Building Information Modelling design ecologies - a new model?

This paper considers the barriers to BIM adoption and demonstrates they are symptoms of existing problems in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) industry. When current external pressures are considered, a varied and complex set of problems emerge that require a significant paradigm change if they are to be resolved sustainably. It is argued that Building Information Modelling (BIM) does not represent a paradigm change on its own and the concept of the design ecology is presented as a framework within which BIM can act as a catalyst for change. Specific affordances of this model are presented in terms of responding to the challenges presented in the Low Carbon Construction report (Innovation and Growth Team, 2010) and to the general characteristics of the original problems identified. Examples are presented to demonstrate that this is already emerging in practice and some suggested areas of further investigation are suggested

Social capital accounting: The social capital protocol and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainability accounting has become a mainstream practice for a large majority of S&P500 companies, and this reflects global society’s increasing interest and concern around sustainability issues. In particular, the United Nations published its “Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” and 193 countries signed up to achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets. The UN also called upon companies to help this process across their supply chains and developed a natural capital protocol for assessing and valuing environmental areas and a social capital protocol (SCP) for assessing and valuing human and societal capital such as skills, knowledge, wellbeing, shared values, and institutions. This chapter systematically investigates each of the 12 steps of the social capital protocol and identifies a range of benefits and substantial challenges which companies will face if they wish to account for their social impact across the supply chain