It doesn’t have to be guesswork
BY NICOLE NEEDLES
Think about everything that goes into creating a building or structure: the planning, labor forces, skills and resources. There is an immense amount of moving parts to see a project through to completion. Adding sustainability and eco-consciousness to the mix can feel overwhelming. Luckily, it’s getting more common for contractors to consider sustainable alternatives for a lot of common practices and procedures. Even though it may take some leg work, culture change and an upfront cost, there are more resources out there than ever to help make positive environmental impacts on construction sites.
One resource that serves as a guide for contractors in the arena of sustainability is the Contractors’ Commitment to Sustainable Building Practices. This commitment covers carbon reduction, jobsite wellness, waste management, water management and material selection.
Steven Burke, director of sustainability at Consigli Construction, a member of multiple AGC chapters, was a speaker on this topic at AGC’s Construction Safety, Health and Environmental Conference in July. He mentions how little the construction industry has changed over time and how the slow move to sustainability is affected by this.
“It all comes back to how long it’s going to take us to put these solutions into place at scale, relative to the challenges that we face for resource constraints and the global climate crisis,” Burke said. “That’s where we probably are going to see the biggest challenges.”
He also mentions it’s integral for contractors to understand the consequences of the environmental impact and to take the time and use that information to make long-term changes in their practices. If the effort is made on the front end, becoming a more sustainable company doesn’t have to be so daunting.
Candace Pearson is the director of consulting at BuildingGreen, Inc. and is also BuildingGreen’s lead on the Contractors’ Commitment effort. Pearson mentions BuildingGreen had the idea almost 20 years ago to gather sustainability leaders from architecture firms for peer-to-peer mentorship. In 2018, they established a parallel group for construction leaders.
“One of the first things that people said when we brought the construction leaders together was, ‘We know how to build green buildings, but there’s no solidified process for how to become a green builder.’ People were really needing guidance on what it means to incorporate sustainability across the portfolio of projects that they’re working on, and also how they change their operations to be a more sustainable company,” Pearson said. “So that’s when this sustainable construction leader group created the Contractors’ Commitment, which lays out what the practices are to help your company reach a higher level of sustainability.”
That is how the Contractors’ Commitment was born. The program currently has 22 public signatories and counting. It is a free resource and gives contractors clear-cut guidance on how to implement sustainability practices.
A few other programs and initiatives include the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The CDP allows companies inside and outside of the construction industry to track and disclose their carbon impact. From there the CDP gives insight into the data along with ways to properly manage it. The GRI is similar and is also used inside and outside of the construction industry. It also offers online courses and certified training programs.
“From a risk aversion point of view,” Burke said, “it would be prudent to con- sider what sustainability changes mean for your company, for all the potential regulatory changes that we’re seeing. You should at least know what that means and who in your area can help you do that. Even if you’re not undertaking a full company-wide sustainability effort.”
There are many problem areas that all of these programs strive to alleviate. The three most prominent in the construction industry, however, can safely be broken down into three areas: carbon emissions, waste and materials.
Although many areas produce carbon emissions, it is worth it to track them.
“It’s super complicated to start tracking, and there’s a lot of subcontractors involved. But we need to understand what the impact is, because otherwise, we’re ignoring what could be this really big piece of the pie,” Pearson said. “It also discounts the agency of the role that contractors have to play in this space. If we can acknowledge that contractors emit this much carbon when building a building or building a project, then that puts contractors in the position of the ability to lead change. So, contractors need to recognize the impacts that they have, and then also step into that role of leadership to solve the problem.”
One of the other problem areas is centered around waste. Many contractors are now using eco-friendly materials and are paying more attention to recycling materials, but Pearson brings up new questions that are being tackled: How do you reuse and recycle materials before a project is finished and how can materials in demolitions be reused in new projects?
The third area of note is in the same vein of waste and is an area Pearson says contractors have more of a role than they think: materials. Typically, designers choose the materials for a project, but materials that are often not thought of are the ones actively being used on the construction site such as sealants or paints. Many of these sealants and other materials that are not inherently part of the structure itself give off toxic gasses and chemicals. Choosing better materials for on-site is just as important as using recycled and eco-friendly materials. Contractors can request Health Product Declarations and Environmental Product Declarations so that products used on-site are more closely examined. More information on these can be found at https://www.envi-rondec.com/home.
Katie Poss is the program manager of procurement and policy at Building Transparency, owners of the Embodied Carbon in Construction Calculator (EC3). Available globally, the EC3 tool is a free, open access resource that shows the carbon impact of building materials. It takes the guesswork out for contractors, allowing them to directly measure and compare the embodied carbon impact of materials and drive reductions. Not only does it calculate the upfront carbon footprint of manufacturing construction materials, it recently has been updated to include the carbon emissions of the transport of these materials, which often goes overlooked.
This tool has become used worldwide and has 38,000 users from more than 80 countries. Poss says that projects using the tool have seen reductions in the embodied carbon of materials by up to 30%, just through selective procurement of materials.
Poss stresses the importance of making sustainability a part of the conversation with your team. That is how it can be less daunting in the beginning and how it can become a long-term practice.
“There has to be active involvement from the owner, the design team, the consultants, the GCs, the trade partners and the materials suppliers. Everybody really needs to be on board and participate in the planning and implementation of sustainable practices,” Poss said.
Educating contractors on environmental impact and “demystifying,” as she put it, the whole idea of making changes to more sustainable practices are important. “The true definition of sustainability is this intersection of people, planet and profit. You have to have all three to be truly sustainable. It’s good for business all around,” Poss said. “More and more owners and developers are asking for sustainability. They’re seeking out contractors who can advise them on how to make their projects more sustainable. That’s a huge opportunity for contractors. It’s a value add to be able to advise on some of these sustainable construction practices and material strategies.”
Being more environmentally conscious has benefits other than the impact on the earth. It improves business reputation and can even increase employee morale with the knowledge that they work for a company that has values and is intentional about the way it operates. It may also assist in recruiting efforts as Gen Z tends to gravitate toward companies that stand for environmental or social issues.
Contractors interested in becoming more mindful of their company’s carbon footprint can visit https://www.buildinggreen.com/.
NOTE
Members are invited to participate in AGC’s Environmental Forum (https://www.agc. org/environmental-forum), receive a subscription to AGC’s Environmental Observer newsletter (https://www.agc.org/ news/newsletter), and join the Environmental Forum (https:// www.agc.org/connect/agc- Forums) — three great resources available to AGC members and chapter professionals. The forum provides a means to interact with other environmental professionals in the construction industry through task groups, conference calls, and programs. The Observer (10 issues per year) comes directly to your email inbox and is filled with industry perspectives on environmental regulations, green building, as well as related news and events. The Forum is an email listserv group where you can ask questions of your peers.