Construction industry may become greener

The issue of sustainability is one of the most significant of the challenges faced by the construction industry. Moreover, most Hungarian people think that the industry does not pay sufficient attention to this issue - as it turned out from KÉSZ Group's survey. Sustainability aspects have to get more and more dominant role in the activity of economic operators, so the company is going to start an overall and long-term sustainability program and reviews its own operation according to green aspects. KÉSZ Group is aimed at doing something for a greener future not only on industry but also on retail level, so it will organize an interactive, open-air exhibition together with Bence Máté world-famous nature photographer.

Only 21 per cent of the population think that the construction industry cares about sustainability issues, i.e. the majority thinks that the industry does not pay sufficient attention to environment-awareness and sustainable operation. Of the 12 industries under review, construction industry was forced to the 11th place - as it turned out from the representative research study conducted by KÉSZ Group, one of the largest construction company groups of Hungary.

Sustainability aspects have to get more and more dominant role in the activity of economic operators , so in that of construction enterprises. The Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MIT) also emphasized last year that the government considers improvement of efficiency and sustainability as the most important challenges faced by the construction industry.

From purchasing to waste management
As a responsible company, KÉSZ Group will embark on an overall and long-term sustainability program, in the course of which it will review its own operation according to green aspects, i.e. in which fields it can achieve measurable results and can do for a more sustainable future. The principles of sustainability appear in the company's operation from purchasing to waste management.

KÉSZ Group will reduce its carbon emission and ecological footprint by 34 per cent by 2030 compared to the 2019 figures.
It will achieve this by the following steps:

• By 2030 it will replace two-third of the company's vehicles by hybrid ones that will achieve 50 percent within 1 or 2 years.
• The company strives to keep the supply chains within the country and to prefer local suppliers also within the country.
• It will reduce the carbon dioxide emission of its plants by using renewable energy, i.e. it will install solar cells on all (100 per cent of) the roofs suitable for such purpose. It will cover 50 per cent of the energy consumption of organization and mobilization buildings by green energy - using solar cells installed on the top of the containers by 2030.
• It will transfer 75 percent of the wastes from construction-demolition activity for recycling.
• For metal wastes the company strives to confine generation or recycling of wastes through technological improvements, i.e. the objective is to reduce the waste rate below 15 per cent. In any case, it is the largest steel structure production plant of the region, it was only around 25 per cent in the case of KÉSZ Ipari Gyártó Kft. two years ago and currently it is about 16-18 per cent. Reuse is assisted also by equipment purchases, for example a machine capable to take off aluminum from composite plates in the Kecskemét plant of KÉSZ Metaltech Kft.
• In the course of business, digitalization comes into focus to an even greater extent: By 2030 80 per cent of our operation will be paperless owing to the use of smart devices and applications. The company has already modernized the lighting of its plants and switched over to LED lights and it will be implemented in office buildings by 2030.

We, at KÉSZ Group are constantly work for improving our operation and processes using innovative solutions and technologies. We have implemented several endeavors so far in order to ensure a more environmentally-friendly course of business, for example we stepped forward in the fields of waste management, logistic optimization and recycling of basic materials. However, we recognized that we have to pay even more attention to this and an overall sustainability program needs to be worked out that permeates our entire operation. We believe that a substantial change can be achieved by the economic operators together, jointly, so we strive to do our part as best as possible” - said Tamás Vida, CEO of KÉSZ Group.

The next step is that KÉSZ Group will launch a so-called “Hackaton” competition in the second half of the year, in the course of which it seeks a partner for achieving the sustainability goal. In the course of this the participants - young specialists, start-up enterprises - will bring solution proposals for specific sustainability-related problems.

Nature moves to town
In the near future the company will launch several activities and campaigns to call the attention to more sustainable corporate operation and to make the future greener not only in the industry but also on retail level. Accordingly, it will organize an interactive, open-air exhibition together with Bence Máté nature photographer. At the “NATURBAN 2021 – or nature moved to town” exhibition the world-famous nature photographer's more than 100 works await visitors in Budapest, in District 13.

There was also a microsite created to the exhibition and the whole material of the open-air exhibition can be viewed at naturban.keszgroup.com, moreover, visitors can listen to the narration of Bence Máté, so they can become familiar also with the stories behind the photos. Therefore, the exhibition can be viewed also digitally, so anyone can view the exceptional photos of Bence Máté. At the exhibition a natural photo comes to life with the help of webAR, a web-based extended reality platform and those who inquire can meet this photo and on-line animation in several provincial large towns.

NATURBAN 2021 – Meeting of the living environments, or nature moved to the town
Interactive exhibition of Bence Máté and KÉSZ Group
Time: 15 May 2021 - 30 June 2021 Location: 1138 Budapest, corner of Úszódaru and Sólyatér streets (construction of Danube Terrace Grande)