Environmental issues are one of the biggest worldwide risks that we face, which has made sustainability throughout sectors a global agenda. From governments, customers, investors, and frameworks from the EU Green Deal for example, are all compelling changes towards environmental sustainability across the board.
In construction, a sustainable organization can face many roadblocks such as financial resources and training for workers in the industry, however the longer-term impact of going green positively affects a wide range of activities within your organization as well as favorable cost saving benefits.
Sustainable construction or ‘Green’ Construction is about building with the environment in mind. According to the Building Owners & Managers Association of Oakland and Easy Bay (BOMA), green construction can be defined as going “beyond the readily apparent aspects of the office or building to create a space that addresses the comfort, health and broader environmental impacts of the construction/remodeling process.”
So how can you transition to sustainable construction for a greener future? Below are the 4 steps you can take today to make a difference tomorrow.
Ready to go Green?
Step 1: Recycle Materials Whenever You Can
Waste plays a big role in environmental issues. The average project of building demolition produces 155lbs or 70kg of waste per square foot/ square meter. By choosing sustainable materials from the beginning, you could reduce these numbers significantly, including actively recycling materials such as construction debris, concrete, and wood as much as possible.
Step 2: Go Digital
Start off with becoming ‘paperless’. Paper uses massive amounts of raw wood, and even the recycled version requires numerous chemicals and fresh water. Not to mention, paper is unreliable, so using software’s built for the construction industry such as Archdesk or AutoDesk Construction Cloud ,you can not only save the environment, but make your processes more efficient.
Step 3: Look into Lean Construction Methods
Being lean in the E&C sector is about carefully evaluating your processes to see where you can maximize efficiency, reduce waste, and optimize every step in your process. Lean construction has been defined by the Lean Construction Institute as, “a respect- and relationship-oriented production management based approach to project delivery — a new and transformational way to design and build capital facilities.” How does this impact being sustainable? The result of implementing a lean construction methodology has proven to reduce material waste by 64%.
Step 4: Adopting Eco-Friendly Processes and Structures
Adopting to fully environmentally friendly construction materials is not an overnight commitment. However, is a longer- term process whereby you need to continually take the steps towards greener materials and procedures. This includes areas such as green building materials such as bio-concrete, passive heating and cooling, stormwater management, green roofs, rainwater collection and other greener materials.
They say, going green costs more green. However, more people are willing to pay extra for environmentally friendly products and materials as green buildings can cost around 14% less to operate than conventional buildings.
Sustainability is gravely important to the future of our environment and the entire E&C sector. GAST, as an innovative leader in the construction industry for over 60 years has proven, sustainability doesn’t always have to be revolutionary, every bit and small step towards sustainability makes a difference.