Supply chain ready for upturn in green work

The construction supply chain is well-placed to meet any increase in demand brought about by moves to increase the environmental content of the Building Regulations.

According to Wolseley, sustainable construction is already a commercial reality for clients. It also said the wider industry has been remarkably responsive to sustainability in general, and the company’s moves to set up its first Sustainable Building Center (SBC), due to open next August, in particular.

“Twelve months ago, I wouldn’t have necessarily thought they would be,” said Tim Pollard, general manager of the SBC. “But lots of companies want to talk to us about sustainable building solutions. People are increasingly understanding the issues being driven by climate change, resource shortages and waste.

“The products to allow sustainable construction are there,” he added. “We’ve spent the past three to six months establishing a supply chain that can support sustainable construction. Of course, that means not only checking the quality and performance of these products, but also their commercial availability. We have turned down products for not being commercially exploitable. There are perfectly viable options available in commercial quantities.”

The commercial success of such products is set to grow, according to Pollard: “One of the difficulties is how to measure sustainability. You can measure the output of boilers and heat pumps, but how do you measure the benefits of a product that is 100% recyclable, or of timber, or of natural insulation?”

The answer, he says, is to consider whole-life costs. “You’ve got to consider things such as embedded energy and all the costs associated with not just manufacture, but delivery, installation and disposal as well. If it’s difficult to get rid of a product, or it requires a lot of CO2, then these costs should be built in.

“There’s no more powerful driver than people being hit in the pocket,” he concluded.

#Pollard is one of the high-profile speakers at CJ’s Business Sustainability Conference in London next Wednesday. To book your place, call Linda Lucas on 020 8652 3822 or email her at linda.lucas@rbi.co.uk.

[Contract Journal, 8 November 2006, p13]