A boost for infrastructure innovation through smarter supply chains
21 May 2018
ISCA:
In a clear signal that smarter, more
sustainable
supply chains are key to improving
social,
environmental and
economic outcomes across Australian infrastructure projects, the
Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia (ISCA) has released
details of new Innovation Challenges for registered projects.
Working alongside the
Supply Chain Sustainability School on the priority
issue of ‘Supply Chain Education’, ISCA has created seven Innovation
Challenges to encourage projects, assets and organisations to pursue
sustainability initiatives beyond the current IS rating scheme criteria
and contribute to beyond-business-as-usual sustainability outcomes.
“The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia is leading the
way – not just nationally but internationally – when it comes to setting
best practice benchmarks and encouraging innovation for some of the most
significant projects Australia and
New Zealand has ever seen,” says the School’s Chief Executive
Officer, Robin Mellon.
“Though it’s great to see organisations, projects and teams setting
ambitious sustainability targets across more economic and social
issues,” he adds, “we cannot hope to achieve these objectives without
the support of supply chains that understand the words we are using,
recognise the relevance of their role to our projects, and who will work
with us to achieve our goals.”
To reward continuous improvements in the sustainability knowledge of
project participants, two points are now available in the
Infrastructure
Sustainability (IS) rating tools where sustainability training is
provided to at least 80% of project employees, as well as the contractor
and sub-contractor workforce. Education should cover key topics
including; Climate change adaptation; Materials; Waste; Biodiversity;
and Sustainable Construction. Contractors and sub-contractors must also
cover the theme of Environmental management.
The Infrastructure Sustainability Council of Australia is one of the
School’s Founding Partners and Ainsley Simpson, ISCA’s Chief Executive
Officer, says sustainability knowledge has become increasingly important
to employees and suppliers over the last decade.
“Every project employee can contribute to the sustainability outcomes of
the project, particularly on-site employees who play a vital role in
implementing sustainability measures such as waste separation,
water conservation, conservation of ecological sites, and employee
health and well-being,” Ms Simpson says.
“Other Innovation Challenges recently released aim to encourage issues
such as Piloting an updated category, Piloting the Economic Theme or
Workforce Sustainability Category, Carbon Neutrality, Sustainable Site
Facilities, and High clinker substitution in the production of concrete,
as well as the ability for projects to Restore and Renew,” she adds.
In order to qualify for the two Innovation points, registered projects
must provide information such as examples of training material,
attendance at training sessions shown to cover essential elements,
Contractor Action Plans available for free from the Supply Chain
Sustainability School or similar organisation, demonstrated increases in
sustainability knowledge over time, with reports from the Supply Chain
Sustainability School or similar organisation showing improvements.
Launched in March 2015, the School was established to increase
sustainability knowledge and competency along construction and
infrastructure supply chains, and has grown steadily since. The School
is funded and supported by 17 partner organisations across the private,
public and not-for-profit sectors, including industry leaders such as
Downer Group,
Dulux Group,
John Holland,
Laing O’Rourke,
Landcom,
Lendlease,
Mirvac,
Stockland and
Sustainability
Victoria.
“Now that there is a free, readily available way for project teams,
organisations, contractors and extended supply chains to access
sustainability learning resources in a variety of formats – with a
resource library that is being constantly updated to highlight priority
issues and case studies – the School will collaborate with organisations
such as ISCA to demonstrate and measure improvements in sustainability
knowledge by topic, by state or by profession,” Mr Mellon states.
“We look forward to working with the School on educating current
infrastructure contractors, workers and their supply chains about
essential sustainability topics and the IS rating tools, as well as
emerging trends and innovation, through the range of free School
learning resources and comprehensive ISCA training,” Ms Simpson
concludes.
--ENDS--
Source: ISCA - www.isca.org.au
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