Realization of construction projects: Environmental Construction Services

Realization of construction projects: Environmental Construction Services
Simon Hettler Landscape Architect
The environment is our habitat – and its protection one of the great challenges of our time. Environmental Construction Services have a major share in this and consist of four key areas: conservation of the environment and wildlife, immission control, soil conservation, and the protection of waters. These are deduced particularly from the EIA Act (Environmental Impact Assessment) which defines the subjects of protection that might be affected during construction phase. Thus, Environmental Construction Services focus on the construction project‘s impact on the environment, and ensure for the execution to be compliant with environmental legislation while eliminating adverse environmental effects.

The four pillars of Environmental Construction Services

Protection of the waters
The Federal Water Act states the basis for the protection of waters and for the maintenance of watersides‘ functions. Groundwater protection is also covered by the protection of waters. In this context, we take care of the compliance with water protection relevant secondary regulations required to obtain approval by the local Water Authorities. We also assess the hydro-chemical evidence preser­va­tion of the purified site water.

Soil conser­va­tion
The profes­sional treatment of cultivable soils is a core task of soil conser­va­tion and therefore also an integral part of Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services with DIN standard 19639 (from 2019) as the fundamental basis. In this area of expertise, we take care of the development of soil protection concepts in coor­di­na­tion with the Soil Conser­va­tion Authorities. Our many certified experts in pedological construc­tion monitoring are involved for the construc­tion work, supervising the profes­sional removal of cultivable soil while taking care of maintenance as well as expert re-instal­la­tion.

Immission control
As part of Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services, immission control has a prominent role as it not only focuses on the protection of the environment but also that of the general public. Here, our tasks include to ensure for all sorts of emmissions like dust, sound, light and vibration to not cause any harm to neigh­bour­ing areas and their inhabitants.

Conser­va­tion of the environment and wildlife
Nature and wildlife conser­va­tion is another pillar of Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services. If this is the project’s focal point we perform Ecological Construc­tion Services. Acting as major contact for the Nature Conser­va­tion Authority key functions include in particular: supervision of protection and prevention measures, monitoring of site utilization, adherence to site borders, consid­er­a­tion of protected species on site, and consultant services regarding construc­tion progress adjustments due to matters of nature protection law. In cases of envi­ron­men­tal damage Ecological Construc­tion Services provide procedures for damage limitation and initiate the preser­va­tion of evidence.

Ideally, Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services are involved together with the development of execution planning and spec­i­fi­ca­tions of the project. This way, approval require­ments can be factored in before publishing the tender documents. This component is a vital contri­bu­tion to the adherence to schedules and cost.“
Simon Hettler, Expert for Environmental Construction Services

Functions of Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services

Core tasks of Envi­ron­men­tal Construc­tion Services is technical as well as legal consulting service to the project members, including:

  • Consulting and supervising for the project execution to be compliant with approval require­ments and envi­ron­men­tal legislation
  • Prevention of damage to the environment and liability loss according to envi­ron­men­tal damage legislation and further regulations
  • Prevention of extra charges or time delay due to envi­ron­men­tal legislation require­ments
  • Prevention of construc­tion progress disruption by timely indication of deadlines, require­ments and appropriate actions
  • Preparation, supervision and wrap-up of the project by evidence preser­va­tion and docu­men­ta­tion
  • Further services like managerial authority in liability cases or commu­ni­ca­tion with asso­ci­a­tions, owners and other stake­hold­ers depending on project type and contractor
Simon Hettler Simon Hettler
In Environmental Construction Services, new challenges arise constantly and make it a field of great variety.
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