It’s been an exciting year for sustainability within our Capital Investment Programme where real progress has been made in the adoption of a consistent approach towards implementing standard sustainability tools and methodologies.
This year we have standardised the project delivery process so that every project follows the same steps from start to finish. A key step was to review and amend when and how environmental and sustainability issues are managed throughout a project’s lifecycle. The process was improved as well, ensuring a more robust management of environmental issues is implemented every time a project is delivered.
We created a dedicated Capital Programmes Environment and Sustainability team and this team developed a sustainability action plan for 2009/10 detailing what we need to achieve to deliver a sustainable programme. Both illustrate the commitment we have placed in ensuring standard sustainability criteria is adopted across all our capital programme activities. The action plan builds on what we’ve accomplished so far and links actions to our company policy, enabling a clearer vision of where we want to be and how we intend to get there.
One of the key achievements was an update to the principal sustainability contract document, which dictates how our contractors manage the environment. We’re now regularly auditing our contractors on site to ensure the requirements are being fulfilled. Two new pieces of legislation were also added; the Site Waste Management Plan Regulations and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act.
Working with our contractors we have also developed and agreed a standard set of sustainability performance measures. The data we collect will help us to better understand the impact of construction activities and set benchmarks for future targets. Measures range from a breakdown of waste produced on site and recycling rates, to fuel usage on site and the amount of environmental training given to staff.
Our contractors already collect data on the amount of waste they produce. This year, through a specialist sustainability steering group, we collectively agreed a target to reduce this based on a construction industry benchmark of producing less than 39m3 of waste per £100k of project spend. Our Wastewatchers case study explains how this target was set and achieved.
We have also influenced the tendering process for the new network contract for our water business, due to be awarded later this year. Working with our supply chain colleagues we designed thorough assessment criteria so we can check potential contractors’ sustainability credentials as part of the selection process.
We realise it’s not just our contractors’ duty to deliver projects in an environmentally and socially responsible manner, and that’s why we have this year delivered sustainability training to all our project managers. Covering new legislation, correct procedures and best practice in design, the training highlighted the part project managers have to play in reducing the impact of construction projects.