Sustainable procurement of civil engineering works by the MOD
Chris Hicks
Sustainable procurement of civil engineering works by the MOD
| It has been argued that Government should take a lead role in the promotion of sustainable development and act as an exemplar of good practice. This research explores how a major government department, the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), are applying sustainable development principles in the procurement of infrastructure works across its estate. The research concludes that there exists an encouraging level of commitment to the sustainability agenda within the MOD. A number of powerful and practical procurement tools for the promotion of more sustainable infrastructure solutions support this commitment. However, the research has found that the need for governmental departments to demonstrate value for money based on a neo-classical economic approach is significantly constraining the mainstream adoption of more sustainable design solutions. The research concludes that until these traditional financial accounting paradigms are changed, so that social and environmental externalities are better captured and assessed, then sustainable infrastructure solutions will continue to be discounted on the basis of affordability in favour of cheaper but less sustainable alternatives. |
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