Buro Happold Associate Director Alice Shrubshall Subscribe to your view of the integration of sustainability in construction projects and emphasize the importance of performance reviews in the early stages and collaborative design processes. She will take part in a panel discussion on this topic on the 2025 GE Piling and Foundations Conference in the next week.
I am sure that sustainability in our projects is up to date, but is there a “best” way to do this?
Probably not from a construction and construction perspective, since each project is so different and there are many changing options, especially due to new research and developing technology.
At the beginning of a project during the initial design phase, however, there is a lot over the desk study process, and I see this as positive.
By careful evaluating of the existing conditions in a location, the cataloging of information and the recognition of risks in the soil as well as all possibilities, for example the feasibility of reuse of materials or structures, is obtained by careful evaluation of the existing conditions. If this important step is not careful, problems are still inevitable, or possibilities for a more sustainable design can be overlooked.
Another positive that I take from the focus on the sustainability agenda is the widening of the teams we work with and strengthening current relationships. A close relationship with our structural colleagues is a prerequisite for the construction of projects, and the pressure on the efficiency and minimizing the materials force more detailed interactions, which is advantageous for everyone in terms of a learning process.
There are certainly obstacles to overcome to maximize the possibilities for reducing carbon in construction. Two possibilities that could be done are incentives by the government or the quantification of the advantages of the customer, the latter being carried out by the design and construction team.
The proposed retrofit policy of Westminster is already working. In order to promote a positive attitude of customers regarding the fulfillment of this type of requirements, do we have to encourage them or, as engineers, who are sensible to quantify the advantages? This is certainly a challenge if the costs are so often king, and retrofitting projects can often have higher design costs.
I look forward to discussing this and more as part of a panel discussion at the event of GE Piling and Foundations 2025, in which we have to take many different perspectives into account and digest.
Ge Piling & Foundations 2025
The GE Piling and Foundations Conference will take place on April 22, 2025 in the America Square Conference Center in London.
In addition to Volker Ground Engineering Technical Manager and Steel Piling Group Chairman David Coyle, the technical manager of, Jessila Mooneyan, the Senior engineer Maddie Grove and Senior Engineer, Matthew engineer, the Senior Engineer Matthew Badger, Alice Shrubshall takes on a panel discussion about “Decarbonization, Sustainability and Net -zero targets ”.
The full program is available here and conference cards, including reduced interest rates for Ge Subscribers and experts for early career can be bought here.