Delivering social value is a key objective of the water industry AMP 8 asset management period. What does this look like in an industry that is essentially all about delivering value to society? After all, what could be more valuable than a plentiful, clean and reliable water supply?
While it’s easy to highlight isolated initiatives and good causes, we believe that delivering social value should be structural. In other words, it should largely be something that the business routinely delivers through the way we work and manage our projects.
Sustainability
One of the most significant social value impacts a structural steelwork specialist can make is in the area of sustainability. Ours is an energy-intensive activity in terms of the materials we select, how we process them and how we minimise their use through smarter design and attention to detail.
FTE was recently awarded an Achilles Sustainability Score of 75%. FTE has also achieved silver member status of the Steel Construction Sustainability Charter (SCSC).
We’ve achieved this by prioritising recycled materials, using solar power to generate over 60% of our annual energy needs, and deploying an integrated design-to-installation process that reduces waste and avoids the need for reworks that consume materials, time and budgets.
The carbon emissions of contractors and subcontractors engaged in AMP 8 are potentially huge. Each should demonstrate full accountability along with the ability to manage and minimise their carbon footprint.
Financial Efficiency
Another product of FTE’s structural approach to sustainability is financial efficiency – not just for the structures that we deliver such as structures protecting and supporting vital process equipment, walkways and gantries, but also for wider investment programmes where steel and hybrid GRP structures must be delivered cost-effectively and on time to keep everything on schedule.
While we do many things to support communities and good causes – such as donating to the RNLI and sponsoring a sports medic at Southampton Rugby Club – we believe the biggest social value impact comes from how we deliver every project efficiently and sustainably using our intelligent integration approach.
You can find out more about intelligent integration and how it could enhance AMP 8 delivery by accessing our free information hub below.
