The Path to a Greener Future: Circular Economy in UK Housing - The Role of Technology

We are hurtling straight into the belly of 2021, a year poised on the edge of disaster or relief by its very nature, teetering optimistically on the edge of a global sigh of relief. Even so, we cannot (and should not) lose sight of the greater, underlying challenges ahead of us on our journey on this planet.

A branch that I find particularly compelling in the forest of future challenges, or rather a cohort of interlinking branches; technology, economy, and environment. Specifically, the role technology will play in facilitating the move to a more circular economy, and the positive ecological effect this will drive globally - however incidental.

For the sake of keeping this article succinct, and considering you as a reader and my personal interests, I have narrowed the scope of my focus to the housing sector. However, this subject has implications across all sectors. Inevitably, in fact, I will hasten to add that I will of course overlook ways in which technology could help the push in this sector! If this is the case, please leave a comment with your opinions, experience, and thoughts to help me and other readers understand the critical mass this agenda can reach.

What is Circular Economy?

The horrific effect of traditional 'make, use, dispose' economic models can be measured no more obviously than by the staggering scale of our global landfill use. By totaling the top 10 largest landfill sites by surface area, you get a figure more than 10x the size of central London. It beggars the question; what hideous total the sum cubic meterage would be... and that's only 10 landfill sites.

Fundamentally, a Circular Economic model is one in which we strive to keep resources in circulation for the maximum amount of time, extracting the full potential and regenerating resources in parallel. Simply put; deforesting whilst planting and growing new trees needs to be at least at an equal rate - and even better, repurposing the tree once used for its original purpose.

Not only will this have a crucial environmental impact, it will, as the name suggests, have a great positive economic effect.

Key Benefits for tomorrow;

• Reduce waste through maintenance and repair
• Drive greater resource productivity - making what we have go further 
• Drive a more competitive UK economy and position the UK to better address future and emerging resource scarcity issues
• Reduce the environmental impact of production in the UK, with international effect

Smarter construction, maintenance, and repair are here to stay - so get on board or get left behind.

A host of smart devices and software are at your disposal... pun fully intended. Take Leak Detection systems as an example. Over the course of a year, the total damages caused by leaks in the UK is eyewatering... that's enough with the puns, Jake. To be more specific, the total annual estimated damage from leaks in the UK is ￡13.4 billion per year. A figure that would surely be reduced through the installation of a leak detection system worth its clout.

The wider effect of poor construction, maintenance, and repair can be far more dramatic. Take the case of a house fire, for instance.

Clearly, maintenance and repair are woven in the fabric of documents such as The Hackitt Report and The White Paper on Social Housing. They are crucial to weaving The Golden Thread of data into our sector going forward from a tragedy like that of the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017. I do not mean to suggest that maintenance and repair are solely to blame, nor could they have prevented the event in isolation - but I think it is fair to say there has been an ineffective status quo identified. This scenario led to a number of shortcomings to the construction and maintenance of buildings, such as the tower at Grenfell.

Empowering landlords, and indeed those with building safety responsibilities is a fundamental shift that technology brings. Providing greater oversight and understanding of their built environments, enabling better resource management, more effective and transparent construction and maintenance programs, and ultimately, builds-in accountability from the foundations up - I couldn't resist that one.

Having this insight means your organisation can make better use of the resources in your buildings. A well-maintained fire alarm system will be effective for a longer period of time, which in turn improves how effectively your organisation reacts to a fire for a longer amount of time. This reduces the risk that a fire will become severe, or ultimately fatal.

Big DATA, Little data, Cardboard box

DATA will be the king of the future - already it is being used to win elections; target you as a consumer with laser focus; improve the efficacy of drugs through DNA mapping (a fascinating subject btw!); manage large scale logistics or simply order pizza.

As an organisation, having the ability to make data-driven decisions means you can provide a better service to end-users, make better informed financial decisions and be accountable for the decisions your organisation makes.

Utilising technology effectively to harvest and use data in your organisation should be a key driver, both financially and ethically. Mostly, the tools are there for you to adopt already, and if not, here's your chance to be the next start-up in your field and evangelise your peers.

The Incidental Green Effect

One simple and glaringly obvious green effect that technology brings is the digitisation of traditionally paper-based evidencing procedures. 'Going Digital', a phrase I detest, reduces the need for paper and improves accessibility in one. For example, providing your workforce with smart, digital ways to capture and evidence their proof-of-work will both reduce dependency on paper and improve the transparency of this work to the wider organisation, and beyond.

A bi-product of better organisational decision making, particularly with resource management in mind, will be a reduction in materials used and CO2 emissions from your workforce and suppliers. Further, an extension to the lifetime value of your building safety assets will result in a substantial reduction in the waste generated by your organisation.

Vicariously, this should lead your organisation to a point where it will have less need to replace unnecessarily used resources, meaning you can reallocate budget to the wider green initiatives that your organisation is running.

What is Evident Software?

Setting the new standard for digital Building Safety Management, the Evident platform brings together facilities, maintenance, and installed asset management into one simple to use yet powerful system. Every inspection, service report, and repair is authenticated with a time-and-location stamp, eliminating errors associated with paper-based systems. 

This means that your Building Safety Management teams are always equipped with the latest critical insight into their built environments, allowing for effective, preventative maintenance to be planned and documented in the cloud, along with all reactive maintenance requirements helping you to evidence the compliance obligations of your organisation.

Evident is at the forefront of a new, holistic approach to building safety.

The Evident platform helps you to create extensive asset registers and a detailed understanding of the ongoing performance of your built environments, both fundamental levers of success for your organisation when meeting the new Building Safety and Fire Safety Bills. Evident was developed to meet landlord compliance and accountability demands, delivering:

• Full management and tracking of all Building Safety Assets
• Digital Building Safety Asset Register
• Individual Asset Tags for quick-scan inspection and asset information access
• Insightful live Dashboards for intelligent resource and budget management
• Routine maintenance scheduling ensuring your stock is managed effectively and on time
• Management of contractor staff in real-time, delivering accurate proof-of-work
• Easy-to-run reports

Evident is for any landlord or person with responsibility for multiple buildings and their critical asset maintenance compliance requirements - let Evident help you weave your Golden Thread.