Managing sustainability

Crest Nicholson is committed to making sustainability central to the way we do business and we integrate sustainability into our business processes and culture.

This approach is led from the top where the Board evaluates the economic, social and environmental performance of the company in its main Board meetings.

Management approach

Strategy and innovation are managed through Business Improvement Workgroups (BIWs) reporting to the Executive Committee. They are explicitly required to integrate sustainability issues into their considerations, and to assess risks to our business and product from the potential effects of climate change. The Executive Director with specific responsibility for sustainability chairs the Sustainability Business Improvement Workgroup.

During 2008 the Sustainability BIW has been focussed on driving forward a programme to deliver carbon emission reduction, and to address the anticipated future impacts of climate change on our business. A workshop was held with our strategic climate and energy advisors to develop understanding of climate change adaptation and the associated risks and opportunities. To help understand the full carbon footprint of our operations, a carbon intensity study was commissioned at a selected mid-range development.

Crest Nicholson’s Sustainability Team was strengthened in the year with the appointment of a Group Sustainability Executive. The team is responsible for developing and facilitating implementation of the Group sustainability strategy, working alongside the business focussed BIWs to foster innovation, and to develop and assist in delivering policies and targets. At a project level, operational personnel are responsible for delivering the sustainability aspirations of our Mission.

Knowledge-building

We have established a Sustainability Champions network, covering the different business disciplines and regional business units to leverage expertise and experience across the company.

Green Office Working Group

In June 2008 the Green Office Working Group was set up to reduce the environmental impacts of the company’s offices, including those associated with employee travel.

Sustainability Champions

Our first workshop was held at the Building Research Establishment and included a tour of the Innovation Park, to gain in-depth knowledge of the challenges and solutions of delivering to the Code for Sustainable Homes.

Compliance

2008 saw unprecedented levels of new environmental legislation and regulations. Our management systems and business processes are designed to minimise risk and ensure compliance and we received zero notices and prosecutions. We engage pro-actively with Government and regulatory agencies to ensure a timely and efficient response to legislative developments.

Environmental management

Site environmental management is integrated with health and safety management, and follows the requirements of ISO14001. The system forms part of the site management procedures which are maintained on the company intranet, and regular internal and external site inspections are carried out. During 2008 we reviewed and updated our site control and risk procedures.

Setting policy and measuring performance

During 2008 we developed a new suite of sustainability polices covering our approach to Climate Change, Sustainable Procurement and Sustainable Timber Procurement. These were accompanied by corporate targets to focus on our material issues and drive performance improvement.

We have invested considerable resources in improving the quality of our data, putting in place new systems which were rigorously developed with our operational teams to ensure that the data is complete and robust. The data serves as a management tool enabling us to identify and interrogate inefficiencies in our business processes, report progress and ensure our improvement targets are sensible, stretching and SMART.

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Find out more about how we engage with our stakeholders to help us identify and manage sustainability issues.