About a week ago, I sat in a meeting and thought: ‘Wouldn’t it be great if all company directors were as brave and clear as Andrew Dobbs?’
Andrew is currently a director for Willmott Dixon, and in a recent conversation I listened to him speak passionately about their new ‘2020 – 2030 Now or Never Strategy’, led by their Group Chief Executive, Rick Willmott.
Andrew told me that if would-be clients presented projects that were not sufficiently sustainable, Willmott Dixon had made the decision to turn them down. They didn’t want to be responsible for adding to climate change problems that are now believed to be critical.
I love to see an organisation with enough clarity of purpose to care about the impact they have on the environment. But there are more advantages for them than the wider goal of protecting the planet. Net zero carbon building is now such an integral part of construction that making it a priority ensures the business will flourish in the future.
We all know of companies that have refused to change with the times, and have ended up floundering and folding, leaving their employees devastated. The construction industry is no different. I predict that companies that don’t embrace sustainability in the coming three years will not be around in the next five.
Sustainable technologies are advancing at such a pace that high-carbon buildings will soon seem as irrelevant as VHS video cassettes. Companies creating plans now that don’t have carbon reduction at their heart will find their asset looks dated and toxic by the time the building is complete.
Currently we are working with significant organisations to assist them in future-proofing their companies. It’s often hard to change, especially when the business is large and well-established, but there’s so much opportunity for us to grasp. Just as Henry Ford had more than faster horses in mind when he revolutionised the motor car industry, we too can take our current knowledge in completely new and beneficial directions – and not only survive the changes to come, but thrive there too.
We’re available here at Darren Evans for a conversation with you: whether you’re a medium-sized or large organisation looking to put net zero carbon at the heart of your builds, we can guide you towards simple changes that will make all the difference.
