Editor's comment: Contract Journal goes green

Editor's comment: Contract Journal goes green

This week, Contract Journal magazine has gone green, as we’ve produced our first "carbon-neutral" issue. All the carbon emissions involved in producing and distributing CJ have been offset by a donation to the Carrifran Wildwood forestry project in Scotland.

Sustainability is a growing concern, whether it’s BBC environment correspondents looking at the planet’s long-term future, or world leaders contemplating a future once oil and gas have run out. The one thing it all has in common is ensuring this planet has a future.

Next week, Sir Neville Simms, chairman of the Sustainable Procurement Taskforce, delivers the UK action plan on sustainability. Given that the built environment is responsible for some 45% of carbon emissions, it’s sure to have major implications for construction.

‘Offset projects’, such as CJ’s decision to go green for a week, are an increasingly common way for businesses to counter the effects of their carbon emissions, and boost their sustainability credentials at the same time.

But for construction firms, the pressure is far greater than simply offsetting carbon emissions. New legislation and regulations affect everyone in the industry, PFI schemes are forcing contractors to consider whole-life costs for their projects, and clients in both the public and private sector are increasingly asking about sustainability.

With such an increasing pressure on the industry, contractors willing to take on the "green" agenda stand to win more work. And adopting a sustainable approach to business doesn’t involve taking a hair-shirt approach. Nor does it carry a big price tag. If big business is embracing the issue, then construction must do the same; indeed, going green could help keep many construction businesses in the black.

Emma Penny, Editor, Contract Journal