New guidance published on greening the building supply chain

A major new report on the building and construction sector, “Greening the Building Supply Chain”, has been launched by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (UNEP-SBCI). The report notes that while the need to understand and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from buildings during their operation has become increasingly recognized, efforts related to the resource use in the building supply chain appear to be less advanced. For that reason the scope of the report, co-authored by Skanska, UNEP and IMS Consulting, extends beyond the well-established benefits associated with green buildings themselves (such as energy efficiency). Instead it is intended to help stakeholders better understand resource use in the building and the construction supply chain as a whole, and identify opportunities to promote greater resource efficiency in the sector as well as and contribute towards wider socio-economic goals.

The building delivery and management process describes the way buildings are designed, delivered and occupied. The simplified process consists of five stages – Concept Definition, Design, Construction, In Use and End of Life. For each stage, the report describes the main scope, stakeholders and barriers to greening the supply chain, then reviews and prioritises potential green interventions, which are also illustrated through case study examples.

Noel Morris, SVP Sustainability and Green Support Skanska Co-Chair explains in his foreward to the report: “Life cycle thinking will need to become mainstream. The challenge though, is to ensure a proper scientific basis, standardized methodologies, data transparency and quality, but above all, a language that can be understood and spoken by all stakeholders.”

Click here to download the report.