鈥淚 have spent many years trying to convince clients, or sometimes almost trick them, into making a project more sustainable,鈥� reveals Ron Bakker, Director and Co Founder of . 鈥淚t still feels a little strange to experience clients requesting sustainability.鈥�
鈥淏ut thankfully the whole market is slowly shifting in that direction. This is now a service that architects must be able to provide: it is becoming an expectation, not an option.鈥�
With PLP, Bakker carries out a great deal of work in the Netherlands. Bakker is effusive about the Dutch construction industry鈥檚 collaborative attitude towards sustainability.
There is what he describes as an 鈥渁ctivist market perspective鈥� that achieves buy-in from clients and contractors. He cites as an example the well established company , who are specialists in 鈥榰rban mining鈥� and the largest suppliers of such reused materials in the world. They dismantle buildings with the aim of harvesting as many materials as possible for reuse, regarding every building as a donor of parts.
鈥淭hey have linked demolition firms up with the construction materials market extremely cleverly,鈥� Bakker enthuses. 鈥淐ontractors acknowledge they must have better green credentials and are working with New Horizon. They see their peers using them and they want in.鈥�
Supply chain innovations of this kind are also taking place in the UK. is a partnership of London鈥檚 boroughs that aims to improve resource management and publishes a guide to .
This guide includes tips on using online exchange platforms and profiles suppliers such as: Globechain, , Salvo, Cleveland Steel & Tubes and Community Wood Recycling . Many of these are reuse marketplaces that connect enterprises, businesses and individuals with each other to buy, sell or donate leftover building materials. Globechain even generates ESG data on the impact of a donor鈥檚 redistribution of an item.
Another valuable resource - and further evidence of pan-industry collaboration - is the programme that developers are engaged in. It partnered with architects and and engineers and to research practical ways to make construction more of a circular economy.
It has produced guidance on , information on how materials passports could work and the practicalities of using reclaimed materials. It has also set up a : a mailing list for those with specific materials to contribute and those who need them.
Steve Gilchrist, Project Director at Grosvenor and instrumental to its Accelerating Material Reuse programme, points to UK-based deconstruction experts such as who are able to process and divert 98% their waste from operations from landfill. Gilchrist states that Grosvenor鈥檚 initiative caught the attention of , who can recycle steel and scrap metal for reuse.
Contractors are also noticing an increasing awareness of circular economy across the industry. Anna Foden is Head of Sustainability within the Fit Out team at construction and engineering company .
鈥淢ore and more we are seeing a big push to reuse as much as possible: either reusing it in situ or packaging it up onsite for reuse elsewhere,鈥� Foden states.
She cites the aforementioned Globechain but also as providers of useful reuse and rehoming services.
In one project in 2020, a Category A fitout, ISG stripped out more than 1.000 new LED lights and sent them back to the manufacturer to be re-warranted.
鈥淭hey are now in a warehouse waiting to be rehomed in a new project at Cambridge University,鈥� Foden explains. 鈥淪torage is often a challenge, but one that many supply chain partners are rising to.鈥�
Another challenge lies in convincing the client that not everything has to be brand new, Foden continues. But she believes they are increasingly coming round.
鈥淔or the same fitout we were able to reuse a huge integrated reception desk from another project. We stripped it out, and found the original joinery company who resized it so we could reinstall it. Ultimately we would like to be part of a large network of reuse opportunities.鈥�
Ron Bakker will be speaking at this year鈥檚 conference on 8 June 2022.
Thanks to Ron Bakker, Director and Co Founder, PLP Architecture; Anna Foden, Head of Sustainability, ISG; Steve Gilchrist, Project Director, Grosvenor.
Text by Matt Milton. This is a Professional Feature edited by the 澳门王中王 Practice team. Send us your feedback and ideas
澳门王中王 Core Curriculum topic: Sustainable Architecture.
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First published Thursday 31 March 2022
