PROCURING INNOVATIVE, SOCIAL, ENVIRONMENTAL, AND ECONOMIC OUTCOMES

WHEN IT COMES TO ACHIEVING SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL OUTCOMES, IMPLEMENTING ‘SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PROCUREMENT’ DURING PROJECT INITIATION AND PLANNING, COULD BE THE ANSWER – COLLABORATING AND ENGAGING EARLY IS THE KEY.

Australia’s Construction industry is project based and competitive. It relies heavily on bringing dozens and, sometimes hundreds, of separate team members together to deliver a capital asset. It is this bringing together, and high level of organisation and project management, that creates an opportunity to build in innovation, and social and environmental outcomes through procurement being part of upfront collaboration.

This can be achieved through the power of government spending, choice of materials, modelling through testing virtual prototypes and procurement professionals implementing the elements of ‘socially responsible procurement’.

SO, WHAT IS ‘SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE PROCUREMENT’?

The Institute for Supply Management defines ‘socially responsible procurement’ as a framework of measurable corporate policies and procedures, and resulting behaviour, designed to benefit the workplace and, by extension, the individual, the organisation, and the community.

Pursuing this objective requires focused efforts along the six elements of socially responsible procurement:

1. Community involvement

2. Diversity and inclusion

3. Environmental protection

4. Ethics and financial stewardship

5. Human rights respect

6. Health and safety

Procurement professionals are required to set priorities and make trade-offs between these elements to properly allocate limited resources. They must consider how the procurement activities align with government strategies, and whether actions taken by government can truly make a difference in the community.

Socially responsible procurement extends beyond the prime contractor or initial supplier and cascades through the entire supply chain. Governments are increasingly requiring suppliers to contractually adhere to similar socially responsible behaviours.

Of course, as a large purchasing body, government can minimise the environmental impacts of frontend procurement activities by influencing innovative practices and supply market practices that can lead to:

• Waste minimisation

• Maximisation of recyclable/ recovered content

• Reduction in Greenhouse Gas Emissions, including reduced carbon embodied materials, and use of emerging infrastructure related technologies which contribute to reducing carbon emissions

• Conservation of energy and water

• Minimising habitat destruction and environmental degradation

• Non-toxic solutions

One of the greatest opportunities to influence environmental outcomes is by selecting products and services with the least ongoing environmental impacts, such as use of water, electricity and fuel, waste/ disposal management, and impact on human health over the life of the product or service. These decisions can also support Australia to deliver on its commitment under the Paris Agreement and the OECD Sustainable Development Goals.

Another tool in the kit bag for the project team is the use of modelling and the creation of prototypes in the construction process. That is where a focus on collaboration comes in. Sustainable and innovative solutions for a project, like any organisation, need to be planned for, worked at, and managed.

This is where innovation, environmental and social aspects can be incorporated. By its very nature, the delivery of a prototype is a dynamic process, requiring members of the project team to work together to continually fine-tune and adjust the detailed project innovation requirements. The more effectively the project team is integrated, the more innovative and sustainable the solutions that can be created and delivered.

BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING

The higher the level of integration at the prototype state, the greater the opportunities to introduce innovation and gain maximum benefit from project team collaboration and cooperation – this is where Building Information Modelling (BIM) can be an agent for innovation. To BIM or not to BIM is often a decision made by the procurement professional as part of an integrated project team.

BIM is a digital process for creating and managing all the information on a project – before, during and after construction. The output of this process is the Building Information Model, the digital description of every aspect of the built asset. BIM provides predictability as essentially the building is constructed twice: first through the virtual build, second physically on site. Therefore, BIM has the ability to proactively resolve design limitations before they impact upon construction.

It also provides a level of ‘comfort’ for the supply chain in respect to design proofing, early detection, and resolution of clashes between construction components and cost savings. Likewise, innovation can be developed and trialled in the virtual world to ensure it is fit for purpose and is tailored to the many complex and moving parts of the construction.

In addition to productivity, time and quality gains, BIM encourages innovative practices which can be harvested at every stage of the project delivery process without inhibiting competition or transparency.

The full benefits of BIM are reaped when BIM is integrated into the day-to-day workflow from feasibility to asset/facility management. BIM responds to the increasing need for new, more effective approaches to project delivery that will transform building and construction industry practices and greatly assist in optimising project outcomes for clients.

Engaging procurement professionals as early as possible in the design process, implementing the elements of ‘socially responsible procurement’, and using new technology such as BIM, can lead to more sustainable and innovative outcomes.

Author: Teresa Scott is the Executive Director of the Australasian Procurement and Construction Council (APCC). Teresa has many years’ experience in both project management and procurement and works with the Council of Chief Executives to set the strategic direction of the APCC, and expanding the APCC’s role as Australasia’s leading public sector procurement and construction forum.

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