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Sustainability in construction

Sustainability standards can help construction organizations achieve the sector's net zero targets. The construction industry is one of the largest users of global resources and contributors of pollution. It therefore has a huge responsibility to aid sustainability. Sustainability standards can help construction organizations work to sustainability best practices including reducing greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impact.

Achieving sustainability in the construction industry

Learn how standards can help your construction organization work to sustainability best practices

PAS 2080: World’s first framework unites organizations to decarbonize buildings and structures
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PAS 2080: World’s first framework unites organizations to decarbonize buildings and structures

Responding to the fact that the built environment is responsible for most UK carbon emissions, PAS 2080 is the world’s first specification for decarbonizing buildings and infrastructure systems. PAS 2080:2016 was designed to help infrastructure organizations reduce their carbon use and costs throughout the entire lifecycle of an asset. It became the world’s first standard for managing infrastructure carbon in 2016.  Seven years on sees the publication of PAS 2080:2023 Carbon management in buildings and infrastructure. Its guidance was revised to set out how the sector can transition to net zero by 2050 by managing and reducing whole life carbon in buildings and infrastructure. PAS 2080:2023 specifies requirements for the management of whole life carbon in buildings and infrastructure, covering the provision, operation, use and end of life of new projects or programmes of work, as well as the management or retrofit of existing assets and networks. It helps organizations to understand the impact of its assets on the wider network; revealing its interdependencies and encouraging early collaboration; defining roles and responsibilities and integrating carbon-focussed decision making and procurement processes throughout the assets’ lifecycle. Using the document facilitates behavioural change within the built environment. PAS 2080 unites all organizations through a common framework that will help companies maximize their whole life approach to carbon reduction from the earliest origins of the projects through its end of life. PAS 2080:2023 has been sponsored by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Green Construction Board (GCB), enabling the standard to be offered free of charge. What’s changed in the revised PAS 2080:2023? This 2023 revision has introduced some important changes to PAS 2080, which all current and potential users need to know about.  These include:  An expanded scope to include all buildings as well as infrastructure An increased emphasis on whole life carbon in line with 1.5°C and circular economy principles Clarification of the roles that control and influence whole life carbon  New consideration of other demands and benefits such as climate adaptation and biodiversity A new emphasis on leadership, governance and collaboration  New guidance for government, regulators and financiers Download your free copy of PAS 2080:2023 today. Empowering urgent early collaboration Like its predecessor, PAS 2080:2023 is straightforward.  It covers setting appropriate carbon reduction targets; establishing metrics, e.g. KPIs, for carbon emissions quantification and reporting; reporting at appropriate stages to enable performance visibility; and continual improvement of carbon management and performance.  A key component is that the standard encourages collaboration between organizations. It shows organizations how to work together to integrate carbon reduction into decision making and procurement from the earliest origins of projects through to end of life. When all parties are using a common framework, it can lead to stronger data sharing, cooperation and complementary and aligned processes. This collaborative approach incorporates the whole value chain, establishing the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders to ensure the maintenance of low carbon focus throughout the projects. Product suppliers, contractors, designers and asset owners can all participate and share their results. On a more pragmatic level, adopting PAS 2080:2023 encourages organizations to take urgent climate action to support the UK’s Net Zero targets. It does this by specifying to users how to reduce their carbon, whilst considering the co-benefits of implementing climate resilient processes and nature-based solutions.  What are the benefits of PAS 2080:2023? By following the PAS 2080:2023 approach, value chain members across the built environment can work collaboratively towards the common goal of net zero carbon transition and achieve the following outcomes: It helps users realize reductions in material, energy and labour costs that reduce whole-life carbon emissions, as well as whole-life capital and operational costs It helps encourage wider uptake and action on carbon management It ensures carbon is consistently and transparently quantified at key points so data can be shared along the supply chain, processes can be aligned and cooperation and collaboration can increase efficiency and reduce costs It helps demonstrate your commitment to carbon reduction, enhancing reputation, supporting staff recruitment and retention, and giving stakeholders clarity and certainty about what’s being achieved It can help you gain a competitive edge when bidding for tenders It promotes innovations that achieve lower carbon solutions It can help users develop their expertise with carbon management It can help users increase confidence and trust in their practice  It can help organizations grow sustainably A look at PAS 2080 in industry Since its launch in 2016, PAS 2080 has been a vital document, bringing carbon-reduction benefits to many businesses within the built environment. But don’t just take our word for it.  Anglian Water achieved a 61% reduction in capital carbon and a 22% reduction in capital expenditure by following the methodologies of the PAS 2080. It also helped them become the first company to issue a sterling green bond. David Riley, Head of Carbon Neutrality at Anglian Water said of the standard “the real power of PAS 2080 is not just that it’s a common framework, but also product suppliers, contractors, designers, and asset owners can all be verified to it. When you’ve got the whole value chain operating in the same way, that’s where the magic happens in releasing lower carbon solutions.” HS2 is also minimizing the carbon footprint of its major transport project by applying PAS 2080 principles. Carbon Manager Mark Fenton gives just one example: “Our designers achieved a 27% reduction in the structural steel used to build the roof of the Old Oak Common station. That equates to 2,700 tonnes of carbon and a cost saving of £7m.” By adhering to the guidance in the revised PAS 2080:2023, your business can demonstrably contribute to the efforts of the industry to achieve climate resilience, and reap the benefits of doing so. Download your free copy today. Discover BSI Knowledge Want to have access to all your sustainability standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives you instant access to the resources you need to improve your sustainability processes. The flexibility and visibility it provides of the best practices guidance enables you and your team to get the most from standards - from biodiversity to waste management. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more.Read more
Get Guidance on Net Zero Energy Buildings
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Get Guidance on Net Zero Energy Buildings

Buildings are the foundation of our communities, but their emissions are also driving the climate crisis. The building sector contributes nearly 40% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, representing a significant challenge in the race against climate change. This highlights that if we can achieve net-zero in buildings, then it could change the world. Global decarbonization trajectories indicate that the industry needs to reduce these emissions by 50% by 2030 if it is to reach net zero by mid-century and achieve the climate goals of the Paris Agreement. Now is the time for organizations within the building and construction sector to take action to decarbonize the built environment, inspire others to do the same, and remove barriers to implementation. Yes, it is possible, and new guidance has been published to help businesses achieve this goal. What is a Net Zero Building? To continue to thrive, society needs net zero buildings. A net zero building is simply a building that has no net carbon emissions during its construction and operation. Emissions are reduced and what's leftover is balanced by renewable energy or carbon offsets. This means not only designing and constructing new net zero buildings but rethinking retrofitting to prepare our existing buildings for a low-carbon future. These are the challenges our standards can help developers, contractors, architects, and local governments tackle today. According to a report by the World Green Building Council, net zero buildings not only help in the fight against climate change, but can create jobs, improve energy security, and lower energy costs. To learn more about the role of standards in retrofitting buildings, click here. PD ISO/TS 23764:2021: New Guidance Published for Businesses PD ISO/TS 23764:2021 Methodology for achieving non-residential zero-energy buildings (ZEBs) outlines a step-by-step approach that organizations can follow to reduce the energy consumption of buildings they occupy and counter it with renewable sources. The technical specification considers elements such as heating, cooling, hot water, lighting, elevators, the use of renewable energy, energy management, and more. Dr Toshihiro Nonaka, Convenor of the group of experts that developed the guidance, said that, post-COP26, more and more leaders and organizations are looking for solutions to the climate challenge. “The building sector represents a huge opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and meet the world’s many climate change targets such as the Paris Agreement,” he said. “ISO/TS 23764 will not only help organizations reduce their carbon emissions, but it will also support the market for new products and technologies that facilitate this and attract investment in this area.” PD ISO/TS 23764:2021 aims to accelerate the ZEB movement, proposing a practical approach for organizations to follow which outlines the basic considerations during the complete process of ZEB realization, from design to the operation and maintenance stages. It seeks to reduce the energy consumption of a building and promote renewable energy to achieve the net zero goal. That said, PD ISO/TS 23764:2021 recognizes that high investment is a limiting factor to achieving net zero so this standard is just the beginning. It is a temporary measure to promote the design and construction of more energy-efficient buildings, rather than a long-term solution for greenhouse gas reduction. It also contributes to several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Goal 7 on affordable and clean energy, Goal 11 on sustainable cities and communities, and Goal 13 on climate action. As the pressure builds for construction businesses to achieve net zero, knowing which standards can help you and how to share their guidance within your organization can seem like a huge challenge. With a BSI Knowledge subscription, you will have the flexibility and visibility to manage the essential standards you need in order to start your journey to net zero with confidence. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to one of our pre-built modules, such as GBM06 Environment, Wastes, and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your standards strategy. Request to learn more. It is time for every organization to prioritize reaching net zero targets. To ensure your business reduces the energy consumption of its buildings, buy PD ISO/TS 23764:2021 today.
The benefits of using sustainability standards in your construction business
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The benefits of using sustainability standards in your construction business

In this increasingly competitive market for the built environment, how do you secure long-term future and ongoing success? There is no single answer to this dilemma. However, one solution is to develop your business in a sustainable way so that it is as efficient and effective as possible in delivering your products or services and satisfying, if not exceeding, your stakeholders’ expectations and needs. In doing this, you can ensure that your business is in the best position to differentiate itself from your competitors and respond successfully to tenders. Sustainability lies at the heart of the built environment– the objectives being to create buildings and infrastructure works that are healthier for occupants, people in the neighbourhood, and the natural environment, use fewer resources, and are cheaper to run. Indeed, buildings are now being measured for their environmental performance under schemes such as the Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH) or the BREEAM schemes. How can businesses become sustainable? To be sustainable, businesses need to address the following business needs: Improve resource efficiency (including electricity, fuel, gas, water, and materials) Reduce operating costs (including energy bills, waste disposal costs, landfill tax) Improve the quality of goods and services Improve regulatory compliance Reduce costly environmental and health and safety accidents and incidents Minimize the risk of legislative breaches and associated fines and prosecutions Protect and enhance company reputation and brand image Meet increasingly demanding customer needs such as responsible sourcing of products, CfSH and BREEAM Retain good staff to keep recruitment and training costs down Increase productivity and profitability Increase competitive advantage through differentiation To read more on the topic of sustainability within the built environment, click here. The benefits of using standards to embed sustainability practices Using recognized national and international standards, such as BS EN ISO 14001, can bring benefits to a business wanting to become more sustainable: As previously mentioned, standards provide good practice in relation to management systems, saving you time and effort in developing your own system The standards provide the framework around which procedures need to be defined. The sheer act of process mapping can help you to eliminate redundant and duplicate processes leading to more efficient processes Documented systems and processes also mean that it is easier to make changes. Communication and training ensure that staff knows what they should be doing; making them happier and more likely to be motivated and comply with procedures. Indeed, staff may even come up with suggestions for improvements Most standards have an element of self-check within to ensure that you are conforming. This increases confidence that robust information is gathered on which to base important business decisions such as investments and contributes to the production of Corporate Social Responsibility Reports (CSR) or sustainability reports satisfying stakeholders' needs Having systems in place to monitor and measure controls also means that, where accidents, incidents, or deviations, do occur, you are able to spot them quicker, respond quicker, and therefore are able to recover quicker with the impact on operations and cost being reduced Many management system standards are written such that a business can be independently assessed and certified against them. This gives confidence to your customers and investors that you take your responsibilities seriously Standards have international recognition, which enables products and services from one country to be accepted by other countries, meaning greater access to new markets and more opportunities for growth The development of sustainable construction standards British Standards for the sustainability of construction works are being developed by BSI committee B/558. This committee provides the UK input into the European standards committee CEN/TC 350 and the International Standards Organisation committee ISO/TC 59/SC17. The standards will provide a method for delivering information on the sustainability of works including embodied carbon for new and existing buildings. They are generally applicable (horizontal) and allow for the assessment of the integrated performance of works over the life cycle of a building. This means from the raw material supply of building products to the final disposal of building components. “Sustainable construction” in standards has three aspects: environmental, economic, and social. The three impacts, altogether, must be considered and measured to be able to assess the sustainability of the whole works and calculation methods being developed for each area. The standardized methodologies are voluntary and designed to work with national regulations, client briefs, and independent sustainability assessment schemes. The program of work is ongoing and the CEN standards work with existing ISO standards and those in development. Sustainable construction frameworks for businesses The framework standard BS EN 15643 Sustainability of construction works. Framework for assessment of buildings and civil engineering works provides the general principles and requirements for the assessment of buildings over their entire life cycle that has been agreed upon across the EU member states. The framework applies to all types of construction works and it is relevant for new construction works over their entire life cycle, and for existing construction works over their remaining service life and end-of-life stage. The sustainability assessment of construction works covers aspects and impacts of construction works expressed with quantifiable indicators. It includes the assessment of the construction works’ influence on the environmental, social, and economic aspects, and impacts on the local area (area of influence) and of the local infrastructure beyond the curtilage of the building and the civil engineering works. Experience the benefits of standards in helping your construction business become more sustainable by adding these key standards to your collection today. Discover BSI Knowledge At their core, our standards inform an efficient use of available resources and promote a focus on achieving sustainable supply chain practices - from energy management and material recycling strategies to biodiversity and environmental considerations. Our tailored BSI Knowledge subscription service provides flexibility, access, visibility, and control over the standards and insights your team needs to achieve sustainability. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more.
Why standard BS 8683 on biodiversity net gain is an important step forward
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Why standard BS 8683 on biodiversity net gain is an important step forward

Did you know that there are approximately nine million types of plant, animal, fungi, and micro-organisms on Earth? Since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, research has established that we need them all. Biodiversity makes Earth habitable by providing balanced natural solutions that filter water and regenerate the soil. Biodiversity also helps fight disease and helps sustain businesses and tourism. We’re all aware of the need to act to reduce climate change. Of equal urgency is the need to halt the loss of biodiversity because human activity is dismantling ecosystems and eradicating genes, species, and biological traits at a disastrous rate. So far, we’ve caused the loss of 83% of all wild animals and half of all plants. In response, governments, businesses, the public, and organizations of all types are now acting to protect biodiversity and reverse its loss. In response, we’ve now published the world’s first national standard on biodiversity net gain. The Biodiversity Net Gain Standard In the UK, the first set of good practice principles on biodiversity net gain (BNG) was published in 2016. BNG is an approach to development and land management that leaves biodiversity in a measurably better state than before, after first avoiding and then minimizing harm. Done well, BNG has an important role to play in protecting, restoring, and recovering nature and supporting thriving ecosystems. The 2016 principles provided a framework for developments to generate meaningful and long-lasting benefits for the natural environment. These principles were then supplemented by practical guidance and revised in 2020. In 2021, we published a standard that builds on and adds to this foundational work. BS 8683:2021 A process for designing and implementing Biodiversity net gain translates the principles – and actions to implement them – into a specification. It provides a consistent and structured process for designing and implementing BNG. It doesn’t cover the actual delivery of BNG, but rather provides a framework to demonstrate that a project has followed a process to design and implement BNG, based on UK-wide good practice. To learn about biodiversity in planning and development, click here. Who Does BS 8683 Benefit? This biodiversity standard applies to all sizes of development, from very large nationally significant infrastructure projects to small housing developments. Users will probably come from a wide range of sectors from construction and infrastructure through to land-owning organizations (who are both developers themselves and who are providing biodiversity offsets sites) and brokers. This biodiversity standard promotes biodiversity best practices to help consolidate the use of BNG and provides design and pre-construction professionals with a standard to specify to sub-contractors and clients as well as for local authority planners looking to incorporate biodiversity net gain in master planning and into local plans and strategies. BS 8683 will also promote good practice in the delivery and subsequent monitoring of biodiversity net gain and is also likely to be applicable to ongoing estates/grounds maintenance activities undertaken by existing projects, as well as the delivery of net gain from capital projects. This standard will also help provide confidence to the market in providing biodiversity offset sites by establishing a set of benchmarks relating to the monitoring and evaluation of biodiversity offsets. All told it is a flexible document with a range of important uses. BS 868 will be used by businesses to: Demonstrate delivery of biodiversity best practices Give clients, commissioning agencies, and other stakeholders confidence that processes are in place that will help secure voluntary or relevant local planning or contractual requirements relating to biodiversity net gain outcomes Ensure that internal processes and procedures are in place to help deliver BNG as stipulated by commissioning agencies, clients, and consenting bodies Help evidence the satisfactory discharge of planning conditions or the meeting of appropriate regulatory requirements relating to biodiversity net gain outcomes Help differentiate and avoid accusations of ‘greenwash’ that could compromise biodiversity net gain approaches Help enhance consistency across projects for organizations running multiple projects, minimizing the risk of error and driving consistency of approach Enable planning authorities and clients to specify the consistent delivery of biodiversity net gain processes among developers or contractors operating within their territory or on their behalf Add to brand value by demonstrating that the organization delivering to the standard is following an evidenced and credible approach and has robust processes in place Want to have access to all your sustainability standards in one place? A BSI Knowledge subscription gives you instant access to the resources you need to improve your sustainability processes. The flexibility and visibility it provides of the best practice guidance enables you and your team to get the most from standards - from biodiversity to waste management. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM06 Environment & Waste module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your sustainability strategy. Request to learn more. Add standard BS 8683:2021 to your collection today.

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