Engineering Inc. - January/February 2008 - (Page 34) busINEss INsIGhts FRom aCEC’s INstItutE FoR busINEss maNaGEmENt the upside of sustainability audits; u.K. a model for innovative construction sustainability and the ‘triple bottom line’ When CDM Vice President and Chief Technical Officer Bill Howard thinks about sustainability in the context of modernday engineering projects, his mind often shifts to the concept of the “triple bottom line.” In today’s world, the former ACEC chairman says, environmental and social factors associated with large engineering projects are on par with economic concerns. One way to address environmental and social concerns is through the creation of a sustainability audit program, says Howard. Howard joined Andrea Ramage, CH2M HILL’s director of sustainable solutions, to deliver a recent presentation on the topic. Below is some advice. a recipe for trouble Clients often find that sustainability audits provide useful information to assist with organizational learning, decisionmaking or accountability, or to make the business case for sustainable approaches. The trouble is, if an audit is conducted outside the context of a strategy, global trends and business goals, the audit is likely to fail and disappoint the client for four reasons: n A sustainability vision for the organization has not been defined, so the auditing process will be out of context. n The audit criteria aren’t clarified; therefore, there is no linkage to core organizational strategies, objectives and goals. n Key decision-makers or other stakeholders have not been engaged. n There is no process for establishing priorities on what is audited, which damages the credibility of the audit. a recipe for client satisfaction Luckily, by adopting a strategic approach to auditing, the problems described above can be remedied: n Start by engaging clients and key stakeholders in a discussion about their strategic business or operational context. What are the key issues and drivers? n Discuss business or operational objectives. What is the client trying to accomplish? What are its main goals? n Define sustainability objectives with respect to the strategic context and business objectives. Remember to support objectives with sustainability principles. Prioritize. n Lastly, develop an auditing framework, which consists of key performance indicators, targets (measurable goals) and metrics (the units of measure used to collect data). innovation: learning from the u.K. As engineering companies try to boost performance and provide greater customer satisfaction, many U.S. firms are tapping into ideas emerging in other parts of the world. Paul Bryant of Pivotal Management Consulting, LLC, says U.S. firms could learn a lot from a visit across the pond. For nearly 10 years the United Kingdom has run a coordinated effort to improve the delivery of projects across the construction supply chain. This includes stakeholders from manufacturers to designers to contractors and the environment. The movement first gathered steam after a brief 1998 report entitled “Rethinking Construction” by a task force under the direction of Sir John Egan, an industrialist and businessman who also served as a minister of Parliament. “Rethinking Construction” provided the outline of a strategic plan, complete with measurable goals, for the industry to gauge its achievements. Through the U.K. Department of Trade and Industry, a task force was established for the implementation of the strategic plan and measurement of progress. The task force, Constructing Excellence (www.constructingexcellence.org.uk), has established a set of yearly performance indicators used to track long-term industry improvements. measuring progress One objective is to encourage experimentation on live projects, or “demonstration projects,” with the goal of understanding how principles applied in other industries can be adapted to the construction industry. At the conclusion of each project, a study of lessons learned is written and disseminated. Constructing Excellence also is responsible for the Strategic Forum for Construction (www.strategicforum.org.uk). This sub-organization focuses on four areas: client engagement, integration of teams and integration of the industry supply chain, people issues and design quality of the final project. Much of the organization’s focus is on resolving the adversarial attitudes firms in the industry have toward potential partner firms that could be of assistance in the overall project delivery process. n The ACEC Institute for Business Management provides comprehensive and accessible business management education for engineering company principals and their staffs. Visit http://www.acec.org/calendar/eventList.cfm for a complete listing of ACEC programs. 34 ENGINEERING INC. JaNuaRy / FEbRuaRy 2008 http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk http://www.constructingexcellence.org.uk http://www.strategicforum.org.uk http://www.acec.org/calendar/eventList.cfm
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