PROJECTS WITH BENEFITS

SUSTAINABILITY
this project. For Aecon, one example is in the way they have adopted
Envision into procurement and achievement criteria on the project.
This has led to positive results such as the use of sustainable procurement methods to reduce the amount of waste. For the construction
waste that does exist, Aecon is ensuring that more than 95 per cent is
recycled, using disposal sites nearby to reduce GHG emissions from
transportation.
The ability to capture lessons from past projects, and leverage
knowledge of Envision application, has been supported by the development of Envision education programs for sta昀昀 and teams. With the
Envision Sustainability Professional (ENV SPs) credential, individuals
are discovering new opportunities to grow their skills and abilities,
while infrastructure companies and organizations are strengthening
their project development and delivery, notes Swanepoel. “These are
infrastructure professionals working in every sector, trained on the
use of Envision,” explains Swanepoel.
Canada has almost 900 ENV SPs who use the framework to
advance capital project sustainability and resilience, and building
capacity to support the growing demand for Envision has been a key
focus under Envision Canada, Swanepoel notes.
To enable team members build familiarity with the Envision framework, Aecon created Envision training modules, making them available on its online learning platform. By the end of 2023, 56 employees
pursued the training and 35 became ENV-SP (Envision Sustainability
Professional) certi昀椀ed.
“To achieve our sustainability targets in time, it cannot be the
responsibility of a dedicated few across all of Aecon’s projects. It
became clear that this would need to be a collective e昀昀ort and the
Envision training that we have integrated into sta昀昀 learning has been
incredibly bene昀椀cial,” says Banga.
“While most sta昀昀 now have a basic understanding of our sustainability objectives, we also have nearly 40 sta昀昀 members designated as
ENV SPs who have been trained and assessed on their knowledge to
apply the ground-breaking Envision concepts to their daily work.”
Sustainability: not only in projects, but across operations
Working with clients and partners across Canada, the United States
and internationally, Aecon is working to deliver infrastructure
projects that are driving the energy transition. This includes a wide
variety of projects—from building some of Canada’s largest hydroelectric power projects to facilitate the conversion of clean energy, to
executing the two largest nuclear refurbishments in Canada, partnering to deliver North America’s 昀椀rst grid-scale SMR and the Oneida
Energy Storage project, and playing a key a role in the electri昀椀cation
of Ontario’s GO Transit rail system—to name just a few.
But organizations like Aecon that use Envision are not only ensuring projects are being built in ways that maximize community and
environmental bene昀椀ts and reduce the negative impacts associated
with infrastructure development. They’re also ensuring that sustainability is prioritized across their operations.
In addition to what Aecon builds, the company is also focused on
how they build, says Banga. While providing sustainability solutions
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photo credit: CDPQ Infra
16
RENEW CANADA – MAY/JUNE 2024
RENEWCANADA.NET

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