Bailey, M; Booth, C A; Horry, R; Vidalakis, C; Mahamadu, A M and Awuah, K G B (2020) Opinions of small and medium UK construction companies on environmental management systems. Proceedings of Institution of Civil Engineers: Management, Procurement and Law, 174(1), pp. 23-34. ISSN 17514304
Abstract
Pressure to reduce the environmental impact of construction activities has increased, such that a paradigm shift is required. This paper presents stakeholder opinions of environmental management systems as a means for the construction industry to respond to these issues. Using a previous approach, the views of small and medium construction companies were sought, using questionnaires to ask respondents to reveal their perceived benefits of and barriers to implementing the ISO 14000 suite of environmental management standards in the UK. Detailed statistical analysis showed that environmental management systems can sometimes produce quantifiable benefits to organisations in terms of cost reduction. However, from a contractor's view, the greatest benefit was a reduction in environmental impact outweighing financial benefits. Findings also demonstrated numerous barriers to an organisation exist, both internal and external, regarding adoption and use of environmental management systems. The most critical barrier was that cost savings do not always balance with the expense of implementation. Furthermore, waste minimisation at the design stage is viewed as most important. In general, the opinions gauged in this study indicated that short-term profits are normally considered more imperative than long-term gains. Therefore, despite a need to focus on developing strategies for removing or reducing the challenges of environmental management systems, the reality is that they may not be the panacea to sustainable development, as is often touted.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | environment; management; sustainability |
| Index terms: | statistical analysis, construction activity, environmental management, cost saving, implementation, construction industry, paradigm, profit, construction company, strategy, sustainable development, minimization, environmental management system, ISO, cost reduction, design stage, environmental impact, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | economics, management, education and knowledge transfer, industry analysis, data collection methods, control systems, standards development, data science, algorithms, sustainability assessment, health safety and environment, organization, environmental impact, economic analysis, professional practice, construction operations, contractual arrangements |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Sustainability, Procurement, Quality Management, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Design Practice, Site Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here