and progressive stance on industrial ecology and sustainability.

Ray was was posthumously awarded an Outstanding Achievement award at this year’s Guardian Sustainable Business Awards in 2012. (There is a related, must watch, video here: John Elkington describing the work and legacy of Ray Anderson)

Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose: Doing Business by Respecting the Earth (2009) Later released in paperback as Business Lessons from a Radical Industrialist in 2011.

Paul Hawken

An environmentalist, entrepreneur, and author. Ray Anderson of Interface credited The Ecology of Commerce with his environmental awakening. He described reading it as a “spear in the chest experience”, after which Anderson started crisscrossing the country with a near-evangelical fervor, telling fellow executives about the need to reduce waste and carbon emissions.

Hawken’s book, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (1999) coauthored with Amory Lovins and Hunter Lovins, popularized the now-standard idea of natural capital and direct accounting for ecosystem services, a theme revisited by Rio +20 and likely to become more mainstream across the built environment.

Janine Benyus

Her 1997 book Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature defines Biomimry as a “new science that studies nature’s models and then imitates or takes inspiration from these designs and processes to solve human problems”. Benyus suggests looking to Nature as a “Model, Measure, and Mentor” and emphasizes sustainability as an objective of biomimicry. Key thinking in the Living Building Challenge principles, as is

E O Wilson

Edward Osborne Wilson an American biologist, researcher, theorist, naturalist and author. In the mid 80’s developed the concept of Biophilia, the connection between humans and nature, which translates into architecture and the built environment as comfort, well being and productivity through exposure to natural light and natural surrondings or imagry.

Anita Roddick

Dame Anita Roddick, human rights activist and environmental campaigner, best known as the founder of The Body Shop, a cosmetics company producing and retailing beauty products that shaped ethical consumerism The company was one of the first to prohibit the use of ingredients tested on animals and one of the first to promote fair trade with third world countries. Roddick was involved in activism and campaigning for environmental and social issues, including involvement with Greenpeace andThe Big Issue.

John Elkington

John Elkington @volansjohn is a world authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development. He is currently the Founding Partner & Executive Chairman of Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship and innovation movements

His latest book The Zeronauts, Breaking the Sustainability Barrier describes many of todays inspirational leaders : “Just as our species broke the Sound Barrier during the 1940s and 1950s, a new breed of innovator, entrepreneur, and investor is lining up to break the Sustainability Barrier”

Jorgen Randers

2052: What will the world look like in 2052

Jeff Hollender,

Jeffrey Hollender is an American businessperson, entrepreneur, author, and activist. He was well known for his roles as CEO, co-founder, and later Chief Inspired Protagonist and Executive Chairperson of Seventh Generation Inc., the country’s largest distributor of non-toxic, all-natural cleaning, paper and personal care products. www.jeffhollender.com/

Gary Hirshberg,

Gary Hirshberg is chairman and former president and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, an organic yogurt producer, based in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Now part of the Danone group.

Published in January 2008, Stirring It Up: How to Make Money and Save the World is a book about socially minded business that calls on individuals to realize their power to make a difference in the marketplace, while doing business in ways that adhere to a multiple bottom line – one that takes into consideration not only finance, but the environment and health as well.

Jeffrey Swartz,

Jeffrey Swartz is the former president and CEO of The Timberland Company an organization that believes that doing well and doing good are inextricably linked. Timberland’s commitment is to reducing global warming and preserving the outdoor environment.

David and Claire Hieatt,

Founders of Howies a clothing company based in Cardigan Bay, Wales produces eco-friendly T-shirts, jeans and sportswear, and aims to have ethically correct practices. Howies use natural fabrics as alternatives to petrochemical-derived modern fabrics. Examples include organic cotton, Merino wool and recycled cotton. Howies T-shirts often have images or slogans with political or environmental themes

Dee Hock

Dee Ward Hock is the founder and former CEO of VISA , described systems that are both chaotic and ordered, and used for the first time the term “chard” and chaordic,combining the words chaos and order.

More?

Over to you –

Follow the discussion on twitter with the #GVis2012 hashtag.

Who are your CSR Heros and CSR Texts to add to this Built Environment inspirers list?

What additions or comments would you make to the entries above?

A full record (video, blog, tweets, presentations, storify) of the Building CSR Event is being curated on the be2camp event page here.

We have no business applying the word sustainable to business activity until …

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Much has been written and discussed around the use of the word ‘sustainability’ and indeed, within the built environment has become over an used term, we are seemingly littered with sustainable construction, design and fm, with sustainable products, techniques and technologies. It is as though the pre-fix ‘sustainable’ has become to mean little more than the way we now do things. Business as usual?

And yet in a world of transparency we increasingly run the risk of greenwash if we claim ‘sustainability status’ (or indeed ‘zero carbon’) for our activities and are really called to account.

I was reminded of this debate on reading the excellent The Responsible Business by Yvon Chouinard and Vincent Stanley

“A word about a word we have chosen to use as little as possible: Sustainability.  Its a legitimate term that calls us not to take more from nature than we can give back. But we do take more than we give, we do harm nature more than we help it.

We have no business applying the the word sustainable to business activity until we learn to house, feed, clothe and entertain ourselves – and fuel the effort – without interfering with natures capacity to regenerate itself and support a rich variety of life.

We are a long long way from doing business … and no human economic activity is yet sustainable”

What do you think? Let us know if you think the word sustainability has become over used and hence lost its meaning

Related Links:

Construction CSR Makeover: can construction learn from Patagonia?

Constructing CSR iTransparency

… on what makes a building green

What will Rio Plus 20 mean for construction?

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It’s 1992, five years after the Brundtland Commission launched the now well accepted  Sustainable Development definition. Heads of State and environmentalists convened in Rio to agree, or attempt to agree, a strategy to implement the sustainable definition globally.

At that time I was changing role from Project Management to Business Improvement Management, taking an interest in improvement issues and wondered then at the relevance of Rio and ‘sustainability’ on construction.

The impact was to be slow burn. Sustainable construction was then a very rarely heard expression, if at all. However Agenda 21, the global national and local strategy from Rio ’92 would go on to kick start and shape our Sustainable Construction agenda in so many ways, from strategy to standards to winning and delivering work. It would also shape our sustainability thinking linking economic, social as well as environmental aspects.

And continues to do so. Only last month I had a call from a contractor looking for help in understanding a Local Authority PQQ question “How do you meet our Local Agenda21 principles”

20 years later it is worth reflecting on progress in sustainable construction. Undoubtably a mixed bag, we have moved a long way in some areas, but we are still debating the some same 1992 issues a generation later.  And have we avoided compromising the current generation? No

With design, construction and the way we use buildings (the “built environment”) Accounting for 40% of energy use, waste and resources we have a profound impact, but where in Rio +20 is the voice of the built environment? (Follow the hashtag #Rioplus20 and an embyronic Rio twitter list for those with a built environment interest)

Whatever the outcome the Rio+20, with a (perhaps flawed) focus on a Green Economy we can expect significant impact on the way we approach sustainable construction, not least in the financial accounting and price of ‘nature’ (biodiversity, carbon emissions, waste)

Green Economy growth would in many ways be good for the construction sector, but to be good for the planet, good for a sustainable and resilience sector, growth has to be tempered with effective corporate social responsibility, collaborative working and appropriate sourcing. That is doing more with less.

Interesting days ahead…

link – 10 things you need to know about Rioplus20

link #GVischat – CSR in Construction Tweetchat – will explore what Rio Plus 20 could mean for construction. 8pm 20 June.

10 Things you should know about the Rio +20 Earth Summit

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Will we turn environmental protection into a game of profit? What you need to know about the global gathering.

The following article written by Janet Redman appeared recently on Yes Magazine and is reposted under the magazines creative common share licence

In 1992, the Rio Earth Summit brought world leaders together around the frame of “sustainable development” and launched global agreements on biodiversity, climate change and desertification. Two decades later, the environmental and economic crises they had hoped to stave off—global warming, record extinction rates, depleted fisheries, vast economic inequality—are upon us. And so political leaders and grassroots activists are gathering again in Rio in late June to take up the planet’s most pressing issues. Here are 10 things you should know about the Summit:

  1. What, if anything, will be decided? Rio+20 won’t produce a legally binding agreement, but the outcome document will lay out a so-called “Green Economy” agenda as a new roadmap for sustainable development.
  2. Beware of the slogan “Green Economy.” This might sound nice, but many who are using the slogan in the Rio+20 context are just trying to use the environmental crisis as an opportunity for corporate profits. They say the answer to our environmental woes is to allow corporations to buy and sell our forests, water, and other natural resources, as if they were just another widget.
  3. Value versus price. A big idea being revived for Rio is that if we put a price on natural resources and environmental services (like filtering water), we can manage them more efficiently. But this means the people with the most money get the biggest say in decisions about common resources.
  4. Nature as a new asset class. Wall Street is hoping the Rio+20 leaders will endorse their efforts to ‘financialize’ nature by creating derivatives based on underlying ‘natural’ assets. The biggest experiment so far is the carbon market, which has tanked while failing to deliver the climate pollution reductions or clean technologies promised by its architects. And yet for investors looking for the kinds of high returns they got used to before the financial crash, this is a new frontier.
  5. The risk of turning nature into a casino. A fundamental question our world leaders face is this: Does it really make sense to put the future of our remaining common resources—forests, genes, the atmosphere, food—into the hands of people who treated our economy like their personal casino? The financialization of nature might generate a whole lot of paper wealth for a few powerful people, but it’s unlikely to pull billions of people out of poverty or protect the planet.
  6. Rio needs a reality check. The problem that plagues Rio+20 is a fundamental flaw that underlies most development discussions—that infinite growth is possible on a finite planet. We need to return to serious strategizing about limits to growth and ways to meet people’s needs that are consistent with ecological boundaries.
  7. All people are created equal. The fact that the 20 percent of humanity living in North America, Europe, and Japan is gobbling up 80 percent of the planet’s resources means that there’s little left for impoverished countries to meet basic needs without trashing the planet. Rio+20 should reinforce the need to reduce consumption in industrialized countries.
  8. Democracy deficit. The fact that the draft outcome document doesn’t even mention the rights of poor people to land, forests and other commons shouldn’t be surprising. Civil society has had less inputinto the official process than 20 years ago, and most of the important deals are being brokered in the hallways, where poor people have little to no access.
  9. The real action will be at the alternative People’s Summit. People from movements all over the world are coming to Rio armed with practical ideas to solve the ecological crises. These include commons management of the Great Lakes, keeping oil in the soil in Ecuador, taxing financial speculators to fund green jobs, and getting rid of subsidy handouts to oil, coal and gas companies.
  10. Build the movement! Be a part of the global day of action on June 20th to defend our common future and reject the commodification of life by hosting or joining an event or activity in your community.

The Rio Earth Summit is presenting us with a false choice between environmental protection through private profit on the one hand and state-sponsored green growth on the other. What we really need is a multilateral process that supports local living economies, and public institutions to democratically manage the commons.

Which? Campaigns for Improvement to #GreenDeal

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Which? believes that the Green Deal as it stands needs to change and has issued five challenges to the government to improve the deal, and make sure that it delivers a better deal for consumers.

Savings must be linked to a detailed energy assessment

Green Deal savings estimates – known as the golden rule – should be based on tailored assessments of peoples’ individual circumstances, such as how many people live in the property, and the actual energy they use.

No shocking early repayment fees

We don’t want people being punished for paying back a loan early.

No mis-selling

The government must make sure that independent assessments are a key part of the Green Deal. Having an independent assessment will mean that a customer can get impartial information before making what could potentially be a significant financial investment. We have also asked for a ban on cross-selling of items on credit during the Green Deal process.

Energy Company Obligation must be fairer

Which? would like to see  Energy Company Obligation (ECO) funding allocated to low-cost measures like loft and cavity wall insulation, which have a much greater impact (… than on solid wall insulation,)

Warranties must match the loan terms

We think that if you install energy efficiency measures in your home, they should be guaranteed for at least the length of the loan you’ve taken out to pay for them.

….

Read more: http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/energy-and-environment/the-green-deal/what-which-wants/#ixzz1vZpFWtLP

Consumer Champions Which?

Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial

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