CEF wants to drive improvement in the environmental performance of the local construction industry for two distinct reasons:

 

Firstly, the construction industry has a major impact on the environment through the waste it produces, the energy it uses, the emissions it sends into the atmosphere and the risk it poses to our natural habitats, biodiversity and watercourses.

 

We believe that this impact must be carefully managed to ensure that future generations can benefit from a high quality natural environment alongside a high quality built environment.

 

Secondly, there are clear business benefits of good environmental management: Better use of resources results in cost savings; Staying within the law protects a company from fines and reputational damage, and; Companies can meet and exceed client expectations.

 

CEF believes that the best way to improve the environmental performance of the industry is to facilitate the widespread uptake of environmental management systems across the sector. However, for some companies the environmental management systems that are currently available are too costly, too complex, too generic and too bureaucratic. NVIR-O-CERT has set out to overcome all of those problems.

 

Ultimately, NVIR-O-CERT aims to deliver the following outcomes: