Sustainability – balancing business’ environmental, social, and economic interests – has over recent years been moving from ‘nice to have’ to ‘essential for any organisation that wants to survive and thrive long-term’. Customers, employees, and other stakeholders are increasingly interested in companies’ performance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. And we know this is the case in the Irish hardware and building materials industry.
One major sustainability issue is mitigating climate change by reducing carbon emissions – and the construction and built environment sector will be especially key to this, as it generates 37%¹ of all carbon emissions globally. 28% is “operational carbon” from the building being used – lighting, ventilation, temperature regulation, and electricity. The other 9% is “embodied carbon” from extracting raw materials, processing them into concrete, steel, glass, brick, aluminium, etc, transporting and using them to construct – or retrofit – a building.
The pressure on business to act on sustainability, including carbon, comes from many directions – an important one of which is EU regulation. For example:
- The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) requires companies that meet criteria² to publish an annual ‘Sustainability Statement’, phasing-in over 2025 through 2029. Even if your business does not meet the criteria, larger customers that do will ask you for data – including your business’ carbon footprint – to support their reporting.
- EU policy is driving banks and investors to move their money into more sustainable businesses. Bank of Ireland and AIB have set reduction targets for the carbon footprint of the businesses they lend to, e.g., AIB is aiming for a Net Zero lending portfolio by 2040, excluding agriculture. Net Zero means effectively no carbon emissions.
Sustainability is also a big opportunity for businesses to attract and retain both staff and customers, who increasingly want to work for – and shop with – companies they feel good about.
Recently, an Irish hardware retailer/wholesaler asked us to support them on sustainability because, as they said, “Our big customers have started asking us about it.” says Sharon Keilthy, Associate Director at Sustainability Works.
At SustainabilityWorks, we support companies with sustainability every day – whether to start to demystify sustainability and all the jargon that goes with it, to develop their first sustainability strategy, to take their existing one to the next level, or to get ready for CSRD.
While larger companies typically want bespoke support, for medium- and smaller-sized businesses, it often works better to run a shared programme that supports many to do the same work at the same time in parallel. We would like to know if members of Hardware Association Ireland would be interested in a program like this.
For example, we run a four-day ESG/Sustainability training programme certified by the Technological University of Dublin. “We keep it very practical – at the end of the programme, each participant has drafted a five-page sustainability strategy for their company. And importantly, participants’ confidence in talking about and acting on sustainability in their business typically doubles from ‘before’ to ‘after’ the course (we know because we measure it!).”
The question for you is, should we run a programme like this for members of Hardware Association Ireland? If yes, which of the following two options would you prefer?
Option 1: A one-day programme delivered in 1.5-hour modules and over four to eight weeks. This would leave you more confident discussing sustainability / ESG, having sketched a draft, one-page, high-level sustainability strategy for your business and planned specific next steps, including identifying resources to help.
Option 2: A four-day programme delivered as half- or full-days over four to eight weeks. This programme would bring you into greater detail and help you write a five-page sustainability strategy.
Common features across both programmes include:
- “We tailor the content to the topics most important for participating businesses – we ask you in advance what these are.”
- “We typically run programmes virtually to make it easy to join.”
- “Participants get “real work” done during the sessions.”
- “We always use plain English; and
- “We empower everyone to move at their own pace.”
If such a programme sounds good to you, or you have other suggestions for how we could be helpful, please let jim@hardwareassociation.ie know, and/or contact me directly Sharon@SustainabilityWorks.ie
Sharon Keilthy is an Associate Director with SustainabilityWorks. SustainabilityWorks is an Irish, independent, multi-disciplinary sustainability consultancy firm committed to, and with considerable experience in, driving sustainability in the built environment.
1 SOURCE: 2022 Global Status Report for Buildings and Construction | UNEP – UN Environment Programme
2 EU companies with over 250 staff and/or €50 million net turnover and/or €25 million balance sheet
