The three-tier strategy developed by Carillion – from design to partnership
and innovation, thence ownership – was established with the clear understanding
that sustainable development is about hearts and minds. The ultimate goal was
the third phase; that of ownership of the awareness and commitment to sustainable
development, on both a corporate and personal basis. True sustainable development
is way beyond eco-efficiency, or in other words the optimisation of design once
the big decisions have been made – it is about bringing intelligence into the
big decisions and rolling that out into the smaller decisions and subsequent
actions.
The design phase identified double-skin plasterboard walls as a suitable solution
ensuring flexibility. Instead of the more traditional approach of buying according
to the market, Carillion took the step of specifying the optimal sizes of board
required to complete the job that will minimise contractor time on-site to complete
installation and also minimise waste production.
To initiate this, the Carillion Building Economist visited various interested
manufacturers to discuss sustainability challenges. The successful supplier,
LaFarge, developed a new product to make further progress with the Sustainability
Action Plan (SAP). This product was a single board, comprising just one 15mm
skin instead of the twin 12mm panels in the original design.
Furthermore, the board innovated by LaFarge was designed to withstand substantial
wear and tear, enabling savings, and was also pre-finished, eliminating the
need for skimming with plaster and the number of coats of paint required. Prior
to involvement at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH), LaFarge did not commonly
practice the take-back of off-cuts, but immediately agreed so to do by backloading
vehicles delivering to Swindon and other local sites.
The benefits from this range of innovations were considerable, including reducing
the requirement for labour-intensive ‘wet trades’ on-site, and reducing material
inputs to product and installation. Raw material inputs into the board itself
were decreased by almost a half, and the boards themselves are recyclable at
the end of their useful life. The economic savings included an immediate £200,000
by going to a single board system, and an additional £85,000 by reducing
the planned three-coat paint system to a two-coat system.
Ceiling drop
To maximise flexibility and replication, suspended ceilings were identified
in the design phase. For hospitals in the UK, Health Technical Memoranda (HTM)
60 specifies the type of tiles and the functional properties that are required
for different areas. The design specified recycled mineral fibre ceiling tiles,
and that these in turn should be recyclable at end-of-life, or if landfilled,
must be inert.
The design also identified a standard tile size set in steel and aluminium,
both fully recyclable, throughout the entire hospital. This eliminates off-cuts
and wastage, and also reduces time on site for contractors, as well as maintenance
and cleaning requirements throughout life.
Part of the initial design, but also a spur to partnership and innovation,
each contractor was asked to quote for just two tiles from their ranges that
met cost budgets and possibly all six of the HTM requirements. In order to continue
to challenge the trade contractors to make further progress with effective sustainable
development, Carillion ran workshops on the The Natural Step (TNS) Framework
for manufacturers and installers once they had been awarded contracts, requiring
that they developed their own sustainable development targets based on the TNS
Framework and consistent with achievement of the SAP.
Reusable floors
Implicit in the design of flooring systems was a requirement for the most environmentally
friendly materials, whether derived from sustainably-managed resources, or reusable
at end-of-life to avoid accumulation of pollutants. However, it was soon realised
this would be a lot more tricky, addressing issues such as those raised in A
Material Dilemma (IEM, May 2001), and required a close evaluation
of four materials – linoleum (lino), rubber, PVC and non-chlorine vinyl.
The basic constituents of lino are linseed oil, cork, limestone and jute, combined
by an energy-intensive manufacturing process. There are sustainability benefits
to be gained from the long life of lino, as indeed for rubber and vinyl flooring.
Furthermore, trials suggested that the ‘organic’ feel of lino underfoot was
attractive, and lino also feels warmer and has more sound-absorbent properties
in the formulations tested. On the down-side, for most resilient flooring applications
across the hospital, a thicker layer of lino would be required as compared to
rubber and vinyl, increasing the volume of product needed. At end-of life, lino
is biodegradeable, but not easy to recycle.
Rubber flooring is also a long-life product (20 years) and is derived from
a potentially sustainable source (trees). Furthermore, it can be recycled for
use in cars, although the same practical problems of removal and contamination
apply. The ‘feel’ and sound absorption of rubber flooring was also found in
tests to be superior to lino.
By contrast, the ‘non-green’ credentials of PVC are well-known. However, recent
work conducted by The Natural Step – as reported previously in IEM (PVC:
Stepping Up the Sustainable Development Agenda, September 2000) – identifies
key challenges for the delivery of a fully sustainable life cycle for PVC, with
which the European industry is now grappling. However, for the time being, Carillion
have decided that the infrastructure for sustainable decommissioning of PVC
in the UK is lacking, and that although in the words of the SAP, “The jury
is still out on how much better its alternatives are for the environment…”,
the presumption for now is against PVC.
Carillion also explored a chlorine-free vinyl. However, this line of products
is still in the development phase so it was not used at Swindon, though it may
be reevaluated for future projects.
The experience at Swindon endorses the views expressing in A Material Dilemma
that material choice with sustainable development in mind is a tricky issue
in practice, lacking a straightforward solutions and requiring detailed thought
about a range of issues quite apart from the material itself.
Not all of the design details have been planned in detail, leaving scope for
development of sustainability thinking through partnership and innovation by
prospective suppliers. For example, Carillion is considering exploiting solvent-free
adhesives and taping materials for skirting, further reducing chemical and energy
inputs, and enhancing working environments. Carillion wants to stimulate sustainable
innovation with suppliers and ensure they benefit from their contribution to
the SAP.
Lessons learnt
A enormous number of lessons were learnt from Carillion’s experience at Swindon.
Perhaps the most important is that sustainable development is not about doing
additional things, but about doing things in new ways. As long as organisations
perpetuate the mistaken notion that sustainable development is an additional,
perhaps even retrospective, consideration, then barriers will remain. True commitment
to sustainable development is recognition that it is about being better prepared
for the inevitable changes that will be enforced by a fast-changing world, and,
it is about pre-empting both opportunities and obstacles.
For Carillion, the penny certainly dropped that sustainable development presented
both major opportunities as well as scope for market differentiation. Lessons
learnt from the PMH Relocation Project will spread across the Carillion Group
to other projects and business activities. Leaders on the client side of the
construction industry, as well as in other sectors of business, should take
note, as must those in government who are tasked with shaping building regulations
and other relevant policies.
Carillion’s PHM Relocation Project also demonstrates the benefits of partnership.
In an unsustainable world, true sustainable development is not yet as simple
as it should be. Material choice is an innovative process involving detailed
consideration of the whole life cycle, and, by developing partnerships with
the supply chain to stimulate and reward innovation, Carillion has made impressive
progress with promoting ownership of the mission of creating a sustainable hospital,
through encouraging a common understanding of sustainability with all partners
in the project. This depth of team-building was a ground-breaking step on Carillion’s
part, and one that has paid back substantially in terms of learning and innovation.
Another important lesson is that ‘sustainable’ does not equal ‘more expensive’.
Experience at Swindon has revealed, through many novel initiatives that are
ecologically and socially beneficial, no negative effect on economic considerations.
In addition, some even improved the financial performance of the project with
longer term, holistic benefits.
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