Environmental DAVID INMAN Information is power to win work
Often tenders require proof of environmental performance and a good way to do this is by monitoring quantitative factors, such as carbon or waste. If your organisation is not currently recording these, now is a good chance to start. Collecting data can be done to suit your needs and sources are often utility bills, road fuel bills or information from your waste service providers.
Once you’ve collected data, you can compare year on year and see if any efficiency initiatives have been effective and you can set sensible and achievable targets.
Carbon could be King
Carbon management of projects is gaining a higher profile with some saying the future of some tenders are being based more on this. Carbon management can be very complicated or quite simple, depending on your resources and needs. Many organisations have set up formal and externally certificated carbon management systems, but for ones who do not have the resources to manage, or finances to have the external certification, conversion of data into carbon figures can work well.
There are free tools available on the internet for giving an indication of carbon use. For construction projects, the Environment Agency publish a free downloadable spread sheet on their website which is an excellent and easy to use construction carbon calculator to measure the carbon used to manufacture materials and also installing them. Here, material quantities and transport data can be entered, and the embodied carbon used to make materials is calculated automatically.
For energy use, the Carbon Trust website contains useful greenhouse gas conversion factors in order to calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions caused by energy use. These are measured in units of carbon dioxide equivalent to encompass a wide range of greenhouse gases.
Waste not, want not
Waste management for all organisations is a key challenge in terms of cost, resources and legal compliance. Robust waste management arrangements can help meet legal duty of care responsibilities and avoid prosecutions.
Rising costs of waste management, including landfill lax for some wastes increasing by £8 a tonne per year, can result in increased financial pressure. Whilst legal compliance must be considered the priority, minimising waste produced and diverting waste from landfill
can save money. The ‘waste hierarchy’ below shows the waste management options with not producing waste in the first instance being the best option.
The Waste Hierarchy BEST PREFERRED OPTION
ELIMINATE REDUCE RE-USE RECYCLE DISPOSE
LEAST PREFERRED OPTION
Give your business the environmental advantage
Continual improvement in environmental management is the goal of ISO 14001 and this can be achieved by organisations who plan their activities which have an impact on the environment as can be shown in the cyclic EMS model below. Whilst environmental law can be a complicated and daunting subject, there is a vast array of very useful information published online, for example by environmental regulators such as the Environment Agency or SEPA.
The cyclic approach to environmental management systems
CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY
PLANNING
IMPLEMENTATION & OPERATION
CHECKING
MANAGEMENT REVIEW
Managing the environment in a proactive manner is good for business and makes sense for us all and future generations.
David Inman
BSc(Hons) MRICS CEnv AIEMA TechIOA
David Inman is Director and Chartered Environmental Surveyor and Chartered Environmentalist at DIEM Ltd. He has been involved in the environmental management of property, construction, railway engineering and business throughout his career.
David works with clients from a variety of industries both on private and public funded projects, often as part of the project team.
His professional interests include environmental management systems, sustainable construction, EMS auditing, waste minimisation, environmental training and the role of environmental professionals in the management of construction and commercial property.
He has worked in the rail industry since 1999 gaining invaluable engineering experience in overhead line measurement and S&C track renewals before specialising in the environmental management of projects on West Coast Route Modernisation and North West Structures Alliance before entering private practice in 2005.
David is a member of RICS UK Education Standards Board, Corresponding Member of RICS Sustainability Taskforce Europe and is Chairman of RICS Lancashire Local Association.
DIEM Ltd, based in North West England, provides innovative environmental management solutions & professional services across the UK to:
• Business • Rail • Construction • Property & facilities management
The firm is regulated by RICS and Constructionline pre-qualified.
www.diemltd.co.uk RailCONNECT 33
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