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About GRIs Research andDevelopment Publication
Series
GRIs world class research and development
program supports a commitment to continuous
improvement by investigating challenging issues
around reporting and innovating new ways to
apply the GRI Reporting Framework in conjunction
with other standards.
Publications in the GRI Research and Development
Series are presented in three categories:
Research and implications on reporting
related to subjects such as biodiversity
and gender
Tracking reporting practice and
implementation, and assessing uture
scenarios
Guidance or using the GRI Reporting
Framework in combination with other
standards
This document, A Snapshot o Sustainability Reporting
in the Construction and Real Estate Sector, alls under
the Reporting Practices category.
Copyright
This document is copyright-protected by Stichting
Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The reproduction
and distribution o this document or inormation
and/or use in preparing a sustainability report
is permitted without prior permission rom GRI.
However neither this document nor any extract
rom it may be reproduced, stored, translated, or
transerred in any orm or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopies, recorded, or otherwise)
or any other purpose without prior writtenpermission rom GRI.
Global Reporting Initiative, the Global Reporting
Initiative logo, Sustainability Reporting Guidelines,
and GRI are trademarks o the Global Reporting
Initiative.
2008 GRI
Topics
ReportingPractices
GRIResearch&Development
Tools
ISBN: 978-90-8866-017-7
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Acknowledgements
The Global Reporting Initiative
The Global Reporting InitiativeTM (GRI) is a multi-
stakeholder non-prot organization that develops
and publishes guidelines or reporting on
economic, environmental, and social perormance
(sustainability perormance). The GRIs
Sustainability Reporting Guidelines have been used
by over 1000 organizations worldwide, with many
more organizations considering them inormallyduring the preparation o their public reports.
The Guidelines are developed through a unique
multi-stakeholder consultative process involving
representatives rom reporting organizations and
report inormation users rom around the world.
First published in 2000 and then revised in 2002, the
Guidelines have now entered their third generation,
reerred to as the GRI G3 Guidelines which were
released in October 2006.
Research conducted by:
Steania Lamprinidi, GRI
Luke Ringland, GRI
Edited by:Katherine Miles Hill, GRI
Designer:
Tuuli Sauren,
INSPIRIT International Communications,The Sustainable Design and Promotion group,
Brussels, Belgium
Landcom is a masterplanner o
living communities and has
developed residential, commercial
and industrial properties or close
to 30 years in New South Wales, Australia.
Lend Lease is an international property group
with broad skills across the property value chain.
Headquartered in Australia, Lend Lease operates
three core businesses: project management and
construction, property investment management and
property development.
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Table o Contents
1. Introduction and Methodology 4
2. Key Findings 6
3. Commonly Reported Sector Issuesand Indicators 7
4. Areas or Further Discussion 10
FeedbackInvited 10Annex:
Questionnaire: Sustainability Reporting in the
Construction & Real EstateSector 11
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The Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) vision is that
reporting on economic, environmental, and social
perormance by all organizations is as routine and
comparable as fnancial reporting. GRI has pioneered
the development o the worlds most widely used
sustainability reporting ramework, the G3 Guidelines,
and is committed to its continuous improvement and
application worldwide. This ramework sets out the
principles and indicators that organizations can useto measure and report their economic, environmental,
and social perormance.
Some sectors ace unique needs that require
specialized guidance in addition to the universally
applicable core Guidelines. Sector Supplements
respond to these needs and are a key part o the
Reporting Framework, designed to complement the
Guidelines. As with the Guidelines, Sector Supplements
are produced by multi-stakeholder geographically
diverse working groups using GRIs characteristicconsensus seeking approach.
This research document will present a general
overview o sustainability reporting in the
Construction and Real Estate sector to eed into the
GRI Sector Supplement development process. It
is based on a review o sustainability reports rom
16 companies. Although some o the sustainability
reports contributing to the research have used
the GRI Guidelines and Indicators, the purpose o
this research was not to measure the level o GRI
reporting in the sector, rather to present a broader
snapshot o sector specic o reporting trends.
The report presents these trends, summarized
in terms o requency o reporting themes and
perormance measurements.
The 16 companies have been selected using anumber o criteria including but not limited to:
quality and availability o a sustainability report,
industry sub-sector, use o the GRI Guidelines and
diversity o region and activities.
Only reports available in English were reviewed.
The ndings have been organized around the three
GRI reporting categories - Economic, Environmental
and Social. Certain issues which seem to be o
particular relevance to some o the sub-sectors
have also been highlighted.
At the conclusion o the report you will be invited
to complete a questionnaire to help GRI identiy
more o the important sustainability issues or the
construction and real estate industry. Suggestions
or reviewing additional sets o reports are also
welcomed (in which case, kindly speciy which
reports you think would merit inclusion in the
review).
1. Introduction and
Methodology
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List o Company Reports Reviewed
Company Country Sub-Sector Report Title
Y. Takaoka
Empreendimentos S.A
Brazil Construction *Sustainability Report 2004-05
Skanska Sweden Construction Sustainability Review 2007
Group Five South Arica Construction *Annual Report 2007
Obayashi Japan Construction Environmental Report 2007
Fluor HSE North America Construction Health, Saety & Environmental Annual Report 2006
Hochtie Germany Construction *Sustainability Report 2007
Kajima Japan Construction Environmental and Social Report 2007
British Land UK Real Estate Corporate Responsibility Report 2007-08
Prologis USA Real Estate *2007 Sustainability Report
Landcom Australia Developer *2006 Annual Report
Stockland Australia Developer *Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Report
2007
Lendlease Australia Developer &
Construction
*2005 Sustainability Report
Swire Properties Hong Kong Developer Environmental, Health & Saety Report 2007
MTR Corporation Hong Kong Developer &
Construction
*Sustainability Report 2007
Cemex Mexico Construction
Materials
*2006 Sustainable Development Report
Holcim Ltd Switzerland Construction
Materials
*Corporate Sustainable Development Report 20057
* denotes use o the GRI Guidelines (2002 or G3).
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The practice o sustainability reporting is not as wellestablished in the Construction and Real Estate (C &
RE) compared to other sectors, such as the nancial
services or the electric utilities sectors. There are
however, a number o leading companies in the
sector that are reporting on sustainability or non-
nancial issues.
The practice o reporting on non-nancial
inormation is not currently uniorm geographically.
At present the companies most active in reporting
are situated in Japan, Australia and parts o Europe.
The primary sustainability challenge identied by
the majority o companies across the dierent sub-
sectors is climate change. In particular companies
are concerned about their CO2
emissions rom the
use o natural resources. There are also a number o
companies paying a lot o attention to supply chain
analysis in the reporting o climate ootprints.
It can be concluded that among the reports, there isno strong deviation, rom the dierent sub-sectors
in the issues and indicators reported. There are
issues which may be unique to each industry sub-
sector, but their number would not be sucient
to compile a separate Sector Supplement; all the
sub-sectors would be able to use a standardized
C & RE Sector Supplement to report on their main
sustainability concerns.
The sample o reports also revealed that reporting
on economic aspects is less advanced or commonthan that on environmental and social per ormance.
This can possibly be explained by the act that some
o the reports examined are solely environmental
and thereore do not refect economic issues.
A selection o annual nancial reports were also
examined as a point o reerence. However, there
was no strong evidence to indicate that economic
issues are being reported in these annual nancial
reports.
2. Key Findings
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High
Frequency
Medium
Frequency
LowFrequency
1. Introduction
Economic
General themes:
Community Economic impact/contribution.
Low-cost/low income housing. (L)
Use o local resources. (L)
Themes particular for Developers:
Supplying high quality housing while oering a
high return on investment or developers. Creating employment during and ater
construction.
Performance measures:
Sustainable values o properties and tracts o
land. (M)
Percentage o income derived rom moderate
income/price bracket housing. (L)
Tax contributions. (L)
Supplier diversity e.g. local, women,
minorities.
(L)
Environmental
General themes:
Global warming prevention through the
reduction o CO2 emissions. (H) Waste minimization, e.g. reduced waste going to
landll. (H)
Reduced emission o pollutants. (H)
Water conservation, e.g. reduction in portable
water demand and minimization o waste water
generation. (H)
Ecosystem conservation. (H)
Intelligent selection and use o raw materials,
e.g. recycling and reuse o material, promotion
and selection o materials which have a reduced
impact on resource depletion. (H)
Environmental management promotion
throughout the supply chain. (M)
Use o alternative transport, e.g. utilization o
more ecient modes o transport and reduced
reliance on motor vehicles. (M)
Oce recycling, e.g. paper, bottles and
cans. (L)
Reduction o oce energy use and greenhouse
gas emissions generated. (L)
Promotion o biodiversity. (L)
Themes particular for Construction:
CO2
emission reduction to be achieved with
measures such as: (H)
1. Restricting the amount o soil taken o
project sites;
2. Reducing transportation distance; and
3. Introducing driving practices that lower uel
consumption in construction vehicles and
heavy machinery.
Measures to prevent construction waste.
Adoption o green construction material in
building design. (H)
Reuse and recycling o construction and
demolition materials.
Method
High requency reers to themes and perormance
measures reported on by 12-16 companies.
Medium requency reers to themes and perormance
measures that were addressed by 6-12 companies and
low requency themes were addressed by less than
6 companies.
Figure I: Legend, Frequency o Reporting
3. Commonly Reported
Sector Issues andIndicators
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Noise levels, e.g. use o non-percussivedemolition methods, such as hydraulic crushers
and noise barriers.
Preservation o auna measures to be taken
during construction.
Reduced and or sae use o dangerous chemical
substances.
Themes particular for Developers:
Increased energy ecient design, e.g. designing
buildings to achieve maximum eciency
leading to reduced energy consumption once
the buildings are occupied.
Reduced waste material through comprehensive
building modeling during design phase.
Sustainable or renewable energy technologies
installed in developments.
Consultation with local people to ensure that
the developments meet their needs and have
their support. (M)
Indoor comort and environment quality, i.e.
the promotion and provision o healthy and
conormable indoor environments.
Sustainable urban planning.
Themes particular for Real Estate:
Monitoring energy usage or the common areas
o multi-let properties.
Themes particular for Construction
Material Production:
Clinker content. Lowering the percentage o
clinker cement by substituting it with other
substances to reduce the use o natural raw
materials.
CO2
reduction through:
1. Production o composite cements;
2. Thermal energy eciency;
3. Optimization o uel composition; and
4. Reduction and prevention o cement kiln
dust generation.
Performance measures:
Greenhouse gas emissions (metric tons o
carbon equivalent).
Water consumption (m3).
Electricity consumption (MWh) (kWh).
Fuel consumption (litres). Natural gas (MWh).
Heating oil (MWh).
Volume o construction waste generated(kg/m2) (tons).
Recycling rate o construction waste (%).
Recycled materials usage rate (%).
Adoption o green construction materials in
building design (items/bldg).
Projects where environmental perormance
exceeds regulations.
Sta fights.
Alternative uels and materials.
Transport usage.
Social
General themes:
Diversity, i.e. embedding diversity into the
companys culture, creating a more fexible
working environment and increasing the
diversity mix o the workorce.
Equal employment opportunities.
Health and Saety education, i.e. minimizing risk
o accidents through education programs in
order or the employees and subcontractors to
act responsibly. Community Involvement.
Training and education o employees.
Female employment.
Employee retention.
Participation in local community programs
e.g.:
1. Donations;
2. Education programs;
3. Building inrastructure or livable
communities; and
4. Supporting sustainable community
development.
Employee volunteering.
Skills or the young.
Themes particular for Construction:
Industry principles or combating bribery and
corruption.
Special asbestos training and health exams or
sta.
Low cost/low income housing.
Issues particular for Real Estate:
Accessibility, i.e. selling properties that are
accessible and more attractive to moderate
income occupiers; this can impact positively on
rental values.
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Indicators used: Fatal incident rate.
Accident rate.
Percentage comparison o male and emale
employees.
Percentage o sta who participate in basic
environmental training.
Employee years o continuous service.
Total CSR spending. Number o unemployed people trained.
Consumer education about sustainable
living.
Training as % o payroll.
Training days per/employee.
% o women in management.
Absentee rate.
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4. Areas for Further
DiscussionNot all inormation contained in a sustainability
report has been discussed in this report, only that
which has specic relevance or a construction
and real estate sector supplement. Specic items,
inormation or disclosures may also have been
omitted due to the terms o reerence calling or a
broad snapshot. These may be urther discussed
during the Sector Supplement development
process in order or reports to best meet theinormation needs o various stakeholders.
Feedback Invited
GRI appreciates your eedback on the observations
made in this document. By completing the
ollowing questionnaire, you can help identiy
the important sustainability issues or the
Construction & Real Estate sector. Please complete
the ollowing questionnaire and return it to
[email protected]. Suggestions
or reviewing additional sets o reports are also
welcomed (in which case, kindly speciy which
reports you think would merit inclusion in the
review). A word version o this questionnaire is alsoavailable on GRIs website at:
http://www.globalreporting.org/
ReportingFramework/SectorSupplements
mailto:[email protected]://www.globalreporting.org/ReportingFramework/SectorSupplements/ConstructionandRealEstate/ConstructionAndRealEstate.htmhttp://www.globalreporting.org/ReportingFramework/SectorSupplements/ConstructionandRealEstate/ConstructionAndRealEstate.htmhttp://www.globalreporting.org/ReportingFramework/SectorSupplements/ConstructionandRealEstate/ConstructionAndRealEstate.htmhttp://www.globalreporting.org/ReportingFramework/SectorSupplements/ConstructionandRealEstate/ConstructionAndRealEstate.htmmailto:[email protected]8/8/2019 GRI Construction Cress Report
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Questionnaire: Sustainability Reporting in the Construction & Real Estate Sector
Name
Organization
Position
Full Mailing Address
Telephone
(including country code)
Fax
Q.1 Would you consider that the selected company reports have captured the important issues or the
construction and real estate sector?
Q.2 Are the issues identifed in the company reports expressed in a way that would ulfll your inormation
needs?
Q.3 Ater taking into consideration the commonly reported issues and indicators, do you believe there is a
need or separate Sector Supplements or each o the industrys sub-sectors?
Annex:
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Q.4 What would you identiy as the fve most important issues which ought to be included in the Construction
& Real Estate Sector Supplement?
Q.5 Aside rom review o company reports, are there any other kinds o research or set o inormation that
you think would be useul or the Sector Supplement development process?
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