Business Sustainability Practices and Recommendations: SPG Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of sustainable business practices, focusing on recommendations for the Sunselect Property Group (SPG). The report highlights key areas for improvement, including energy-efficient construction projects, waste minimization strategies in the construction process, and water consumption reduction techniques. It emphasizes the importance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and its positive impact on environmental well-being and social positivity. The report suggests practical methods like using energy-efficient appliances, employing waste management strategies, and implementing water-saving technologies to enhance the company's sustainability profile. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of prioritizing CSR over immediate financial gains, as these practices contribute to a healthier environment and improve the overall well-being of society. References to relevant literature are included to support the findings and recommendations.

Running head: REPORT ON BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICE
REPORT ON BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICE
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Executive Summary
The aim of this report is to give some of the sustainable practices proposed by Sunselect
Property Group at their constructional site. Energy efficient housing complex, waste
minimization in the constructional process and water consumption reduction are suggested.
The result seems to indicate that these methods could successfully minimize heat, waste and
water at the constructional sites. The report concludes that implying these methods could
maximize the business sustainability of the company. It is highly recommended to apply
these methods on the project.

2INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Table of Content
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Discussion..................................................................................................................................3
Energy Efficient Constructional Project.................................................................................3
Waste Minimization in the Constructional Process................................................................4
Water Consumption Reduction..............................................................................................5
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................7

3INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
Introduction
Corporate social responsibly, often used in short CSR is a corporate initiative to take
responsibility from the company’s part that focuses on contributing to the improvement of the
society, environment and social well-being (Tuyen 2014). It is also coined as corporate
citizenship and does not aim to immediate financial profit; however, it is the way of the
corporate companies to promote environmental change and social positivity (Tuyen 2014).
The purpose of this report is to provide some recommendations to the Sunselect
property group for sustainable business practices. The Sunselect property group is known for
residential building construction for over fifty years. The report will mainly talk about the
way and usefulness of the energy efficiency, waste minimization and water consumption
reduction in the constructional procedure.
Discussion
Energy Efficient Constructional Project
The Sunselect Property Group (SPG) is a property developer company based in
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The company is reputed for developing commercial
and residential building complexes for over fifty years. In order to improve the company’s
CSR profile, the company aims at building a low-rise but high-density housing complex
named as “The Greenfield Development”. This project will promote the sustainable living
and business sustainability of the company.
The residential buildings and complexes of Australia has been consuming and
emitting heat energy increasingly throughout the last two decades. Energy emission from the
residential sector will be increased to fifty-six percent by 2020 from 1990 (Saman 2013).

4INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
The heat waves frequency is increasing in Australia due to overuse of electronics devices,
which is generated from housing sector (Saman 2013). As there is abundance in cheap energy
all over the world, the housing constructions and designs do not consider the energy
efficiency factor. The priority should be on building energy efficient housing complexes,
which will reduce the amount of heat from the environment and eventually that will
contribute to the society in large.
The energy efficiency process in the buildings is one of the best ways to reduce heat
energy from the environment and maintain sustainability. It would also be helpful especially
in the context of global warming where the total amount of heat of the earth is increasing.
The construction authority should look into the matter seriously.
Waste Minimization in the Constructional Process
Waste minimization is another process that could be applied in the constructional
process as business sustainability method. The constructional waste, which includes small
portion of bricks, cement dust and other hazardous materials, can be found on-site and off-
site (Emeraldinsight.com 2017). The waste generated from the constructional process is very
harmful and dangerous for the environment. The sustainable development should focus on
waste management, as the overall process of construction is not at all environment friendly.
The waste management should proceed through reduction and recycling of the constructional
waste (Emeraldinsight.com 2017). The construction authority should use non-hazardous
materials in the construction process, which have low amount of waste production and it will
be recycled and reused.
The waste management should be done properly at the constructional site as it could
reduce maximum amount of environmental pollution and maintain sustainability. However, it
is not always done properly due to lack of awareness among the authority and labors. The

5INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
constructional authorities should emphasize on the waste management strategies to improve
their CSR profile.
Water Consumption Reduction
Thirdly, it is recommended that water consumption in the constructional process
should be reduced and constructional authorities should follow strategies that can restore
water from misuse. At the constructional sites, water is used for many activities like washing
various substances, cleaning, and plastering and at cabins for temporary accommodation
(Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). As water is used some general purpose like washing,
cleaning and mixing it is very difficult to identify the process of wasting water. It is
suggested to the authority to create awareness among labors not to misuse water. They should
tell the laborers that not to waste water. The purpose of using water should be specific and
clear. Some study has shown that wasting water depends upon the behavioral pattern of the
members at the constructional site.
Recommendation
The sustainable building industry focuses on constructing net zero energy and energy
efficient housing complexes, which can reduce heat waves. It is recommended to use energy
efficient appliances and gas boosted solar hot water system at each home to reduce heat and
energy. The residents could use solar electricity, which also emit less heat frequency in the
environment (Harris and McCaffer 2013). It is suggested to provide an energy meter to the
residents of the housing complex that will show the total amount of used energy per day (Ma
et al., 2012).
The constructional authority could replace the hazardous substances with non-
hazardous material or at least materials that are less hazardous for waste management in the
constructional process. There could be a storeroom at the constructional site to dump the

6INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
constructional waste and consequently it can be used for recycling. Materials for recycling
should be chosen from the constructional waste dump (Chudley and Greeno 2013).
The constructional authority could think of to use alternative water resources like
rainwater and to serve this purpose they can use rainwater-harvesting method
(Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). It is the responsibility of the authority to think about how
the water is used and in what way it can be saved. Even they can apply some technology that
can automatically reduce water usage at the constructional site. For example, the Willmott
Dixon has introduced a new technology that can obsolete water in flushing
(Greenconstructionboard.org 2017). This technology is known as eco-cube. Some other
constructional companies employ waterless urinals and self-closing tap that can reduce water
consumption from the constructional site (Ijirset.com 2017).
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the Sunselect Property Group could follow the above-
mentioned strategies to improve the sustainability and the CSR profile of the company. The
reduction of heat emission from the building, waste management in the constructional
process and water consumption reduction in the constructional procedure will help the
environment for reducing pollution as well. The company should focus on this instead of
immediate business profit as every corporate company has some social and environmental
responsibility to perform. However, if the company could improve its CSR profile, it will
directly contribute to the well-being of the society as people could live in a healthy
environment.

7INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION
References
Chudley, R. and Greeno, R., 2013. Building construction handbook. Routledge.
Emeraldinsight.com 2017. Sustainable methods for waste minimisation in construction |
Construction Innovation | Vol 13, No 3. [online] Emeraldinsight.com. Available at:
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/CI-Nov-2011-0054 [Accessed 6 Sep. 2017].
Greenconstructionboard.org 2017. [online] Available at:
http://www.greenconstructionboard.org/otherdocs/SCTG09-WaterActionPlanFinalCopy.pdf
[Accessed 6 Sep. 2017].
Harris, F. and McCaffer, R., 2013. Modern construction management. John Wiley & Sons.
Ijirset.com 2017. [online] Available at:
https://www.ijirset.com/upload/2016/october/108_WASTE.pdf [Accessed 6 Sep. 2017].
Ma, Y., Kelman, A., Daly, A. and Borrelli, F., 2012. Predictive control for energy efficient
buildings with thermal storage: Modeling, stimulation, and experiments. IEEE Control
Systems, 32(1), pp.44-64.
Saman, W.Y., 2013. Towards zero energy homes down under. Renewable energy, 49,
pp.211-215.
Tuyen, L., 2014. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

8INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION