Responsible Sourcing
BES 6001 provides a common benchmark for all construction products to demonstrate their responsible sourcing credentials. Providing evidence of the responsible sourcing of building products and materials continues to be crucial with the need to demonstrate compliance with a recognised responsible sourcing scheme, certified by a third party. Our indicators report the proportion of concrete and constituent materials production that are currently certified to BES 6001.
Performance indicator: Percentage of production certified to BES 6001 responsible sourcing standard
During 2020, certification of concrete products to BES 6001 reached 91% of production tonnage.
Over 90% of this certified tonnage achieved a performance rating of ‘Very Good’ or ‘Excellent’. Of key interest to construction being rated to BREEAM assessment schemes, is a rating of responsible sourcing used in calculating credits under this aspect. This is now demonstrated by the Responsible Sourcing Certification Scheme (RSCS) score which is shown on each product BES 6001 certificate available at www.greenbooklive.com and is often higher than the generic score allocated to BES 6001 in BREEAM. The majority of certified concrete production attracts a RSCS score of 7 -currently the highest value for any scheme.
The full listing of products certified to BES 6001 is available at www.greenbooklive.com. The concrete industry was the first industry to link its sustainable construction strategy to BES 6001 and has produced the publication 'Specifying Sustainable Concrete' to support the implementation of the standard.
2020 Strategy Commitment
This indicator is part of the Materials section of the report and part of the 2020 commitment to: Target continuous improvement of sustainable production performance and report annually.
To target continuous improvement requires effective management systems, a consistent methodology for measurement and open and transparent reporting of progress.
The concrete industry reports on Environmental management through ISO 14001, Quality Management through ISO 9001 and demonstration of responsible sourcing through BRE BES 6001 which provide an effective framework for managing production and materials procurement sustainably. These independent third party certifications provide confidence that these systems are put into practice effectively with regular review and that performance data generated is credible and reliable.
The concrete industry sustainable construction strategy and the supporting performance indicators provide a framework for a common, transparent approach for the industry to target appropriate improvements and report progress openly, with regular input from a wide range of stakeholders. The industry publishes details of the industry’s progress towards its performance improvement targets in its annual reports.