OPINION
MANUFACTURER’S VIEWPOINT
All those in the industry supply chain need to understand the issues surrounding the use of energy before they can collectively make a difference, writes Martin Fahey
If you have been following my column over recent months, you will have noticed that I have tried to focus attention on how the ‘green’ agenda can and should also link in with the ‘business’ agenda. We are in an interesting (and rather confusing) time with regards to government policy on green issues but, despite this, we do have a green programme that gathers momentum – regardless of what Westminster decides.
In part this is because we have highly ambitious carbon reduction targets – which the government is signed up to – that will have to be met. As an industry we already face more and more stringent regulations on renewable energy and carbon reductions, so, in some ways, it seems irrelevant whether the government decides to incentivise one bit of the green agenda or not. This is where, perhaps, individual initiatives by industry bodies can play an important role.
Since its creation in 2007, the UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) has sought to radically transform the way the built environment is planned, designed, constructed, maintained and operated. Recently, the UKGBC has been trying to find ways of engaging anyone and everyone in debating how we link the day-to-day running of a business with the drive towards creating a more ‘sustainable built environment’. One initiative that I have
personally been involved in seemed to make a lot of sense because it posed the question of how we can get everyone to relate to the nation’s goals and targets. The ‘Industry Business Plan’ debate tries to look at what the construction sector needs to do to ensure its survival, generate economic growth, meet customers’ needs and deliver positive social and environmental outcomes.
The answer suggests that we think of the UK in terms of a corporation and ask the simple question of what the UK’s business plan should
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be for the next 10 to 20 years. A six-month examination, involving a cross-section of business leaders, has sought to develop scenarios for future operating environments and analyse a range of strategic options for the industry.
The priority was to rethink ‘business as usual’ and take some time to model some innovative ideas that responded to the likely future operating environment to deliver high-value, low-carbon and sustainable growth opportunities. So far, we have come up with five innovations that represent some of the latent opportunities for our industry.
As a manufacturer, we have chosen to take part in these debates because we believe that it is only through collaboration that we can really make a difference. We realise that while we can provide innovative, market-leading products, we also need designers, consultants, architects, constructors, installers – and end-users – to understand the issues surrounding the use of energy before we can, collectively, make a difference.
So this is (another) clarion call for you all to play your part in this important discussion and get involved. You can view the full details of the UKGBC business plan report at:
www.ukgbc.org/document/uk- gbc-plan-growth You can also contribute to the debate by visiting our Green Gateway LinkedIn group and our Twitter account: @green_gateway
Martin Fahey is sustainable solutions manager at Mitsubishi Electric and co-ordinator of the company’s Green Gateway programme. Further information is available at www.
greengateway.mitsubishielectric.co.uk
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July 2012 CIBSE Journal 17
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