The number of professionals saying sustainability is usually or always achieved on projects drops by 10% compared to 2014, NBS survey reveals
Fewer construction projects are achieving sustainability targets than over a decade ago, with cost and a lack of client demand the main barriers to success, the latest research has revealed.
The NBS Sustainable Futures Report 2024 was compiled in association with Glenigan and the RIBA and quizzed 568 construction professionals, the vast majority based in the UK, on key issues impacting environmental performance on projects.
Respondents covered a range of roles, mostly consultants such as architects and engineers, from organisations small and large.
Encouragingly, almost nine out of ten respondents said they worked on projects with sustainable outcome targets and 66% said they do so most or all of the time.
Some 43% of respondents said sustainability is usually or always achieved on their projects, up 10% on the NBS’ previous survey in 2022. The equivalent figure among architects was lower, at 35%.
However, the trend over the longer term was more concerning, over half of respondents (53%) in 2014 said their projects were usually or always sustainable and in 2012 the figure was 49%.
NBS said one possible explanation for the decrease in performance over time is an increased focus on sustainable outcomes, strengthening of legislation and the availability of more sustainable products.
Turning to the main barriers to success on sustainability, two-thirds, or 63%, pointed to the cost of achieving sustainability as the main cause. A lack of client demand was the second major driver, chosen by half of respondents, and the biggest barrier among architects, chosen by 61%. The third biggest barrier was sustainable products being ‘value engineered’ out of projects, at 41%.
On sustainability reporting, the report found clients are most likely to measure and report on sustainability metrics, with 88% saying they do so on at least some projects, compared with 70% of consultants. Larger organisations are more likely to track sustainability metrics, with 54% saying they do this on most or all projects.
Over 90% of respondents, excluding suppliers, said they agreed that a robust specification is important to achieving sustainable outcomes and the same percentage agreed that more manufacturers need to provide this type of information. This figure rises to 94% among architects.
The survey results suggest that specifiers will choose sustainable alternatives, with 46% saying they only specify or chose a named manufacturer if they had declared better-than-average sustainability credentials, rising to 52% among architects.
Only 19% or respondents said they actively disagreed with this approach, and just over one-third did not express a view either way.
Many organisations are now taking steps to embed sustainability into their procedures and processes. Over three-quarters, 76%, said sustainability was a board-level agenda item, slightly up on 75% in 2021, and almost half, or 49%, employ someone to ensure sustainable project outcomes, compared to 47% in 2021. Furthermore, 60% employ someone to manage the sustainability impacts of their organisation, a question not asked in 2021.
Among architects, 36% employ someone to ensure sustainable project outcomes, and 45% to manage the sustainability impact of their organisation.
Turning to policy support for driving sustainability, the vast majority of respondents (88%) agreed that governments should offer more support to help existing buildings and infrastructure get to net zero. This increased to 96% among architects. According to NBS, the proportions were virtually the same in the 2021 survey, implying that little has changed.
In terms of government sustainability policy in general, only 40% agree that it’s heading in the right direction, dropping to 32% among architects. Over a third, or 36% overall and 43% of architects said they disagree.
Chartered architects are being encouraged to sign up to the RIBA’s 2030 Climate Challenge, an incrementally improving set of voluntary performance targets that encompasses operational energy use, water use and embodied carbon.