In our relentless pursuit of sustainability within the construction industry, collaboration and upskilling stand as pivotal elements.
By forging stronger partnerships both within our organisation and with external stakeholders, we are better equipped to meet and exceed the highest standards of environmental conduct.
Working hand in hand with our supply chain and clients, we ensure a unified commitment to sustainability goals. This collaborative approach brings together diverse expertise and perspectives, encouraging the adoption of best practices and sparking innovation in sustainable solutions. Through the open exchange of ideas and collective learning, we can enhance our ability to tackle complex challenges effectively.
Empowering our team members is equally crucial. By providing opportunities for upskilling and granting ownership of tasks, our workforce is motivated to drive continuous improvement. Recognising individual and team successes further instils a sense of responsibility and pride in our shared mission. These efforts not only help us achieve top scores on globally recognised certifications but also ensure sustainability is woven into the fabric of our daily operations.
Engagement with Supply Chain
We continually review and prioritise our key supply chain partners based on sustainability and climate impact criteria. Our preferred partners are those who have embedded sustainability goals within their business strategies. We acknowledge that adopting sustainable practices can be a learning curve for some businesses and they may require support along the way. We are dedicated to engaging with our supply chain, exchanging knowledge and understanding their strategies for achieving these objectives.
In order to achieve this, we aim to:
- Include climate agendas in B2B quarterly meetings, allowing us to interact with our supply chain and crosscheck their agenda against our criteria.
- Deliver sustainability (Climate Fresks) and carbon workshops to our supply chain. Our target is for 100% of our tier 1 supply chain partners to be trained on climate related matters.
- Regularly share case studies and best practices from the Climate & Environment Team with our internal and external audiences.
- Organise quarterly joint events with our top supply chain partners for knowledge sharing.
- Further deploy Supply Chain Sustainability School’s campaigns / webinars / learning pathways.
Staff trained on Climate related topics
We recognise that upskilling our workforce is essential to driving meaningful change and achieving our sustainability goals. We offer a variety of educational and training opportunities, including toolbox talks, workshops on carbon, waste, biodiversity and sustainability assessments.
Our goal is to upskill 100% of our staff through structured learning pathways, which include comprehensive internal training programs and interactive workshops such as Climate Fresks. By equipping our team with the knowledge and skills needed to address climate challenges, we empower them to make informed decisions and take proactive steps in their daily work, ultimately fostering a culture of sustainability across the organisation.
Sustainable initiatives on site
We strive to continually increase the number of sustainable initiatives implemented on our sites. To achieve this, we aim to:
- Maintain and promote our internal Sustainability Awards in order to capitalise and share best practices. We encourage all our projects to submit at least one entry for the Sustainability Awards each year, creating a pool of initiatives ready for direct and wider implementation.
- Launch the Innovation Hub, a digital platform where solutions are captured for knowledge exchange purposes. Available for all staff within the Bouygues Group around the world, the Innovation Hub includes partnerships with external companies and allows cross-continent solution sharing.
Sustainable certifications: A Core Part of our Journey
Sustainable certifications are integral to Bouygues UK’s operations. Our journey began with the Home Office, our first BREEAM Certified project, which achieved an Excellent rating in 1998. This milestone was followed by many landmark projects including the refurbishment of our Bouygues Construction HQ, Challenger, which earned top ratings under BREEAM International ‘Outstanding’, LEED ‘Platinum’ and HQE ‘Exceptional’.
We have delivered numerous certified developments since then, including BREEAM, Home Quality Mark, Passivehouse and Code for Sustainable Homes.
BREEAM Excellence: Our in-house team are licensed Assessors and Accredited Professionals with in-depth knowledge of BREEAM and HQM requirements. This ensures certification compliance and excellence in every project, whether formal certification is pursued or not.
Award- Winning Team: Our Climate and Environment team was recognised with the 2018 BREEAM Awards ‘Assessor Organisation of the Year’. This achievement underscores our capability to deliver sustainability excellence in our projects, often beyond our clients’ requirements.
WELL Building Standard: As Accredited Professionals of the International Well Building Institute, we ensure our teams are creating healthy spaces for occupants, with well-being at the core of the development.
Passive House Certification: We are equipped to achieve Passive Building certification through the rigorous standards set by the Passive House Institute. Our team includes Certified Passive House Designer and Certified Passive House Trades Person, ensuring successful project design and execution.
Responding to a rapidly changing world
In this rapidly changing world, we remain committed to tackling sustainability challenges with forward-thinking and well-tested strategies. By integrating industry-leading certifications such as BREEAM, HQM, and WELL, we ensure our projects align with both environmental goals and the needs of clients and building users. Moving forward, we will continue expanding our certification achievements, ensuring all projects where we have early design responsibility meet BREEAM’s Excellent rating as a minimum. Through rigorous assessment tools and in-house dashboards, we will maintain our high sustainability standards while actively upskilling our teams to stay at the forefront of sustainable construction.