Analysis of Environmental Sustainability in ADCO Construction

This report examines the environmental sustainability practices of ADCO Construction, a building and construction company in Australia. The analysis focuses on ADCO's approach to sustainability, including its strategies, organizational profile, reporting parameters, and management practices. The report highlights ADCO's efforts to integrate sustainability into its operations, such as its involvement in the Green Building Council of Australia and its adoption of various management systems. It also discusses the challenges ADCO faces in fully achieving its sustainability goals, particularly in mitigating the environmental impact of its construction activities. The report references the triple bottom line framework to assess the company's social, financial, and environmental performance. Overall, the report provides a comprehensive overview of ADCO's sustainability journey, its achievements, and the ongoing challenges in the context of the construction industry.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
Environmental Sustainability in Construction
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
Executive summary
The objective of the paper is to analyze the sustainability approach in the construction company
ADCO in Australia and the challenges faced by the company in meeting with the sustainability
needs. For the analysis, ADCO Construction Company has been taken and it showed that the
company is a growing company over the year. The company has also taken various steps to abide
by the sustainability needs of the environment by modifying their operation process. However,
due to some constraints it is unable to eliminate the harmful effect. The programs taken by the
company has helped it to tackle with the environmental effects of its operation in a great way
even with the constraints.

2
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
DISCUSION....................................................................................................................................4
Introduction to the company........................................................................................................4
Strategy and analysis...................................................................................................................5
Organizational profile..................................................................................................................6
Reporting parameters...................................................................................................................8
Governance, commitments and engagement...............................................................................8
Management................................................................................................................................9
Challenges and issue in reporting sustainability..............................................................................9
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

3
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
Introduction
The triple Bottom framework is a framework used by most of the companies and
organization to measure the social, financial and environment achievements and issues of the
company. The company to achieve greater value in present as well as in the future does this.
Environmental factors have been one of the critical issues in the operations of the organization.
Thus, it has been important for the company to track their environmental problems and solve it
accordingly (Gold, Hahn & Seuring, 2013). Sustainable development is an ability by which an
organization meets their productivity goal while maintaining the need of the environment. Thus,
in other words it can be stated that it is a process by which the organization develop by
sustaining with the natural environment (Holden, Linnerud & Banister, 2017).
There is a high and positive relationship between the concept of triple bottom line and
sustainability development. This is because according to the TBL model it is important for the
organization to measure their social, financial and environment goals. On the other hand, to get a
good measurement and result of their environmental goals the organization should adopt
sustainable development process. Thus, only by carrying out their operations sustainably the
organization can get a good measure in the environmental factor of sustainability (Griggs et al.,
2013). Tripe bottom lines relate to the sustainable development criteria. This is because TBL
explains the measurement of achievements by the organization and sustainable development
shows the way to achieve the goals sustainably. Thus, after targeting, the goals related to social,
financial and environmental the organization then decides the ways by which it will develop
sustainably. Thus, TBL is important for sustainable development as it help them measure the
needs of carrying out their efforts towards the environment. TBL also helps the company to
know the effect on their development if they do not operate sustainably (Milne & Gray, 2013).

4
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
Sustainability if assumed to be a broad concept and is applied in a number of contexts
such as environmental sustainability, business sustainability and many more. Thus, it is also
applied in the construction business while carrying out their task. It is a way by which the
company carries out their activity without compromising the resources for the future generation.
The construction business is a business that emits a lot of harmful elements on the environment
because of its drilling and digging activities it is involved in (Kibert, 2016). Thus, it is necessary
to decide on the sustainability strategy in the beginning of the business. However, it is seen that
the managers of the construction business can only reduce the harmful effect of the rework
without completely eliminating it. TBL also plays a significant role in carrying out the
construction work sustainably. As TBL helps to measure the degree of environmental
achievement by the company, it will help the construction business to structure out the level of
achievement and the further sustainability they need (Winkler, Deller, & Marcouiller, 2015).
The report discuses about the sustainability effort of a construction company named
ADCO Construction by analyzing its strategies. Further, it discusses about the organizational
profile, reporting parameters and management approach towards sustainability. Lastly, it
analyses the challenges and issues associated with the sustainability in the internal and external
environment of Construction Company like ADCO.
DISCUSION
Introduction to the company
ADCO construction is a building making and construction company in Australia. It is one
of the successful companies in Australia and aims at delivering some of the best projects across
the country. The company was started in 1972 and has recently completed a total of 3500

5
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
projects under them. The company stands in Australia with a value of $10 billion and a profit of
$1 billion. It has varieties of projects under them that ranges from $1 million to $150 million.
Some of the clients of the business are repeated customers as they value the quality of buildings
and projects the company covers. This is because the company is known for offering the projects
in time, within the budget and without many complexities. The operation team of the company
travels all over Australia to offer their building and designing services. This helps the
organization offer their services without any boundaries. The company uses the best and modern
techniques and materials for their business to offer the best quality projects. However, it is
necessary for a construction business to maintain sustainability in their working environment to
eliminate all the harmful effect of their activities. This will help the company attain sustainability
development and to measure their value with the help of TBL (Blumberga et al., 2014). This is
because the harmful effect omitted by eh company’s operation will not only effect the
environment, will also reduce their value in the market. Thus, in order to be in the top line of the
triple bottom line model it is necessary that the organization abide by it. The top activities of the
business are construction, designing, cost planning and contractor business (Overview, 2017).
Strategy and analysis
The strategy adopted by the company is mainly a competitive strategy. This is because
the company has always tried to become the best in the field they operate. It has always aimed to
be the most developed construction company in Australia by providing the best quality projects
and at a competitive price and quality (Gamble & Thompson 2014). However, to achieve this it
has taken various modern machineries and equipment used for its construction activities. To
achieve their target in time the company has also taken up an integrated management system,
which helps them offer the project in time and with the best quality. To keep a track of their

6
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
work and activity the company maintains an audit team and tries to audit the work on a monthly
basis. This helps them see the loopholes are their operation and fix it to be competitively stronger
in the construction industry. However, while achieving their aims and goals the company also
maintains a standard with the environment and abides by it (Yeheyis, et al., 2013). They have
their own team of safety management, quality management and environment management. All
the three management are certified to the ISO rules and looks after the effect the operation
process of the business is putting on the environment. The company is also an active member of
green building council in Australia in which it has adopted some sustainable development
practices. These activities of the company will help them develop sustainably and increase their
value in the Triple Bottom Lines.
Organizational profile
History of the company
The company focused in this paper named ADCO Construction is a forty-six years old
company operating since 1972. Since then the company has only grown and captured huge
market share. It is rated among the top fifty-construction company in Australia. It has always
been committed to most of their client regarding their work and delivery. The company also
holds some of their employees that are more than seven years old in this organization (Overview,
2017).
Industry experience
Since the time of introduction, the company has presently acquired a huge space in
Australia. This is because of the multiple products and services it offers to the clients and witout
any area bound. It has an experience of developing a total of 3500 projects including

7
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
constructions, design and others and has earned a value of $10 billion (Overview, 2017). It has
developed building and infrastructures of some of the most known clients in Australia such as
the government in all level such as federal, state and local, private enterprises as well as the
institutions owned privately as well as by the government. This has helped the company to
acquire a lot of skills and knowledge of the business. It has also adopted continuous innovations
and improvement in their operations to ensure a good market position. This has helped the
company to hold a strong market position and resources.
Product Range
The product range of the company comprises of both the services and the projects that the
organization offer to the customers. Major categories of products that the organization offers are
buildings, designing, modeling and others. The basic products that the company offers to the
customers such as the in aviation, commercial, community, education, green, health center, retail
and many more. The organization offers these products to the customers through its offices in
Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Townsville and Perth. This is the basis of strength for
the company through which it grows.
Services
The company also offers various services to the customers in order to help them easily avail
the products offered by it from time to time and other queries. Some of the services of the
company are:
 Contracting services
 Managing the contractor services
 Enquiry department

8
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
 Designing
 Managing the designing process
 Cost planning
 Project budget enquiry team
The services are offered to the customer from the company with the help and support fo some
crucial person of the business such as the national Management Team and other management
teams.
Reporting parameters
Product Time Cost Quality Quantity
Construction 6 months $1 million to $125
million
High quality 1 project
Designing 1 months $1 million to $20
million
Premium and
modern designing
1 project
Cost planning 1 months Not required Structured and
reasonable
10 clients
Green Building 12 months $1 million to $100
million
Environmental
friendly
1 building
Governance, commitments and engagement
The company also abides by the rules and policies of the government such as maintain
the business internal and external environment and the limitation of pollution they can make in
the environment they are operating. ADCO also take up projects from government sectors from
both the federal, local and state level. This shows that the company maintains a good relationship

9
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
with the government and fulfills the entire commitments hat it is entitled. It carries out a good
government and company engagement.
Management
The management team of the company is the most important part as they are the one that
carries out all the important activities of the company. The company holds a good management
team both for their construction activities and for maintaining the sustainability work. The
management team for its constructing and designing work is the Board of Directors, National
Management Team and others. For their sustainability work, the company has adopted teams
under the name of Green Project that helped the company in building environmental friendly
buildings to the customers (Pacheco-Torgal, 2014).
Challenges and issue in reporting sustainability
From the above discussion, it can be seen that the company does carry out certain
sustainability program through its new Green Building project and has recently completed six
Green Building in Australia (Wang, Toppinen, & Juslin, 2014). However, the company still faces
certain challenges in carrying out a successful sustainability initiatives. This is because it is not
possible for the management team to induce sustainability in all its construction and services. It
is impossible for any construction company to eliminate the pollution and emission it causes due
to its building works. This is because the type of activities it is indulge into requires digging and
drilling of the surface and use paint for designing purpose that contains harmful ingredients
which adds to the air pollution (Madurwar, Ralegaonkar & Mandavgane, 2013). This can possess
a lot of challenge on the organization to meet with the environmental aspect successfully. This is
because the type of operations that they follow is difficult for them to change them completely

10
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
according to the needs of the environment. They need to think of some other methods by which
they can just reduce the impact of their operation. However, the company has come up with
Green Building, which they are making, and has successfully completed 6 Green Star buildings
(Keeler, & Vaidya, 2016). The company was able to adopt this concept of sustainability in its
operation with the help of its in house expertise. The project launched by the company with the
proper certification of ISO 14001 to maintain the concept of sustainability in their business. Only
through such ways, the company can think of developing sustainably (Feng, 2013). It also has
various types of programs and management team for safety operations such as the Environmental
Management and Quality Management team. However, some sort of issues will be faced by the
construction work as without digging the earth and putting the pillars a building cannot be made.
This causes some sort of air pollution in the surrounded area where the building is being made.
The company more or less abides by the environmental issues of construction and faces
minimum challenges and issues in this concern (Bebbington, Unerman & O'Dwyer, 2014).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it can be concluded that sustainability is important for the
organization to grow and develop. Developing sustainably is becoming crucial in today’s world
and is helps in measuring the value of the organization in the Triple Bottom line framework.
ADCO is a construction company, which has grown over the years and acquired a market value
of $10 billion. The company has also used successful sustainability management tools and
implemented a new type of Green building abiding by the need of the environment. The
organization has also been successful in implementing their new sustainability programs and
ideas. However, the company still faces some challenges in relation to sustainability, as it is a
construction and designing based company, which requires some drilling, and digging activity of

11
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION
the ground that causes pollution. However, the efforts put by a company of this sort is good and
above expectation and has helped in a great way in reducing the harmful element being
generated during the construction work of ADCO.