CLOCKING OUT
Dave Swan , Senior Vice President of Products at Trackunit
Take a moment to digest this as this really is an astounding insight . Although we had an inkling , we didn ’ t expect this to be one of the outcomes of the report and it ’ s important to say that this is not construction professionals in Europe suddenly slackening the focus on sustainability or shifting their attention elsewhere . Anyone familiar with Northern Europe and The Nordics , in particular , will know that the narrative is absolutely dominated by being better at sustainability .
It simply means that North America is being driven by a competitive sustainability dynamic led by key players in the industry such as Virginia-headquartered engineering and construction company Bechtel . Bechtel , like Texas-headquartered Fluor Corporation , Clark Construction Group and Turner Construction among others , is effectively using KPIs as a tool to drive incredible behavioural changes from the senior level right down to machine operators .
In practice , that ’ s profound . If a company now has an ESG target , the CEO will expect quarterly reports from the regional leads on all aspects including re-fleeting decisions and where the improvements have to be made . That means hard KPIs are cascading downwards to the site level and site project owners telling them you need to actively change management to reduce their CO 2 emissions against the average . As Bechtel ’ s website states : ‘ Each of our projects that require reporting is developing and implementing a formal , project-specific climate action plan for reducing and managing emissions ’.
Benchmarking
Once you start treating these KPIs exactly like revenue targets with specific reductions in CO 2 per machine over the previous 12 months and over the next 12 months , then the impact of that on behavioural change and the benchmarking implications become obvious .
I first began to see the tentative signs of this as long as two years ago , but there is little doubt that this has gathered enormous pace in the last six – 12 months as companies get better at harnessing the technology on emissions reporting and developing their ESG strategies accordingly . That should have a profound effect over time on CO 2 emissions .
This is of course not a zero-sum game . If North American construction companies can exert an influence both on the local industry and throughout the globe , that ’ s a win for everyone . If this helps construction companies in those parts of Europe where it is not so high on the agenda to up their game on sustainability practices , then it becomes a virtuous circle of better behaviours .
Asia would hardly be immune to this either . China already leads the way in solar panels production and the continent is littered with excellent examples of companies doing great things . Once practice is implemented by industry leaders and societal and regulatory factors are added to the mix , the increasing likelihood of a domino effect is evident .
Does that sound like hyperbole ? Well then let me direct you to the evolution of the electric vehicle industry which has come from a standing start a decade ago to an expected 16.7 million EV sales in 2024 . And , while Tesla has been the headline grabber of the last few years , it faces sharp competition in the EV space as rival manufacturers emerge across the globe .
Connectivity
EVs illustrate that competition by its nature finds new solutions and suggest that the remarkable KPIs we are seeing in US construction might in two to three years ’ time be considered normal and perhaps even behind the curve . That is after all how benchmarks emerge and strengthen little by little . And there are many good reasons to anticipate this happening in construction .
All of this is premised on connectivity and that is an area in which construction still has a way to go . By definition , the more connected the industry becomes , the easier it will be to track emissions , engine idling data and other CO 2 -related activities and take action to address them .
It is exactly where the leading IoT solutions providers can provide the grease to smooth construction companies ’ processes to meet hard KPIs . We know there are long-term solutions on the horizon like lithium-powered excavators or where contractors rely less on combustion power but for the foreseeable future , they are going to have to be dependent on existing fleets .
Insights
So that means being equipped with the sustainability data that can deliver the insights they need to implement change management today
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