Implementing Environmental Aspects Into Business Operations And Product Standards

Sustainability is becoming an ongoing trend in construction. This word in reference to construction means to be built sturdy while not depleting the environment around it. According to Lafargeholcum Foundations [1], “Sustainability is one of the worlds most talked about but least understood words, its meaning

This manifesto proposes an approach to sustainable design that I am interested in exploring during my time studying architecture. The idea of sustainability is a complex one, not without apparent contradictions. This makes it difficult to define in a wholly satisfactory manner. For the purposes of this manifesto I will advert to the definition proposed by Jason McLennan who asserts that sustainable design: “seeks to maximize the quality of the built environment, while minimizing or eliminating negative impact to the natural environment.” I find this definition particularly useful in the emphasis which it places on quality. By quality, in this

Sustainable Architecture - a broad concept and has meaning. But there are also simple to understand, overview and detail at the factors that make sustainability. What material

In 1992, the Rio Earth Summit declared “The right to development must be fulfilled so as to equitably meet developmental and environmental needs of present and future generations” and in order to create sustainable development the mindset of the individual would need to be changed (Jick & Peiperl, p. 473). When organizations are open to new ideas and welcome transformation it enables them to meet the demands of the current and future environment, (Abbas, 2014). Thus, in 1998, before the merger of PwC and Coopers and Lybrand an opportunity was given to two alums of AIESEC, Middelburg and Shaw to deliver the following initiatives.

Being environmentally friendly isn’t merely a trend. After thousands of years of using the earth’s resources, we have finally come to realize that we are destroying this beautiful gift we were honored with. Architects play an influential role in trying to preserve this gift by encouraging a multitude of strategies that can be more cost efficient in the long run, be more comfortable for its users, and most importantly, have a lower carbon footprint. Strategies can include drastic changes to heat and air systems, construction material selections, or even specific design details to the architecture of a building that would reduce the amount of energy it consumes.

LEED, also known as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, “is a rating system devised by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC) to evaluate the environmental performance of a building and encourage market transformation towards sustainable design”. The building has a LEED-EB Certification. People installed high-efficiency lighting systems. The purpose was to improve its controls to reduce the building’s energy consumption. Overall the building uses less water and energy which helps them save money.

Stone quarrying leads to eroded hills, like this picture showing the site of maharani marble quarry, brick kilns in the fringes of the city lead to denudation of topsoil, dredging for sand damage the river biodiversity etc.

Sustainable construction must be considered as the proper response to the ongoing practices that are currently applied in the construction industry to deliver its products. A study carried out by BREA and AEAT reveals that only “in England, construction, demolition and refurbishment activities produce around 33% of all waste”; furthermore, “around 380 million tonnes of resources are consumed by the construction industry each year” (BRE; AEAT, 2012). The scope of the negative impact the construction industry is having upon the environment through processes such as the acquiring of materials, the procedures undertaken to develop products and their eventual deposition, became a UK government must-solve issue. Tony Blair, as a reply to the global scientific consensus of climate change being a result of human activity stated that “we can move the debate from whether there is a problem to how to deal with it” (HM Government, 2011).

As cultures have grown and expanded, so has construction. New buildings are going up everyday while the old ones are being torn down. Cultures are starting to become more aware of what is thrown in the landfills and polluting our earth. Architects have begun building sustainably and using recycled materials to reduce their carbon footprint. It can be very difficult in choosing sustainable products. For example:

It is designed to help businesses remain commercially successful without overlooking environmental responsibilities. It can also help you to grow while reducing the environmental impact of this growth. An ISO 14001 system provides the framework to allow you to meet increasingly high customer expectations of corporate responsibility as well as legal or regulatory requirements.

In the constructive process, high costs and consumptions of unnecessary sources generate huge wastes and customer dissatisfaction. However, current sustainable construction research has been focused mainly on the design and operation stages of projects rather than constructive process.

Structural engineers can manipulate the performance and environmentally friendly impact of constructions with effective design and stipulations regardless of

As people known, to use renewable resource and to save energy or comfortable indoor environment is far from the overall picture. Because construction mentioned above is an industry which include many aspects such as land use and application of advanced technology, etc. Therefore if we want to define what is green building we should recognize the whole industrial chain included each aspects and unintended environment, social, economic, consequence brought possibly of complex activity. Kats (2003) in his article stated that the sustainable or green building should deal with those key points: environment, resource & energy consumption, impact on people, financial impact and the world at large which is a broader set of issues such as ground water recharge or global warming, as well governmental policies are typically concerned about (Kats, 2003, P. 1). And another institute, Office of the federal Environmental Executive (2003) defined green building as the practice of increasing the efficiency with which

EMSs have three basic standards which included British Standard 7750 (BS 7750), European’s Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) and ISO 14000 whereby BS 7750 is referred as the first EMS that published in 1992, finalized in 1996 and as the basis for the other two standards (Cheremisinoff & Haddadin, 2006). EMAS is the European Union’s EMS standard that first introduced in July 1993 with the objective of “promote a harmonious and balanced of develop economic activities by having the commitment from organization and continuously improve their environmental performance” (European Commision, March 4, 2015). Lastly, ISO 14000 was published around 1996 and formed up the standard that focus on environmental management established by International Standards Organizations after the success of developing quality management ISO 9000.

ISO 9001 is a Quality management standard which is recognised internationally and used by organizations worldwide. It can be used by business of all sizes, it provides an effective quality management system. It was first published in 1987 (updated 1994, 2000, 2008). The latest version was published in 2015. This replaces all the previous editions. (Praxiom Group 2014)