BUILDING FOR GENERATIONS TO COME
GROUP SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY 2012 - 2015
• Carbon Reduction
• Waste Management
• Sustainable Procurement
• Respecting Natural Resources
• Community Engagement
• Training and Development
• Communication
sustainabilitysteps to
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*Cover image: Duchy of Cornwall Nursery, Lostwithiel, Cornwall
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Policy
Policy StatementWe are committed to the creation and maintenance of buildings that conserve rather than waste energy and aspire to build them in a way that minimises their environmental impact now and for future generations. By adopting current best practice and by continually seeking to improve, we will manage our business so that it delivers long-term value to our people, our clients, our supply chain, and the communities in which we work.
“Midas remains committed to operating in a socially responsible, sustainable and ethical manner. We are proud to be making a positive impact on the communities and environment in which we live and work.”
Alan Hope, Chief Executive Midas Group
Foreword The Midas Group of companies undertakes new and refurbishment construction projects in the commercial, industrial, retail, health, education, leisure, energy, public services and residential sectors – and the way we go about delivering those projects needs to meet not only the expectations of today’s customers but also those of future generations.
The scale and diversity of work that the Group undertakes through its network of local offices and businesses presents a real opportunity to develop and implement new initiatives to minimise our impact on the environment and enhance the communities in which we operate.
Over the past year, the Group Board has reinforced its commitment to Sustainability. It has established a Sustainability Strategy Team and appointed a Group Sustainability Director to build on successes to date and to develop, lead and drive forward its Sustainability Strategy for 2012 and beyond.
This Strategy document is borne out of our experiences and the pressing need to deal with climate change whilst developing a sustainable built environment for future generations to enjoy. Our strategy sets out practical steps for delivering a sustainable and responsible business model through our core activities, services and supply chain and embodies an aspiration to be innovative and consistently improve what we do.
We will adopt a collaborative and inclusive approach with all stakeholders, including customers, designers, supply chain and local communities in our desire to minimise environmental impact and construct energy efficient, cost effective, high quality buildings.
‘Building for Generations to Come’
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Strategy
Strategy Our strategy has been prepared in response to the ever growing demand for more socially, environmentally and economically sustainable buildings delivered by responsible businesses that implement positive measures with respect to the social, environmental and economic impact of their actions.
It starts with the concept of the ‘triple bottom line’ – People, Planet, Profit, – and underpins our continuing desire to work with our customers and supply chain to make a real difference - meeting our corporate responsibilities and proactively addressing our 7 steps to sustainability:
• Carbon Reduction
• Waste Management
• Sustainable Procurement
• Respecting Natural Resources
• Community Engagement
• Training and Development
• Communication
Broad sustainability objectives have been identified, along with the key issues to be addressed if these objectives are to be achieved. Relevant projects are also included to demonstrate where sustainability principles have already been adopted and significant progress has been made.
Our sustainability strategy has been integrated into existing Group policies and decision-making processes and will form the basis for setting and implementing new and updated targets and initiatives for 2012 and beyond. It will impact on all employees - particularly those engaged in planning, design, procurement, and delivery across all Midas Group businesses.
It is important, however, that we also communicate our aspirations to advisors, consultants and our supply chain, as our sustainability performance and that of the completed building could be significantly influenced by their respective, skills, knowledge and understanding.
This sustainable construction business strategy applies to all areas of Midas Group operations and to permanent office locations as well as site activities. The area of greatest impact, however, will undoubtedly be in our contribution to delivering new and refurbished buildings designed and constructed to minimise environmental impact and provide long-term energy efficiency, bringing whole-life value to the property owner, users and the communities in which they are constructed.
Planet Environmental Best Practice
Strategy
People Social
Responsibility
Profit Economic and
Business
Sustainable Procurement
Respecting Natural Resources
CO 2
Red
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Was
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anag
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Community Engagement Communication
Training and Development
‘Building for Generations to Come’
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People
Customers
We will listen to the views of our customers and take appropriate action in support of our vision to be widely acclaimed for industry leading performance and customer service.
People
We will respect the views of our employees and provide a safe and healthy working environment for everybody working on our sites and in our offices. Our Accident frequency rate of 0.15 (September 2011) puts Midas in the top 5% of the UK Contractors Group.
The quality of our workforce is a key factor in striving to meet our vision. We recognise this through our goal of being the employer of choice, endeavouring to provide rewarding careers not just jobs.
Despite the challenges faced within the construction sector, we will continue to place people development high on our agenda. 2011 has seen some 1200 training days delivered at an average of around 3 days per employee and a highly successful Investors in People assessment.
The Summer of 2011 saw the completion of our annual ‘People Matters’ survey with just over two thirds of employees responding. Overall satisfaction was 67%, once again higher than the industry average.
Community
We will support the communities in which we work; engaging in consultation, respecting diversity, being sensitive to local needs and contributing to economic well-being. We are committed to keeping disruption to a minimum and our average Considerate Constructors score of 34.6 / 40 (Sept 2011) demonstrates our high level of attention in this respect.
Initiatives that benefit society and local communities feature strongly in our approach to corporate responsibility and include, not only financial assistance, but also contributions of time and resource. The Mi-space team on the Battery Street project in Plymouth, for example, entered into a number of community projects including giving up their time to refurbish a garden playground space for the benefit of local primary school children.
Environment
We will seek to minimise the impacts of our activities on the environment and communities in which we operate, developing solutions to ensure continuous improvement in our environmental performance. We undertake to raise environmental awareness amongst our employees and supply chain in order to be less wasteful in the use of resources. Not only will we seek to maximise reuse and recycling we will reduce waste through fully considered planning and design.
Suppliers
We will create sustainable supply chains based on integrity and respect; working in partnership in pursuit of best practice in a safe environment.
Social Responsibility
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Planet
Sustainable Sourcing
Construction consumes huge amounts of resources such as steel, concrete, cement and timber, often in ways that are inefficient or unsustainable. At Midas we have put in place Sustainable Procurement Policies that encourage our employees and supply chain to review their consumption of resources such that we source only what we need. Knowing where materials come from and identifying the ’chain of custody’ is equally as important. Our preference is to procure products that are manufactured and can be used in an environmentally and socially responsible way and which are accredited to a recognised environmental standard.
Where possible we will endeavour to identify and offer sustainable alternative products to our customers and give preference to local suppliers and subcontractors.
We continue to raise awareness with our employees and our suppliers of the environmental and social effects of materials procurement and ensure that environmental credentials are considered throughout the supply chain appraisal process.
Reuse, Reduce, Recycle
Our project specific Site Waste Management Plans (SWMP) are key documents in our drive to eliminate waste going to landfill and in finding new opportunities to reuse or recycle waste materials through efficient design and careful management of the construction process. Each SWMP will set out measures for minimising waste, maximising recycling and for dealing with problem areas; all designed to ensure that we meet or exceed our target waste recycling rate across the Group.
At Midas we have developed long-term strategic alliances with key waste service providers—using their feedback and information from site management returns we are able to record monthly recycling figures. Waste recycling stood at around 85% for the whole of 2010.
We are always looking for opportunities to reuse, reduce or recycle, examples of which include: recycled Resilica glass in flooring, tarmac crushed on site for new parking facilities and partnering with ‘Surplus Rescue’ a Community Interest Company which collects ‘waste’ materials from construction sites matched with ‘shopping lists’ from community and / or charity projects.
Carbon Footprint
Progress has been made across the Group in reducing company vehicle emissions figures, however, we recognise that vehicles used on company business continue to add significantly to our overall carbon footprint. As such, in 2012 we will put measures in place to reduce annual business mileage as well as continuing to review maximum allowable emissions across the fleet. An updated energy policy and energy champions are also planned for each of our local operational offices, whilst Midas Energy will be reviewing the feasibility of retrofitting renewable energies technology. During 2012 we will undertake a site accommodation audit to determine energy efficiency, and to support the development of an improvement plan.
Environmental Best Practice
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Profit
Expectations
With increased expectations for the construction industry to improve its environmental and social performance it has never been more important to build upon our achievements to date and embrace sustainability within the Group’s business strategy and corporate values.
Business Planning
We are in business to make a profit and to create value for our shareholders but also recognise that by adopting sustainability best practice there is an opportunity to deliver long-term benefits to the business and the Midas brand. By applying our vision as much to sustainability as anything else we can aspire to delivering industry leading performance in all that we do.
When business planning we set targets relating to financial performance, workload, customers, training, development, and growth. Our approach to sustainability, as detailed within this strategy, encompasses all of these areas and will greatly influence corporate governance, management systems and procurement policies.
Everyone plays a part in achieving our sustainability objectives - we are therefore committed to working with our employees, customers and supply chain to raise environmental and sustainability standards in the built environment. We are in a position where we are able and willing to understand the challenges, suggest alternatives and influence the outcome.
Shaping the Business
In a world where resources are becoming more constrained and in an economic climate which is set to remain challenging for the medium term, using our sustainability strategy to help shape our business to be more adaptive to change, more efficient and more responsive to the challenges ahead will be a key factor in the Group’s continuing growth.
Communicating both internally and externally will be fundamental in demonstrating how the business is progressing with its sustainability strategy and how, by adopting sustainable construction methods, whole-life costs can be reduced. Updating the website and incorporating a sustainability area on the Group’s intranet (Alchemy) are priorities.
Mechanisms will be established to facilitate interim and annual reporting.
Business Commitment
In committing to our sustainability objectives and targets we will adopt an open, collaborative, professional and socially responsible approach to business; aiming to provide our customers with a quality of service that reflects our vision of being widely acclaimed for industry leading performance.
Economic and Business
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7 Steps
Carbon Reduction Making buildings more energy efficient, increased use of low or zero carbon technologies, reducing site energy consumption, vehicle emissions, travel distances and the need to travel.
Waste Management Reducing waste, re-using and recycling where possible and ultimately sending zero waste to landfill.
Sustainable Procurement Using low impact, low embodied energy products, sourced locally and responsibly from renewable sources.
Respecting Natural Resources Using natural resources more efficiently in buildings and in the processes we undertake; tackling water and raw materials use, biodiversity and pollution.
Community Engagement Working with our clients, suppliers and community organisations to ensure that our activities support local employment and positively contribute to the wellbeing of the communities in which we work.
Training and Development Commitment to increasing the sustainability and environmental awareness of our employees and our supply chain.
Communication Improving internal and external communication methods and platforms to ensure effective dissemination of information, the sharing and adoption of industry best practice and consideration of new and emerging technologies.
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‘The way in which we plan, procure, construct and maintain our built environment is critical to our quality of life now and in the future. At Midas we have identified 7 strategic areas which we believe are key to making a positive contribution to the sustainability agenda, ensuring that we remain focussed on ‘building for generations to come’.
‘Building for Generations to Come’
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7 Steps
Why is this Important to Midas? Work Winning As an extension to the Group’s dedication to achieve unrivalled levels of customer service, enhancing our performance with respect to environmental and social impacts will help to make Midas Construction, Midas Retail, Midas Interiors, Mi-Space, Midas Energy and Midas Developments the delivery partner of choice where sustainability is a key driver for our customers.
People Making Midas the employer of choice – Retention and recruitment of, and investment in, people is becoming increasingly more important in an industry where building relationships is just as important as building buildings.
Reputation Improved standing in local communities.
An increasing number of construction clients are demanding a real, rather than cosmetic response to the sustainability agenda.
Supply Chain Making Midas the customer of choice, where consultants, subcontractors and suppliers want to be part of a progressive, caring, environmentally aware team.
Efficiencies Improved management processes resulting in reductions in energy and water consumption, less wastage, higher levels of staff retention and lower transport costs.
‘Building for Generations to Come’
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Sustainability in Action
Community SupportIn acknowledgement of the good relations enjoyed with local people since the project began in February 2011, The Midas Retail team from the Exeter Waitrose project helped Newtown Association, celebrate its 125th anniversary by giving their Community Hut a makeover. A Considerate Constructors’ score of 36 / 40 was achieved on the project
The construction of a 23,000 sq ft supermarket in a largely residential area was always going to be challenging but early consultation with the community combined with the positive attitudes of local people helped the project immensely. Initial demolition produced some 30,000 tonnes of spoil for recycling, some of which was re-used on site. The new building has achieved BREEAM ‘Excellent’ status.
Renewable TechnologiesProject Oxygen, comprising 40,000 sq ft of new energy efficient offices at Exeter Business Park for Atass, is being delivered by Midas Construction, to provide a building which will be one of the most eco-friendly in the City, achieving a BREEAM rating of ‘Excellent’. It will have its own micro electricity generation on site in the form of photovoltaic cells that also provide solar shading. Other features that minimise energy and water use include intelligent lighting systems, air source heat pumps, rainwater harvesting and automatic windows.
Energy Saving HomesMi-space is undertaking the construction of 260 new, high quality, sustainable homes for soldiers and their families on the Canadian Estate at Bulford, near Salisbury. The homes have been designed around a boulevard and village green to provide social spaces and create a close community environment.
The eco-friendly three and four bedroom properties are being delivered to the Code for Sustainable Homes Level 4. They are timber framed and highly insulated with each property having an air sourced heat pump adding to the high energy efficiency rating.
InnovationTwo further schools projects were awarded to Midas Construction by Wokingham Borough Council following work carried out at Hillside Primary School, where the project team’s engagement with the pupils and the local community was much admired.
Working closely with school management, the project team implemented an approach to the project that halved the anticipated programme duration. This reduced disruption considerably and ensured the new facilities were open in time for the new term. The proactive and innovative approach entailed developing fast track solutions, making the best use of off site prefabrication technology, reducing time spent on site and minimising waste in the process.
‘Building for Generations to Come’
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Summary
Proposed Documents in the Sustainability Series
• Group Sustainability Strategy 2012 - 2015
• 2011 Status Report
• 2012 Group Sustainability Plan
• 2012 Annual Plan Review
• 3 Year Strategic Review
“There is no doubt that the Group has made significant progress in raising awareness of the importance of meeting the environmental and social challenges of the 21st century and is currently delivering projects that add significantly to its sustainability credentials. The Board also recognises, however, that it must continue to develop a culture at Midas that places sustainability alongside other key deliverables of safety, customer service and quality.”
Steve Russell, Sustainability Director Midas Group
‘Building for Generations to Come’
In Summary Each of the components of the ‘triple bottom line’ - People, Profit, Planet are impacted upon by Midas Group’s 7 Steps to Sustainability:
• Carbon reduction
• Waste management
• Sustainable procurement
• Respecting Natural Resources
• Community engagement
• Training and Development
• Communication
and these will form the basis of our sustainability agenda going forward.
The 7 steps theme will underpin our Group Sustainability Plan for 2012 and provide the structure for implementing, monitoring and reporting new and amended targets and initiatives. Progress will be monitored by the Sustainability Strategy Team at quarterly reviews.
Planet Environmental Best Practice
Strategy
People Social
Responsibility
Profit Economic and
Business
Sustainable Procurement
Respecting Natural Resources
CO 2
Red
uctio
n
Was
te M
anag
emen
t
Community Engagement Communication
Training and Development
Midas GroupMidas House, Woodwater Park, Pynes Hill, Exeter, EX2 5WS
T 0117 305 2100E [email protected] www.midasgroup.co.uk
