Social Value in construction: How SmartWaste supports a sustainable future

Understanding Social Value in construction

Social Value refers to the positive, often non-financial impacts a project can have on individuals, communities, and the environment. In the construction industry, we evaluate social and environmental impacts alongside traditional financial criteria when assessing new projects.

The UK government introduced the Public Services (Social Value) Act in 2012. This act requires public authorities to consider how their commissioned services might improve the economic, social, and environmental well-being of their area. As a result, the construction industry now focuses more on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors.

A recent report by SCAPE and the Social Value Portal highlights the industry's potential for positive change. The "Social Value in Construction Benchmarking Report 2022" revealed that in just the first half of 2022, the construction industry delivered £1.09 billion of social and local economic value. This figure represents a 30.33% return on investment.

 

SmartWaste's role in achieving Social Value

BRE developed SmartWaste as an environmental and sustainability monitoring and management solution. It helps construction, refurbishment, and demolition companies meet their ESG reporting needs effectively. Learn more about SmartWaste Social Value feature. 

Benefits of using SmartWaste for Social Value reporting

1. Enhanced reputation and stakeholder relationships: using SmartWaste data to demonstrate the positive impacts on local communities, and strengthen relationships by recognising local supply chain contributions
2. Increased sales and customer loyalty: evidencing socially responsible practices that attract clients and investors prioritising ESG commitments.
3. Lower costs and improved efficiency: as the sustainability data hub, SmartWaste improves data capture accuracy and helps customers reduce the complexity of ESG reporting processes

 

The growing importance of Social Value

The construction industry increasingly recognises the importance of generating a positive social impact through their construction activities. Whether it is a Social Value commitment required by their client, local authority or government body, or a construction business’ own commitment to corporate social responsibility or its Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework  SmartWaste helps you build better relationships, boost your reputation and create real benefits for communities and the environment.

There are several social value frameworks that could applied to construction projects, depending upon client and planning requirements. These frameworks include the Social Value TOM System (Social Value Portal), the Impact Evaluation Standard (Thrive) and the National Social Value Standard, amongst others.