Building for the future
With carbon reduction and skills high on the agenda for the industry, chief construction adviser to the government, Paul Morrell, answers some key questions from ECA Today
A
There is now a very clear emphasis on dealing with the deficit, and an almost equal determination to push back some of the burden of regulation
30 ECA Today March 2011
ppointed in November 2009 as chief construction adviser by the then Labour administration, Paul Morrell OBE continues to fulfill a valuable role as an independent link between industry and
government. His remit is to ensure the construction sector is equipped with the knowledge, skills and best practice to make the most of opportunities for the sector, and to work with the industry to ensure it can reduce carbon emissions in line with government commitments. In the current economic climate, that may appear a daunting challenge, but Morrell, who was previously senior partner of construction consultants Davis Langdon, and also former deputy chair of CABE, believes progress is being made. Here, he answers some key questions put to him by ECA Today
ECA Today: What does your role as chief construction adviser involve? Paul Morrell: The job is often described as being a single point of communication between the government and the industry – but, of course, both government and the industry are so large and so fragmented that that would be an impossible task. It is therefore a case of picking up the threads of some of the many conversations that go on between the two, to find where there are matters of common interest that require both parties to act if there is going to be positive change. I therefore described the task in the first year as ‘improving the quality of the conversation’ – as, if things were allowed to carry on as a series of monologues (with government bemoaning the lack of efficiency in the industry, and the industry bemoaning the lack of more work from the government), then matters of common interest would never emerge from the background noise.
ECA Today: How would you assess your achievements in this position so far? Paul Morrell: That is for others to judge, but I think there’s
been some success in moving the conversation on, no doubt aided by fairly widespread acceptance that there simply isn’t any money, so that the industry’s pitch to government has to be more considered than just lobbying for workload. The test, though, will be in converting that into action, so I would characterise my second year in the post as having to be about putting in place the mechanisms that can lead to beneficial change.
ECA Today: How much progress has been made in ‘getting carbon out of the industry’? Paul Morrell: There are two aspects to this: getting carbon out of businesses in the industry, and then coming up with the products and services that enable our customers to lead more energy-efficient lives. As far as product manufacturers are concerned, there are real signs of progress, and there is some groundbreaking stuff going in getting carbon out of manufacturing processes, eliminating waste and generally reinforcing the green credentials of their products. For operations on site, the Strategic Forum has produced a really useful piece of work that shows how 15 per cent can be taken out of emissions associated with site operations, and we now need to see how many contractors will take responsibility for running site operations on those principles. I think the real success story, though, is in the development of products and services that will enable clients to live a more energy-efficient life. With the spectacular success of Ecobuild this month, and the range of offers on display, there are grounds for having real pride in what the industry can do when the objective is clear.
ECA Today: Do you think contractors are taking enough responsibility for reducing carbon emissions? Paul Morrell: I think there is a lot of good stuff going on, and the broader industry has plenty to be proud of. The one thing I would really like to see more of is a clear demonstration of leadership by the industry: the emergence of figureheads who will act as advocates for action against climate change, and commit their companies to programmes that put sustainability (however they might chose to define it) at the core of their business. Where is the ‘Plan A’ of construction?
ECA Today: What are the key features of the IGT Low Carbon Construction report?
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72