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Demonstrating how sustainable you are

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 19:15:22 GMT

How you can demonstrate what your sustainable projects are achieving

If you’re organisation is taking steps to improve the sustainability of your construction projects and operations, then you will want to be able to demonstrate what you are achieving.

This can benefit you by:

- Motivating your inhouse teams to celebrate their achievements

- Demonstrating your credentials to customers and investors

- Giving you a prominent position within your sector

- Making your organisation more attractive to eco-conscious recruits

Whilst there are many claims of sustainability being made, the credibility of some of these claims is often called into question. This has often been termed as “greenwashing” and it is detrimental to both anyone relying on these claims, and also, to the company making the claims because at some point, they will realise that they’re efforts are not as sustainable as they believed they were.

There are many examples of this presently in the built environment, especially where a company has focused solely on reducing its in-use emissions, to deliver what they believe to be an “eco-building” or an apparently sustainable technology. Unfortunately this completely omits to address the significant level of emissions and environmental impact involved in the construction of the asset, and it is unfortunately common to see such “eco” properties constructed from significant quantities of materials such as glass, concrete and steel (which are well known to play a huge part in overall global emissions), or sometimes the completed asset is not used in any volume, so it may not even offset the impact of its own delivery phase.

Corporate targets

Science based targets are an internationally recognised method for organisations to measure and record their progress toward reducing emissions. These include a holistic view of all of the emissions that a company produces, and include each of scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions. Organisations that are serious about demonstrating their sustainability achievements would be strongly recommended to investigate these further at https://sciencebasedtargets.org/ . They provide extensive guidance for measuring, reporting and addressing emissions, with industry sector focus. Offering a range of target-setting resources and guidance, the SBTi independently assesses and approves companies’ targets in line with its strict criteria. These also align with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol https://ghgprotocol.org/ which is the world's most widely used greenhouse gas accounting standards.

Sector Wide Performance

The built environment sector is clearly very important if the target for the UK to reduce its carbon emissions by 78% by 2035. The built environment accounts for 43% of UK emissions, so without its contribution we will not meet this target. As such “ConstructZero” is a UK-wide industry initiative (led by the Construction Leadership Council) which has set out 9 targets and headline commitments, with metrics for measurement at both the business and project level. For the sake of cohesion and consistency, organisations delivering projects should consider how they can align with these targets when planning and executing their projects.

Construction Project Reporting

There are a number of national initiatives in the UK, backed by and including all of the prominent and well respected built environment bodies, trade associations and professional institutions. One of these is LETI, which has developed a series of guidance and case study examples for various project types, following detailed and substantiated methods of measurement, typically based on the global whole life carbon measurement standards developed by the RICS and CIBSE, thereby providing a methodology for both structural and services elements. The projects they have focused on to date have drawn on the experience and expertise of some of the UK built environment sector’s most prominent design, engineering and project management companies to deliver positive improvements.

Consistency & Transparency

To date however not all organisations are following the industry standards which are emerging. If organisations within the sector are measuring different things, in a different way, how can we compare like for like? How can we be sure that what is designed is actually delivering the benefits sought in practice?

It is very helpful for reporting if all organisations in the supply chain are working to the same of very similar methodology. Of course this is not only relevant for emissions but also for other aspects of sustainability, and so the industry’s Supply Chain Sustainability School has worked with its members to agree a standard set of common measurements for carbon, waste, water and materials, all measures which are being used more and more widely across the UK. They also provide a vast free library of resources and guidance for supply chains at https://www.supplychainschool.co.uk/topics/sustainability/performance-measurement

Please get in touch with us for more information about how we can help you to target and measure sustainable projects and equipment maintenance.

Reducing construction pollution

Wed, 05 Apr 2023 17:39:10 GMT

Reducing pollution from construction

The construction of buildings and other site uses is normally intended to create something that stands the test of time. To achieve this, materials are chosen for their natural durability or they are manufactured or treated, often including a form of chemical, to be nature resistant. An example might be covering timber in paint to preserve it. Unfortunately, the process of creating materials which are resistant to the elements and natural processes can sometimes also come with side effects, which can cause pollution if not adequately constrained to their intended use.

Typical forms of pollution associated with the built environment can include:

- Air pollution

- Water pollution

- Soil pollution

- Noise pollution

It is therefore incumbent on everyone working in the built environment sector to seek ways to address potential causes of pollution.

Of course, it is not just the construction process which is relevant to pollution. All of these types of pollution can also be caused during the use of the property too.

Air pollution

There are many forms of air pollution, including both the widely discussed green house gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane and the derivatives of refrigerants, as just a few examples) as well as particulate matter and dusts.

The UK’s construction industry produced approximately 11.4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions in 2020. This was roughly 3% of the total of UK-source emissions. Roughly half of this comes from larger civil engineering projects, whereas the construction of buildings accounts for roughly 20% of this amount. The impact of GHGs is now well versed, for example affecting climate change.

The types of construction activity that contribute most to air pollution include demolition, clearing of land, emissions from transport / plant and the toxicity of materials being used in the construction itself – an example being dusts from construction powders such as cements, and vapours from liquids or plastics, such as oils, paints and other chemicals.

Construction dusts can remain airborne over long distances meaning that they can cause pollution a long way from the site. Construction is responsible for around 4% of particulate emissions. Particulates are classified based on their size. PM10 particulates, for example which are so small as to be invisible to the naked eye and include dusts as arising from cement, stone, wood or silica . The burning of diesel also contributes to PM10, including sulphates and nitrates.

PM10 are of particular concern to human and wildlife health , as they can combine with the air we breathe and end up in our lungs. According to London Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (LAEI) site activities combined with the machinery used by the construction industry contributes 4% of the total NOx, 30% of the PM10 and 8% of the PM2.5 emissions in London. The overall air pollution leads to around 9,500 fatalities in the general population each year, so the proportional impact that construction activities contribute towards is significant .

Whilst the immediate impact on construction workers can be mitigated locally through exposure limits and the use of RPE, the wider impact of air pollution means that more should be done to minimise the pollution at source.

Water pollution

Construction is responsible for more water pollution incidents than any other sector . Sources are fairly obvious, and include any liquids, chemicals, dusts, spoils and other arisings etc. If these materials end up in the natural water courses (fresh or salt water), then they can have both a physical and biological effect. This could include silting or blocking of water flow, or direct harm to flora and fauna, for example by affecting natural processes such as photosynthesis or changing the pH of the water.

Water-borne wildlife is an important part of wider ecosystems so water pollution has the potential to have very widespread effects on nature . We also rely on water courses for our drinking water , so the more contaminants there are, the more treatment is required before it is safe for human use or consumption.

Soil and land pollution

According to the Natural History Museum roughly a third of the world’s soil is moderately to highly degraded, threatening global food supplies, increasing carbon emissions and foreshadowing mass migration.

Construction can impact soil and land pollution in a number of ways. One of the more visible ways is often the illegal dumping or fly tipping of wastes by unscrupulous companies. This can of course be addressed throughout the project cycle through thorough procurement due diligence, waste licensing and site controls.

The widespread use of tarmac and concrete prevents water from being absorbed into the ground. This results in the death of millions of microorganisms and can lead to water runoff in other areas where it may cause flooding and erosion . Imbalances in soil fertility can eventually have a knock-on effect on food security .

Groundwater can be polluted which damages the underlying fertility of the soil and soil erosion can also occur where design or construction processes allow for inappropriate removal of vegetation. Soil degradation can have disastrous effects such as landslides and floods. Industrial pollutants and run-off are common causes, as well as poor management of drainage. Soil erosion can also further impact levels of water pollution.

The UN estimates that there are over 2 million potentially polluted land sites in Europe alone . Polluted land often requires remediation before it can be used, leading to large costs for owners. The sourcing of materials from countries where there are likely to be greater known risks should therefore be considered and assessed by considerate developers, and alternatives considered, or active management plans developed with the relevant members of the supply chain.

Noise pollution

Construction is the cause of thousands of noise-related complaints every year . This can be both due to the inherent site processes such as the use of heavy machinery and drilling, excavating, hammering etc., as well as the elevated noise associated with the workers themselves.

As well as the impact on nearby properties, the public, passers-by and on plants and animals, noise can also lead to occupational health issues for the construction workers themselves. Ensuring adequate health and safety practices is therefore essential.

Selection of processes, tools, off-site manufacture and the timing or sequencing of the work can all help with reducing noise levels, or minimising the number of people who may be present when certain activities are taking place.

Preventing & Managing Pollution

Construction management plans can alleviate most forms of pollution. The first step would be to risk assess the materials proposed to be used, and the processes for installation to identify potential sources of pollution. Mitigations and alternatives can then be considered.

Potential sources of pollution or pollution-causing processes can be designed or procured out . Where no alternatives exist, or where the resources cannot be eliminated or substituted entirely, then reducing the materials being used, or screening or containing them within a small area can be investigated. Dusts can often be controlled through damping or misting for example. The design and material ordering process can be used to appropriately size materials to reduce onsite processing.

Of course, knowing and following the various environmental protection regulations that are in place also provides a good level of control. Gradually, the levels of enforcement and the scope of penalties being applied to firms is also acting as a strong incentive to take care of potentially polluting substances, whereas previously there were often lesser ramifications for poor site practices.

Joining a scheme such as Considerate Constructors or following the guidance of one of the many industry schemes or advisory bodies is also helpful. The Centre for Low Emission Construction is one such organisation (run by Imperial College) which provides task specific advice for potential control measures to minimise pollution. For any operator seeking to build out a programme of site developments, such organisations are often keen to engage to find lasting solutions, which can be developed and then replicated over multiple job sites, for greater benefit.

Sourcing to reduce pollution

It is not just the effect of pollutants close to the development site which are important. Where materials are transported in, and especially where materials originate overseas, there will be a pollution effect associated with each of the extraction, processing, manufacture and transportation of the materials. Controls to identify and mitigate pollution in some countries will understandably be less stringent in some parts of the world, so the specification and procurement processes should take account of these factors at the earliest stages of design.

To do this a good knowledge of the sources of material, including a good grasp of the supply chain is required. There are various sources of information to collate such insight. Often, the offsite sources of pollution can far outweigh the onsite potential for pollution, so this might be expected to grow in importance in years to come as people become more aware of environmental issues. (This could influence both the potential customers of the site operator, and, the ability to recruit employees).

Evenlode Roadside has access to effective pre-construction and construction techniques, as well as experts in different parts of the supply chain, with a view to reducing potential sources of pollution. Please contact us for more information if you are interested in finding ways to understand and reduce the potential sources of pollution from your projects.

Reducing Waste

Wed, 29 Mar 2023 09:52:48 GMT

Reducing overall consumption will have an impact on reducing your footprint

Reducing overall consumption of all products will have an impact on reducing your footprint on the environment. Waste can add a significant amount to the volume of materials consumed on a development project. This not only affects the environment but also adds needless cost.

According to a research paper by the Construction Products Association UK construction accounts for by far the largest flow of annual waste, in terms of tonnage, although much of this is reclaimed and used as aggregate. However this still leaves over 5 million tonnes of construction waste each year that ends up in landfill.

At the time of writing, at £102.10 per tonne, this equates to over £500 million per annum in landfill taxes. It has also been estimated tat over 10% of materials ordered d not get used. Considering typical company margins, this is a clear opportunity for commercial benefit if managed proactively.

Heavy construction waste

Construction waste comes from three main sources:

- Materials wasted during the construction process on site

- Demolition

- Excavation

This is known as construction, demolition and excavation waste (CD&E).

Defra figures report that roughly 90% of the construction and demolition waste is down-cycled and re-used, but less than half of excavated waste is re-used.

Initiatives such as Construct2zero call for companies involved in construction to target an Annual reduction in construction and demolition waste and excavation waste, measured in terms of tonnes/£m output (e.g. measured per turnover).

Given the latest statistics, a focus for reduction of waste ought to be smarter design and practices for excavation.

Plastic waste

Other forms of waste can have a significant detrimental effect. For example, plastic wastes and their impacts on ecology have been well documented in recent years. (If somehow you’ve missed that – short story – they’re really bad for living creatures and ecosystems). It is estimated that by 2050 there could be more waste plastic in the ocean than there are fish.

Carefully consider how and when you use plastics in your projects. Are there alternatives?

Plastics can often be found in projects, very often as packaging. The Plastic Packaging Tax is an environmental tax that has been designed to provide a financial incentive for businesses to use recycled plastic in the manufacturing of plastic packaging, intended to stimulate recycling of plastic waste and diverting it away from landfill or incineration.

Offsite construction

Where components and building elements can be carefully designed and manufactured off-site in factory conditions, there ought to be a greater opportunity to reduce the amount of waste generated, e.g. by sizing components to use whole sheets or runs of material and to avoid wasteful off-cuts. Dimensional design is an example of this whereby builds are sized to make use of whole components, such as the standard lengths of bricks or blocks, reducing on-site manipulation, cutting and waste.

Computer aided design can also be beneficial where simulation and modelling can be used to better plan for interfaces and connections.

Designing for longevity or flexibility

Another common source of waste is premature replacement.

This can happen for a few general reasons. Either:

The materials were not appropriately specified or designed for their intended purpose, resulting in early failure, or
Use or needs change, meaning that perfectly functional items are no longer required.
Sturdy materials were specified that have lasted well, but, the use of the premises has evolved, and the components are no longer required. Using a 50 year-life material for a 10 year application might be an example. Not only wasteful of resource, but also cost.

Fittings and furniture can be a common source of such waste, particularly when replaced due to either heavy use, or quite often, simply due to changes in taste or fashion. Designing for aesthetic and / or functional longevity might therefore be a solution to this issue, at least in part.

Access to good practice

A proactive approach to designing out construction waste and procuring operational waste processes is required.

Much waste is generated inadvertently by:

- over-ordering

- ordering the wrong thing

- damage by mishandling materials

- off-cuts

- inadequate storage of materials

- unnecessary packaging, e.g. plastics and cardboard

Having a well thought through approach to the way to design, procure and manage your projects is therefore important. Time spent upfront getting this right can help a lot. Ongoing management practices are also beneficial.

Various supply chain education programmes exist. These encourage contractors to put their staff through training and awareness programmes to raise awareness of best practice.

Evenlode Roadside can help to guide you toward useful resources to reduce the amount of waste generated on your projects.

Ethical & Social Considerations in Sustainability

Wed, 22 Mar 2023 18:53:22 GMT

Ethical and Social Considerations in Sustainability

Whilst a lot of focus is currently on the pressing matter of reducing the impact on climate change, and in particular the reduction of carbon emissions, this only makes up a small part of the wider topic of sustainability .

Sustainability also encompasses many other aspects of the environment as well as touching on the topics of ethical procurement and beneficial impacts on people.

Business and commerce have a profound impact on all of these topics, which can be summarised under a series of headings including:

human rights,
environmental sustainability and
economic (inclusive of bribery / corruption)

All of these topics ought to be factored in to an effective, ethical and sustainable approach to doing business, and hence, the way that we choose to contract with supply chains.

Understand the Make-Up of Your Supply Chain

Supply chains typically comprise of many tiers. These tiers or levels quite often spread throughout the world, and often in geographies that we might never have expected. Often, the raw materials that go into what we procure can originate in developing nations, and the labour involved at various stages of the sometimes lengthy supply process can be located all over the world.

The result is that a considerable part our supply chains is often out of sight and out of mind, including in countries which quite possibly don’t have the same levels of welfare, protection and rules of law as we come to expect.

Where we are seeking to establishing new supply chains and relationships for new industries or emerging technologies, we have an opportunity (and some might say an imperative) to do things in a positive way and ensure the 3 broad tenets of sustainability.

Sustainable Development Goals

"The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by the United Nations in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

The 17 SDGs are integrated—they recognize that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance social, economic and environmental sustainability."

Some of these goals will be more or less relevant to your specific line of business and supply chain reach, but all are worth understanding.

Many of the worlds emerging key raw materials (for example those required by low-carbon technology) come from areas which are specifically targeted by the goals.

Goals 1-5 generally deal with quality of life, including:

1 Poverty; with specific reference to things sourced from south Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
2 Hunger; environmental degradation, drought and food insecurity is common in Africa and South America.
3 Health; life expectancy, a lack of healthcare, inadequate social protections, deaths due to pollution all occur in many countries.
4 Education; challenges exist in western Asia and north Africa, central and sub-Saharan Africa - not all children are attending school.
5 Gender equality; violence and pay equality are common issues in many geographies.

Goals 6-7 are concerned with access to water & energy:

6 Water & sanitation; water stress, drought (for example as widely occurred in 2022), water pollution, flooding.
7 Accessible and affordable energy; are renewables accessible? Whilst energy is the biggest contributor to climate change globally, many of the poorest people do not have adequate access to energy.

Goals 8-10 are about the benefits of work, economy and infrastructure:

8 Decent work and growth; Issues such as high unemployment, forced labour, trafficking, modern day slavery. Even in the UK (and especially in some sectors) these issues exist. Over 700million people still earn less than $3 / day.
9 Infrastructure; Access to the internet, electricity, sanitation, efficiency and suitability are all issues. Do the people providing raw materials from Africa enjoy the benefits that their raw materials deliver to us in the developed world in terms of the low carbon economy?
10 Inequality; Whilst income inequality is low in Europe it is high in many places, for example the middle east.

Goals 11-13 focus on cities, consumption and climate:

11 Sustainable cities and communities; Urbanisation continues apace, but is there safe housing, suitable build standards, sustainable transport, slum dwelling, high energy use?
12 Consumption; Water use, pollution, lack of recycling. There is the paradigm of food shortages in the developing world versus obesity in the developed world. There is likely to be an increased emphasis on the impact of food availability on local populations in the future.
13 Climate; We’re all well aware of global warming, natural disasters, the push to net zero by 2050, and the need to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees.

Goals 14-15 are about biodiversity and nature:

14 Oceans; are affected by over-fishing, acidification, reliance on the ecosystem.
15 Forestry; biodiversity loss over the past half century has been profound, often directly caused by our insatiable appetite for sources of food and timber which can lead to desertification.

Goal 16 is about justice and goal 17 about working together to achieve the goals:

16 Peace, stability, human rights, governance , crime, bribery, theft are challenges in some geographies.
17 North-south and south-south cooperation and trade can encourage the flow of capital, ideas, technology and lead to localised capacity building, to benefit their futures.

Good examples of action

Whilst the above list of goals can feel overwhelming, increasingly industrial companies are setting clear plans to address their impact on the SDGs through their day to day dealings. For example a number of larger construction companies include the impact on the SDGs in their sustainability plans.

Publicly available industry standards are also available in the UK (and other countries) for the sourcing of both labour and materials.

Access to good practice

A considered approach to your sourcing strategy is needed to adequately address the factors mentioned here.

There are various sources of information to inform your choices.

Inevitably, in a globalised economy somewhere in your supply chain there will be an interaction with or potential for economic contact with the issues that the SDGs strive to address.

A clear approach to procurement policy, supplier codes of practice, ethical procurement policies, the use of professional expertise, awareness training and careful project and procurement governance can go a long way to ensuring that these issues are both anticipated and dealt with in a transparent and productive way .

Please contact us for more information about how sustainable and ethical issues can be addressed in your organisations supply chains.

Determine your Investment Strategy for your Aging Equipment

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 18:47:44 GMT

Determine your Investment Strategy for your Aging Equipment as we transition to clean energy

The Operator’s Dilemma

All operators face a continuous need to keep on top of their estate to ensure that their equipment is consistently reliable and presented in good condition . This will keep customers satisfied with the brand.

With rising costs affecting all parts of business, the amount of capital available for re-investment however is increasingly constrained. As part of the energy transition, changes in customer behaviour may mean old tried and tested return on investment models are no longer valid.

The rapidly changing fuels environment and the significant growth in EV vehicles, means that operators need to be able to have a way of choosing:

- where to invest their money,

- how much to spend, and

- when to make the investments

Understanding Current Performance

Experience tells us that in any estate, there are always trends and differences in performance, downtime and maintenance costs from site to site. These can be for any number of reasons which require data interrogation to properly understand them.

Real time data analytics and expertise can provide the operator with a distinct advantage. Frequently validating and analysing your data linked to performance can help you prioritise where to deploy your resources more effectively. Equipment performance analysis should be delivered in a consistent manner to allow easy comparison. The organisation can then put its efforts into understanding the information and planning its strategy for equipment investment.

It is often found that a small proportion of sites or equipment can be having a disproportionate impact on the overall uptime and the cost of running the estate. A clear review of equipment performance data can identify this.

Benchmarking the performance of equipment over its whole life can be used to compare equipment manufacturers or models to one another, with various techniques now available to link the actual equipment to break fix data, asset registers and to measure the impact of planned maintenance regimes.

To obtain the best sort of data and information to do this performance analysis, it is recommended that the operator has a client-owned and contractor-independent source of data. The supplier will have little incentive to help you with this task, so ownership of the data gives you an advantage when planning your investments.

Prioritising Investment

When the operator knows which equipment is performing well, and conversely, which other equipment is failing more often, then they can prioritise where replacement is required and when to do so.

As estates age, it is common that capex requirements for replacement can often exceed the annual capex budget. An approach which allows for carefully thought through prioritisation is therefore essential.

Ideally what you require is the ability to forecast way into the future so that you can accurately model capex needs to avoid shortfalls in the future. The impact of investment can also be used to more accurately predict and control your opex spend too. Good forecasting based on sound data analysis also allows you to manage the impact of future equipment obsolescence and difficulties with obtaining emergency spares or making effective and timely repairs.

Traditional Approaches

Unfortunately, we find that many operators utilise equipment replacement approaches which do not take into account enhanced prioritisation, or only apply a limited amount of the data that is truly available to them.

A traditional approach is often to base the capital replacement planning on either:

Average asset age
Number of breakdown interventions
Perceptions that one manufacturer’s equipment is of lower quality compared to another’s
A last-minute condition survey, which normally requires time and resource
Believing the supplier or contractor who provides you with a replacement schedule (which they’ll deliver for you)

To further compound this, when selecting the replacement equipment, then the traditional approach might also include:

Simply replace existing stock with the same manufacturer’s equipment
Looking for the cheapest alternative price to allow you to replace more assets in the short term
Buying premium cost equipment on the basis that you think that the more you spend up front the longer the equipment will last, and, that operational costs and downtime will be lower.

Whilst these approaches can in part prove true, more often we find that when the data is interrogated, patterns emerge within the same set of equipment across different locations, or at the same location in the case of multiple similar assets where they are co-located.

It is possible instead to use break-fix data to understand the life of the assets in your real circumstances. What is critical is knowing how these asset costs relate to your profit and the income each asset contributes to at a site level.

Achieving Enhanced Results

Using advanced equipment prioritisation methods can deliver a range of benefits:

You can focus your investments on your higher performing assets or those which are more critical to your operations , thereby driving more revenue and a higher return on investment .
5-year capex planning can ensure adequate budgets are available both now and into the future.
Specific assets which drive the opex costs up disproportionally can be targeted for action. Not only does this fix pervasive issues, but the return on investment of a smaller, more targeted spend can be greater than spending more capex in a non-targeted way.
Often, equipment can last much longer than the manufacturers anticipated life span and well-timed replacement can release a lot of otherwise premature capex spend for other more targeted investment.
Investment can be targeted toward specific models or parts, to smooth out the impact of equipment obsolescence .
Opportunities for design modifications can greatly reduce break fix call outs and prevent your daily operations being interrupted
Identifying critical points in the break-fix cycle, means interventions that typically result in significant downtime can be planned and therefore controlled, for example motors, on board compressors, software failure, controls or belt replacements
Investing in specific enabling technology, for example wi-fi connectivity and remote diagnostics can also deliver performance improvements, simply by enhancing connection speeds where your more modern equipment relies on this for performance.

Buy Yourself Time

You will also now be getting repeatedly told how you need to transition your estate urgently to reflect the emerging trends. For example, by installing the very latest energy efficient equipment, or, installing new EV capabilities, but you probably cannot afford to do it all at once let alone carry the resources to see it through quickly. Applying enhanced prioritisation approaches to your existing equipment can buy you the time to make these decisions on your terms and in your time , so that you ultimately achieve a better rate of return.

You can extend the life of your existing equipment and stretch your capex investment budgets, so that your investment can be considered and planned when you want it. In the meantime, you can also benefit from better equipment uptime of your existing estate.

How can you achieve this?

Evenlode Roadside have been using advanced prioritised investment techniques for decades and are ready and waiting to help you to plan and make investment decisions.

Manage remedial actions through to completion

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 19:02:44 GMT

Manage remedial actions through to completion

In a previous article we looked at the importance of completing and validating compliance tasks , and, for ensuring that PPM activities have been completed and validated correctly. One of the common failings that is often cited in any public hearings following an unfortunate incident is along the lines of the statement

“the company was warned about ‘risk’, but failed to act accordingly”.

Failure to manage remedial actions can occur when

A formal risk assessment has identified outstanding works or management actions, which subsequently become overdue
A scheduled service report identified faults or further works, which ought to be performed to maintain the equipment’s condition, but they’re never completed
An internal H&S audit identifies failings or areas for improvement
An enforcement or prohibition notice is issued by a regulating body
Following an equipment breakdown, the asset is bring back into service but other parts are required to complete the task fully

So what can go wrong?

Whereas systems are available that can schedule the initial planned task, the ability and diligence to track any follow up actions through to completion is often a real headache for operators .

It is very common to find that if a deep dive audit is undertaken, and unless a professional approach is in place, many outstanding remedial actions can go unresolved for some time, and in some cases might never be tidied up . The issue is a lot more common than senior management might normally expect it to be.

Clearly, if a remedial action plan has identified a significant issue, then for legal compliance it needs to be addressed.

Unfortunately for operators who have many sites, and especially those whose network is growing fast, the growth often comes before adequate means of control are implemented. The risks for these organisations is significant and it only increases as the estate grows.

What makes following up remedial actions so difficult?

The challenges can exist in many parts of the workflow process, including:

Specialist contractors may not be contracted to complete the repair
There can often be no actual way of identifying and logging that further actions are required
The review of initial task reports is often not automated. In these instances, the requirement for a remedial action can be simply overlooked and not followed up.
Maintenance teams are over-stretched with little time to check the reports.
Where validation has been outsourced, the outsourced provider’s staff are not adequately competent, resourced not incentivised / motivated to identify actions.
Once the initial task is “completed” the status report or dashboard shows a completed task, so the impetus to follow through is often lost in the quagmire of the ever growing lists of jobs.
Assuming the task is logged for follow up, the system for tracking and verifying is not sufficiently robust.
Often remedial actions require works to be quoted for, and it is common that robust administrative processes both for soliciting and validating quotes is sorely lacking.
Managerial actions are often not followed up if they are owned by personnel in other departments.
There is no clearly defined system which accurately tracks the tasks and reports them in one single source of truth.

How do you know when the remedial task is done?

As we have indicated, there are multiple reasons that tasks might not be getting done. But how do we know the tasks are being completed?

One way is to select and implement an intelligent software system, that is carefully designed and implemented, with appropriate governance embedded within the operator’s organisation. Importantly, the supply chain also need to be brought along over time, and specialist input is normally required to ensure this is done and their behaviours reinforced.

Some, but not all systems can now clearly show the actual status of a task, in granular detail, and in real-time. This can distinguish between a task that has been scheduled, initially completed and those tasks where remedial actions are now outstanding. Clever reporting mechanisms can keep track of who is responsible for completion of the task, and issue reminders and managerial reports to keep key people aware of the status.

The use of geo fencing in todays software means tasks can only be validated or closed out when the operative is still on site as opposed to competing a retrospective closure of tasks at the end of the working day.

Is it compliant or not?

We have previously indicated that until all the remedial actions are completed, the equipment is most likely not compliant.

All operators will want to know that their estate is safe for its customers, so having a firm handle on this is becoming more important.

A solution

Evenlode Roadside has experience of working with many multi-site operators and understands the pros and cons of many different software systems to ensure that equipment is compliant. Solutions to managing remedial action compliance in a holistic manner can include a thorough end to end audit and deep dive into existing records, policies and processes to understand the true status of your compliance. A solution that compliments or enhances your internal processes and governance can then be established.

The end to end compliance process includes having:

Clear policies and procedures
Competent advice over technical matters, from industry experts
Equipment risk assessments
Control measures that include appropriately scheduled and specified tasks
Responsible parties who are either internal or who are professionally procured accredited specialists
Defined resources and regular training
Thorough records of all tasks, inspections, servicing, tests and examinations
Prioritisation of resource to complete the most pressing tasks
Evidence of regular auditing of remedial task completion
Proactive monitoring and follow-through to prevent actions being completed late

A key benefit of a thorough thus type of approach is the real-time visibility that you can achieve. You can gain the confidence that the data you are being shown is true, accurate and up to date. Not only can you gain compliance, you can also keep ongoing control of it. Often these benefits can be realised by your in-house teams if they are provided with the right level of experienced support and guidance. This is a particular benefit where your teams are stretched .

The way you approach the management of your compliance ought to be independent of your suppliers and contractors. This ensures that you have control and there are no conflicting interests in the timely reporting of information.

Ultimately, applying the solutions mentioned above reduces the operators costs, administrative burden and corporate risks.

Please contact Evenlode Roadside for more information to significantly improve the compliance of your network.

Demonstrate compliance and task validation

Wed, 01 Mar 2023 10:42:37 GMT

Establishing a “source of truth” to demonstrate compliance and task validation

How do you know your network is fully compliant?

Every operator wants to be assured that their network is up to date, and that all of their equipment has been fully maintained and complies with all legal requirements and internal group policies. As estates grow in size, the volume of equipment and associated tasks required to monitor, test, inspect or examine each asset at the optimum frequencies creates a significant potential for data overload and arduous administration.

In a previous article we discussed the benefits of workflow management systems to track reactive breakdowns. Many of the same considerations and benefits also exist for defining, planning, scheduling and tracking planned tasks which are required either as preventative measures or to prevent breakdown. In some cases they may also be a legal requirement.

What do I need to do?

A maintenance regime is made up of the following key components.

You must comply with legal requirements to do specific tasks
You should create a balanced preventative maintenance plan which includes pre-meditated tasks to intervene before failure
When equipment fails, you need to have the ability to quickly diagnose and fix it, preferably at the first attempt
If you are able to track all of the above and link this to specific equipment in the form of an asset record, you can strategically plan for asset replacement and upgrade. (See our earlier article)
Make sure you are not just tracking the cost and uptime of your equipment but also the revenue it is generating for your business

Clearly a single source of truth to track all of the above is beneficial, and we have discussed this in a precious article.

Why maintain proactively?

Maintaining your equipment before it fails has a number of key advantages:

Predicting downtime will lead to better availability for your customers
Properly planned equipment interventions are much more cost effective
You can plan for when to undertake intervention to avoid disruptions at at peak trading periods
Having a better understanding of how your network performs gives you better cost certainty for today and the future

Proactive maintenance is primarily based on two components – tasks which must be done to ensure legal compliance (often labelled as compliance tasks) and PPM tasks which are designed to ensure the equipment runs to its optimum levels.

Compliance Tasks

Some requirements are set down in regulations, and are very clearly defined in accordance with industry standards. These are often at set frequencies, with a clear expectation of what records should be kept. For example, the requirements for periodic Electrical Installation Condition Report (EICR) are well defined. (There are many other examples of tasks which have a defined requirement, frequency and output expectation.)

Other compliance tasks however may be based on risk assessment or interpretation of the regulations. Whilst these may not be conducted at intervals which are clearly defined in the regulations, the regulations often use language such as “should be maintained in accordance with manufacturer’s recommendations” or “a risk assessment must be completed at an appropriate frequency”. There is therefore a requirement for the operator to make a policy based decision to determine what tasks they will undertake to comply with these requirements, and how often they will carry them out.

Planned & Preventative Maintenance (PPM)

Careful PPM planning, using clear and well analysed equipment data can deliver the advantages mentioned earlier. PPM normally includes a balance of recommended tasks, for example where suggested by the manufacturer or by industry guidance, coupled with information from breakdowns, linked to the equipment asset, which can be used to identify whether more or less intervention is required to prevent costly failures from occurring. As we mentioned before, understanding the relationship between your assets and your revenue means you may choose to increase the amount and type of PPM works for higher performing or critical equipment, with the costs balanced out by prolonging the PPM intervals on assets that are not delivering the same high performance revenues.

Why do tasks need to be validated

Whether for compliance or PPM tasks there is benefit to knowing that the task has been completed properly. To do so typically requires a number of key steps:

The operator should have a clear policy identifying what tasks are required, how often they shall take place, to what standards and for which specific assets.
A suitably competent person must be engaged, either internally or via a specialist trade contractor. Importantly, a thorough procurement and vetting process must verify their credentials.
You then need to ensure that tasks are appropriately scheduled, booked in with site, and completed on time, and that they have spent sufficient time to complete the tasks properly.
Once the initial task is completed, a report should be issued promptly, identifying the results of the task and, importantly any remedial actions required. (The equipment has not been verified as compliant until all remedial actions are completed, and we will look at this aspect in more detail in another article.
Ideally, when records are received, you will have a way of tracking and verifying that procedures have been followed, and that the tasks have been carried out in accordance with the specification.
Furthermore, have they provided the right records? Has someone competent validated them and do they include for all of the equipment on your site?

Common Pitfalls

We’ve come across many discrepancies when it comes to poorly validated works. This is often found when a new client asks us in to review the state of their compliance. Examples can include:

The contractor has set their own specification for the works they will undertake, and the client / operator has not had the expertise and/or resource to check and confirm that the method of completing the task is appropriate to the need.
The individual performing the task does not have the appropriate qualifications or competence.
The record or certification of the task are either poorly documented, recorded on the wrong type of document, missing key assets or, in some cases can be missing completely.
A report is filed, and the job closed out as complete, even though the report found a number of actions to be completed. These unfortunately might never be followed up.

What can go wrong if a task is non-compliant?

Statistics often demonstrate that when issues or accidents occur, a number of minor failings have often accumulated over time.

Should such failings lead to a serious incident, then, without proper records, the operator would have a significant challenge defending any action taken against them. Where there are records that show that actions have not appropriately been taken or verified, that can also lead to problems, whereby a typical statement might be something along the lines of “the company was warned about ‘risk’, but failed to act accordingly”. This is often a more serious offence, especially if the lack of validation conflicts with your own written internal policies.

It goes without saying that any failure is punishable by the courts, and also, if it involves a breach in health and safety, then the relevant authority or HSE is also likely to take action.

The solution

Evenlode Roadside has many years of experience of procuring, tracking and validating compliance and PPM tasks.

A system that provides a “single source of truth” can be invaluable in managing these issues, but the solution involves much more than just about choosing a software package. The wider tasks required include:

development of clear policies & procedures,
procuring and the performance management of competent providers,
using appropriately trained and competent personnel,
designing and implementing clear administrative workflows.

We would be delighted to discuss your specific needs. Please contact us for more information.

Maintenance Contracts - Do the Terms work in YOUR best interests?

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 19:50:09 GMT

Contract terms – do they really work in your best interests?

It is quite a normal approach for specialist services, and especially equipment maintenance tasks, to be outsourced to specialist contractors. A multi-site network is typically comprised of a number of distinct assets, with many interfaces between hardware and software. This means that a range of specialist contractors or warranty providers has to be managed.

Why do we need contracts?

Despite all the best intentions it must always be remembered that the third party specialist contractors you employ are separate companies who have their own commercial interests to contend with.

Governing the relationship you have with these companies requires the right type of contract, with the appropriate forms of controls and incentives.

What the operator wants to achieve from these contractual relationships includes:

Contractors who are motivated to deliver to the service levls agreed in the contract
The ability to serve the geography for which they are selected
A focus on health and safety and adherence to both the law and your own internal company policies and procedures.
Providing efficient and cost effective methodologies for undertaking the contracted tasks
Incentives to exceed the service levels where there is a mutual benefit to both parties
The ability to make changes and addendums as operational circumstances evolve

Challenges for achieving contracts in FM / maintenance

Unfortunately, the procurement of maintenance contracts has often faced challenges, which can be difficult to overcome without professional expertise.

Maintenance is often seen as an afterthought, and where the specialist contractors are small, is often not seen as strategically important.
Standard forms of contract for maintenance are few and far between, although this is beginning to change.
The level of diligence given to selecting or writing the most appropriate type of contract can be limited or, can fall back on relying on the contractors' own terms.
Because it is not always valued in any strategic sense, maintenance is often awarded on the basis of lowest price and not based on best fit or best value.
Operator policies and procedures can often be ignored in the drafting of the contract, meaning that the contractor has no reason to blend in with the optimum day to day workings nor needs of their client.
Contractors might often quote and provide services based on their own standard terms and conditions. It should not take a genius to work out that their terms are more likely to be favourable to them, than to the operator.
A lack of focus in the contracts can often occur, whereby the operator seeks to include so many targets and performance metrics that the contract can become overbearing to manage and hence often becomes neglected.
In other cases, there might be little or no incentive for the contractor to deliver what the operator wants.
Ultimately if any or all of these circumstances exist, then performance and customer satisfaction will be very difficult to achieve.

This is just a snippet of the many issues that could arise.

Are terms in the contractor or client’s best interests?

The following are a series of examples where the client believes they are getting something, whereas the contractor often has other objectives….

Client / Operator thinks they’re getting:

But the Contractor is motivated to:

Lowest cost through market experience

Generate the maximum possible margin

Transfer of as much risk as possible

Only accepts as much risk as priced for (therefore minimal actual risk transfer)

Leveraging add-on contractor specialisms

Charge any additional services as extras

Continuous innovation to continually evolve

methods and approaches

Initial innovation provided at the outset, but based on previous experiences, not in answer to client’s current needs

A provider who is really motivated to do

anything they can to keep hold of the

contract

Invests only as much resource as necessary to meet contractual obligations

Good quality, transparent data that can

be utilised to benefit the operator

Provide standard data only, often manipulated to support that they have met their contractual objectives

All of the above scenarios can be anticipated and planned for however, by carefully contracting.

How to draft relevant and proportionate contracts

The first step we would recommend would be to engage a professional who is experienced in delivering performance based maintenance contracts, on behalf of the operator.

Key considerations will include:

Selecting a base set of terms and conditions that are appropriate to the service being provided
Ensuring that the purpose and intent of the service being contracted is clear, well thought through, embedded in the selection process and clearly reflected in the terms selected.
All relevant construction and works related requirements are captured, including health and safety matters such as the appropriate approaches to managing CDM where it applies.
Day to day operational procedures are clearly stipulated.
Operator policies and procedures are incorporated in such as way as to compel their compliance.
Incentives for meeting performance expectations are included, with appropriate actions available for non-performance, or failure.
The commercial approach matches the scale of the service being contracted, and that controls are in place for ensuring validation, verification and value for money.
Business continuity is included for. After all, if you can't maintain the site, you might not be able to operate your business.

The benefits to the operator

The key takeaway from this article is that the operator can obtain significant benefit from professionally drafted and managed contracts. These benefits include:

Certainty
Control
The ability to obtain a timely service
Cost effectiveness
A focus on quality and delivery
Health and safety leadership
Assurance and recourse in the event of failure or unplanned events.

Our Experience

We have been drafting, procuring and administering operator-focused specialist maintenance contracts for major multi-site operators for over two decades. Our approaches and experience have resulted in many satisfied clients.

Please get in touch for more information.

Work Order Management – Are your Suppliers delivering consistently?

Thu, 19 Jan 2023 19:18:59 GMT

Work Order Management – Are your Suppliers delivering consistently?

Breakdowns will happen, what matters is how you respond to fix them

With any large network of sites, especially where your key assets come into contact with the end-users and the weather, you will need to deal with the inevitable need to arrange for repairs .

This can be manageable when your equipment portfolio is new, shiny or under warranty, especially if you have just a few sites. However, as your sites age, and as your estate grows in size, the sheer volume of repairs and interventions you need to make quickly becomes immense. After a while you don’t even notice how long you are having to work each day just to try to keep up with the status of each repair.

The result is often that despite your hard work and effort, having visibility of your workforce or contractors is difficult . It’s hard to prioritise and get all the tasks done promptly, and as a result your assets or sites are often left unavailable , leading to customer dis-satisfaction .

On top of these issues, the world is now a much faster moving place in terms of technology and sustainability. When you need to make strategic decisions about which equipment to replace, upgrade or write-off (due to sales, cost or carbon footprint) you do not want to be stuck having to chase every work order with the same level of effort, just to keep the lights on.

Being Smart

There are various computer-aided facilities management (CAFM) systems or maintenance management systems (MMS) available which can offer significant benefits. Designed and used appropriately, they can revolutionise the way in which a Facilities Management team, and a business as a whole, functions.

Achieving improvement in results usually requires doing things differently, and not just “the way we’ve always done it”. But to secure the buy-in and support your business will need to overcome their fear of change, they need to clearly understand and define the reasons for making an improvement to the way things function.

We have overseen the design & implementation of smart work order management systems at businesses of all sizes, including multinational corporations. Here we explain the best ways to approach the introduction of smart work order management systems, including how to prepare others in the organisation for the prospect of change.

Managing the Change

If an organisation makes the decision to do something about its work order management, then this is often for one of two general reasons.

The ideal type are those businesses who have a clear idea of what they want to get from the organisational changes associated with a new approach (and smart technology or system to provide the vehicle for this). This is usually based on proactive thinking and analysis of business data, which has revealed gaps or inefficiencies within existing processes. They will have a clear idea of what they want to do differently. They understand their processes, they know what information is missing and they often approach the project armed with data-driven insights and sound analysis of contextual facts. They will normally clearly define the areas where change is required and will understand what these changes need to achieve, from the top down. They will aggregate, share and use this information to drive innovation . However, it is important to realize that these types tend to be the exception and not the norm.

More often , there is the second type of business. They want to change because they see there are developments in the sector. They recognise that their existing solutions are not fit for purpose and have a fear of being ‘left behind’. Alternatively, they might have never had the experience or awareness of what is possible to achieve or may simply be so overwhelmed with the volume of work that they have not had the time to investigate options. This more reactive type of business are less well prepared. They often have unrealistic expectations of what a CAFM software system can achieve for them, in terms of the time and effort that is required to land them properly. A CAFM is, after all, just a system. It requires humans to understand how to set it up to work for your organisation, how to apply it, and how to use it effectively . This type of business puts their faith in the misconception that implementing CAFM will streamline operations overnight and prompt immediate cost savings. In effect, they think they can spend a few moments implementing the system, “out of the box”, and then the job will be done. But this approach does not consider the bigger picture.

By clearly setting out reasons for change, the implementation of new smart workflows will go a lot more smoothly, and provide the organisation with key measurable targets, critical for validating decisions and demonstrating a return .

What can go wrong?

An upside-down (or back to front) approach to implementation causes the biggest issues.

Beginning the implementation process and then later working out what is required from your new system or software package will not deliver the results you need .

In this instance you may suddenly find everyone in the room has become an expert on CAFM system implementation, despite never having experienced it. Listen to those who know how it works from experience and your journey will be a lot smoother .

Setting the Foundations

Do not underestimate the importance of planning before you begin. There is a lot you can do from the outset to get the most out of your transition to improved work order management , and so that key stakeholders fully support it.

Define your stakeholder group and begin to map out the reasons for change and the expected benefits that each might achieve.

Define goals and see how they impact on existing processes. Gather data and insights from across the business to inform a gap analysis.

And be realistic about what can be achieved, as well as the time and resources that will be required to get there.

All these steps will help limit change requests once development has begun.

A clear approach to work order management

We tend to find that a root cause of the challenges most businesses face is not having a clearly thought through and implemented workflow that is robust, understood by everyone and efficient.

There are various factors which inform the workflow mapping, which we can broadly describe as being people, system or process related.

By taking the time to understand the current workflow, and in the process understanding what does or does not work well, and the different teams’ perceptions and understanding of this, you can all start to really build a cohesive picture of the root causes of some of your current challenges and garner buy-in and build motivation to realise a smarter way of working.

Our advice is to ensure that your organisation sees the process as a worthwhile investment.

Spend time with experts who have been through it all before to really help you examine the way you work. If something is broken it can be difficult to determine exactly what it is or to find solutions when you are immersed within it, day to day. Learn from the insights and lessons of others and ask for help.

People, systems, process

Whether or not you ultimately choose to implement some form of technology / software like a CAFM or MMS system, to track and administer your workflow, the interaction of people, processes and system is best documented. If part or all of the process can be automated in some way then the benefits are only amplified, and the resource required to keep on top of things is much more manageable.

Spending time remapping the works management processes has been proven to provide a really solid foundation for transition: enabling and empowering individuals, teams, partners and suppliers to understand the impact and potential of implementation.

A single source of truth

Once the workflow is clearly understood then the process of optimising a system to work for your business can be successful. Being able to track all activity in one place provides not only resource and efficiency benefits, but also the certainty and consistency that having one source of trustworthy information delivers.

Taking control & Informing decisions

Once your optimised workflows are in place you will start to see benefits very quickly. Initially this will include the benefits of certainty and transparency , and over time, you will reap the benefits of trend management and resource efficiency .

Your teams will also enjoy the opportunities a clear work order management provides, allowing much more emphasis on the sorts of strategic and value adding work which can re-focus your business towards:

- longer term planning,

- more predictive maintenance,

- tasks which result in reduced downtime,

- focussing on projects to deliver energy savings, or

- managing asset upgrades.

Leading the Transition

Working with an experienced consultant who has experience of working for a relevant operating organisation can be invaluable to provide direction to steer your various stakeholders through the transition and to overcome fear of and resistance to change. A governance board created specifically for the implementation project can be extremely useful. It can steer the project toward tangible objectives, challenge assumptions and unite behind a valued and common goal .

A governance board or group of key stakeholders can also be very important in making sure the core system workflows and processes remain consistent across multi geography businesses where there is nearly always a cultural preference to do this “locally”.

Making changes to your workflow without the right and clear objectives leads to implementation without evaluation, or without a sound understanding of why you needed to manage your workflow in the first place. Unless everyone recognises and aligns behind the core problems you are trying to solve, it can be a recipe for disaster. A firm handle on collating and using the right types of data is invaluable and integral to the process.

Benefitting from your newly managed workflow

A well thought through and carefully managed work-flow transition project will have profound benefits for you. These will be felt by your people, by how much smoother and clear your processes are , and in the confidence you have in the information available from your systems.

Ultimately you and your team will be able to challenge and interrogate data, and then use it to unlock learnings and validate assumptions. You’ll find it easier to justify expenditure , to map and measure improvements.

All of this will have a significant impact on the decisions you are able to make and your ability to keep your network functional, and ready for use by your satisfied customers and end-users .

Selection of a sustainable supply chain

Wed, 18 Jan 2023 19:48:17 GMT

Selecting suppliers who share your aims for a sustainable site

To deliver the kinds of sustainable projects you are aiming for, you will need to select designers, suppliers and installation contractors who share your desire to develop truly sustainable projects , and also to check that they have the relevant skillset.

At this stage of the shift towards a sustainable future, there are a whole plethora of different ways that companies will use to demonstrate their sustainable credentials, and time will tell as to which of these emerges as the most relevant to each trade.

Currently validation and awareness schemes are provided by both sustainability consultancies and industry bodies as well as more established and long running buildings ratings systems who accredit their assessors (such as BREEAM for example). All of these approaches have their merits, depending on what you actually need to achieve.

In the short term, it is worth noting that making a start on your journey and doing something to select and procure more sustainable providers is most likely better than doing nothing, so it is worth considering your options now. We know of a number of different scheme providers and can sign post you towards these..

Be an intelligent & sustainable client

To achieve truly sustainable projects (as with any other project objectives) it will be important that the client organisation is very clear about what they want, and lead by example when both briefing and selecting their team – including both their designers and their delivery team.

The client will have to confirm in their brief to the designers that they are looking to deliver sustainability objectives, so that the designers can then approach the project in that way, and all relevant employers requirements, specifications and scopes can be drafted accordingly with the relevant standards incorporated. Of course, utilising the client’s project management organisation is key to this process, so making sure they are also bought in to the idea is important.

From experience (and this is relevant to sustainability or anything else) most designers will carry on doing what they always have done unless they are challenged by the client to target other objectives (such as sustainability).

The ongoing evolution of the building regulations will also eventually have an impact on what gets designed and specified, but that process often lags aspiration and the will of the people involved.

It is also beneficial if the supply chain you select is be able to educate their clients so as to facilitate their choices toward lower carbon and / or more sustainable options.

An evolving landscape

The drive towards sustainable supply chains and solutions has really accelerated in recent years, and especially through 2022 here in the UK. As a result, ambition to understand and achieve true sustainability is often moving a lot faster than legislation and standards, including the normalisation of terminology and assurance.

Unfortunately, things have moved so fast that at the end of 2022, there are so many standards and metrics around the world that the whole system is rather disjointed. For example, by early 2022, there were over 600 different mandatory ESG reporting standards globally, with over 80 standards focussed on emissions and climate impacts. It’s confusing for everyone involved in the sustainability sector let alone for everyone else. As such, ongoing flux can be expected for a little while longer (until a semblance of normalisation takes root), but in the meantime, there are still positive actions that can be taken when selecting your supply chain.

We identify some of the more relevant options in the sections below.

If the shift to a truly sustainable future is as profound as some believe it may need to be, then it is likely that new approaches to all parts of doing business may be on the horizon. This may necessitate changes to contractual approaches, commercial and procurement models, to incentivise and reward measurable carbon reductions and other sustainability requirements. Quite how this will actually be achieved is on the whole, still unknown, at least in practical terms, although industry bodies are starting to look into this, and we include some thoughts on this later.

As well as business relationships, the awareness, knowledge, skills and training to deliver sustainable projects are likely going to need to evolve significantly. Industry bodies such as the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) have identified a need for sustainability skills to be able to develop a Net Zero supply chain, across all parts of industry, to build capability and capacity, and resources such as the Supply Chain Sustainability School provide a huge range of informative awareness and training opportunities.

Appointing designers and consultants who are carbon literate

The professional team who drive the project and make important selection decisions or recommendations (whether project managers, designers, engineers, surveyors) will need to understand sustainability , how it affects the sector and the opportunities it can present. The term which is emerging to describe this awareness is “carbon literacy”.

Designers and project managers who are serious about sustainable development and design will be investing in training and development for their staff. When selecting professionals it may be appropriate to consider asking for evidence for the number or proportion of the firms staff have completed carbon literacy training (or can demonstrate their sustainability awareness in some way) in order to be able to carry out embodied carbon assessments alongside their traditional roles, for example when assessing different design options, or bills of quantities.

Familiarity with sustainability design rating tools can be another way to identify professional organisations with some background knowledge. Examples of such tools include BREEAM, SKA, NABERS and LEED (which are each applicable to different types of development in slightly different ways).

The UK's first Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard is also being developed. Leading industry organisations including BBP, BRE, the Carbon Trust, CIBSE, IStructE, LETI, RIBA, RICS, and UKGBC have joined forces to champion this initiative, which will in the near future provide a standard against which the professional team can be measured.

The Standard will set out metrics by which net zero carbon performance is evaluated, as well as performance targets, or limits, that need to be met by the newly designed project. These are likely to include energy use, upfront embodied carbon, and lifecycle embodied carbon, with other metrics – such as space heating/cooling demand and peak load also to be considered.

Net Zero, Carbon Neutral – is there a difference?

The sorts of sustainability impacts are wide ranging, and include many factors which we’ll cover in another article. For now, we’ll focus on the concept of net zero carbon . There are many similar terms used interchangeably, so one of the early tasks is to familiarise yourselves with the agreed global definitions of these, and decide which you wish to pursue for your projects. Organisations such as the UKGBC offer comprehensive guidance on this.

The GHG protocol https://ghgprotocol.org/ groups emissions into scopes 1, 2 and 3 (as depicted in the image above), covering both your direct and indirect emissions, so understanding what these are is another useful step, so that you can ensure your activity is truly sustainable at every level. It is estimated that around 80% of most organisations’ emissions are within scope 3 , so ensuring that whatever you specify truly includes scope 3 will be a big factor in whether or not your projects are truly sustainable. (Unfortunately, there are many methods out there for declaring sustainability credentials which do not include a focus on reducing scope 3 emissions, so you need to look at the options carefully).

The majority of the materials and services you procure for your projects will be count towards your scope 3 emissions, so developing a good understanding of the different ways of measuring and monitoring these will be very important when specifying what standards and initiatives you want your suppliers to commit to. An example could be to request that they commit to achieving the Science Based Targets Initiative, which includes all 3 scopes.

Many public sector organisations have commenced the process of establishing procurement processes that strive toward net zero. The approach they are often taking is to develop a “supplier roadmap”, setting out the parameters for contract award. These expectations will get stricter over time, so that their supply chain knows what standards and targets they will need to achieve by certain dates in the future, if they wish to win work. This allows them to plan their own sustainability journeys. For example, the roadmap could include measures for how much of their carbon footprint they are either measuring or managing, and at what point the suppliers need to be publishing their own carbon reduction plan.

It is important for any client organisation to recognise that not all of their supply chain will be at the same stage of their sustainability journey, and so a sympathetic and supportive approach may well be needed to raise awareness to drive the required behaviours with all of your suppliers, and particularly with SME suppliers - many of whom will not have had the time and resource to investigate what sustainability means for them. Larger clients may want to think about setting up their own supplier education and support programmes.

Selecting suppliers who have genuine sustainable practices

The supply of materials themselves accounts for a large proportion of the embodied energy and carbon of a development project.

You should be seeking to select material suppliers who understand the sustainability of their products.

Many materials will hold what is known as an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD). A potential way to start the process of procuring suppliers with better sustainability credentials would be to identify the current proportion of the required materials which have an EPD available, and then to target an annual increase up to the point where 100% of materials you are procuring have an EPD.

Of course, having an EPD is just one early step. Over time, you will want to work with these suppliers, or incentivise them, to reduce the environmental footprint of their materials, or, to seek alternative materials or suppliers where the design and specification can be flexed. (See our earlier article on achieving sustainable design).

Accrediting contractors who share your ethos to develop the project sustainably

Many of the approaches identified above can also be applied to contractors . In addition, there will be sector specific standards which you can adopt when selecting them. The choice of principle contractor will obviously set the tone for the project, and the attitude towards sustainability across the whole site (and most certainly so if the project will be design and build).

PAS 2080 is world’s first standard for managing infrastructure carbon, offering practical ‘how to’ guidance to cut cost, improve efficiency and slow climate change. The good news for developers is that a number of companies have reported that cutting carbon has also led to cost reduction. PAS 2080 provides a framework for managing carbon, focusing on how members of the value chain behave when delivering projects and projects – delivering reductions and attendant benefits. It highlights the importance of strong leadership and early supplier engagement, and to encourage and reward challenge and innovation.

Other options include requesting to understand the potential contractor’s ESOS strategy. Many organisations may have their own sustainability strategy although it is wise to actually make time for someone knowledgeable to review these to understand what they actually include . Many construction sector organisations, and particularly larger tier 1 contractors have publicly available sustainability strategies and net zero roadmaps which they report on annually. Some of these larger organisations are now also aligning their sustainability strategy more widely with the UN SDGs , which provides more depth to their approaches, and considers a much wider range of considerations. (We will look at wider ethical and social considerations of procurement in a future article).

As mentioned above, there are also various certification bodies offering third party accreditations, including to contractors in the development and facilities management sectors. One way to decide on the type of accreditation might be using bodies certified to ISO 17065 which can be used to check, to provide an indication of their consistency, or to specify the SBTi, or association with one of the many schemes encouraged by the governing bodies mentioned above.

Summary

Whatever stage you are at in your journey, Evenlode can assist with determining and implementing approaches for you to select your professional team and delivery supply chain that fits with your sustainability aspirations for your projects and facilities.

Ensure your suppliers deliver service level agreements that match end user satisfaction

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 19:07:41 GMT

Ensure your suppliers deliver service level agreements that match end user satisfaction

Operator Expectations

The owner or operator of a facility requires that their assets are available when and where they need them. In many settings, this means they need to be available at all times that paying customers will be present.

Put yourself in the shoes of the customer ; if you were to turn up to a location to find the service unavailable due to an out of action piece of kit. And if you go back the next day, or the next week, and its still out of action, or “down” again – you can probably guess what your reaction and ultimate visiting habits might be.

We have always found that operators and their customers primarily demand 3 over-arching things from the maintenance of their assets:

- Availability (i.e. doesn’t break often, and if it does break, it’s fixed promptly)

- Cost effective repair

- A safe, clean and welcoming environment

Each of these can be further elaborated on with the operator to meet their situation-specific needs, which we would expect will evolve over time as the service improves.

All of that sounds great, but what is the reality we find when we start to work with operators, or when we are told by service contractors just how good they are at delivering their service levels?

Almost always, the service contractor will tell you how they deliver a really high customer satisfaction or a service level agreement (SLA) percentage somewhere upwards of 95%. So often though, when you speak to the operator, there will be countless examples of customer dissatisfaction .

So what’s going on?

Respond – yes, but, do they fix?

The overly positive, contractor-reported KPI and SLA performance can sometimes seem at odds with the level of satisfaction actually occurring.

Data deep dives by experts can reveal the true underlying performance , allowing the implementation of improvement plans, and consideration of the introduction of improved data tracking or workflow management systems to better manage the data in the future to report the real performance.

A common example we see is where the contractor will report that they have attended the site 95% of the time within the contracted SLA. BUT, what they don’t mention is that the SLA (which they often wrote to suit themselves) only states that they’ll turn up and “investigate”. The poor site operator is then left with a wait (often for an un-regulated duration) for an actual fix, whilst the contractor happily reports to the client that the job is “within SLA”. There is no fix, certainly not first time , and no SLA to govern how long it will take to return and complete the job (nor control what it might cost).

That probably sounds ridiculous (especially to newer or less experienced operators), but, we find it again and again and again (we could continue). (There are many commercial reasons for this phenomena.)

As well as “respond and fix”, many other measurables are often overlooked in service contractor contracts, meaning that the client/operator is left with:

- Long periods of down-time

- No way of knowing when things will be “back up and running”

- Repeat failures (especially of popular frequently-used items)

- Increased hassle and admin chasing up the status of jobs

- Poor commercial controls

- And the list could go on…..

which can lead to the ultimate problem,

A LOSS OF THEIR PAYING CUSTOMER'S BRAND LOYALTY

Sense check

If you have a network of very diverse equipment, for example a lot of different models and manufacturers, or ageing assets, then the service contractor’s engineers are less likely to always have the spare parts they need within their van stock.

Where assets are over around 10 years old, many types of parts (and especially electronic boards) can increasingly only be sourced through the refurbishment of older assets, so supply can be constricted. Refurbished parts (essentially second hand) may not perform as well as new components.

It is always worth taking a sense check of the age and diversity of your assets before you demand and pay for a contractual service level that might never be achieved. (It may be time to consider your life cycle replacement strategy if the uptime of these assets is critical to your operations). That's not to say that you shouldn't seek to better manage your SLAs, our experience tells us that you should always be doing this to get the most from your assets, and to provide satisfaction for your customers.

By the way,

If you are just in the process of developing and expanding your network you will have SLA management to “look forward to” as your estate matures.

Whose data is it anyway?

As we explained in our article on benchmarking, there can be difficulties in obtaining clarity and quality of data. Most organisations have at least some data, some have a lot of data. But, is the data we have useful, and can it be used to drive improvements? Our article on maintenance data provides a range of the benefits which can be derived, and these benefits can all have an impact on the way SLAs are managed.

The source issues of insufficient or inappropriate data which we have often come across for service level tracking include:

- The service provider contracts not being drafted appropriately

- The client does not have access to or ownership of the data

- Service providers are not necessarily willing or able to provide the right types of data

A solution?

Our experience tells us that there are various ways in which service level performance can be firstly understood, and then improved .

- Workflow mapping by experts to understand how the delivery process stands up to best practice will uncover deficiencies in the set up.

- Service contract reviews identify imbalances between client needs and actual terms and conditions.

- CAFM system optimisation can derive improved collation, timeliness and control of appropriate data.

- Supplier performance management by experts, or by trained and mentored team members can have an ongoing effect on the service

contractor’s attitude to delivering satisfaction (and perhaps to renewing their contract in the longer term).

- Re-drafting client-centric SLs, which are both focused and specific to the needs of the day.

There is of course much more that can be said on this topic. Evenlode has extensive experience of both designing and implementing service level management to new and expanding estates, as well as providing service level recovery to existing networks, to drive the resulting improvements in your asset performance and ensure you’re getting the most out of your service contractors and of course,

keeping your paying customers satisfied with your offer, and loyal to your brand.

Sustainable Reuse and Recycling of Construction Materials

Wed, 07 Dec 2022 10:59:12 GMT

Material Reuse and Recycling

In our earlier articles we have looked at how intelligent design and material selection are key strategies for reducing the embodied carbon inherent in the building materials we use to develop our assets.

If we were to take things to extremes and in an ideal world, then the priority of approaches would probably be, in order of preference to achieve a greater level of sustainability:

- Build nothing,

- Refurbish what you already have,

- Build less,

- Build smarter,

- Re-use the materials you have,

- Recycle what is already on site

Assuming however that you are going to be doing some form of development to satisfy your business model, in this article we will focus on ideas for prioritising refurbishment, re-using or recycling materials to reduce your impact.

Refurbishment

A significant amount of refurbishment is going to be necessary given that a massive proportion of the properties which will be with us in 2050 are already in existence. Some estimate this at around 80% of properties. Therefore, whether it is your next site, or a future development, we are all going to have to get good at sustainable refurbishment.

De-carbonisation of existing assets will be essential. This might need to entail a change in the way our properties are managed, maintained and used, and will probably require some potentially significant design updates, whether once, or, multiple times over the life of the asset.

The principle of refurbishment will be to accept the embodied carbon of the materials already used, so as to not require equivalent new materials. The focus is likely to therefore be to reduce the energy demand and operational carbon needed to continue to use the assets.

Timing of refurbishment activity ought to be planned around the cyclical replacement of M&E, lifecycle replacement strategies and lease expiry. A carefully thought through maintenance approach will be critical to planning for these interventions. (We have written extensively on the value of maintenance elsewhere on our website).

Build for re-use

At the design stage, the structure, form and type of materials can all be thought through to identify opportunities for either a longer life span, using more robust materials that can also be recycled or reused at the end of the building life, or, designing for flexible buildings where the space can be adapted for different uses throughout its life. We should also consider the end of life of the newly designed property asset too, so the materials or structures might be re-purposed.

Having accurate as built drawings and design information, that are kept up to date as changes are made and maintained over the life of the property, will allow for informed decisions to be made in the future. For example, this would allow existing foundations to be more easily assessed for reuse in the future, i.e. to reduce the need for heavy works, or to be able to re-use structural elements where there is trust in the adequacy of the load capacity.

Reuse

The reuse of existing structures and assets ought to be prioritised whenever and wherever possible. If properties are well maintained then the life of the existing asset can be prolonged. Where prolonged heavy site-use or ultimately the degradation of asset condition dictates that re-development becomes necessary, then a well-managed series of pre-construction due diligence activities will be required to plan what materials and structures can be re-used in some way, or possibly recycled.

Re-use could include the structure or cladding of a building, the foundations, surfacing or fittings, all subject of course to a careful assessment to balance carbon impact against technical standards and the potential for recycling into more efficient materials or design solutions for the longer term. Increasingly, materials are also being reclaimed and re-used from other sites.

Repurposing of excavated material on site for things like bunds (for screening or for noise reduction) can be achieved by treating / grading / categorising on site. This can enable the material to be used as engineered fill, rather than having to transport it away which has both a cost and environmental impact (often doubled up if alternate materials are being hauled to site).

Recycling

Where reuse of in-situ materials is not practical or desirable, then we really ought to be seeking to recycle what is to be removed from the existing structures, and preferably finding ways to re-use on the same site, or feeding the materials into efficient industry material manufacturing, so that they can be used elsewhere.

In turn, if recycled materials are available from other sources, then we should consider using these where technically appropriate. Steel is a good example – with recycled content making up a considerable proportion of the available construction steel in the UK, and increasingly being re-processed in facilities running off renewable energy.

Recycled aggregate is increasingly being used in tarmac products and concrete and IBAA (Incinerator Bottom Ash Aggregate) lower carbon products, for use as sub-base instead of quarried material, are more readily available.

Identifying Reductions in Energy Use (& Some Savings)

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 12:36:45 GMT

Where do we use energy?

Every type of property will use differing amounts of energy, depending on its primary use, and geographic location.

If you are fortunate enough to have smart metering or BMS systems installed, then you will have good, detailed data tracking both actual consumption and trends over time, which can inform options for reducing your energy demand. Furthermore, companies that meet certain thresholds will also have completed an ESOS assessment and should already have a good idea of where their options for saving energy will come from.

As a general rule, energy is consumed in the following areas:

- Heating

- Cooling

- Ventilation

- Refrigeration

- Moving (e.g., pumping) things from one place to another

- Powering assets or equipment, such as IT, electrical items, machinery, payment systems, safety systems

- Lighting

The energy use will be for both essential or critical assets, perhaps linked to compliance or service provision, but other use may well be either a nice to have or may present an opportunity for a re-think.

Key strategies to reduce energy use

Sector knowledge and experience can be used to analyse data to come up with the (best) options for different assets. These can include one or more of the following:

Insulate – Much energy is used in either heating or cooling, so understanding where heat is transferred or lost can help shape more effective fabric improvement projects.
Naturally balanced design – solar gain or loss can contribute significantly to the heating and cooling load, as it can to the amount of artificial lighting required. There are a number of options for reducing solar gain, maximising natural ventilation and considering the optimum location for plant to operate effectively.
Upgrading light fittings – technology has moved on significantly in recent years with many aesthetically pleasing LED options available for both interior and exterior fittings.
Proactive maintenance – the more an asset is used, the more wear and tear it will endure, and the dirtier it will become. Well planned preventative maintenance regimes, often coupled with targeted servicing, lubricating and cleaning of key components can have a significant effect on the strain a piece of equipment is under, and hence reduce its energy demand, as well as potentially extend its useful life.
Modernising equipment – keeping up with the latest technologies can mean that newer and more efficient components or plant can be introduced. Many types of energy efficient equipment also come with capital allowances too, meaning additional commercial benefit.
Turn things off – if you’re not using it – turn it off.
Install a door or screen – refrigerated or heated display units have historically been open, for customer convenience, but this means that significantly more energy is used to maintain the appropriate temperature. Increasingly the customer is becoming more aware of energy savings, so consider adding a screen or door to the units.
Operating instructions – have you read them? If the assets are not optimally located or being used in the intended way, then they are probably not operating as efficiently as they could be. A simple example could be checking the spacing and ventilation around the asset.
Installation of co-generation – generating your own onsite power can mean that you pull less energy off the grid.
Energy storage and smart demand balancing – with the emergence of the electricity as the fuel of the future, smart solutions which combine battery storage with asset or vehicle to grid solutions mean that you can buy power from the grid (or self-generate) at off-peak times, and then store the energy and use it when it is needed.
Externally located equipment – always consider the location and aspect of equipment both inside and outside the building. External HVAC units situated in a sunny south facing aspect will struggle even more to hold temperature on hot summers days. They should always have plenty of space around then for regular airflow and should not have miscellaneous items propped up again them, reducing airflow.
Internally located equipment – although it may be great from a marketing perspective having ice cream units located in front of or next to sales building doors can put them under great strain in the summer as they battle with the hot air coming directly into the building (right next to where they are located) every time the doors open. The simple rule is anything that has to work harder uses for energy and will have a reduced lifespan.

Evenlode has delivered many projects using client data to make improvements to energy consumption. As energy rates are expected to continue at elevated levels, being able to understand and prioritise areas for energy demand reduction will benefit your long-term opex expenditure , as well as having a beneficial impact on the planet .

Selection & Sourcing of Lower Impact construction materials

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 18:55:25 GMT

Selection & Sourcing of Lower Impact construction materials

With the growing interest in sustainability, more attention is now being paid to the carbon impacts of constructing and refurbishing sites .

In our earlier article about design, we introduced the concept of whole life carbon, which includes both embodied carbon and operational carbon. As a reminder, Embodied Carbon includes all of the carbon impact arising from obtaining the material.

All assets are constructed using materials which have to be extracted or grown, transported to a factory to be processed, transported again to be transformed into a building product, transported to site, and erected into the asset. The combination of the above-mentioned processes result in the emission of greenhouse gases, by way of the fuel consumed for transport, and the extraction and manufacturing processes.

In this article we will focus on the impact of construction materials .

What else is important to consider?

The impact a material has on the planet is not just limited to the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as part of its production and delivery.

As well as the physical impact on air quality through emissions and global warming, there are also many other considerations which will also need to be addressed in the coming years and decades.

These include both ethical and social considerations, such as the impact on the people and local communities where the materials have come from, and also matters of modern-day slavery. We will look at these issues in a separate future article.

There are also other environmental impacts which should be considered, including other forms of air and water pollution, soil pollution, land degradation and waste management. In many parts of the world issues such as deforestation and loss of habitat and biodiversity are also relevant. We will look at these issues in more detail in a future article.

It goes without saying that sourcing materials that arise from nearby your site or re-using the materials already on your site will clearly have an impact on the amount of transportation emissions included in the embodied carbon of a material.

What are key material producers already doing?

Not all materials are created equally, and in the same way, some common construction materials have a significantly higher carbon impact than others. Two of the most common construction materials include steel and concrete , and for very good structural reasons.

Unfortunately, both of these materials account for significant amounts of not just construction emissions but global emissions as a whole . Concrete for example is said to account for at least 8% of all global emissions . Worldwide, 30 billion tonnes of concrete is used each year. On a per capita basis, that is 3 times as much as 40 years ago — and the demand for concrete is growing and is likely to continue to grow as the new infrastructure that is required to decarbonise other sectors gets constructed.

The steel industry is also one of the three biggest global carbon emitters . According to a 2018 report, every tonne of steel produced in 2018 emitted on average 1.85 tons of carbon dioxide, equating to about another 8% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

It is highly likely that the demand for both of these key construction products will continue to rise in the next decade at least.

To the credit of both the concrete and steel industry they are both already well on the way to coming up with plans to decarbonise their industries over the next 20 years, with most of the major manufacturers in both sectors having published detailed publicly available plans for how they will move to achieve this. Lower carbon products are already becoming available.

Other common construction material sectors are also making great strides towards identifying how to reduce their impact too, and of course some materials will inherently be more environmentally friendly in the first place.

Some approaches to reducing the impact of materials

Designing out carbon , by employing capable and motivated designers and engineers who can specify alternate materials is the first obvious step, where technical standards might allow for suitable material substitution, or clever re-design. Commercial expectations and models may need re-imagining in some cases to incentivise and reward measurable carbon reductions.

Specifying low or lower carbon materials (especially concrete and steel) is likely to have the biggest impact on most construction projects, but in the short term such an approach might also have an impact on the build cost.

Specify that materials should have an EPD (Environmental Product Declaration) which is defined by ISO as a declaration that "quantifies environmental information on the life cycle of a product to enable comparisons.

PAS2080 compliance . PAS 2080 is a standard for managing carbon in building and infrastructure. We will look more closely at the selection of contractors in another article.

Consider Modern Methods of Construction which can allow for more control of emissions in a specified (typically offsite) environment, improve onsite logistics, reduce waste and transport to site.

Some ways you can challenge yourself to make your projects more sustainable

So what things can you consider doing now, for your developments?

You could:

- Investigate the impact that specifying and / or trialing an alternative low carbon product or material on a project

- Identify relevant embodied carbon asset standards and compare your design’s performance against these

- Set an embodied carbon baseline and structure your commercial arrangements to incentivise and reward designers (or design & build contractors) who exceed these

Unlock the value of your maintenance data

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 19:20:40 GMT

How data can support investment and maintenance strategies

Understanding the info

As we explained in our article on benchmarking, there can be difficulties in obtaining clarity and quality of data.

Most organisations have at least some data, some have a lot of data. But, is the data we have useful, and can it be used to drive improvements?

Is the data sufficient?

See our previous article on benchmarking for an indication of how it can be of immense value to organisations to drive improvements.

One challenge which we have often come across is; who owns the data. Regardless of what contracts might state, if an operator is reliant on a particular supplier for generating data then the volume and sufficiency / usability of the data you can get hold of will depend on the supplier’s ability and willingness to provide the data to you.

Client held data can also sometimes be inadequately designed, particularly if it is derived from a system designed for another purpose, or, where a CAFM system might have been introduced without guiding expertise to understand (and sometimes to re-map) the intrinsic company workflow or to select the right level of functionality and reporting to match the operator’s needs. Systems also need to have been correctly set up, implemented and managed on an ongoing basis so that appropriate data has been getting input to the system, so the operator can reap the benefits.

Unless the data system (for example a CAFM) was deliberately designed, then it is likely then some form of data cleansing and pre-analysis may be required to ensure that it is in a useful format. Sector expertise can be useful for this task because where there are gaps they will be able to identify how to fill these, or, how best to interpret and make us of what is available.

How data can support investment and maintenance strategies?

To demonstrate the impact that intelligent data analysis can have on your estate we present a few examples of benefits which we have previously delivered for our clients:

- Understanding which assets and sites are responsible for the largest portions of breakdowns and spend, and linking these to age and condition profiles. This provides the impetus for developing a holistic approach to capital investment to reduce

downtime and future operational costs.

- A deep dive into break-fix data, both before and after planned preventative maintenance interventions, provides information

to target the PPM intervention, reducing the PPM spend, with no impact on long-term breakdowns.

- Where there is poor equipment performance, by using the available data along with our sector experience, we can create

targeted additional PPM tasks. The result is that breakdowns can be reduced, whilst the reduction in break-fix expenditure

means that there can be no additional overall spend, whilst achieving less operational disruption.

- By reviewing the detail of reactive work orders, specific parts or aspects of the asset design can be identified, where these are

having a causal impact. Design reviews can then take place with manufacturers to ensure that specific parts of the asset are

designed more appropriately to reduce faults and breakdowns.

- Positive contractor-reported KPI and SL performance can sometimes seem at odds with the level of satisfaction actually

occurring. Data deep dives by experts can reveal the true underlying performance, allowing the implementation of

improvement plans, and consideration of the introduction of improved data tracking or workflow management systems to

better manage the data in the future to report the real performance.

Evenlode has experience of all stages of benefiting from data. From the early planning for systems implementation, cleansing and analysing client’s existing data and applying sector expertise, through to identifying the strategies and tactics that can drive the resulting improvements in your asset performance.

EV charger reliability - 2022

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 18:38:54 GMT

Which EV charging networks are the most reliable?

In early November 2022, EV-charging app ZapMap released its latest survey results to reveal the nation’s favourite (and least favourite) EV-charging networks.

The resulting league table shines an important light on the state of these networks, driven by the opinions of an important group of people – EV drivers.

Measures considered in the survey include satisfaction with the networks in five key areas:

· Reliability

· ease of use

· customer support

· value for money, and

· payment options

Each of these could in other words be summed under the commonly used term of “ convenience ”.

The survey summary identifies that the two networks awarded joint first place both scored highly for reliability and ease of use . Both of these are factors which we think are important for the public perception and desirability of the charging experience as part of the driver’s wider needs, and especially as the charging capacity available in the UK expands in the coming years.

Whilst the take-up of EVs has been quickly expanding in recent years, there comes a point when the mainstream population will become the next key target audience to transition to EV (and not just early adopters). Mainstream drivers have become used to a re-fueling experience which has evolved over the years to provide a considerable level of convenience and there is therefore an expectation that when they decide to add range to their vehicle, it can be done there and then, rather than finding that the infrastructure is not available. In other words, they find the networks reliable .

Just this same week, a BBC “Disclosure” documentary highlighted some of the notable reliability challenges which less favoured networks can experience and the impact this has on the driver experience , no matter how committed to a greener driving option they may be.

A closer look at the benchmark being set by the most highly regarded networks is therefore helpful.

Looking at the companies in the top 5, it is interesting to see how their offers meet with the traditional view of convenience, including reliability.

In joint first place are two companies. Firstly, Motor Fuel Group (MFG) who are the largest petrol station-owning company in the UK, accounting for around 800 or roughly 10% of all the nations petrol-filling stations (PFS). They have considerable experience of delivering company-owned convenience sites, with a wide range of complimentary offers to meet drivers' needs. It is perhaps not surprising therefore that they understand the experience demanded of the driving customer, not to mention the importance of a well-maintained estate and good reliability, as well as the established customer support which drivers have come to expect at petrol filling stations. They have committed to invest significant amounts of their own money to add the very fastest types of chargers to their established network, which will fit very neatly with their driver’s existing travel habits and routes. Given their significant share of the PFS market, this model could well be a useful beacon for other established convenience operators to follow, where feasible, sustainably making the most of existing built assets.

Also in joint first place are another company who have stated a clear ethos which is all about understanding their customers and delivering convenience . Dutch company Fastned (the clue is in the name) are starting to accelerate the growth of their network in the UK, again with an emphasis on the fastest types of chargers . They already have a large network across the Benelux region, as the start of their Freedom Plan, the key strands of which are focused on familiarity, speed and reliability . Their striking yellow and timber canopy design, whilst providing shelter, also suggests that they have a good handle on the need for efficient and sustainable site development .

Reliability and ease of use were also the key factors in Instavolt’s third place ranking. The coverage of their network, often in retail and roadside destinations, again playing to the existing habits of drivers , was also another factor in their popularity.

On-street charging provider Connected Kerb also score highly for reliability , but let down by payment options. They are in joint fourth place.

Also in joint fourth, Osprey have started to ramp up the delivery of their network in recent months including some sites with the clever load-balancing Kempower charger, which provides an optimised charging speed , whilst also featuring a neat and efficient design with features such as retractable wands which drivers will feel familiar with, and which should reduce faults and downtime .

For the networks at the other end of the table, zapmap highlights that reliability (or rather lack of) is one of the key factors.

As the Zapmap founder states “it’s clear that factors such as reliability and ease of use continue to be the most important in contributing to a good charging experience. These should be top priorities across all the UK’s public charging networks”.

No matter how cutting-edge your on-site installations are, every organisation needs a carefully thought through balance of cyclical maintenance, planned servicing and on-call provision to deal with the effects of everyday interaction on their charging sites, to maintain network reliability, and hence customer convenience.

Evenlode Roadside are providing a series of articles and insights looking into a number of considerations for achieving both best value, improved uptime and importantly customer satisfaction across maintenance. This is based on our multiple decades of experience of delivering for some of the world’s biggest forecourt and retail operators and also for multi-site estates across other sectors.

Please follow us and look out for our forthcoming articles and insights on these and other important topics on our website.

www.evenloderoadside.com

How can you design net zero projects?

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 15:17:29 GMT

Understanding and reducing whole life carbon through design

The reduction of energy use in both the development and use phases of our assets will have a significant impact on the built environment’s ability to minimise its impact on the environment in the coming years.

This will include both existing assets, as well as new developments.

It has been estimated that around 80% of the assets that may exist in the year 2050 have already been constructed (2050 is when scientists advise us that the world needs to be at “net zero”). One part of the puzzle will therefore be to address any existing assets and decide whether or not these should be retained and improved, or removed, recycled or rebuilt into more efficient assets.

Your approach to the management of design will be critical whatever the decision.

For both the upgrade of existing assets and for new developments, the focus will have to be on utilising the design process to reduce the whole life carbon of an asset, as follows:

Assess the need for the asset / project in the first place,
Then once the demand situation is clarified, to carefully reduce both embodied energy, and operational energy
Once energy use is minimised, to seek more environmentally sustainable (lower impact) options for each

As a brief explainer (and to keep it simple) the constituents of whole life carbon include

Embodied carbon – includes all of the energy / environmental impact arising from the building of an asset. This includes everything from extracting the raw materials, through transporting to site and erection. Embodied carbon is relevant to both the initial construction as well as throughout ongoing maintenance, repair, upgrade over the overall life of the building and finally, end of life or disposal.
Operational carbon - which includes all of the impact arising from the asset once in use and includes all the energy consumed as part of running the facility, including for the provision of heating, lighting, ventilation, water, information technology and so on.

Appointing the right design team

Working with your professional advisers , you can seek to appoint a design team and project managers who share your vision to reduce both of these (embodied and operational carbon), and then to follow this up by procuring contractors and suppliers who also work carefully to fulfil the sustainable design brief. It is recommended that carbon literacy requirements are included when procuring your professional team and design team appointments from the earliest project feasibility stages, and then apply similar requirements for your suppliers and contractors.

Addressing Embodied Carbon

The reduction of embodied carbon is an exercise in efficiency .

Site optimisation commences with identifying the minimum required to deliver the intended asset outcome. For example, how small a building can you build whilst maximising revenue?

Building orientation considers the most appropriate way to work with the natural layout and environs of the site and the form of the structure.

Smart thinking then investigates different options for resource and material minimisation, substitution, thought-through sourcing and reduction of waste.

Finally, what will happen to the materials at the end of life ?

Reducing Operational Carbon

To address operational carbon, the appropriate approach is to first focus on passive design principles to reduce energy demand, and then to minimise the need for active services , which can themselves be further optimised through smart controls and demand management.

Passive approaches can include working with the site to achieve natural heat balancing, insulation, ventilation, daylighting and so on.

Once energy demand is reduced, the final strategy is to secure renewable sources of power. There are various options now available for low carbon services to deliver the main energy uses:

Heating (or cooling)
Ventilation
IT use, and
Lighting

The energy performance of the available technologies will continue to improve as energy efficiency standards and technologies evolve. The use of government incentives will also drive competition and innovation in these areas, as well as the availability of capital allowances which encourage energy efficiency.

Improving your concept for future development

Working with professional advisors allows you to include and specify targets for low carbon throughout the development cycle, regularly updating and managing accurate design stage estimates of total energy usage.

Once the project is completed you will also want to review actual energy and carbon impact through post-occupancy evaluation to inform future project developments , approaches to maintenance and facilities management and to embed behavioural change.

Many professional practices, suppliers and contractors have made a declaration of climate and biodiversity emergency and an associated public commitment to positive change. Achieving net zero will take concerted effort to review how we collectively design, build and use the built assets. Evenlode Roadside can carefully guide you through these emerging pathways.

Opex: How to achieve spend consistency

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 11:15:27 GMT

Why flatlining your spend is good for you

We often find that when we initially engage with operators, that week to week or month to month operational spend profiles can vary dramatically.

The opening image here depicts how this can sometimes appear if you were to plot the spend profile. Spend is up or down, with no obvious pattern to it, and sometimes it’s just completely erratic . You just don’t know, from one period to the next, how much spend there will be nor what it will be for. The more operational sites you have, the greater this issue could be.

Whereas there might be a long-term average amount of spend (able to be calculated only at the end of the year) the reality of actual spend incurred from period to period can fluctuate . Spend can also leak towards the end of month or year leading to painful exercises to calculate how much funds to accrue for commitments you’re just not sure about.

In any normal situation this can lead to significant uncertainty and difficulty for the operator for both tracking and forecasting spend on an ongoing basis, not to mention, causing a potential break down in trust between the budget holders and the finance team.

For some organisations, especially where cash flow might be tighter, or where there are budgetary pressures, or other cost control challenges, then such variability in spend could become crippling to your ability to respond to urgent maintenance, brand compliance or health & safety requirements. Furthermore, if financial pressures are significant enough, it could even cause severe financial stress to the whole organisation, or even to corporate failure if it can’t meet its liabilities.

As the party responsible for managing the budget there are therefore numerous advantages that you can achieve, if you have a carefully managed approach to managing your operational facilities and maintenance expenditure.

The ability to plan , in advance, what you will be expecting to be spending every week, for all of compliance, planned and reactive tasks
Full knowledge of just how much spend you will have committed to with your suppliers and contractors, at the point of order
You won’t have to wait on your suppliers to invoice you (however long that can take) and then wait for the invoices to make their way through your accounts payable system, to find out how much you have committed to spend
At period end, you won’t be bound by your suppliers late invoicing practices to do the sums, because you will already know how much you owe them
Works verification can be carried out shortly after works have been completed, meaning that you can actually remember what was done and what the invoiced amounts are for
More productive supplier performance meetings and a more resilient and professional relationship as a result
A clear understanding of which suppliers consistently invoice you slowly or late, and techniques to address this, to ensure more efficient finance processing
Greater ability to confidently pay your suppliers on time leading to them having more trust in you as an organisation, and a willingness to support you when you need it
A higher level of certainty as to how much of your budgets are still available, especially as you approach month or year end
Confidence to continue with responding to and delivering reactive work needs – i.e. no more prioritising spend for critical matters only – you’ll actually know if you can afford to do the work
You’ll spend less time spent fire-fighting budgetary issues, and will be able to confidently answer any queries about spend patterns or predicted spend
When managing your accruals, you’ll have much clearer and accurate data with which to complete the picture, so a less stressful experience
More time will be available for doing interesting tasks like working on innovations and savings opportunities – empowering and exciting your team
And, of course, you’ll have the ability to make informed decisions about when you can go ahead with those much-needed cyclical upgrade works and remedial programmes

Not only can the above benefits provide advantages in the current year, but they also give you the tools you need to be able to accurately budget what you can do in future years. The nature of financial conversations can be shifted , with more of a focus on funding for planned activities, based on your reputation for being a team that’s in control.

One of the challenges we have often come across is the availability of resource, and especially appropriately trained resource, within teams who are able to provide, manage and control such spend certainty. This is one area where we know that we have proven ability to interrogate current spend patterns, working practices, processes and systems, to develop and embed the necessary controls so that you too can achieve all of the benefits available.

Here’s how to achieve greener construction transport

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Wed, 12 Oct 2022 19:07:57 GMT

Why changing the use profile of construction vehicles is important

The development, construction and ongoing operation and maintenance of a property relies on bulky, and often heavy materials, as well as labour to coordinate the assembly of all of the constituent parts.

Transportation of materials (and people) in construction and maintenance is estimated to contribute a significant part of the total emissions associated with a property over the course of its whole life cycle. This can include both transportation for moving materials or people from one location to another (and ultimately to the location of the property), and the use of plant and vehicles on a site.

Transportation or plant use can be required across the whole of the value chain, whether:

- During material extraction, e.g. mining

- Transporting extracted materials to processing plants

- The movement of components to factories, for assembly

- Delivering finished materials to site

- Bringing labour to site to build the project

- On-site construction plant

- Supply of spare parts or repair labour once the site is open

- Removal of waste from site

Given the bulk of many materials, such activity often demands a high payload or torque, which has traditionally been provided by fossil fuelled (and especially diesel) vehicles, which have a substantial effect on both carbon and particulate emissions.

Overall transport accounts for an estimated 8-10% of all UK carbon emissions . Of this, road transport and particularly HGVs make up around 17% of GHG emissions and 21% of nitrous emissions despite accounting for only around 5% of vehicle miles.

Public awareness of increasingly problematic air pollution, both in terms of personal comfort and the financial and resource burdens of respiratory conditions on the public health system are further reasons to consider how to make construction transport and plant use more sustainable.

While the de-carbonisation of the transport sector is not directly within the control of site operators and developers, there are methods that can be employed to reduce the impact of your supply chain’s transportation and plant use on the environment.

Most construction industry sub-sectors are already working on net zero roadmaps to identify how to reduce their carbon impact. Invariably this includes looking at how to reduce vehicle emissions, so many options ae emerging to achieve this.

What you can start to do now

The means for reducing construction transport and plant emissions can be addressed by considering a hierarchy of approaches :

- Reduce volumes (or the mass) of materials required

- Minimise the distance travelled

- Coordinate a lower number of journeys to the site

- Clever design to minimise on site plant use

- Seek the greenest modes of transport or plant

Some examples of how to achieve these aims might be:

Material / Waste reduction

Well thought through design can affect not only the amount of new materials being brought to site, but also reduced waste means less transport away from a site. Re-use or re-purposing of existing materials can reduce the need for new materials. Off-site fabrication can restrict the waste generated to a manufacturing facility where it may be more easily recycled. Careful ordering of pre-cut lengths of material can avoid offcuts. On site treatment or processing could retain material on site that might previously have been removed as waste. As an example, on site crushing of concrete for use as aggregate, or in situ remediation of contaminated soil.

Reduction in distance travelled

Locally sourcing materials where possible can reduce the “material-miles” travelled. There may be more scope for more localised deliveries to be performed by smaller payload vehicles. As such more sustainable forms of transport such as lower emission EV delivery vehicles might be utilised.

Construction Consolidation Centres or materials hubs

These can also reduce overall transport miles and avoid having to store and move materials around site, by providing a central location for materials to be stored until they are required, when they can be transported in an optimised delivery at a time that suits the contractor.

Accurate and smart on-site planning

Enables deliveries to be made just in time, avoiding abortive visits and redeliveries, allowing materials to be offloaded and placed or used in the correct site location immediately and can also allow the timing of deliveries to be scheduled for least busy periods on the transport route, avoiding congestion and vehicle idling.

On-site efficiency

The less on-site assembly required, the less need there may be for on-site plant use. Lower carbon plant options are increasingly becoming available with power trains utilising both EV or fuel cell becoming more widely available, as well as an increasing availability of combustion engines which can run on either hydrogen or vegetable oil derived fuels. Many contractors are now investing in these options which most major plant and vehicle manufacturers, and plant hire companies, are committing to. Larger contractors have also been challenged to develop at least one zero diesel site by the end of 2023.

Using Low or Zero carbon vehicles for labour

Lower carbon vehicles such as EV are being adopted by fleets, and the sharing of transport (car share or minibus from a central pick-up location) reduces the overall number of vehicles used. This can also help with parking on site and neighbourly relations. As more lower carbon vehicles are used, contractors may need to consider provision of charging facilities on site.

These are just the first options for consideration.

Please contact us for a more comprehensive discussion about how we can support your journey to net zero.

Deriving value from benchmarking

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 17:38:05 GMT

Realise multiple benefits through benchmarking

How useful is benchmarking against your competitors?

Although it’s been around for a long time benchmarking has changed over the years from a generalist outsourced gathering of data to something organisations can benefit from, greatly allowing them to deliver positive step changes or to keep in step with competition or market trends.

Whether businesses need to benchmark internally within their own organisation or choose to try and benchmark against competitors in the market place will depend on the needs of that specific business and its objectives. However, external benchmarking techniques are the most difficult in terms of achievability and quality of results.

By contrast, the ability to create and in turn benefit from great quality internal data improves all the time, providing organisations with actionable intelligence.

Why is benchmarking essential?

If you look at any geographically diverse multi-site organisation there will always be areas where performance and results vary, from good to bad – whereas pockets of best practise and excellence will be there. You just need to know how to find them.

It is often stated that “If you can’t measure it effectively, then you can’t manage it effectively”.

Benchmarking can be used to improve performance. It should seek to improve any given business process by exploiting and building on "best practices" rather than merely measuring and recording the best performance.

Any organization can benefit from effective FM benchmarking. If you can reduce your operating costs or energy usage just a little, you will have justified the small cost of benchmarking.

Benchmarking can help organisations to:

Reduce costs
Justify costs and practices
Prioritize best practices
Add value to facilities
Support a business case for change
Identify a facility’s strengths and weaknesses
Justify energy-efficiency improvements
Analyse trends over periods of months and years
Identify and remove non value-adding processes

Benchmarking is a tool that can be used to drive continuous improvement within organisations without the need to engage in a laborious and often costly process of scouring the external market place for data or participating in industry benchmarking exercises. You can instead focus your efforts on learning and improving your practices to achieve results.

Strategic decision makers can achieve fast, easy, accurate way to assess their organization’s FM performance. They can know whether facilities are being managed cost effectively and in accordance with expectations, and, where change or improvement is needed.

The rationale and drivers for any change programme typically need to be demonstrated and supported by credible, accurate and reliable data so the change delivered can in turn be benchmarked for success in the future.

How easy is it to achieve effectively?

There can be difficulties in obtaining clarity and quality of data if the process is not guided by experienced experts, meaning that the results of poorly carried out benchmarking activities often deliver confusing and conflicting results. Without the appropriate expertise, the real benefits of effective benchmarking would remain hidden amongst poor data and the real opportunity for sharing of best practice (and eradicating poor practice) would remain ever illusive.

The tools available to businesses to allow them to undertake benchmarking have developed considerably, meaning that benchmarking can now be very effective, in the right hands and using real time data.

There is a need to be educated about how to use large amounts of data effectively, how to make data-driven decisions and what kinds of information should be tracked to operate more efficiently and more effectively, and we can help with this.

What needs improvement?
What is within the control of the FM team?
What will have an impact on the organisation?
Where is data likely to be readily available?
What are the data gaps that prevent progress ?

If an organisation can truly standardize the way it records the maintenance, services and performance of its assets then it has commenced on a journey of creating an ongoing goldmine of data to allow it to effectively benchmark itself.

Our experts have tested and flexible approaches to benchmarking so that the right amount of beneficial information can be gleaned. We can also ensure that your team can be effectively mentored to make the most of benchmarking to effect meaningful improvements in an ongoing way that results in sustainable business improvements.

Organisations can lose a lot of time and use a lot of resource ineffectively if they stumble into a benchmarking exercise without really understanding both the “how?” and the “what?” that will deliver value. Sometimes identifying how credible current data is or ascertaining how easy it is to identify and close data gaps may be the most important first step on any organisations journey into benchmarking.

Environmentally sustainable site accommodation

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Wed, 28 Sep 2022 18:21:39 GMT

Can your Site Accommodation be environmentally sustainable and deliver wellbeing?

Many construction workers will recall working in site offices in the past which were sauna-like in summer, freezing cold in winter, poorly lit, noisy through the flimsy walls and with toilets that doubled as store cupboards.

Modular site accommodation has come a long way and the CDM regulations ensure welfare facilities are considered but with net zero construction on the horizon - which requires addressing emissions generated as part of the construction activities themselves - further improvements to site set ups can be made to ensure your sites are more sustainable across the board.

Portable cabins have always been reusable, servicing multiple projects over a lifetime, but now a number of sustainability conscious options can include:

- Cabins made from recycled materials.

- Enhanced durability / lifespan, meaning even more re-use.

- Energy performance certificates reward well insulated fabric and double-glazing, resulting in a more comfortable working or resting space.

- Renewable energy from wind and / or solar or solar-hybrid generators.

- Power efficient heating and lighting, often with less noise.

- Battery storage to reduce the use of mains-electric or diesel generators and help with low power, demand-peaks, and making the most of on-site generated energy.

- For longer duration projects, Combined Heat Power units and Air Source Heat Pumps can provide energy efficient heating and hot water

- If showering facilities are required, waste water heat recovery can also be considered.

- Smart tech including automatic controls, timers and thermostats can turn off heating, lighting and appliances when not in use.

- Energy efficient equipment such as printers, fridges, monitors.

Evenlode Roadside can help you to ensure that some or all of these options become the norm on your next project.

We know that proving your sustainability credentials is important to you especially as the drive for in-use energy savings grows through this year and beyond, whilst providing an attractive wellbeing offer to your workers as they take pride in developing net zero infrastructure for the future.

Contact us to discuss how our professional construction consultants can improve the sustainability of every aspect of your projects as you move towards net zero.

Expertise, but only when you need it

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Fri, 23 Sep 2022 08:04:28 GMT

Providing flexible outsourced expertise, but only when you need it

If you, are you’re a responsible Facilities / Infrastructure / Maintenance or Asset Manager, the first thing that amazes me is you actually have time to read this article.

With our extensive experience, what has never ceased to amaze us is the firefighting role that exists in most of the operational teams we have worked with.

If you are just starting a multi-site operation or you are an established company with a large footprint of sites you know you must:

- Spend time looking into data,

- Develop step changes in strategy,

- Deep dive into repeat issues,

- Analyse asset performance

- Deliver performance reporting

- Track spend

- Run tenders

- Accredit new contractors

- Meet sustainability and NET Zero targets

The list is endless.

You are probably sitting on a gold mine of data related to equipment performance and cost that would change your entire asset investment strategy and maintenance contracting plan if only you had the luxury of uninterrupted time to review it in depth.

You would love an extra pair of experienced hands who immediately understood the issues and challenges you face.

The real issue is you often do not need this support full time. You just wish you had a magic switch that you could turn on and off when you needed it.

So if you struggle to find all the time to do all these things and more thoroughly but do not have the time or resources to recruit and train new staff there is a solution.

Evenlode Roadside have unique access to Roadside Retail Facilities and Asset Management Subject Matter Experts – with proven track records in delivering excellence in cost savings, asset life cycle management, innovation, safety and environmental protection.

The Evenlode Roadside team bring with them 30 years’ experience and operational learnings from Retail Petroleum Facilities Management Operations across the UK, Europe and Africa for major operators, with access to a wide range of engineering partnerships.

The ability of the team to quickly analyse data and make informed strategic decisions and plans is based on a solid foundation of understanding forecourt equipment, contractor behaviours, different procurement models, the impact they all have on your customer offer, maximising uptime and overall bottom-line profit.

So, if your pressure gauge is on red and you need strategic support from a team with all the knowledge and all the uninterrupted time you ever dreamed of then please reach out to Evenlode Roadside to find out more, no matter how large or small the challenge.

Top 10 Ways to Make your Sites Sustainable

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Thu, 08 Sep 2022 06:42:59 GMT

Top 10 ways that your sites can be as sustainable as the vehicles that refuel at them

Whilst much of the focus is on the EV v ICE v hydrogen v fuel cell opportunities, there is a wider issue associated with the impact on overall carbon emissions and sustainability generally, where this is impacted directly by the sites the vehicles are re-fueled at.

According to various sources, the built environment accounts for approximately 35-40% of emissions globally .

Developing new and upgrading existing infrastructure, whether for at-home (at-work) or on-the road re-fueling has its own impact on the environment, in many ways.

Ageing and obsolescent re-fueling infrastructure will need replacing with more efficient new alternatives that meet with the public’s growing expectations for energy efficient vehicles which are likely to include a mix of EV, ICE and hydrogen over the next decade. Clearly we can't do "no more development" as a way of curbing this impact.

However, solutions are emerging as we move toward net zero construction.

Evenlode Roadside’s professional construction consultants will be delivering a series of articles and insights to relay the findings of both our research (and using key expert inputs) into the options available to make sure your overall site developments (and not just the vehicles you plan to refuel), are also driving towards net zero.

Topics will include:

- Designing for a lower long term energy use

- Selection, sourcing and transportation of lower impact materials

- Reuse and recycling

- Selection and accreditation of suppliers and contractors who share your aims

- Ethical and social considerations

- Sustainable site accommodation

- Zero & low emission site plant and vehicles

- Reduction of waste

- Minimising and eradicating pollutants

- Monitoring & demonstrating what you are achieving

Now we know that this topic is of the upmost importance to both you and your customers alike as the world makes haste in looking for ways to move towards net zero.

If you can’t wait for all of our insights throughout our forthcoming series, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us to find out how our professionally qualified team can guide you towards delivering more sustainable developments.

Is your maintenance providing value?

Thu, 01 Sep 2022 18:05:24 GMT

Is your asset maintenance approach providing true value in the real world?

Over the next weeks and months, Evenlode Roadside are going to deliver a series of articles and insights looking into a number of considerations for achieving both best value, improved uptime and importantly customer satisfaction. This will be based on our multiple decades of experience of delivering for some of the world’s biggest forecourt and retail operators and also for multi-site estates across other sectors.

These will include examples of where we have provided resource effective approaches to:

- Provide flexible outsourced expertise, but only when you need it

- Derive value from benchmarking – how useful is benchmarking against your competitors?

- Achieve cost certainty, reliable forecasting and sustainable savings

- Unlock the value of your data; understanding the info, is the data sufficient, and how it can support investment strategies?

- Identify reductions in energy use (& spend)

- Ensure your suppliers deliver service levels that match end user satisfaction

- Determine your investment strategy for your aging assets as we transition to clean energy

- Work order management – are your suppliers delivering consistently?

- Establishing a “source of truth” to demonstrate compliance and task validation

- Manage remedial actions through to completion

- Contract terms – do they really work in your best interests?

Please follow us and look out for our insights on these and other important topics.

Get in touch with us www.evenloderoadside.com to get an independent health-check and to find to more about how our deep facilities management experience can benefit you.

Evenlode Website launch

roadside@reeseprocurement.com — Mon, 15 Aug 2022 15:18:08 GMT

Evenlode Website launch

We are pleased to launch our new website.

Here you will find not only information about our organisation and our subject matter experts, but also a series of informative articles and blogs with topical industry insight.

Please get in touch to learn more.