Construction has, for some time, been trailing other industries in terms of use of digital methods. Nevertheless, digitisation is a growing trend in the construction industry. The uptake of digital tools and technologies was a central theme of Construction 2025, the Government’s long-term vision for construction, published in 2013. Indeed, it is widely recognised that the use of digital tools can bring profound improvements in areas such as data integration, workforce productivity and efficiency.

What does this mean for SmartWaste?

One key area in which efficiency and performance improvements are achievable is data management and reporting. There are ever increasing quantities of data available about different aspects of construction projects. Managing your data effectively and meeting the demands of project monitoring and reporting around issues such as environmental performance and carbon emissions can be challenging, but it’s important that we get it right.

SmartWaste exists to meet this challenge. SmartWaste’s software enables various sources of data to be collated in one place, facilitating efficient management of environmental and sustainability data. This provides comprehensive insights into projects’ environmental performance, supporting detailed monitoring and reporting outputs. This is also valuable in meeting compliance demands and setting targeted goals for improvement.

SmartWaste’s new materials and transport API expands the tool’s capabilities around data management and carbon reporting. The new functionality allows third-party software applications to communicate with SmartWaste and directly transfer materials and transportation data to the tool.

The SmartWaste materials module tracks the purchase and use of certified and non-certified materials on your project, recording data for material types including timber, brick and block, structural steel, plasterboard, insulation, plastics and rubbers, and more. By comprehensively recording and monitoring suppliers’ certificates, the module ensures that responsible sourcing standards are implemented.

Further, to support carbon reporting across construction projects, the SmartWaste materials module captures the embodied carbon of the materials and their associated transport carbon footprint for your project.

These functionalities enable contractors to demonstrate the sustainability of the materials used on each project and can also align with the BREEAM standard, which awards credits in the materials category for responsible sourcing and use of construction materials with a low environmental impact.

Using the API provides many benefits, such as:

• Receiving data instantly, without waiting for supplier reports

• Avoiding wasting time consolidating reports; automate materials and transportation data

• Collecting data across your materials brokers, suppliers, and haulage firms

• Stopping manual data entry, reducing administrative burden

• Increasing data quality, removing the potential for human error

• Ensuring the use of certified, sustainable materials on your projects to deliver environmental benefit

• Reporting on the embodied carbon of materials for your project.

• Evidencing sustainable choices to achieve BREEAM standards and client expectations

• Adhering to industry sustainability standards.

It offers the following features:

• Track the purchase and use of certified and non-certified materials

• Manage sourcing data for material types including timber, brick and block, structural steel, plasterboard and insulation, and many more

• Capture and report on your project’s total embodied carbon for materials

• Ensure responsible sourcing standards are implemented, recording and monitoring suppliers’ certificates

• Adhere to industry sustainability standards including FSC, PEFC, BES6001, BS8902 CARES, Eco-Reinforcement, and ISO14001

• Align with the BREEAM standard for materials