Construction World July 2018

Green building requires good communication, planning and record-keeping by all parties involved, says Uwe Putlitz, CEO of the JBCC.

Green building needs common sense – NOT ROCKET SCIENCE

Administration of green building projects does not require special contract documents or 'rocket science' but simply a discipline of good planning, communication and record-keeping by all parties involved, says Uwe Putlitz, CEO of the Joint Building Contracts Committee (JBCC).

“Building sites, by their very nature, can never be clean factory production lines. But common sense – supplanted by schedul- ing software – can accurately determine the timing, quantum of materials and use of construction of processes on site; the reduction of storage space and elimination of multiple materials handling on site to reduce waste and non-productive activities that delay progress.” Putlitz says no ‘rocket science’ skills are needed to ensure that only the required quantity of materials and tools are delivered to site, adhering to a rigid checklist to suit the programme. “If the contractor keeps the professionals on their toes with timeous queries on aspects of unclear documen- tation, there would be no delays, claims, disputes regarding ‘extras’, and also almost no waste accumulation on site. “I personally know of projects where this type of control was successfully applied – long before com- puters and the ‘green building’ terminology were even invented,” he adds. 

J BCC is a non-profit company that rep- resents building owners and developers, professional consultants, and general and specialist contractors who all provide input for the compilation of JBCC Agreements (contracts) that portray the consensus view of the committee’s constituent members. Putlitz says much has been written and spoken about green buildings and their design criteria and regulations. “But, to me, green building procedures and end-products should be based on what all South Africans, in all walks of life, should be practicing: us- ing common sense to reduce wastage and conserve energy.” He believes that in the building industry the same environmental concern should be practiced – right from the outset. Green factors to be considered early in a project should include: • Accurately defining the extent and scope of new projects • Identifying the operations that the new structure is planned for • How to use the least amount of the appropriate form of energy, both in building and in occupation. “For example, can daylight be used? Can lights and air conditioning be automatically switched off when not in use? Can recycled water be used for ablutions?”

• Selecting the most appropriate method of speedy construction • Creating the least amount of waste • Utilising new and/or remanufactured materials, procured and manufactured locally to reduce transport costs and pollution. “These criteria must be specified in sufficient detail by the client to the project team at the inception of a project,” Putlitz contends. “When it comes to the method of con- tracting, consideration must be given to whether the traditional ‘employer design – open tendering – construction’ is the most appropriate form to employ for a particular building project. Principal contractors and/or specialist subcontractors should ideally be involved already during the green project’s design process to identify the opti- mum solution to all relevant aspects of the proposed works to avoid later changes and the need for new ‘specialists’ to play havoc with the budget. “Furthermore, when a developer has a programme to build multiple similar build- ings in a defined period, it would make sense to employ the same design and construction teams to reduce the time, effort and costs incurred on laboriously repeating all the initial procurement processes.

Putlitz says no ‘rocket science’ skills are needed to ensure that only the required quantity of materials and tools are delivered to site, adhering to a rigid checklist to suit the programme.

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CONSTRUCTION WORLD JULY 2018