by Oscar Venus | 15 Nov, 2024 | Sustainability
FIS is data driven and keen to support research that improves our collective understanding to and helps us to drive positive change. To this end, the FIS Sustainability Leadership Group has agreed to support the research stage of a Masters Project being conducted by Nicola Forest (who has a long association of working with the group).
Nicola is now employed by The Crown Estate and her project is looking at the barriers to circularity in London by proposing a material flow analysis methodology to quantify available materials within London’s CAT B office building stock. The project will map the types and locations of existing materials by analysing their lifecycles and assessing their potential for reuse.
With growing interest in this subject and a scarcity of academic studies in this area, this research is both timely and crucial. Specifically Nicola is looking to the FIS community to help:
Provide opportunities to undertake site visits of recent fit outs (completed within the last 1 to 2 years exceeding £10 million) through clients, end-users and fit out contractors
Provide copies of architectural finishes schedules for fit outs (completed within the last 1 to 2 years exceeding £10 million) from architects, sustainability design consultants and contractors. Please can you also confirm total floor area for each finishes schedule provided.
Provide copies of any existing pre-demolition audits for projects expecting strip out in the next 12 months.
The completed data will be showcased through a digital and interactive map created with GIS and Power BI. Users will be able to click on buildings to reveal internal components, estimated quantities (calculated using material coefficient rates and reuse efficiency), and potential reuse opportunities. This will be shared with participants and key findings will be presented to FIS Sustainability Leadership Group to support our ongoing work.
We hope you can support Nicola, to take part or find out more, please email njf44@cam.ac.uk
by Iain McIlwee | 22 Jul, 2024 | Sustainability
FIS Project Reuse is live and underway. Encouraging reuse was highlighted as a priority for the FIS Sustainability Leadership Group. Following several round tables and working group discussions FIS has decided to take the plunge and set up a pilot storage facility in East London. This facility will help us to isolate and resolve the issues that are blocking a more systemic approach to re-use in key product areas. The pilot will interrogate barriers, potential commercial models and start to create a end-to end process supported by appropriate standards that will help to normalise and industrialise re-use.
The pilot will focus initially on suspended metal ceiling tiles and luminaires. The project is viable thanks to the support and financial contributions of 10 amazing pioneer partners from all parts of the supply chain. This intrepid group drawn from architects, fit-out contractors, strip out contractors, sustainability consultancies and manufacturers bring deep knowledge and a great balance of outstanding skills and practical experience to the table.
As a first step we have identified some ceiling tiles which will, hopefully, make their way to the storage facility shortly and we are visiting the site where they are currently installed next week. This process will help us understand what information is required to ensure that the process of finding a new home goes as smoothly as possible.
This project has the potential to create the framework to develop a universal marketplace for reuse products and thereby reduce waste and the carbon impact associated with fit-out projects.
We need your support to make sure we can take the project to the next step and continue on the great work that has been started. Contributions range from £2k to £5k. If you want to know more about or be part of a great project, please contact me at flavielowres@thefis.org
To find out more about the project and see our list of amazing pioneer partners click here
by Clair Mooney | 1 Mar, 2024 | Events, Sustainability
Thanks again to all who supported the FIS Conference on
Delivering Productivity, Quality and Compliance in the fit-out sector and
Putting Net Zero and sustainability first in a practical way at the Workspace Design Show. It was a really interesting couple of days with views from over 30 leading experts blending with hundreds of attendees over the two days. It was a great opportunity to look (collectively as a supply chain) at some of the key opportunities and challenges that we face and how we can individually and collectively change for the better. So much content to digest and consider, but clear themes that we can draw. It really struck me that whilst we covered a wide range of subjects, regardless of the question, the answers were similar and lean back into some core principles. To really step forward we need:
- earlier supply chain engagement centred on better risk management and a clear design development process,
- we need to look in this at the Design Responsibility Matrix and a better defined process that picks up where the plan of works falls short,
- the need to be clearer on what value we are procuring and find ways to step outside of the immediacy of the project,
- stepping outside of the project amounts to focussing on a more circular supply chain that loops back rather that overlaps to accelerate
- empathy led change needs better communication and more direct engagement with the client on the impact of current behaviours on insurability and sustainability.
- Complicated contractual engagements undermine all of above and there needs to finally ne a genuine concerted effort to outlaw the routine amendments that distort risk and mask problems
Above is where we’ll be focussing on in our lobbying work and will be captured in Part 1 of our upcoming Manifesto that we will be releasing to members for consultation in the next week.
by Clair Mooney | 4 Jan, 2024 | Skills, Sustainability
The Supply Chain Sustainability School and FIS have collaborated to bring you a range of workshops and webinars specific to the finishes and interiors sector. We’ve highlighted below all the upcoming sessions and relevant resources.
Introduction to Modern Slavery with Willmott Dixon
Tuesday 16 January 2024, 10 – 11am
This webinar will introduce you to the topic of modern slavery featuring insights from Willmott Dixon.
REGISTER HERE
Using Lean for Continuous Improvement and Problem Solving
Tuesday 23 January, 10am – 12pm
REGISTER HERE
Net Zero, SBTs and Carbon Offsetting
Thursday 1 February, 10 – 11am
REGISTER HERE
Introduction to Circular Economy
Thursday 15 February, 12 – 1pm
REGISTER HERE
Embedding Sustainable Procurement
Wednesday 21 February, 9:30 – 11:30am
REGISTER HERE
by Oscar Venus | 15 Dec, 2023 | Sustainability
The government is committed to increasing England’s tree canopy and woodland cover to 16.5% by 2050, as per the statutory tree and woodland cover target. However, planting trees alone is not enough. To make the most out of the materials they provide, the government has also pledged to enhance the safe use of timber in construction (TiC) as part of the Net Zero Strategy, the England Trees Action Plan, and the 2023 Environmental Improvement Plan. This will help reduce embodied carbon in the built environment, promote tree planting and forest management, create new green jobs and industries, and build domestic supply chains.
It’s important to prioritize safe, high-performing, and best-practice timber construction to achieve the net-zero pathway. Alongside resource efficiency measures and other low-carbon products, the use of timber will provide the most significant benefits.
See the roadmap here
by Oscar Venus | 15 Dec, 2023 | Sustainability
Wednesday marked the last formal FIS Working Group meeting for 2023 with the FIS Sustainability Leadership Group descending on Clerkenwell, kindly hosted by Troldtekt in their showroom. As host Steve Mansell kindly acted as Guest Chair (this Chair for this group rotates between the members).
Action: If you are interested are a contractor and interested in sustainability and haven’t could you please complete our survey here (it is helping to inform our work).
The meeting was a chance to reflect on key work programmes associated with supporting sustainable transformation and a net zero approach within the finishes and interiors sector.
As in all aspects of our activity the FIS focus of this group is observation (understanding the challenges and opportunities), standardisation (encouraging consistency), normalisation (collective action) and representation (ensuring external barriers are understood and removed).
Led ably by FIS Sustainability Champion Flavie Lowres, the Leadership Group reviewed progress against the plan. This is an important area of focus and it is becoming increasingly so as clients start to interrogate in more detail the impact work.
The meeting zoned in on the area of re-use with the first live demo of the pre-refurbishment audit tool that FIS has been working to develop with the University of Hertfordshire (built around the standard Audit protocols FIS has developed and is currently working with NBS to turn into a specification standard). We also discussed the re-use initiative, our plans to set up a pilot collective re-use hub on the outskirts of London.
At the heart of all FIS does is collaboration and we have and are doubling down on our partnership with the Supply Chain Sustainability School in 2024 with a number of targeted training interventions:
The plan is also to work with the School to help benchmark activity within the sector based on a framework that has been developed (in consultation with FIS). More on this in the New Year.
We had brief updates on the ongoing work around establishing a more consistent approach to information exchange and how we can better embrace social value in the work (the fourth discussion this week about the failure of Section 106 clauses to deliver positive outcomes and something we do intend to take on in 2024 – initially with the work we are doing with the City of London and the Skills for a Sustainable Skyline Taskforce).
We also had an update from Iain McIlwee, FIS CEO on why FIS is supporting Ska Rating as a mechanism to support the measurement of project impact within the sector. Iain has recently joined the Ska Board to help encourage uptake of and support investment in the next stage of development for what is already a fantastic process for measuring impact of refurbishment projects in retail, office and higher education.
We’d like to thank all members who have supported the Sustainability Leadership Group and provided inspiration, imagination, expertise and time to help shift the dial and we look forward to working with you all to deliver on your ambition in 2024.
The FIS sustainability group has grown since I started at FIS 2 years ago. It is very interesting forum where participants can share and collaborate on the topic of sustainability. The strength of the group is that it includes all the stakeholders from the fitout industry and all different levels of knowledge of sustainability.
If you are interested in getting involved in the FIS Sustainability Leadership Group in 2024 or just want to find out more about our activities, email flavielowres@thefis.org.
Action: If you are interested are a contractor and interested in sustainability and haven’t could you please complete our survey here (it is helping to inform our work).
Activity Map and update 2023 – FIS Sustainability Leadership Group.
Visit the FIS Sustainability Hub here
