Leading industry event, the original sustainability awards scheme for construction, has new rigorous judging criteria for 2007 set by leading environmental engineer Guy Battle

The third Sustainability Awards will be setting a new benchmark for environmental excellence in the built environment.

This year we have enlisted the health of leading sustainability figure Guy Battle, co-founder of engineering firm Battle McCarthy, to draw up a rigorous set of criteria for entrants to the awards (see below). Contenders for the fourteen categories will have to justify the performance within their companies or for projects they have been involved in to stand a chance of winning. This will make the awards a key benchmark for achieving best practice in the sector. The awards will be handed out at a ceremony to be held at the London Hilton on Park lane on 19 November.

Involvement in the Awards as a winner – or a finalist- will bring widespread industry recognition and could open the door to further work or commissions. We expect the awards will attract up to 800 senior industry figureheads – including chief executives or senior partners of all leading contractors and consultancies and the presidents of the main trade and professional bodies.

Winners at last year’s ceremony included housebuilder Berkeley Homes, engineer Whitbybird and contractor Skanska Integrated Projects.

Guy Battle on the new criteria

“Sustainability has gone mainstream and needs to be assessed properly. The criteria we’ve generated will start us on the process of setting league tables for the industry’s performance and putting more rigour into assessment. We’re asking every company entering the Sustainability Awards this year to submit their performance, based on the “global reporting initiative”, an international sustainability reporting method.

“We aim to cut through greenwash and show which companies are serious about sustainability. We’re also asking everyone to tell us their organisation’s carbon footprint, to eventually benchmark the entire industry.

“The first step is the hardest. This year, it’s about getting people to understand they need to measure their environmental performance. It’s not about saying what is good or bad yet – it is about getting a process in place so next year we can begin to make judgments. These will be used as a catalyst for improvements across all sectors.”

The categories

  • Sustainable Housebuilder of the Year (open to private and public firms)


  • Sustainable Contractor or Construction Manager of the Year (open to all building and contracting firms)


  • Sustainable Architect of the Year


  • Sustainable Engineer the Year


  • Sustainable Client or Developer of the Year


  • Sustainable Consultant of the Year


  • Best Business Practice


  • Innovative Technology (product or process)


  • Sustainable Building of the Year for a Single Project or Building (large project)


  • Sustainable Building of the Year for a Single Project or Building (small project)


  • Sustainable Development of the Year (for a large, mixed-use development)


  • Sustainability Leadership (individual, industry leader, strategic level)


  • Sustainability Champion (individual champion at a local level)


  • Building’s 99% Campaign Award for Refurbishment (cutting carbon in an existing building)


  • Best Sustainability Initiative in the Public Sector

Postscript

For full details on the awards visit www.building.co.uk/sustainabilityawards