The Need for Sustainable Construction

ENVIRONMENTAL
SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.The Concept of Triple bottom line and sustainable development............................................1
2. Sustainable construction (SC) and key considerations ...........................................................2
3. Sustainability report for Lendlease Group multinational construction company ...................4
4. Challenges and issues in sustainability....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Environment and sustainability refers to a structure of the building, the construction
process and occupancy process which is environmentally responsible. Building development
life-cycle includes various different types of phases such as location, designing, operation,
construction, maintenance, renovation and demolition. Environmental consideration is one of the
important aspect which need to be properly taken care during whole development process.
Environmental sustainability helps in carry out the efficient operations which do not have
negative impact on environment. The study will be based on the construction practices of
Landlease Group which carry out the effective operations that are mainly focused towards the
development of the building considering TBL accounting framework. The report will disclose
various information regarding the company's responsibility which mainly lies within the
stockholders rather then shareholders.
Furthermore, it will provide sustainable report of constructing multinational company by
using GRI (Global reporting initiative) framework system. The present study will also provide
the key consideration at the time of developing a sustainable building. This document will also
explore various issues and challenges related to the sustainability development of the
construction site. The document will also identify various strategies and reporting parameters
which are considered during the development process of the building.
1.The Concept of Triple bottom line and sustainable development
Sustainability has been often considered as of the main objectives of the business so in
order to measure the performance of the Landlease Group, Managers generally uses TPL. This
can be identified as a Triple bottom line that is accounting framework used to measure the
profitability of the firm in broader perspectives. This is usually recorded at very bottom line on
the statement of revenue and expenses (Spence and Mulligan, H., 2016). This is mainly
incorporates three dimensions of performance which can be described as Social, environmental
and financial TPL. These dimensions are often called as 3 Ps which can be known as the one of
the important sustainability concept that is Triple Bottom line. In order to report the efforts,
Landlease Group may demonstrate it as commitment through the social corporate responsibility.
Social equity bottom line pertains the fair and fair and beneficial practices towards the
labour and community along with the region in which Landlease conducts its operations.
Environmental Bottom line refers to sustainable environmental practices which mainly
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endeavours the ecological footprints. This dimension helps in carefully managing the use of
energy and non renewable resources which focused towards the reduction of manufacturing
waste. This is concerned with the reduction of disposed toxic content and discharging of waste
products in a safe manner. Economic Bottom line deals with the economic value generation
after the deduction of the overall input and capital costs. This is mainly used to evaluate the
actual profits incurred by the construction practice
Sustainability development describes the desires to carry out the activities without
depleting the resources or having harmful impacts (Slaper and Hall, 2017). This can alsoi be
considered as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future
generation to meet own objectives.
2. Sustainable construction (SC) and key considerations
Sustainable construction is defined as the way of construction or the renovation of a
building in compliance with the energy conservation and environment friendly regulations. The
multinational construction companies such as Lendlease Group are making SC as one of the
basic development strategy so that future challenges in legal and environment aspects of
construction can be addressed. The goal of such approaches is to promote the construction
materials and techniques which makes building sustainable and minimum harm is caused to the
environment (Kibert, 2016).
With the rapidly increasing environment degradation due to development and
construction activities governments are also paying in attention to construction activities. The
carbon emissions, waste management and resource utilisation are the key elements which are
improved within SC so that both environment and public health can be protected from the
adverse impact of construction processes. Lendlease Group has been employing various
initiatives such as use of low embodied and renewable energy sources, sustainability reports and
better insulation. SC emphasis that construction projects must not only focus on profitability or
bottom line but also on its environmental impact.
Green construction is one of the best way to implement the principles of SC. It
incorporates the constructional practices which lowers the carbon footprints in the designing and
construction process (Achal and Mukherjee, 2015). SC is not only beneficial form the
community welfare and environment perspective but also from the operational efficiency. The
use of energy saving material and building infrastructures reduces the development cost and thus
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companies can enhance their profit margins. The key purpose of this type of practices is to assure
that current housing and building infrastructures must be fulfilled but it should not be at the cost
of needs of future generation.
The constructional organisations are also expected to regulate the harmful emissions
generated by their activities. These emissions and methods affects the fertility of land and quality
of water and surrounding atmosphere. The concept of SC also advocates the enhanced practice of
retrofitting buildings instead of creating new ones. It can be cost effective as well as environment
friendly. SC are very crucial for increasing the building resiliency. The key principles of SC
which are used by construction organisations are as follows:
 Optimisation of building space and resources
 Protection of natural resources like water, land and air
 Optimum use of energy and support to green building material
 Enhanced indoor environment quality
The material selection, corporate social responsibilities, annual sustainability reports and proper
operational strategies are essential for the companies to implement the SC in their practices. In
response to the changing environment conditions it is essential that construction practices must
adopt the sustainability principles for the welfare and survival of healthy community and safe
environment.
Key considerations for SC
Stakeholders are the important considerations in any construction activity. Along with the
regulation authorities, clients and construction organisation there are several other stakeholders
as well which must be taken in account by Lendlease Group. For instance the toxic waste
generation during the construction process and unsustainable use of resources is harmful for the
communities living in areas nearby construction site (Aydin and Arel, 2017). Thus, as social
responsibility of the company it is vital that community safety and health must be concern for the
organisation.
Another major consideration related to SC is that though awareness has been increased
among organisations regarding sustainability and environment protection but most of the
construction companies are not aware regarding practices of SC. It limits their contribution
towards sustainability. For instance the small measures such as solar panels installation, energy
rated appliances and windows can also bring great difference in the sustainability efforts.
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However, most of the builders and service providers do not consider these elements essential for
their development plan. The elements such as economic efficiency, social responsibility,
technical innovations, architectural quality, transferability and environmental impact are also the
important considerations for construction companies (Murtagh, Roberts and Hind, 2016). The
major issues which are addressed by the concept of SC are as follows:
 Construction technology and performance of building material
 Energy efficiency and proper utilisation of resources
 Safe and healthy working environment and public health issues
 Infrastructure and urban architecture
 Functional flexibility in usage of building
 Ethical standards related to constructional practices
The availability of green building material and knowledge of SC practices is an important
element for the successful integration of construction activities and sustainability. For instance
replacing traditional concrete with recycled plastic, bamboo and ferrock can be good alternatives
for the construction projects. Accomplishing projects on time and use of sustainable methods can
also contributes to the sustainable construction. The sustainable designs tend to decrease the use
of energy resources like water, raw materials and thus helps to prevent the degradation of
environment.
3. Sustainability report for Lendlease Group multinational construction company
Sustainability report describe the social, environmental and economic impact of the
organisational activities along with the values, sustainability approaches and governance models
followed by the business organisations (Jamil and Fathi, 2016). It helps organisation to establish
sustainable development goals and to evaluate their performance so that sustainable practices can
be enhanced through suitable strategies and green practices.
Global reporting initiative (GRI) framework
GRI is an independent and international organisation which assist companies and
regulatory authorities to evaluate and understand the issues such as climate change,
sustainability, human rights and public safety. For enhancing the transparency in social and
environmental impact Lendlease Group prepares its sustainability report by including GRI
standards. This framework helps company to identify and analyse the information with clarity
and in suitable direction. This framework provide guidelines so that companies can involve
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multiple number of stakeholders and technologies in the assessment of their green practices. For
instance Lendlease Group consider standards such as type of construction material which can be
used by the companies on the basis of their weight and impact as well as total expenditure by the
company for the environment (Murtagh, Roberts and Hind, 2016). The analysis and strategic
development on the basis of these standards helps company to review its overall performance
from different parameters of sustainability such as carbon emission, public health and other
environmental impacts.
Company overview:
Lendlease Group is one of the successful multinational construction company providing
its services in different parts of the world. Headquarter of the organisation is situated in
Australia. Along with the construction and management projects the organisation also provides
its services in investment management and other functions related to real estate business.
Sustainability and social responsibilities has been one of the integral part of the organisation's
success which has helped organisation to achieve its goals (Aydin and Arel, 2017). Along with
the business legislations, environment regulations are also different in various countries of the
world. Thus, in order to assure that company fulfil its sustainability goals company has well
defined goals related to SC. The sustainability report of the organisation helps Lendlease Group
to analyse its overall performance and to improve various performance aspects.
Strategies and analysis:
For achieving the goal of reducing carbon emission and percentage of waste produced as
plan of sustainability report Lendlease Group adopts various strategies. For reducing the
wastage of water and pollution company adds all of its recycled water and reuse for the
activities. For the disposal of the hazardous waste products at sites company uses landfill
methods (Hong and et.al., 2015). Lendlease Group has well defined strategies for promoting the
public health. Company try to use technology which do not have harmful impact on the health of
people. The employees of company are provided training sessions so that they can understand
the sustainable construction practices. Lendlease Group regularly analyse the construction
materials which promotes the green practices and is effective for the energy conservation. The
transportation of raw materials and supply chain is also one of the challenge for sustainable
construction. In order to address this challenge Lendlease Group engage with its suppliers and
try to minimise the wastage, pollution and other attributes related to GRI standards.
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The company plans to develop effective goals from the future perspective. Lendlease
Group aims to reduce its carbon emission by 60 percent by the year 2022. For the same duration
the project department of company also aims to reduce the waste at the constuction site by 40%.
For the achievement of these goals company is seeking to provide effective training to its
employees. The use of advanced construction technologies, green products and building material
can are the primary tools for the company to achieve these goals (Ruparathna and Hewage,
2015).
Designing is also one of the necessary element of consideration in achieving the
sustainability goals. Lendlease Group prepare building designs which are well insulated and
requires less energy for cooling down or heating up. For this purpose organisation employs
highly efficient energy and electrical systems, water conservation system and solar panels. Since
the newly constructed buildings are more energy consuming Lendlease Group also try to
encourage the practice of renovating the existing buildings or the sites. The materials which are
used in the constuction activities consumers huge amount of energy during their manufacturing
process. Thus, Lendlease Group is exploring the ways to reduce the consumption of such
building materials. Instead, the company is planning to find out and use low impact materials
which can be easily recycled.
The organisation is planning to develop techniques using waste plastic material instead of
concrete so that pollution can be reduced and the plastic waste can be reused. The organisation is
using materials such as blown paper insulation and planned transportation strategies so that
emissions can be controlled. The company also review its annual sustainability report so that it
can evaluate its performance (Global sustainability framework, 2017.). In the next few years the
organisation also plans to use modular buildings. Though this strategy has been used by the
organisation at low level but is expected that company will explore this strategy to large extent.
The components used in these buildings are durable, long lasting and can be easily recycled or
reused. The key objective of using this strategy in sustainability planning of Lendlease Group is
to minimise the construction time and wastage of raw material.
Different elements of the construction equipments such as fuel footprints, energy
consumption and noise are also evaluated by the company (Kariyawasam and Jayasinghe,
2016). The use of techniques such as carbon neutral construction equipments can be very
effective for resolving such issues (Aydin and Arel, 2017). For the next 5-10 years Lendlease
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Group is planning to make an attempt to shift towards such efficient equipments. The use of such
advanced methods and technology will also boost the speed of work and cost will also be
reduced. The construction company can also focus on the equipments which care based upon
hydrocarbon, wind power or the renewable energy sources. It will add another contribution in
achieving the carbon emission goals of the organisation (Achal and Mukherjee, 2015). The
activities such as roofing, insulation and drywall are characterised by greater waste. Thus,
Lendlease Group also emphasis on strict monitoring and controlling of these activities so that
waste can be minimised and better waste management practices can be used.
Reporting parameters:
For the complete evaluation of the sustainability practices Lendlease Group reports
various parameters. For instance the company describes its performance in terms of various roles
such as in terms of developer, contractor, tenants as well as managers. The energy consumption
is one of the critical element of the environment conservation (The Importance of Sustainable
Building Practices, 2018). Thus, the sustainability report of organisation includes the
consumption of electricity, gaseous and liquid fuels and other energy sources such as steam.
Along with the energy emission company also sets standards for the water and waste
management. For instance Lendlease Group has predefined quality standards for using the water
so that drinking water is used minimum in construction activities.
Governance, engagement and commitments:
For regulation of the harmful emission through constructional activities Lendlease Group
adopts the emission regulations through various schemes such as Voluntary emissions reporting
and Mandatory National emission reporting schemes (Khatib, 2016). Though the emisssion
regulations may vary according to the operational regions of the nation but its basic principle is
to optimise the use of energy resources. FOR instance in UK company follows the Carbon
Reduction Commitment (CRC) while in Australia the organisation is bounded to follow the
National Greenhouse and Energy reporting (NGER).
Management approach:
Though sustainable practices followed by the organisation have proven to be effective in
terms of achieving sustainability objectives but management approaches have also encouraged
these practices (Panda, Paul and Tan, 2017). For example the management of Lendlease Group
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emphasis on minimising waste generation so that automatically sustainability can be achieved.
The company has normalised tis working hours and floor areas so that construction can be
completed on time. It helps to reduce the unnecessary resource wastage which is the biggest
challenge in the construction projects. To contribute the sustainable construction at the
management level organisation promotes innovation which can reduce the waste management
and enhances the sustainability. For instance the use of technology such as information system
reduces the paper waster involved in the management practices (Tabassi and et.al., 2016). Such
measurements are also critical in reducing the waste.
The management of Lendlease Group can increase its sustainability by providing more
emphasis on its constructional practices. The management must prioritise the different aspects
and then suitable monitoring and improvement must be incorporated into practices. For example
company must first organise the waste management schemes in its internal environment. The
wise uses of resources, paper recycling, objects reusing, solar infrastructures and energy efficient
lightings can be used within company. When these measures are adopted by the company in its
own building then, it is quite possible that people may also encouraged to accept such
environmental practices.
Indicators and boundaries:
The sustainability has become one of the most controversial and demanding need of the
today's world. The construction companies play key role in exploitation of the resources as well
as pollution. Thus, the sustainable construction can significantly help to create awareness among
companies so that green buildings can be developed. It will help environment by creating a safe
and healthy surrounding. It has been observed that construction companies often neglect the
public safety and green policies (Sustainable, 2018.). It has adverse health impact on community.
For instance the improper waster management during construction project pollutes land and
awter and thus health of people is affected indirectly.
The use of indicators such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the organisation,
GRI framework and sustainability regulations is vital for the organisations. These indicators help
Lendlease Group to analyse its role in sustainability and SC. In this study Lendlease Group has
been chosen for the analysis purpose. The organisation provides its services in various countries
and thus works in different climate and culture (Gan and et.al., 2015). The environment
regulations and the green policies of the company are regularly analysed and improved through
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its sustainability report and implementation. Thus, it can be one of the good example to overview
the concept of sustainable construction.
4. Challenges and issues in sustainability
Sustainability in construction refer to structure, process of construction and professional
procedure that are environmentally resource and responsible, efficient throughout building
construction from location to planned, operation, renovation and maintenance. It means a lot in
construction business, sustainability ensuring that assets are being used in effective way in any
projects (Xue and et.al., 2015). It refers to considering environmental effect created by way
construction organization source materials and procedures which they used to get tasks or project
done.
Lendlease Group is facing issues and challenges in reporting sustainability as working in
construction industry. Such as:
Skilled labor shortage: Construction business enterprise is readily rising and then
remaining heavily dependented on labor. However, Australia has a senescent workforce and as
construction enterprises Lendlease continue to grow business having hard time recruiting skilled
or talented workers to satisfy the rising demand. Organization are facing issues in context of
sustainability because they do not have skilled labor who have the knowledge about using raw
materials. Government high demand for construction industry managers to commit to supply the
sustainable built environment. Skilled labor shortage is one of the problem that directly impact
on company growth and business success (Pargana and et.al., 2014). Without having good or
skilled workers on construction sides Lendlease cannot work effectively and contribute in
sustainability, because skilled staff know who to used materials during making building and
avoid wastage.
Rise cost of raw materials: Government required that construction industry has to use
green material and build building using it. Lendlease feel pressure to meet time restraint whilst
undergoing sustainable activity. While they need to use green materials under their construction
process as whole which is more costly or expensive rather than the other building materials.
Building green will feel expensive at the start but rewards farther down line are great. It is one of
the second issues that has been facing by company as working in construction industry. With
rapid changes in green material prices, Lendlease have less leverage and are directly influenced
by cost variations between the time, task get down and when it ends. Many people perceive
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sustainable building to be costly, however as consumer demand for sustainability grows this
become a less viable note. Thus, after the law company need to work according Green building
trends that influence on profit margin because those people who perceive that sustainable
buildings is expensive they do not prefer to buy or stay in it.
Technology Adoption: Technologies has changed construction industry in Australian, it
plays important role in day to day operations. Lendlease face issues for adopting new technology
in their business because they have low financial budgets more than other construction firms.
They will not be able to keep up new technology, this will increase risk as failure and decrease
company market reputation (Egilmez, Gumus and Kucukvar, 2015). Technology adoption helps
firm to reduce used of wastage materials which can impact on sustainability. By adopting new
technologies in business company can grow more and more than the others in industry.
Technology implementation reduce chance of wasting raw materials because labor used extra
material when they are working in construction sites.
Managing groundwater: Lendlease face issues as managing groundwater that directly
go through pipeline and contaminated river water. Contaminate water is very harmful for human
beings and effect their health and make them ill. If company needs to manage groundwater, they
have to make some changes in their construction process as whole which is more costly than
project begging. It is one of the biggest issues which has been faced by organization in context of
sustainability. Water management is to costly and required a lot of hard work which is not
possible for Lendlease because it is out of their funds.
Identify needs of customers and communities- Lendlease group need to identify
consumer as well as communities needs, when they are working around society. They need to
focus on each areas as considering sustainability that is very important for business growth and
success in marketplace. This process consumes a lot of time and required effective plan in which
company need to include all the necessary things which reduce communities harm from
construction procedure.
Sudden changes in government rules with regard to sustainability- Australian comity
set aim of Building Green building’s and save environment. It put pressure upon Lendlease
group in which they have to make changes according to rule that need more investment on each
projects. Firm need to create the best places for people and focus on saving environment,
managing ground water etc. the whole process bring difficulties for company.
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CONCLUSION
The present report discuss about environmental sustainability in construction industry and
its importance in context of business growth. It has been concluded that sustainability is
considered as major objective of company and also discuss triple bottom line as measuring tool
for measuring profit of Lendlease. Organization perform well through CSR and play an
important role in social well fare. Social equity bottom line and economic bottom line are the
part of Triple bottom line which helps firm a lot for developing sustainability in business
process. This report has been discussed about the principles of Sustainable construction which is
very beneficial for Lendleas group if they follow it and adopt in their business. Construction
technology, energy efficiency, safe and healthy working environment, infrastructure etc, are the
major problems which has been considered by the concept of SC in this report.
This study discussed that Lendleas group used strategy for business growth and for
achieving goals such as reducing carbon emission and reduce percentage of waste produced. It
discusses designing as necessary element in sustainability goals and also discuss company plan
to develop technique using waste plastic material. It has been concluded that lend lease group
used various parameters for completing evaluation of sustainability practices. Furthermore, it
discusses that company are facing many issues due to skilled labor shortage, managing
groundwater, technology adoption etc, in context of sustainability.
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Online
Sustainable. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://www.wbdg.org/design-objectives/sustainable>
The Importance of Sustainable Building Practices. 2018. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://greenbuildinginsider.com/6/importance-sustainable-building-practices>
Global sustainability framework. 2017. [Online]. Accessed through
<https://www.lendlease.com/-/media/llcom/sustainability/data-and-basis-of-
preparations/fy17-soical-basis-of-preparation-combined.pdf>
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