My Crazy Week – Giving advice on Environmental Impact

Responsible Solutions Managing Director Ian Nicholson recently featured in the Leicester Mercury's business feature 'My Crazy Week'. Click here to read the article and gain an insight into Ian's busy schedule.

ICE Fellowship

Ian Nicholson, from Loughborough, has been awarded Fellowship of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE).

Fellowship is ICE’s highest award, and is only conferred on those who have made a significant contribution to civil engineering. Respected internationally, the Fellowship is a benchmark for those practising at the highest levels in civil engineering.

Ian was presented with his Fellowship certificate by ICE President, Paul Jowitt, at an admission ceremony held at ICE headquarters in Westminster, London

Malcolm Jackson, ICE East Midlands Regional Director, said:

“Gaining ICE Fellowship is an exceptional achievement and I warmly congratulate Ian on joining an elite group of civil engineers. This highly-respected accolade recognises a significant contribution to the civil engineering profession and seniority in the industry.”

Ian is Managing Director of Responsible Solutions Ltd. He said “I became an engineer almost by chance, I left school enjoying technical drawing and wanted to become a draughtsman, once in the industry (Working for Dow-Mac Concrete) I found draughting boring but thoroughly enjoyed engineering so undertook a variety of different roles, including quantity surveying and production engineering. This variety evolved further when I spent 11 years at Anglian Water, before setting up my own business – Responsible Solutions Ltd where I advise a variety of construction based clients on environmental and sustainability issues”.

His career highlight so far has been helping to develop the Civil Engineering Environmental Awards Scheme (CEEQUAL) from first concepts and then after its launch in 2003 and being asked to become its Technical Manager. Ian commented, “It is a pretty unique role that brings me into contact with so many different people at all levels of the industry”.

Construction Environmental Improvement Club

Following its successful launch on the 19th December 2008 the East Midlands Construction Environmental Improvement Club (CEIC), EMCBE and Responsible Solutions are pleased to announce its first workshop, ‘Introduction to Resource Efficiency / Waste Legislation’ on 4th February. To ensure you are able to to attend this workshop as a member please return the membership form to us by 26th January 2009. Forms returned after this date will still be accepted for membership but you may miss out on the first workshop!

• Enable organisations to keep abreast of environmental, legal, management and performance issues through events, workshops and ‘one-to-one’ support (optional).
• Provide a forum to learn, develop and share best practices in a collaborative environment.
• Build on what was achieved during the 2 year life of the Resource Efficiency Club."

David added "The CEIC is not for profit and the fees will be modest and provide extremely good value."

The workshop programme will cover a range of environmental issues relevant to the construction industry. Unlike its predecessor it will not focus exclusively on resource efficiency.

Further information including; CEIC key features, the proposed workshop programme and membership joining instructions, can be obtained from the EMCBE website. If you are intending to attend the workshop on the 4th February please can you also complete the faxback form.

East Midlands Construction Environmental Improvement Club

Breakfast Launch Event - Friday 19th December

Responsible Solutions, together with EMCBE, are proud to announce the launch of the ‘East Midlands Construction Environmental Improvement Club’, formally known as the ‘East Midlands Construction Resource Efficiency Club′ (REC Club). The club will have a new improved model which will address wider issues, including: Environmental Management; Sustainability and Environmental Improvement, as well as Resource Efficiency.

Depending on the requirements of the membership the programme will provide workshops and one-to-one support and focus on:

• Reducing the risk of prosecution
• Improving awareness and responsibility
• Sharing best practices and how to adapt into projects
• Improving the environmental performance of your organisation

Why not find out more by attending our FREE Breakfast briefing on the 19th December at The Innovation Centre, Loughborough. Please visit the EMCBE website which contains the fax back registration document for this event.

Legal Updates

With so much talk of green taxes and carbon trading schemes it is easy to become confused about which piece of legislation applies to which sector of industry. Some applies only to certain sectors such as the Site Waste Management Plan legislation where as some is industry wide like the Carbon reduction commitment. Some is for all size businesses like the REACH legislation, and some is just for large businesses. Some is for householders and business, like the Energy Performance Certificates legislation and some isn’t even legislation yet like the batteries directive!

So how do businesses who are busy trying to make a profit, keep track of all of these requirements and ensure that they don′t end up on the wrong side of the law or with a large fine to pay?

At Responsible Solutions we have come up with a solution. Our virtual environmental manager service allows you to employ us for as little or as long as you like on an ongoing basis to act as your in house environmental manager. We will monitor any changes in legislation that are relevant to your business and make sure your company is up to date and complying with any requirements.

We will also send out regular legislation updates and summaries of what is making the news in the field of environmental legislation. We′ve added a taster to the website for you so have a look at what the Carbon Reduction Commitment is all about and who it affects. We′ll be adding more soon on a range of subjects.

Can you afford not to benefit from the peace of mind that you will be prepared for any changes in legislation in this changing economic climate? Call us for more details on 0845 056 8336 or contact us by email.

Resource Efficiency Club makes £270,000 of Savings for East Midlands Companies

Responsible Solutions Ltd in partnership with EMCBE have just completed the second year of a successful Envirowise funded Resource Efficiency Club. The East Midlands Construction Resource Efficiency Club (REC) is a group of construction companies in the East Midlands that came together for advice and training on how to reduce waste and increase efficiency in their businesses.

The club had 13 core members during its second year, representing a varied group of construction companies who are active within the region. Between them the group represents a range of sectors including commercial and industrial builders (offices, leisure centres, industrial etc.), utilities infrastructure, civil engineering (highways, rail, etc) and social housing builders (new build, refurbishment).

Members of the club were entitled to a waste audit, a resource efficiency visit, access to a series of workshops and an in-house training session as part of their membership. Overall, the level of understanding on the complex nature of waste legislation has been mixed. It seems that organisations who have a dedicated member of staff committed to environmental management have a clearer understanding of their responsibilities. We also found that as a whole there was a lack of understanding on the hazardous waste regulations and the obligations that construction companies have.

One of the successes of the club has been a confirmation that the construction industry typically recycles well, the club has been able to build on this and encourage the reuse of waste, especially timber. We have also had success in promoting waste segregation practices and have been able to educate and influence the perceptions and ideas of the members. On top of this we were able to recommend savings that amounted to around £270,000, amounting to nearly £:600,000 for the two years that the club has been active. However, the savings do not stop here and if only 50% of the identified resource efficiency practices were rolled out across all the members projects conservative estimates suggest that savings in the region of £3.7 million could have been achieved by the club over the last 2 years.

A variety of initiatives have been adopted by the club members, from simple quick wins such as the waste segregation, the introduction of site waste management plans and the recycling of plasterboard. Other initiatives included the adoption of water saving devices and the re-use of timber via the National Community Wood Recycling Project.

The sector specific nature of the club is pivotal to its success because it enables the content of training and events to be tailored to meet the industry’s needs. For example, the WEEE workshop that took place 21st June 2007 focused on an action plan for the construction industry, which identified what contractors need to be doing to ensure compliance with these regulations. As far as we are aware this is the first of its kind and the first time that many contractors realised that they were affected by this regulation.

Overall the club assists in providing a pathway to help organisations move forward and maintain their legal compliance and more importantly be aware of industry best practice. If you are interested in being a part of the third year of the club for 2008/09 then contact us.

Site Waste Management Plans

There is no doubt that site waste management plans will have a big impact on the construction industry it may appear to be yet more work but they will bring benefits to many companies. Especially those who wouldn’t normally have looked at their waste management arrangements too closely, who realise that a well designed waste management plan can save them money.

Each year of the 400 million tonnes of solid materials used, only two-thirds is added to the building stock - the rest is consigned to landfill. This equates to millions of pounds being lost, needlessly.

In addition to it being a legal requirement for projects of a certain size, there are many benefits to implementing site waste management plans. You will be able to pass on savings and a reduced risk to your clients, confident that your waste management system is minimising cost and risk. With environmental legislation on the increase you can be sure that you will be compliant with any future contractual requirements.

We can help your company to handle your waste in a legally compliant and efficient way. We will direct you to where the savings are to be made and equip you to produce site waste management plans for all your projects in the future. We offer open training workshops and bespoke courses for individuals wanting to put on in house training. Our experience in the construction industry means we are best placed to provide quality training on Site waste management plans.

See the fliers for more details or contact us and we can let you know how we can help you.

SWMP-Open-Course.pdf      SWMP-Bespoke-Course.pdf

Virtual Environmental Manager

Virtual Environmental Manager is a product we have designed to help businesses be more environmentally responsible.

Our service means you have an expert on hand to help your small business keep track of environmental legislation changes, internal audits and training without all the associated costs of employing a dedicated person.

The Virtual Environmental Manager undertakes an agreed schedule of work on a monthly basis taking away the financial worries for small businesses in having to employ a full-time environmental manager.

It is important for organisations to reduce their environmental impact and become more socially responsible, especially with the Government bringing in tighter regulations. However, this is a financial worry for small businesses so we have developed a system that helps handle all new requirements affordably.