His comments were made on “Sustainability Day” of National Construction Week, which aimed to promote environment-friendly and socially responsible construction. Three separate reports were launched on the subject in the day.
Sir Neville said: “Sustainability is off the radar screen at the moment with the City. Even if the City starts to take notice of the construction industry, sustainability is not the first thing that comes up.”
Sir Neville was confident that the message would eventually get through to investors, though. He added: “It’s in the City’s interest to take this on board. Sustainability underpins future profits.”
The DETR, along with the Construction Confederation’s Sustainable Construction Focus Group and the Construction Industry Research and Information Association, all presented reports.
The DETR report set out a strategy to change the way buildings are designed, procured, constructed, maintained and used. It was criticised by the Construction Products Association for failing to offer concrete guidelines. Chief executive Michael Ankers said: “It’s just a list of what the government is doing. We are disappointed.”
Launching the Sustainable Construction Focus Group report, Sir Martin Laing said the group was commissioning a joint study with the DETR on the business case for sustainability, which would bring out its first results in July.
