Sustainable Construction Strategy
Baroness Shriti Vadera, Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business (jointly with Cabinet Office)
London, 11 June 2008
Thank you Stuart for giving up your time to chair today’s event. We must be doing something right if we’ve got your support.
We’re here because of the vital contribution you - the construction industry - makes to the competitiveness and prosperity of the economy. Modern, efficient infrastructure is a key driver of productivity. The construction industry has a major role in delivering built infrastructure in an innovative and cost effective way. Businesses throughout the economy are dependent on the industry’s performance to deliver buildings, roads, rail and power stations to remain competitive. And inward investors consider the quality of the built infrastructure as one of the key factors in location choices.
Buildings are responsible for half the country’s carbon emissions so it is clear that we can’t meet our declared environmental targets without dramatically reducing the environmental impact of buildings and infrastructure construction.
However, the strategy is about constructing in a fully sustainable manner. This means not just ensuring environmental goals are achieved, but also investing in our people and ensuring that construction businesses are financially sustainable. I think that we can be world leaders in sustainable construction and I hope that this strategy will encourage in particular, innovation as a way to maintain our competitive advantage.
While we have made progress there is still a significant way to go and we have to redouble our efforts.
The strategy will do this I hope by encouraging the widespread adoption of the best practice principles of client leadership, collaborative working approaches and whole life costing.
The national audit office has estimated that the public sector could save £2.6 billion per annum by adopting these best practice principles. Indeed, these principles are now embodied in the industry’s own new construction commitments which form part of this strategy and are being launched later this afternoon.
And so I’m delighted to announce today that the members of the public sector construction clients forum, which comprises the major public sector procurers – including all the regional development agencies are signing up to the new construction commitments.
I’m particularly grateful for the support of Land Securities and Wates Construction who provide the private sector perspective on the public sector clients forum. They have taken their role seriously and today sign the commitments alongside those public sector clients.
I would strongly urge all parts of the industry to sign, adopt and implement these commitments.
In addition to procurement, the strategy has measures to promote more efficient use of resources. For example, by 2012 we expect to have halved the amount of construction waste going to landfill and want at least 25% of products to be responsibly sourced.
We and the industry are also committed to working with the sector skills councils to drive and champion a culture of training and development.
In order to remain competitive we all know that the industry needs a skilled workforce at all levels – professionals, engineers, managers and trade apprentices. Our aim is to achieve a net increase of 260,000 qualified and trained people recruited in the industry by 2012.
I would also urge the industry to deliver on its targets to improve health and safety, and in particular to reduce fatalities.
This strategy is, uniquely, a joint approach between government and industry. It illustrates the fact that we can only achieve our aims by working together. We in government are determined that this should be just the start and we look forward to working with you further.
Many thanks
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