Navigating The Shift Towards Eco-Friendly Projects
Sustainability has become a key focus for businesses globally. Like many of our clients, you probably have an annual report for your organization that covers Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), carbon reporting or environmental targets.
We’re finding that project teams are being called upon to align their projects with those ‘green’ objectives, driven by increasing awareness of environmental impacts, changing regulations and consumer demand for more eco-friendly practices. And let’s face it, it’s a good thing.
But when your client is asking for you to work in alignment with their wider goals and values, how do you incorporate sustainable practices into project planning, execution and delivery?
Green project management is more than a trend: it’s an ever-increasing expectation, especially for projects that impact the built environment. You can influence the way that your project impacts the environment by paying attention to the ‘what’ and the ‘how’ in the planning stages. The early parts of the project lifecycle are where you can shape the practices that will determine the legacy your project leaves.
How to integrate sustainability into project planning and strategy
In this article, we’ll look at four things you can bring into your strategic planning and scheduling activity to integrate sustainability measures and practices. These are:
- Setting sustainability goals
- Planning sustainable resource management
- Assessing sustainability risks
- Integrating sustainability-related tasks into your Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and schedule.
Let’s look at what you can do to change practices and think strategically about sustainability for each of those.
1. Setting sustainability goals
Before you can build sustainable practices into the way you deliver projects, you need to know what goals you are expected to align to.
In the initial phases of project planning, research what strategies, goals and objectives the organization holds itself accountable to. These could be reducing carbon footprints, ensuring ethical sourcing or minimizing environmental impact on the local area. Talk to your client’s carbon manager or sustainability manager so you know what is expected.
Engage stakeholders early to ensure they buy in to the idea of these ways of working. They can help define the goals. You can also seek input from regulatory bodies or governance groups.
Next, put those goals in the project charter, alongside the other project objectives (like time, cost, scope and quality). Split them between long-term environmental impact and short-term sustainable practice.
2. Planning sustainable resource management
Once you know the overall goals, you can move into thinking about how you are going to resource the project – and there is a lot you can do here to be minimize environmental impact.
For example, one of the simplest and most significant ways to integrate sustainability is through the choice of materials and how they are delivered. Prioritize sustainable, recycled or recyclable materials, focusing on what you can source locally to minimize the carbon footprint related to transport. That goes for human resources as well. Projects like the London Olympic Park build for the 2012 Games focused on recruiting from the local area to upskill and support the local economy – as well as minimizing commuting miles for the wider team.
Energy is one of the largest resources on any projects, especially construction initiatives. Think about how you could incorporate energy-efficient practices, like using renewable energy sources, promoting energy-efficient construction methods, or integrating green technologies.
3. Assessing sustainability risks
In the early project stages, you’ll be doing some risk assessment as part of an integrated risk management approach. This is the perfect time to also consider environmental risks. Identify where there is a potential impact from your work.
For example:
- Waste disposal
- Emissions from production processes
- Water usage
- The need to carry out some wildlife rehousing
Put together mitigation plans with ecological experts if necessary. For example, on one of our projects, a new building was proposed which would be constructed through a bat migration route. An ecological survey picked this up and the team were able to work with experts to think about how the building could go ahead without negatively impacting the bat habitat.
Other mitigation strategies could be planning what to do to reduce waste, carbon offsetting and making sure the work complies with all environmental regulations and best practices.
If you’re struggling with this part, draw on the expertise of local managers or partners, and research case studies from other similar projects. We can guarantee someone has been there already and come up with a plan that works! Sustainable working practices have been around for many, many years and there is a lot of experience and options out there for businesses who are prepared to invest and take responsibility. Some options aren’t more expensive than the ‘traditional’ activities, either.
4. Integrating sustainability-related tasks into the WBS
When it’s time to create the Work Breakdown Structure, you can do that with sustainability considerations in mind. You can even invite sustainability managers to take part in the exercises and workshops so that they can act as the environmental voice in the room.
In our experience, it’s easy to fall back into the practices you are used to and familiar with, so challenge yourselves to identify eco-friendly alternatives for each stage, from planning to execution, and ensure tasks are aligned with sustainability goals.
Some tasks will be fully sustainability-related (such as developing a waste management strategy for the project). Some tasks will relate to the execution of the project and the work package can include more information about how sustainability relates to this particular activity.
We’re seeing a growing emphasis on sustainability which is pushing companies to rethink how projects are executed, from sourcing materials to energy usage and waste management. We believe that project managers now have a pivotal role in ensuring that sustainability is embedded into every stage of a project’s lifecycle. Are you seeing the same thing? How are you adapting to the challenges that this brings?