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Responsible sourcing network APRES given new home at BRE

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Building science centre BRE announced today that the Action Programme for Responsible Sourcing network – APRES – will transfer to its management from 2016.

Now in its 5th year, APRES was created by Loughborough University with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, and extensive support from a number of industry partners. Its objective has been to create a programme of activities supporting the adoption of ethical and sustainable sourcing across the UK construction industry.

The network of over 100 businesses has acted as a centre for knowledge-sharing and dissemination of responsible sourcing practices, forging new research ideas and relationships and providing guidance direct to the industry.

Speaking at the 5th Annual APRES conference in London yesterday, Loughborough University’s Professor of Architecture and Sustainable Construction and founder of APRES, Jacqui Glass, said ‘We are very pleased that BRE is taking APRES to the next level. They will build on the great legacy we have achieved to date. We now have a strong and growing community, and the issue of responsible sourcing continues to increase in importance. I am envisage a prosperous and influential future for APRES, with support from such an important global body like BRE.’

BRE Group Business DevelopmentDirector, Dr Miles Watkins, said ‘APRES has made a significant contribution to the responsible sourcing agenda in the past five years however our industry still has a long way to go to meet best practice. Our mission is to increase the membership, extend the influence, and reach and ultimately make ethical and sustainable construction a prerequisite for business success.’

For more information on APRES, or to join as a member, email [email protected]

NOTES TO EDITOR

BRE: We are a world leading building science centre and the authority on all aspects of the built environment. We generate new knowledge through research that is used to create products, tools and standards that drive positive change across the built environment. We enable our government and private sector clients to meet the environmental, social and economic challenges they face by delivering higher performing, better quality, safer, more secure and more sustainable products homes, buildings and communities. We are owned by the BRE Trust, a registered charity, which funds research and education that advances knowledge of the built environment.  We are committed to building a better world together. We are BRE. www.bre.co.uk

APRES: The aim of APRES is to develop an action programme to deliver responsible sourcing in the UK construction industry. The APRES network will act as a new community ‘centre’ for knowledge-sharing and dissemination of RS practices, forging new research ideas and relationships and providing guidance direct to the industry. The specific objectives are to:

  • explore in depth the challenges involved in delivering responsible sourcing, with a view to developing a coordinated action programme;
  • establish and sustain an enthusiastic membership base for the network such that it becomes known as a well-established community of practice;
  • map the industry’s skills and knowledge needs through workshops on context, market, and technology challenges;
  • define academic research and development directions and improve the quality of research interaction between academics and industry;
  • identify and disseminate outcomes and best practice to the industry and others, via the website, email and themed events;
  • provide an open and impartial discussion forum for the construction industry and its customers, academics, government, professional bodies, trade associations and standard-setting bodies – anyone with an interest in RS will be encouraged to participate.

The APRES network hosts an annual conference and produces guidance on responsible sourcing for the construction industry. https://apres.lboro.ac.uk/