Summertown Interiors, a leading sustainable fit-out contractor, presented its ‘Green in Action’ seminar to the region’s design, building and construction professionals at the Big 5 exhibition, taking place in Dubai.

With the UAE government stepping up its commitment to become a country that follows the highest levels of sustainable development, realising sustainable construction processes is becoming a business necessity, said a statement.

Making business sense of sustainable practices will require a total mindset shift within organisations to place sustainability at the centre of a broader CSR strategy, said Summertown.

Industry professionals eager to understand how to integrate sustainability strategies into their businesses attended the seminar, ahead of new green regulations coming into effect in Dubai in early 2014.

“As the first contractor in the UAE to be awarded LEED Gold Certification for our offices, and with a 100 per cent success rate in delivering LEED certified projects for our clients, we believe we have a responsibility to share our insights and practices with the rest of the industry,” said Marcos Bish, managing director, Summertown Interiors.  

Embracing sustainability in every aspect of the business can be made possible through an integrated CSR approach that fosters an environmentally-conscious culture both within and outside of the workplace, he said.

“We have seen significant developments in the UAE in recent years when it comes to sustainability. People no longer perceive it as a passing trend or ‘nice to have’, but as a critical part of being a credible, successful business. The encouraging thing is you do not need big budgets to achieve your green ambitions. It is all about making small changes and creating a work culture where everyone embraces CSR,” said Bish.

The seminar highlighted practices construction companies can adopt to effectively integrate sustainability within their organisations. Providing insight from Summertown’s own sustainability journey, it identified the importance of setting an ambitious green goal, recognising the key areas of the business that impact this goal and agreeing the associated activities that will bring about measurable sustainability changes.

“With the regional construction sector forecast to grow significantly over the coming years, it is important the industry understands that maintaining long-term sustainable practices goes far beyond the use of green-rated products and recycling at site. It requires a total mindset shift,” added Bish. - TradeArabia News Service