The term Sustainable Development has become a starting point for discussions on setting environmental policy. The term has many definitions, however, the classic definition given in the 1987 World Commission on Environment Report (the Bruntland Report) defines this as:-
“Meeting the needs of current generations without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”.
In Haden Young we have a set of values and business principles that lead us to agree with that wide definition.
We have carefully studied our business and identified the significant environmental aspects caused by our work. This helped us to set policies that actively manage those impacts and help drive continual improvement in areas where we can make a difference.
Haden Young has established a Sustainable Development Policy. Our approach to sustainable development is guided by the way we have approached our ISO 14001 accreditation. This demands continual improvement and has led us to look at the impacts of our operations during construction, but also beyond that to consider our influence on the life-cycle environmental footprint of the facilities we are involved with designing.
Design
Where we have design responsibility we, or our design Consultant, will evaluate the environmental impact of operating the building and, where necessary, consider sustainable energy sources and energy saving measures that can be applied on the Project.
Cutting edge mechanical and electrical design solutions are considered where they provide more sustainable facilities and are commercially viable. We examine, in detail, emissions to air and water; waste management; contamination of land, use of raw materials and natural resources and also local environmental and community issues.
During the planning phase we consider options and agree what elements of the work need investigation. Agreed mitigation procedures are implemented to limit the environmental impact of our works. We then monitor the detail design to ensure compliance with previously proposed solutions and at completion of the work we examine the end result to consider potential for future improvement.
This approach leads to designing and building to achieve heat and energy efficiency, minimising emissions and pollution, and avoiding contamination.
For some examples of Haden Young projects with energy saving and green features, see Expertise > Energy & Environment.
Operational and Construction Activities
Each Region operates an Environmental Work Group to ensure company policies are implemented. They review the regional business’s environmental aspects and determine mitigation measures such as the sourcing of office and construction site consumables and materials from renewable sources. They also promote and sponsor initiatives such as reducing energy usage.
Prior to starting any work on site pre-start meetings consider environmental aspects and the proposals for prevention, control and mitigation of these.
We conduct risk assessments that require consideration of alternatives to, and control of any selected potentially hazardous substances.