As the world continues to urbanize, the impact of physical infrastructure is being scrutinized like never before.

In order for the construction industry to reposition the importance of buildings and the value they deliver for people and communities (not just bricks and mortar), the industry needs to commit to collaborating and bringing all the right parties to the table at the right time.

“We’ve got a lot of the component parts to make a change, but when I think of how buildings are built, the decisions are already made,” explains ISG’s board director, Richard Hubbard.

“It’s all well and good saying, ‘let’s have a modular solution’, but if the building has been designed and reached planning approval, you can’t then shoehorn in those elements retrospectively” continues Richard. “So for me, it’s a fundamental shift in the traditional roles that we see in construction today and a different degree of collaboration is needed between local authorities, companies, designers, consultants, and building contractors.”

This all starts in the planning conversation and shifting the mindset from just designing for aesthetics and building for demolition, to the whole lifetime asset value and performance.

Hubbard says technology is “critical, but it will remain a gimmick and in the periphery—unless we can change mindsets that, actually, not everything has to be bespoke, because what we’re talking about here is a standardized kit of parts."

“The end point of all this is to take it to it’s furthest extreme and really put sustainability and ESG at its core—you would end up with a materials bank that you could endlessly take apart and rebuild as something else. That’s where you get real circularity”.

Through ISG’s latest research and insight report, ‘Sustainable Buildings Monitor: Redefining Value’, they are establishing a purpose-driven framework to measure the true value of property.

You can watch the full briefing here.

Richard Hubbard is board director of ISG, which he joined in 2010. Richard’s career has featured leadership of teams from a variety of sectors including education, accountancy, and consultancy, working for organizations as diverse as the University of Cambridge, ACCA, and AECOM. As board director, his role includes global oversight of sustainability, communications, and winning work. Richard leads on strategy, sustainability goals and vision, he heads up cultural and innovation programs and initiatives, and he has helped ISG win awards including the coveted Queen’s Award for International Trade, the and Building Magazine’s Major Contractor of the Year (over £300m).

We are ISG. As a global construction specialist, we make places where people and businesses thrive. Our vision comes to life through partnership. We build relationships on trust, collaboration and open communication, because it’s the only way to create places as smart and resilient as the people who use them. We’re proud of our unparalleled track record and reputation for delivery we’ve built over 30 years. We’re even prouder to work with some of the world’s most successful and enduring businesses, cities and institutions.

This article was originally published by WIRED UK