This Handbook is intended to be a practical guide to help companies in the construction industry develop and implement an environmental and social management system, which should help to improve overall operations. In the current economic climate, companies are under pressure to perform or even just survive. New initiatives are often met with resistance as people struggle to keep up with their day-to-day responsibilities. Some people think that an environmental and social management system must be big, complicated and expensive. But that is not really true. To be effective, a management system needs to be scaled to the nature and size of the company. If a company has existing management systems for quality or health and safety, this Handbook will help to expand them to include environmental and social performance. Sections I and II provide background on environmental and social management systems (ESMS) in the construction industry. Section III provides step-by-step instructions on how to develop and implement an ESMS. The ESMS Toolkit and Case Studies section gives: 1) tools to help develop and implement the systems described in the Handbook; and 2) case studies presenting two companies in the construction industry that implemented an ESMS. For more publications on IFC Sustainability please visit www.ifc.org/sustainabilitypublications.

This handbook contains information and practical guidance on the environmental issues likely to be encountered at each stage in the tendering and construction phases of a builidng or civil engineering project. It is aimed at informing construciton managers, clients, designers and other consultants, engineers and scientists on their obligations and the opportunities open to them to improve the industrys environmental performance.

Demands on the construction industry are changing, and it is now virtually essential for environmental management to be considered at all stages of a project. Many construction managers are finding a quantitative approach useful, and this book outlines four quantitative methods which can be applied at different construction stages, and which fit within a comprehensive framework of dynamic Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). These include: a method to quantitatively evaluate and reduce pollution and hazards levels a method to evaluate the environmental-consciousness of proposed construction plans a method to reduce on-site construction wastes through an incentive reward programme a method to promote C and D waste exchange in the local construction industry. With an experimental case study of the application of these methods, this book delivers a comprehensive review of environmental management issues in construction. With regulatory requirements potentially favouring the quantitative approach, this timely guide ensures that contractors will be able to keep pace with environmental management standards.

This handbook provides practical advice and guidance on the environmental issues that are likely to be encountered at each stage of a building or civil engineering project.