New guide could cut waste costs by as much as 40% for builders

Small builders working in challenging economic conditions could unlock valuable cost benefits by using a new waste-saving guide from sustainable business experts Envirowise.

The free guide, available online at www.envirowise.gov.uk/EN922  outlines a step-by-step review process that can help businesses identify the main causes of waste around their site and save up to 40% on waste disposal costs.

With as much as 89.6 million tonnes of construction waste generated across England alone each year¹, the cost saving potential for the UK runs into millions of pounds.

Savings can be made by making simple low-cost or no-cost changes such as segregating waste at source. For example, by reducing waste by 20% a businesses can cut waste disposal costs by 40% and waste to landfill by 60%. With annual landfill tax rises confirmed until 2013, there is clearly a need for businesses to take action.

Envirowise Construction Specialist, Chris Hodgson, said: “The Federation of Master Builder’s latest State of Trade survey shows that economic conditions for small builders in the UK continue to be very challenging². However, reducing waste costs is a straightforward, effective way to help improve the bottom-line and this new guide demonstrates how to secure significant cost savings with little or no up front investment required.

“Running a resource efficient business can also help builders to better manage their potential liabilities, reducing their exposure to costly fines from improper waste management processes, as well as ensuring they are well placed to make the most of the recovery when it comes.”

For more general advice regarding resource efficiency in construction builders can visit www.envirowise.gov.uk/construction or call the Envirowise Advice Line on 0800 585 794.

Footnotes

1. Defra - Estimated re-use, recycling and disposal of hard construction & demolition and excavation waste by region in 2005
2. FMB State of Trade Survey 2009 Q1

From:http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/uk/Press-Office/Press-Releases/UK-Press-Releases/New-guide-could-help-builders-cut-waste-costs-by-as-much-as-40.html

Wizard could help businesses save money

Whilst there is no magic formula for improving resource efficiency and saving money, sustainable business experts Envirowise say businesses can increase their chances of success by using the organisation’s online Publications Wizard tool.

Since its launch, the ‘Wizard’ has helped 3,000 businesses to build their very own resource efficiency plan, tailor-made to their individual business needs.

The five most popular topics searched as components of the bespoke guides to date are:

1. Waste management

2. Environmental Management Strategies

3. Raw material use

4. People issues

5. Recycling

Results have shown that preventing waste is taking precedence over end of life recycling. Envirowise East of England regional manager, Simon Best, believes that this is an indication that businesses are developing a more complex understanding of resource efficiency as a means to unlocking working capital and combating the economic downturn.

He says “By being more efficient with resources to prevent, rather than responsibly disposing of waste, businesses can free up time and money to focus on building and defending their market position at a difficult time. It’s encouraging to see so many businesses, diverse by region and sector, looking at such measures to reduce their costs and proactively seeking out support through the Envirowise Publications Wizard.”

“For those companies who are interested in the business benefits of resource efficiency, but don’t know where to begin, the Wizard is a simple starting point that help them get up and running quickly.”

The Publications Wizard asks a series of straightforward, multiple choice questions to determine business sector and understanding of resource efficiency. Specific areas of support are then identified, allowing the user to tailor-make a personalised PDF document that gives specific guidance based on their individual business circumstances.

To try out the wizard, please visit: www.envirowise.gov.uk/publications

From:http://www.envirowise.gov.uk/uk/Press-Office/Press-Releases/UK-Press-Releases/Wizard-helps-businesses-conjure-up-savings.html

Report identifies long-term opportunities in UK environmental consultancy market

A new report from Environment Analyst concludes that the UK environmental consultancy sector grew by 9% in 2008 to reach a turnover of £1.46 billion. This marks a deceleration on the average 13% per annum growth of the previous four years (2004-07).

Consultancy is inherently a lagging indicator of economic cycles due to work signed off in the pipeline months in advance, so it was not until the last few months of 2008 when the tide turned and environmental consultancies were suddenly struggling to keep all of their staff busy. It was during this period of uncertainty that Environment Analyst conducted its first annual benchmark survey of firms active in the sector.

The final report – Market Assessment of the UK Environmental Consulting Sector 2009 – forecasts that the overall market will be flat this year, growing by low single digits at best, but still outperforming the economy as a whole and related areas such as management consulting.

Environmental consultancy disciplines with strong underlying regulatory and political drivers – such as climate change & energy and waste management – are expected to be most resilient. Demand from both the traditional energy sector (oil, gas and nuclear) and renewables industry are also still growing strongly for the environmental consultancy market as a whole. There is also healthy growth in government-funded projects, with the public sector accounting for just under a third of total market revenues in 2008.

Export commodity

Another positive finding is that UK environmental consultancy expertise is very much in demand globally, with overseas work and projects for international clients accounting around a quarter of our survey sample’s total UK revenues. Extrapolating these figures to the market as a whole would mean international work brings in revenues of some £350 million on top of UK-sourced contracts.

The report’s author, Environment Analyst Editor Liz Trew comments: “British environmental consultancies have developed world-leading expertise in areas such as climate change and carbon management and are successfully exporting their services. Our survey shows that most are hoping to win more overseas work over the coming months to help offset the softening domestic market – with the Middle East emerging as having the best growth prospects for these firms globally in spite of the region’s recent problems.”

Recession impacts

Of the twelve disciplines which Environment Analyst considers to form the core of the environmental consultancy market, the strongest performers in 2008 were climate change & energy and ecological/landscape services – both growing in excess of 20%. Growth in revenues from environmental impact assessment (EIA) and related services also increased above the overall market rate last year, but will be inevitably curtailed in 2009 due to a slowdown in the pipeline of development support work.

The survey findings confirm that contaminated land, the biggest single income stream for environmental consultancies (at 16% of total market revenues), has taken the biggest hit from the economic downturn of all the major service areas. Around half of the consultancies surveyed were experiencing contracting revenues from this field of work at the time of the survey, while revenues were flat for a further 20%.

Liz Trew comments: “Overall, the contaminated land segment continued to grow by a respectable 7% in 2008 – largely thanks to projects completed in the first half of the year – but is set to fall sharply this year as brownfield development in the commercial sector has effectively ground to a halt in many areas.”

A cutback in discretionary spend among specific client sectors is also evident from the survey responses. Two thirds of consultancies reported a reduction in revenues from the construction/property sector – with one in ten suffering a drop of 15% or more. Half of consultancies also saw a decline in project spend coming from financial & professional organisations as the banking sector crisis accelerated from the middle of 2008. Revenues from the manufacturing industry were also down or flat for 75% of consultancies.

Further information is available at http://environment-analyst.com/intelligence

Slowdown is good news for green buildings

As real estate sector goes through one of its worst times, consumers are looking at value-for-money options and developers are looking at cutting overheads while trying not to compromise on quality. A section of builders say the economic downturn is beginning to prove a boom to the green realty sector because of established and proven technologies that reduce running costs of buildings.

Homebuyers and companies buying office spaces have also shown their preference for green buildings that will drive the market with greater focus in the year ahead.

“We are seeing a growing interest even among existing buildings to retrofit certain technology elements that can save energy in either air-conditioning, or lighting, or the use of water. Many hotels and hospitals, even offices, are beginning to see the advantages of managing waste within their premises, for this eliminates the cost of transporting waste and the mess of waste that is not disposed off,” said Chandrashekar Hariharan, chief executive officer, of Bangalore-based Biodiversity Conservation (India) (BCIL).
He added that “Green realty sector will benefit from the market downturn as investors and buyers today are more discerning and weary of parting with money without the assurance of greater benefits and features that can save on energy bills, water bills, and on managing the waste without the risks of health hazards and without reliance on inefficient municipal bodies. If energy efficiency becomes the norm for buildings, it would be the start of a minor revolution to reduce demand for energy, as well as to bring efficiency in management of precious water resources and more effective waste management in our cities.”

“One has to devise a business model that would benefit as well as adhere to the green norms,” said P Surya Prakash, managing partner of Hyderabad-based SatyaVani Green Homes.He said green buildings are not just environment-friendly but alsohelp cut costs such as maintenance costs for the building and cost of power for the customer. To involve his clients completely in green initiatives, SatyaVani Green Homes has decided to incentivise the customer by subsidising power for 25 years by Rs 18,000 per year. “We bring down connected power load. Normal buildings need 12 mw of connected power. We are making this a zero carbon power. We call this green power,” says Surya Prakash.The concept may not be new, but developers who are actively involved in the green initiative say that green builders should strengthen the movement by sharing their experiences and the advantages they have gained.

“The focus should deepen in learning more tools and techniques and design approaches for better management of energy, water, and waste with cost efficiency and ease of execution being the prime factors,” says Hariharan.BCIL is also offering information at no cost on several things that can be done to bring energy efficiency in many things we buy or use or do in our daily workday lives, he adds. In 2008, there were as many as 240 million sq ft of commercial buildings that requested green certification. The residential green rating system was launched in May 2008 and in less than four months the initiative received applications for a staggering 150 million sq ft of residential apartments, which aspired to green, from builders. The approach has been facilitated by technology and management processes for construction that are reasonably user-friendly and can therefore allow for scale and replicability.

Source: i10

Environmental Industries

The Environmental Industries are one of the UK’s fastest-growing sectors, with an estimated turnover of £25bn in 2005 growing to £34bn by 2010. The East of England is well-placed with over 2,000 organisations operating in this field. It boasts a strong renewable energy industry, excellent research facilities supported by 11 Universities, 370 businesses and organisations in the Peterborough EnviroCluster and is leading the way in the UK development of zero-emission vehicles and zero-carbon housing.

The Environmental Goods and Services (EGS) sector broadly encompasses companies and organisations which provide end of pipe solutions to environmental problems. The EGS sector is divided into fifteen sub-sectors, as identified by UK CEED and now defined by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) - formerly the DTI. To view this report, click here. These EGS sub-sectors are outlined below.

• Air Pollution Control
• Cleaner Technologies & Processes
• Decommissioning / Decontamination of Nuclear Sites
• Environmental Consultancy
• Environmental Finance & Investment
• Environmental Monitoring, Instrumentation and Analysis
• Energy Management / Efficiency
• Marine Pollution Control
• Noise and Vibration Control
• Remediation and Reclamation of Land
• Renewable Energy
• Sustainable Construction & Materials
• Sustainable Transport & Logistics
• Waste Management, Recovery and Recycling
• Water Supply and Wastewater Treatment