THE PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT REVIEW
asset owners.. For example, post the Sydney bushfires and wildfires across Spain and America, many people want to know that the space they’re staying in treads lightly on the land, how the management of running these assets is done, and also the costs of energy. There are a number of ways to attract people now that weren’t there even five years ago. How do you integrate ESG into your business? Can you give us an example? It is something that has always come naturally for us, however, we did have to formalise our approach. For years, Buildcorp has been heavy on the E and S part, because as a private business we comply with the governance we need to. But in the social space, for example, we’ve been involved in rugby union for a long period of time and sponsoring grassroots sport we’ve been able to fund, enforce, encourage, and make change around the participation of women which has been huge and impactful, and I’ve led that with my husband, Tony. We did NSW’s first 6-star Green Star fit-out for Google, have formalised our ESG commitment by becoming a signatory to the UN Global Compact, and have developed our strategy in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals. We also have a dedicated Head of ESG and a group of employee representatives working across the business to help drive this strategy. In addition, there are over 450 super passionate people at Buildcorp who we engage in these issues and through training, capacity building, and giving them ownership of program delivery, it has contributed to success in this area. Further, the development of our Environment Plan (2022-2030) which we launched earlier this year, is an example of this collaboration between employees and management. It was developed with our people through a series of workshops and forums to ensure their input was incorporated. I understand the Westpac Parramatta Square fitout was aligned with SDG Goal 10, reducing inequality. Can you talk to us about this project? We selected 10 indigenous businesses to provide us with what we were needing to deliver from joinery, hydraulics, and fire alarms, to manufacturing the workstations, meeting room tables and lockers. The collective value of the contracts with these suppliers represented more than 10 per cent of the total contract sum. To put that into perspective, if a tender has an Indigenous participation requirement in it, most Government requirements across Australia generally stipulate between 1.5%-3% Indigenous spend. But more importantly, according to the Sleeping Giant Report by Supply Nation, the Social Return on Investment for Indigenous communities averages $4.41 for every dollar spent. The report also highlighted that Indigenous people are 100 times more likely to hire Indigenous people, and 54% contribute directly back to their communities both financially and through sponsorship of community organisations, mentoring and, developing employment pathways for Indigenous youth. That was a really nice project for us because the clients were happy and our team are really proud of what can be achieved when Indigenous business is prioritised.
providing restorative change. They’re wanting to partner with people who are like-minded, both from a sustainability point of view, as well as a socially ethical point of view. Are they demanding compliance from you? What do they want to see before they engage? Rather than compliance, it’s more driven by finding a like-minded partner who has shared values, them finding that in us as a builder, and delivering a mutually beneficial outcome. We’re also being asked to address a whole raft of other important things around Indigenous participation, gender equality, environment etc. These, however, are not necessarily driven by compliance but rather, are aligned with both our values and done by choice. The only ESG specific “compliance mechanism” now is the Modern Slavery Act. What kind of measures are put in place to ensure a project is ESG compliant? Is this mostly Buildcorp driven, or client driven? Project ESG objectives are laid out in the Tender process upfront, we then work with our partners to develop an ESG Plan that encompasses their set targets and goals. These are usually incorporated into the contracts. Different clients have different ESG measures, but we also have our own that we want to satisfy. So even if the client doesn’t ask for them or ask for them to the degree that we want them to satisfy them, we do it anyway. We then track and report so that we can measure, manage, and see how we’re making an impact. In parallel, we always continue to look for new opportunities throughout the build to exceed our targets via a number of proactive initiatives platforms across Safety, Environment, and Quality that also encourage our people to share and report their innovations as they arise.
Buildcorp Project - Ainsworth Building, Macquarie University.
Do you attract like-minded partners, and do you find ESG is a large part of their decision-making? We do attract like-minded partners. Today the war for talent is real. Especially young employees to the market who understand that ESG measures are important and they want to be in spaces that are greener, have NABERS WELL ratings, Green Star ratings all of which should be able to attract a premium for developers and
September / October 2022 – 7
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