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August 08 2018 Brunton's Blog | General
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Brunton’s Blog
08/08/2018
Brunton’s Blog – The Sustainability Spectrum
Without doubt one of the key issues facing us in our business and personal lives is the often over used term – sustainability!
As a first salvo into trying to emulate the excellent ‘Jim’s Jotter’ (if indeed that’s possible), I decided to sketch out some thoughts on this term and how the subject directly affects our membership. Maybe less technical but hopefully thought provoking and relevant!
The subject matter, understandably, is often given a very narrow focus circumscribing environmental impact of products and systems in the context, in our case, of the construction industry. An industry that is seen by many, inside and out, of contributing greatly to the threat of resource depletion and global warming. Our industry continues to devote more effort in attempting to meet increasingly legislated targets to stave off the threat of unsustainable growth. However, are we missing other important elements of sustainable behaviour?
Sustainability is a broad spectrum of objectives. It comes in many forms and guises. Corporate sustainability is not so much about products and systems as it is about organisations, companies large and small like our membership trying to ‘meet their needs’ to achieve sustainable growth without comprising future generations ability to do the same. This is a widely accepted definition of sustainability in context.
Corporate sustainability or sustainability of companies is a real challenge in the construction industry no more so than today, in the roofing sector of the industry. While manufacturers grapple with real issues surrounding the product, it’s constitution, packaging, distribution, longevity, recycling and final disposal, our contractors also have the very real and tangible threats to their very existence based around finance. The slightest roof leak, often caused by others, is an excuse to withhold payment to roofing contractors way beyond any reasonable timescale. The dreaded retention clause then kicks in to further devalue the roofing contractor’s work. Clearly, not being paid, in some cases’ not at all or most often late and below valuation, is perhaps practice of the most unsustainable behaviour.
In our sustainability quest more areas of the sustainability spectrum need attention. The product, as well as having the optimum design and performance characteristics to fulfil the required function, also needs to be used with other products to achieve a system design that meets code and certification requirements.
After manufacture and distribution, the product needs correct installation by a trained and competent installer. Only then can the system installed attempt to achieve performance longevity – another pillar of sustainability. In other words, sustainability has the best chance of establishment if technical quality is paramount in product manufacture, contractor installation and project design. Sustainability and quality therefore have a close association.
Pursuing sustainable practice must surely incorporate striking a balance between product (optimum), profit (gains from work done) and people. These three elements are often referred to as the 3P’s of corporate sustainability. The people element is in part typified by our approach to training within our companies and organisations. Ensuring the wellbeing of our workforce is also a key ingredient. Non-investment here simply means no succession and therefore non-sustainable behaviour.
But the other side of the people part is related to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) that our companies invest in related to charitable work and suchlike. Companies and individuals within, engage in activity all the time in the local community. It has been shown that companies engaging in this way improve their sustainability profile. There are few industries that engage more in real terms in this area than the construction industry, despite its challenges.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy last year and the subsequent investigations and reports, most notably the recent Hackitt review, will understandably shape our practice in the industry for decades to come. Sustainability in all its forms will be even more relevant across its spectrum from product design and performance to correct installation verification.
As always, we welcome your thoughts!
Email: ronan.brunton@spra.co.uk
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