In the UK, it is becoming increasingly common for large contracting and shopfitting companies to take a more righteous approach when considering the type of material, they want to use when constructing their products. Why you ask? Sustainability is the answer. Sustainable construction embraces the preservation of the environment as well as adhering to ethical standards within a supply chain.
In the world of construction, the concept of sustainability has the capability to make a major contribution to a more sustainable environment for our planet’s future. Sustainable construction is often referred to as ‘green building’. Using sustainable construction materials is not only good for the planet, it can also benefit your company in a number of ways.
The main purposes of sustainable construction are:
Firstly, customers are becoming aware of what impact their buying habits have on the environment. It is said that buildings consume around 20-40% of energy consumption and physical resources in their own environment. Once built, construction products can be one of the main sources of pollution because of the emissions produced by them. Due to this, large companies are therefore forced to re-evaluate their manufacturing process.
Over the years, the use of green building materials has become a common way for construction companies to save energy and money. At the same time, your company can become eco-friendlier due to the reduced CO2emissions. For example, using recyclable materials such as metal and plastic will result in reduced waste and pollution. With the continued global exposure of the use of non-recyclable materials, manufacturers must consider the impact of what they produce and how the produce it in order to meet the demand for less damaging products to the environment.
In terms of us here at KDM, we use sustainable timber which has the lowest environmental impact on its production and life-cycle. We are accredited with the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) which is a global forest certification system, allowing consumers to identify, purchase and use wood that has been produced from well-managed forests and/or recycled materials.
However, the whole concept of sustainability doesn’t just evolve around using more environmentally friendly materials. These days, more and more consumers are concerned about how the potential product is made. Many of our clients, Tesco in particular, use the Sedex platform to ensure sustainability within our supply chain. Sedex is one of the world’s largest organisations for helping companies manage responsible sourcing in their supply chain. One of the main areas they examine is the ethical performance of global supply chains, with the prevention of slave labour being the key focus.
It is estimated by the government that a minimum of 13,000 people are victims of forced labour. Activists say that Britains construction industry is one of the main sectors where said forced labour is most likely to occur. It is becoming increasingly important for construction companies to carry out on-going evaluations of their supply chains due to ethical standards for sustainable construction.
KDM have been registered with Sedex for many years now which allow us to continue production without having to worry about flaws in our supply chain. If you are a consumer and want to purchase products or services within the construction industry, ‘Ethisphere’ publish an annual list of the world’s most ethical companies. This way you are able to see the main organisations which are ethically respected and are attempting to make a difference to the environment.
