Digital Transformation for Sustainability Goals

September 2024

Construction is responsible for 39% of global carbon emissions, making sustainable transformation essential. This article explores how digital transformation can help align construction processes with sustainability goals. We work with clients to develop digital solutions that reduce environmental impact and create greener, more efficient operations. Learn how digital tools can contribute to building a sustainable future.

With the world facing increasingly dire environmental crises, construction is one of the most significant contributors to global emissions, around 39% of carbon emissions globally, out of which 28% is from energy consumption and 11% from construction materials, also known as Embodied Carbon. Construction must be transformed to create greener, more sustainable solutions throughout the lifecycle of all assets.

At NTI, we work with clients to build digital solutions that form part of the solution to achieve sustainability change. We have a significant track record in implementing these changes with a large cross-section of clients.

What is digital transformation?

Before we look in detail at how digital transformation supports sustainability efforts it is useful to define digital transformation as it is a much-abused term. Digital transformation is simply a catch-all for any activities an organisation undertakes to achieve its business goals utilising digital tools and processes. It is critical to note that if your digital transformation strategy is not aligned with your business goals, it is nothing more than a vanity project that will waste time and resource. In the context of sustainability, your digital transformation strategy needs to be aligned with your sustainability goals as well.

Aligning your sustainability goals with digital transformation

Every organisation we talk to takes sustainability seriously; we see less greenwashing in our sector than in others. We see contractors using net-zero concrete and recycling materials wherever possible. Many of us have been using carbon calculators on projects for many years. Architects and Engineers are looking to bring sustainability solutions into their designs; their offices are going paperless and working from a home commonplace.

Where we are seeing the most progress and the most successful sustainability programs are organisations that have an overall strategy that is broken down into small, achievable goals, bringing the employees along with them and celebrating the wins – big and small. The small steps are typically focused on increasing efficiency or reducing environmental impact through better design.

Whilst we are seeing some great successes, we do see some failures. To qualify, what is meant by failure here is that the activity didn’t deliver the benefits set out at project inception, rather than no benefit delivered at all. There are several causes of these failures, the most common being a lack of organisational change management strategy, lack of expertise, internal resistance to change, budget constraints, upskilling, and recruitment.
As stated earlier, digital transformation is using digital tools to achieve business goals (very simply). Similarly, digital transformation should be aligned with your sustainability goals.

As an example of this, ISO19650 the international BIM mandate started life as BS1192 which was the united Kingdom’s BIM standard, which in turn was a result of the ‘Construction 2025 Strategy’ whose main targets were a 50% reduction in construction emissions and a 33% reduction in construction waste. With just under a year to go on this, it will be interesting to see how close they come to hitting the target. Current estimates suggest it has had a positive impact but not nearly close to achieve those ambitious goals. There are numerous other examples around the globe of these attempts at achieving sustainability targets with Digital transformation.

Thankfully at a more micro-level success is more prevalent. Individual organisations have implemented changes to analogue working methods, many organisations now work with a digital Common Data Environment, sharing, commenting, and distributing construction data without resorting to paper methods. Sustainability reviews at early design stages create greater scope for significant impact on project outcomes and are happening more and more often.

Implementing digital transformation with NTI

All this is a lot to take in, let alone understand what this means for your organisation. The good news is that your business goals, sustainability goals, and digital transformation are likely aligned with your overall aspirations. Less waste and higher efficiency are common targets for all of the activities. The ‘magic’ is consciously aligning all three to achieve remarkable results.

At NTI, we work with many organisations in the Construction sector, supporting them in getting the right solutions to meet their business goals and drive their digital transformation and sustainability strategies. We help train staff and implement workflows to achieve these goals and provide the right digital solution for you. We recognise the unique pressures and challenges that the construction industry faces. We believe in fostering an honest and open dialogue about the practical steps we can take together to help you reach your goals.

We work hard to understand macro trends in your industry, such as Sustainability and digital Transformation and can translate these into tangible actions we can take together.