Get Sust Issue 32 UK, Practice Profile - Goodbye to greenwash; Inbuilt gets back to first principles

Get Sust! issue 32

Practice Profile

Goodbye to greenwash: Inbuilt gets back to first principles

We’re constantly reminded that climate change is taking hold and that action is needed now. But for most organisations in the construction sector, the pace of change is oh so slow. Yet there are a number of dynamic individuals who are running with the proverbial ball — some so fast you can barely catch them. One such is Professor David Strong, who last month received Building Magazine’s 2007 Sustainability Leadership Award for his role in the creation of the UK Green Building Council. Never a man to rest on his laurels, Strong has left his long-standing post as MD of BRE’s Environment Division to launch a new venture — Inbuilt — a sustainable construction consultancy that is sure to be a leader in its field. Get Sust! caught up with Strong and asked him why he’s taken the plunge.

“After 35 years in the industry, it is personally highly gratifying to see sustainability finally reaching the top of the political and construction agenda,” says David Strong. “But despite the high level of interest in delivering a more sustainable built environment, achieving real change remains an immense challenge.

“To my continued frustration, those in procuring, planning and constructing buildings still have little choice when they need expert advice — when determining what real sustainability means in practice. Too many advisors, designers and product manufacturers are dousing themselves in ‘greenwash,’ by making over-blown statements and claims regarding sustainability, which all too often simply do not stand up to close scrutiny. As the green bandwagon starts to roll, the false claims are a source of dismay to those of us who are passionate and committed to delivering genuinely sustainable outcomes.

“With Inbuilt, I hope to supply at least part of the answer. We do not offer tokenism, just a clear and unambiguous commitment to improving the way new communities and buildings are planned, designed, built and managed. In other words, we plan to ensure that sustainability becomes ‘inbuilt’.

“We will draw inspiration from nature and natural systems to find low-energy, low-cost ways to heat, cool, ventilate and illuminate our buildings, and continuously challenge existing practices to ‘design out’ technical complexity and cost.”

Inbuilt Consulting, which was officially launched yesterday (10 December), is a new RES Group company. The company will work in partnership with its clients to deliver spaces, places and buildings which are genuinely sustainable — healthy, safe, productive and inspiring, fit for people and for the environment.

“Delivering genuine sustainability isn’t easy — it cannot be simply ‘bolted-on’,” says Strong “Conventional approaches often result in all the really important — and expensive — mistakes being made early in the design process. Inbuilt’s pragmatic approach is based on a passionate commitment to resolve the complex and sometimes conflicting economic, social and environmental issues associated with delivering genuine sustainability.”

The company will focus on:

sustainable master planning
low/zero carbon housing and non-domestic building solutions
bioclimatic design and building physics
computer modelling, visualisation and assessment
water management and sustainable urban drainage
integration of active renewables
green roofs and facades
ecology and sustainable land use
construction materials and recycling
whole-life cost and performance
post-occupancy evaluation.

Crucially, Inbuilt plans to undertake research to learn and apply the lessons of what works and what doesn’t, with solutions based on the whole life performance of the building and its components. Many recent iconic buildings have failed because they are too complex.

David Strong has put together a very experience core team comprising Executive Directors Dr Neil Cutland (also ex-BRE) and Mathew Brundle (ex-WSP), while award-winning architect, Lynne Sullivan (of Broadway Malyan) will be joining the Board to lead Inbuilt’s Sustainable Design services.

But Inbuilt is also recruiting a cohort of young professionals to join its core team. Two recent Inbuilt graduate recruits are Paul Smyth and James Bonell, who graduated in 2007 from the University of Warwick, each with an MEng in Engineering Design and Appropriate Technology.

“Inbuilt excites me,” says Paul. “It’s a privilege working with people passionate about sustainability and the built environment. Two weeks in, and I already feel a part of the team. The Directors are very hands-on and have a genuine interest in my personal development, with weekly meetings to check on my progress. Every day’s been a new challenge and I’m doing work I believe in. Couldn’t be better! I look forward to building my career here.”

James adds: “My personal decision to join Inbuilt centered on the company’s vision to unite and integrate the complex issues associated with delivering genuine sustainability. Also, its ambition to provide expertise in all areas ‘in-house’, thus ensuring the more ‘progressive’ topics, which might otherwise be neglected, are not left aside. I believe that, in order for a team to find an optimum solution it is necessary to have encompassing experience in all relevant fields, and it is this which proved the main attraction of Inbuilt.”

Other new recruits include the six-person Sustainable Technology and Construction (STC) team from Beyond Green, who have just joined Inbuilt, bringing considerable experience in the provision of expert advice and support on the application of sustainable technologies and materials in the built environment.

Learn more:

	•	For further information about Inbuilt, including Career Opportunities, visit www.inbuilt.co.uk.
	•	700 industry professionals attended Building magazine’s 2007 Sustainability Awards were held in London on 19 November 2007. Click here for full details of other winners.