Douglas Construction & Engineering take our impact on the environment seriously. With construction contributing approx. 39% of all global emissions the construction sector has a massive opportunity to make inroads in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions mitigating our impact on climate change. DCE have an internal sustainability specialist assisting our project delivery teams in weaving sustainability from inception through to completion
To maximise the improvements, we have a multi-faced response to this challenge.
Design – Our first response is always in design. We have an integrated design approach, with internal architectural and ESD consulting resources we integrate sustainability from the outset. From passive design improvements, design reviews, climate risk workshops to efficient structural design, we have initiated a plethora of initiatives at this stage as this is where real inroads are able to be made and what gives us the ability to deliver superior sustainability outcomes.
Research & Materiality – We are always researching to identify opportunities to reduce our ecological footprint by careful selection of the materials. Weather that’s material with lower upfront embodied carbon, timber sources from sustainable forestry operations, interior finishes with low or no VOC’s or more sustainable steel or concrete, considered material selection is a key part of our overall sustainability strategy. We have successfully exceeded the GBCA’s benchmarks for the use of sustainable products on various projects.
Construction- Integrated with our design response we have also developed an ISO14001 certified environmental management system that improves on-site environmental management. Project specific EMP’s are developed to integrate the requirements of the system into our day to day on site operations. Our system and plans are regularly reviewed and iteratively updated as opportunities for improvement are identified.
Operations & End of Life- The single largest contributor to Greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings through their operational phase. Although this is massively reduced through energy efficient design, renewable energy and other design improvements, we also conduct serving and maintainability reviews with our clients to identify and improve long term maintenance and serviceability extending the building life and therefore reducing the overall lifecycle impact.