Jozefa Lewis is sustainability and wellbeing manager at ODGroup
As we all know, the construction industry has a carbon problem. In the UK, the built environment produces more than 10 million metric tons of carbon per year, making it one of the most significant polluters of the major industries.
At the same time, we are universally regarded as being one of the slowest sectors to adapt to new technologies and approaches, seemingly decades behind the likes of manufacturing and automotive industries.
“It can be a difficult decision to grasp the nettle and take the lead with something like digitalisation”
Against this backdrop, it’s easy to see why environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials and net-zero targets are challenging to meet. But the industry is making positive steps every day, and digital transformation is playing a key role on the frontline of making these changes.
The built environment isn’t short of data, but the biggest issues facing most businesses on this front is how that data is captured and what it is used for. However, having unified data brings more than just the obvious benefits of helping with ESG reporting.
Having this data to hand naturally helps with benchmarking against metrics such as carbon, waste, resource efficiency, procurement and social impact. But it also creates a significant element of shared learnings that help the client, consultant and supply chain alike.
Embracing change
That isn’t to say that digital transformation is an easy journey for all businesses. The slow pace of innovation across the built environment can make it a clunky process, especially when the rollout includes everyone from the C-suite down to teams on site and subcontractors.
In terms of the supply chain, there can be some resistance to change, so main contractors should illustrate the benefits of this process and maintain an open dialogue. This builds on the understanding that this will eventually be industry-wide and that at this stage, logging data would inevitably help rather than hinder.
The key learning from this should be a sense of “build it and they will come”. It can be a difficult decision to grasp the nettle and take the lead with something like digitalisation. But it is an excellent opportunity to set the standard and lay out the roadmap for your supply chain ecosystem to follow.
On the client side, it’s less about getting buy-in and more about illustrating how that data helps hold everyone to account and increases transparency throughout the process.
In reality, the data that is created belongs as much to the client as it does to us, and with manageable access to it, clients can continue to set their ambitious targets safe in the knowledge that they have access to robust reporting against them.
When these systems are rolled out, the benefits of attaining certain accreditations are clear to see. When we first introduced our new digital systems it helped us track the fulfilment of a number of credits for an SKA Gold rating, such as waste, logging energy, water use and tracking delivery mileage.
Those digital processes documented essential supporting evidence from the supply chain for the materials installed, ensuring the project received that SKA Gold accreditation.
Overall, this collaboration with our supply chain – enabled by digital processes – led to the successful delivery of the ESG targets and has created a benchmark for future projects.
As our industry seeks to find ways in which it can be more accountable and transparent as we work towards net-zero targets, digital transformation needs to play a key role in ensuring not only that the data is available to track progress, but also in helping drag processes across the industry into the 21st century.
Digital transformation can be the key to unlocking this potential, and the built environment needs to fully embrace it on the road to net zero.
