![\"Sustainable](\"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Sustainable-building-products-1.jpg\")
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Last month, Edge, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Supply Chain Sustainability School co-hosted an event\u00a0Sustainable Building Products\u00a0\u2013\u00a0So What?, bringing together representatives from across the buildings supply chain \u2013 from property owners to product manufacturers \u2013\u00a0discuss their progress to sustainability or the road blocks standing in the way. Here\u2019s what they had to say and how we\u2019re committed to helping.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n THE EVENT <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Sustainable Building Products \u2013 So What?<\/a> sprung from regular conversations we had, suggesting that those producing sustainable building products were unsure what value they gained by certifying their goods, and the apparent difficulties faced by builders and developers tasked with finding sustainable materials as they seek to develop climate-friendly supply chains.<\/p>\n Our aim was to explore why this apparent mismatch exists between the two ends of the market; whether it is a true reflection of the market; and what could be done to make things work better. The resulting debate was fascinating and uncovered huge challenges that we collectively face over the coming years.<\/p>\n THE SPEAKERS<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Cathy Inglis, <\/u>Brickworks<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n Cathy Inglis opened with a candid assessment of Brickworks<\/a>\u2019 approach. Their carbon-neutral bricks currently don\u2019t bring them any real advantage in the market: they exist because the people at Brickworks think that addressing environmental impacts is the right thing to do. And as much as construction companies\u2019 and developers\u2019 sustainability teams might put in place well-meaning procurement policies, it all falls down as you move along the supply chain to subcontractors who aren\u2019t engaged and all too easily substitute in cheaper, more familiar, or more readily available materials.<\/p>\n Mark Pulham, <\/u>Ubiq<\/u>\u00a0<\/u><\/p>\n That view was echoed by Mark Pulham, whose company, Ubiq<\/a>, focuses on bringing sustainable alternative products onto the market. Without products\u2019 embodied environmental impacts featuring in building codes as a key component of their amenity, there is currently simply not enough of a driver for those specifying materials to make the right environmental choices.<\/p>\n Andrew Thai, <\/u>Frasers Property<\/u><\/p>\n Andrew Thai brought a developer\u2019s view to the evening\u2019s discussion. Frasers<\/a> are keen to take a lead and are working hard to ensure that their buildings are as sustainable as they can be, including the materials used in construction. They\u2019re increasingly looking at things like the Living Building Challenge<\/a> \u2013 and the demands\u2019 associated product requirements \u2013 in order to stretch themselves. But ultimately they work in a commercial market where cost and quality often trump other concerns. And that\u2019s where one key opportunity lies \u2013 making sure that sustainability and quality go hand in hand.<\/p>\n Nicole Sullivan, <\/u>GBCA<\/u>,<\/u><\/p>\n GBCA<\/a> continues to do what it can to drive the agenda, says Nicole Sullivan, with Green Star on a transition towards delivering zero carbon buildings over the coming decades. The rating system currently rewards sustainable material use and encourages a life-cycle approach. But ultimately its flexibility is such that it doesn\u2019t currently\u00a0require<\/em>\u00a0users to go down those routes. Whether or not that is something that GBCA needs to push for is currently under consideration, but the drive for change also needs to come from members. Is it something that they want? Would they be ready?<\/p>\n James Braham,<\/u>\u00a0<\/u>John Holland Group<\/u><\/p>\n From a contractor\u2019s perspective, according to James Braham, Green Star and ISCA have already driven massive change. JHG<\/a> wouldn\u2019t be so far down their sustainability journey without them. But again, the issue is often with subcontractors who aren\u2019t involved in the conversation and don\u2019t have the same ethos or drivers in their businesses. They need to be brought to the table. And it\u2019s true that identifying sustainable products is hard \u2013 without a central register of information, time and effort becomes a barrier to doing the right thing. The Responsible Construction Leadership Group<\/a>\u2019s work in developing a materials register for contractors will, he thinks, be a helpful step forward in the sustainable use of materials.<\/p>\n SO WHAT?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n So where does all that leave us? The discussion brought home many issues we\u2019d been hearing in our day-to-day work. At the top end of town, there is ambition to make buildings more sustainable and that is filtering into the products market. But the barriers to this becoming mainstream practice are significant. Outside a small \u2018club\u2019 of sustainability advocates \u2013 many of whom were in the room! \u2013 awareness of the benefits that sustainability can bring and the quality of the products available and where to find them is very limited. And the current policies and standards driving action, while helpful, don\u2019t go far enough and only tend to influence a small part of a gigantic market.<\/p>\n On the plus side, there are big changes on the horizon. Following the Paris agreement, more and more companies are adopting Science-Based Targets<\/a>, forcing them to address the sustainability impacts of their supply chains. At the same time, the evolution of standards such as Green Star and ISCA is only going one way: towards zero carbon. Organisations such as the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors are taking action, too, having recently launched a\u00a0consultation on a new draft professional statement on whole of life carbon assessment<\/a>. All this suggests that there may well be a\u00a0Kodak-style<\/a> moment\u00a0coming, with those failing to address the embodied impacts of construction \u2013 whether it be the products or the buildings they go into \u2013 falling by the wayside.<\/p>\n So the transition is happening, but there are a few key things we should consider working on to make it faster:<\/p>\n We\u2019re committed to addressing all those issues here at Edge, and over the coming months will be working with our stakeholders, in particular those present at the event, to push forward. If you would like to join us in those efforts please let us know \u2013 only through collaboration do we have a hope of making progress!<\/p>\n In follow-up to the event, Edge pledges to:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month, Edge, the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) and the Supply Chain Sustainability School co-hosted an event\u00a0Sustainable Building Products\u00a0\u2013\u00a0So What?, bringing together representatives …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":7767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":""},"categories":[518,221,1,228,23,131],"tags":[522,100,515],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/cl\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2017\/06\/Sustainable-building-products-1-scaled.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Richard Griffiths","author_link":"https:\/\/edgeenvironment.com\/cl\/author\/richard-griffiths\/"},"yoast_head":"\n\n
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