Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Andrew Mitchell
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Andrew Mitchell
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
About Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mitchell has two decades of experience in the construction industry, he specialises in managing environmental and sustainability challenges. Andy's expertise includes reducing carbon emissions, responsible sourcing, and environmental management, making him a key player in delivering high-performance and sustainable projects.
What are the primary challenges in implementing sustainable practices within organisations, particularly in the construction industry?
The overarching challenge is really about carbon fluency – getting everyone embedded within that carbon story and understanding how critical this is for our future operations.
A significant issue we face is that we're often not engaged early enough in project stages. Typically, we come into the picture around RIBA Stage 4 in the construction cycle, which is the Technical Design phase. However, to make a maximum impact, we really need to be involved much earlier in the process. This would allow us to support the design teams better and bring our expertise into play about what it means to build a sustainable building.
How do you balance environmental goals with financial and operational objectives in your corporate strategy?
The market has evolved in such a way that much of our work, being London-centric, particularly within the Square Mile, sees financial goals and sustainability initiatives increasingly interlinked. Our clients are really driving this narrative. We win work based on cost, program, and our sustainability credentials, so the balance is shifting significantly.
Within our organisation, one of our key objectives is what we call 'Pursue a Sustainable World,' which is deeply embedded in what we do. This isn't a new approach for us; it's something we've been committed to for many years. While financial objectives remain crucial, without a strong sustainability component, we simply won't secure projects.
A good example of our commitment is from three or four years ago when we transitioned to diesel-free operations, knowing there would be additional costs involved with alternative fuels. However, the strength of our sustainability commitment justified this expenditure.
We win work based on cost, program, and our sustainability credentials, so the balance is shifting significantly.
How do you measure the impact of your sustainability programs, and what role do data analysis and visualisation tools play in shaping your strategies?
Our lead KPI for sustainability is what we call client carbon savings. Essentially, it's about what we offer our clients that goes beyond their expectations. If a client approaches us with a specific design, we aim to propose solutions that significantly reduce carbon emissions. This KPI is so critical that it's tied to board-level responsibility, making it a fundamental part of our business.
Originally, we set a target of reducing 1 million tons of carbon by 2026, but we exceeded that last year. Now, we've set a more ambitious goal of 10 million tons by 2026. It's an easily understandable target that resonates across our business, clients, and into our supply chain.
We are increasingly becoming a data-driven company. All of our KPIs are visualised down to the project level using Power BI, which helps us overlay some internal competition. We have leaderboards and competitions between projects to stimulate engagement and visibility. Mace has invested quite a lot in a data hub where we can pull various visualisations from different datasets, whether it's related to our carbon reduction efforts or our social value initiatives.
How do you engage employees in sustainability initiatives, and how have sustainable business practices impacted your company's bottom line and brand reputation?
Engaging employees is always a challenge, but the concept of carbon fluency is central to this effort. At Mace, there's a deep understanding that mastering this area leads to winning work and creating opportunities. We run various workshops regularly through our Responsible Business team, offering "Pursue Sustainable World" masterclasses that are disseminated globally across the business. We push these initiatives through numerous internal training programs that utilise both external and internal resources.
Our commitment to sustainability is fundamentally tied to winning work. We're currently involved with a project called Edge London Bridge, which is being marketed as the most sustainable building in London. Within this project, we have specific carbon targets we've contractually agreed to meet, highlighting our dedication to sustainability and carbon management.
This focus on sustainability not only improves our brand but also distinguishes us from competitors. This allows us to gather valuable data and experience, which we then leverage in other projects. It's a crucial part of our ongoing identity and commitment.
Our lead KPI for sustainability is what we call client carbon savings. Essentially, it's about what we offer our clients that goes beyond their expectations.
Looking ahead, what emerging trends and technologies in sustainability management are you most excited about?
Ultimately, it's about circularity. We already have a good grasp on the embodied carbon of a building and understand the challenges around some of the data sets. While we're fairly comfortable with our understanding of the current data sets available, we recognize that to meet the upcoming UK net-zero carbon standards, we need to integrate more reuse and circularity into our processes.
The challenges highlighted by the Marks and Spencer scheme on Oxford Street served as a wake-up call for the industry. It showed that we can't just demolish and rebuild; we need to assess what's already there, what can be reused in situ, and how we can repurpose materials. There's going to be a significant focus on urban mining—searching for carbon-saving opportunities in outdated structures to reintegrate them into the construction cycle instead of extracting virgin materials.
On top of that, there are exciting developments in steel and concrete manufacturing. We've signed up for initiatives like SteelZero and ConcreteZero, which support the decarbonization of these industries. We're beginning to procure steel with very low embodied carbon, manufactured from recycled content using electric arc furnaces. As for the concrete industry, there are promising advancements in carbon capture technologies and manufacturing using hydrogen. These industries are enhancing their capabilities to produce cleaner materials.
There's going to be a significant focus on urban mining—searching for carbon-saving opportunities in outdated structures to reintegrate them into the construction cycle.
