Sustainable development
As Malcolm McIntosh said, sustainable future is the next great humanities project (1). The modern world was created by businesses and the future should also be drawn by businesses. Sustainability cannot be an optional extra anymore. Instead, it should be incorporated in every enterprises policies (2). Scott Wilson Group has proven this by showing great commitment for sustainability and becoming one of the UKs leading companies in Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) and Sustainability Appraisal (SA) areas. Sustainability lies in the group?s main principles.
Fundamental shift of the company
For a long period of time Scott Wilson was seen just as an engineering consultancy and design service provider, with environmental people just supporting their projects (3). However, a fundamental shift took place and now environmental and sustainable people are in the lead of the design services.
It was more than 10 years ago when Scott Wilson showed their commitment to provide services for sustainable development. Since then the company has won many awards in this area. Some examples include the recently finishes Orchard Building at Stranmillis College, Belfast, which has won no less than six awards for its design and sustainability. It was designed as a flagship for sustainability at the same time providing modern and comfortable teaching environment. Most recently, the consultancys work in slope stabilisation project in Laos has secured the Sustainability Award at the 2010 Ground Engineering awards.
Sustainability assurance measurements
All Scott Wilsons activities are subjected to Environment and Sustainability Policies (2). Company integrates sustainability principles to ensure optimum sustainability performance. It is committed to comply with legal obligations as well as adopting sustainable management practices and technologies where economic and practical situation allows doing so. As a first measure, to improve the level of sustainability within the construction industry, Sustainable Construction Team was formed of professionals, which advises the project teams at any stage in the development process. This includes:
The company encourages the clients to consider sustainability in every project and identifies their aspirations (4). Accredited environmental performance assessment methods such as BREEAM and CEEQUAL were offered to clients to review their environmental commitment (see Figure 1 for BREEAM).
Furthermore, new sustainable procurement procedures are under development by the newly appointed Group Supply Chain Manager (4). The appointee is reviewing current procurement policies and procedures, as well as identifying and meeting key stakeholders and suppliers. Action plan for sustainable, cost effective procurements procedures should be prepared after undertaking Supply Chain Capability Review.
Progress related to UNGC principles
Many goals were set in the past few years as part of Groups support for the United Nations Global Compacts (UNGC) core Principles (4). They were based on the concept that enterprise could provide solutions to issues governing environmental change, social exclusion and corruption. The progress reports included the following sustainability performance and objectives:
Achievements in 2008-2009
Goals for 2009-2010
Sustainability within the company
The group not only provides Sustainable development as their service, but also implemented many changes within their company itself. As mentioned in previous section it is investing money in grey water recycling in their offices, implemented SMART metering systems, developing improved EMS, working in compliance with ISO 14001 and many more (4). In addition to that, an extensive skills base was established in the carbon management sector. Carbon footprint is carefully monitored according to Greenhouse Gas Protocol principles and strategies are developed based on the gathered data (see Figure 3). As a measure to reduce its carbon emissions, eighteen of companys offices are run on electricity from Good Quality CHP sources.
Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, Sustainability Board was established in 2008 after one of the internal Sustainability Conferences (4). The board, chaired by the Group Chief Executive, Hugh Blackwood, advises that the group would run as a sustainable business which proactively promotes sustainable design services for current and future concerns. Also, it ensures that government and corporate clients would be provided with highest level sustainability service. It links internal performance with external services.
The company regularly updates their employees knowledge of Sustainable Design & Construction during various seminars organised by the Environmental Committee as well as educates them on how to reduce the resources they use and increase recycling. They are encouraged to actively participate in the development of environmental and community initiatives.
As far as the media and companys reports revealed, Scott Wilson did not have any Environmental incidents in the past few years.
Suggestions
Scott Wilson Group could become an exemplar in sustainable development. It developed high level policies and shows great commitment. However, the current economical descend has affected major markets and no company should allow that this would affect their sustainability performance. In order to increase it even more, Scott Wilson could promote the use of LEED assessment method as an inexpensive solution to show clients sustainability commitment. The method does not require assessors or specific training, hence the cost is low and attractiveness could be higher. But it would need some adjustments when working with the UK market as it is based on US systems (5). This would also show commitment to global corporate policies rather than UK only. Early involvement would result in better sustainability ratings and probably construction costs.
An alternative solution would be a development of own assessment method. Taking all BREEAM, LEED and CEEQUAL as milestones and combining to create a flexible assessment method which could be used across the globe. A similar approach has been implemented by Arup, they developed SPeAR assessment tool, which looks at social, environmental, economic and natural resource goals. However, this approach would require an in-depth research and strong marketing for global recognition.
For the main conclusion section.
The company shows great sustainability commitment and high level of work done in this area. Many of its projects have been awarded for sustainability, including the Orchard Building in Nothern Ireland and slope stabilisation works in Laos. Scott Wilson could easily be an exemplar in Sustainable Development. It encourages the use of recognised environmental assessment methods such as BREEAM or SEEQUAL, it has set up Sustainable Construction Team which is dedicated to improving sustainability levels of each project. Furthermore, all activities are governed by Environment and Sustainability Policies. The establishment of Sustainability Board ensured that Groups performance is at the highest level, controlling the carbon emissions and investing money in resource usage reduction. However, as the unfavourable economic environment requires inexpensive solutions, the LEED assessment method could be more promoted for clients. The involvement in LEED not only could result in high sustainability levels, but also could help client save the money.
Bibliography
1. McIntosh, M. Malcolm McIntosh. [Online] [Cited: 15 October 2009.] www.malcolmmcintosh.org.
2. Scott Wilson Group. Scott Wilson Group. [Online] 2010. http://www.scottwilson.com/services/environment/sustainability_appraisal.aspx.
3. Environmental Analyst. Scott Wilson: changing the face of engineering consultancy. [Online] [Cited: 09 February 2010.] http://environment-analyst.com/1131.
4. Scott Wilson Group plc. Corporate Responsibility Report. 2009.
5. BSRIA Ltd. BREEAM or LEED. [Online] [Cited: 10 February 2010.] http://www.bsria.co.uk/news/breeam-or-leed/.
6. Sustainable Development Commission Northern Ireland. Orchard Building is the pick of the crop. [Online] [Cited: 10 February 2010.] http://www.sd-commission.org.uk/data/images/n_ireland/the_orchard_building__orchard_building2.jpg .
7. Green barn. BREEAM. Techniques and technologies for green living. [Online] [Cited: 10 February 2010.] http://www.green-barn.co.uk/Build%20An%20eco%20home/GreenLegalisation/Breem.html.