Comment: Who should lead the sustainability charge?

Everyone seems to think sustainability is important, according to the findings of a new Chartered Institute of Building survey.

Unsurprisingly, there is rather less agreement as to what it is ignorance and the poor dissemination of best practice examples are cited as the main reasons holding the industry back.

But there was general agreement that clients need to provide more leadership and need to be educated as to the financial benefits to be had from more energy efficient buildings.

Intriguingly, two-thirds of the respondents think the Building Regulations need to be strengthened and extended to force clients to think greener. It's not often you hear the industry calling for more regulation, rather than less.

Clients often grumble that the industry does not come up with innovative solutions and market them. Housing is generally one area where it can (and to an extent does), but the industry can't really be blamed too much for failing to offer ready-made sustainability solutions for one-off projects.

The lack of joined-up thinking between clients, designers, contractors, specialists and product manufacturers makes it very difficult to come up with off-the-peg sustainable solutions. Sustainability has to be designed in from the beginning, so the client or end user must know what they want from the start in terms of the building's performance in use. That means the designers have to talk to the product manufacturers and end users at an early stage, along with the contractors.

Only clients can provide the leadership that will bind these disparate elements into something resembling a team. Clearly the government, as the UK's largest client, and the organisation responsible for regulating the industry, has a vital role to play here. Some leadership would be welcome.

(Contract Journal, 15 August 2007, p 2)