It may even have been laziness in the past that led to not obtaining an environmental certificate when building a management system. It was justified on the grounds of a lack of main contracting and other excuses. When you start justifying things first to yourself and then to others, you run the risk of easily believing them yourself.
I'm sure many of you are familiar with this story. You often find that what you ignore or neglect, you find in front of you. Last summer, a juicy contract was not tendered due to a lack of environmental certification. That was just the beginning. Now it is being written about non-stop in various forums. In our case, that single event triggered a chain reaction, which led to the decision ISO 14001 environmental management system certified this spring in the context of management system audits. We have become accustomed to clogging up the good contracts and now we have the main contract. Lots of it.
The project was instructive. The production of cement used in concrete releases shocking amounts of carbon dioxide. In turn, the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere has a significant impact on global warming. The more cement you use, the more clumpy the concrete. There was a lot of reflection on my own role and potential impact.
In our operations, concrete and steel are the biggest emitters. For steel, huge strides are being made by upgrading steel mills to be more low-emission. For concrete, we seem to be a few steps behind. The search for a substitute for cement is feverish and ways of capturing and storing carbon dioxide are being considered to minimise the emissions released into the atmosphere.
We will follow developments with great interest and play our part. One of the ways we do this is by drawing on our very strong structural design expertise. In our own design projects, green thinking is commonplace, but it is not enough. We also offer design reviews and greener solutions for other projects. In particular, oversizing of structures is a common and frustrating source of emissions. Alongside these, we also conduct our own research, including in the form of theses.
The emissions inventory started this year. Responsible reporting will start next year. Worthy of our environment - there are goals and actions. Every day!
For more information:
Marko Liukko, Development Director
