Construction group John Sisk & Son is putting sustainability at the heart of its business strategy, with environmental performance increasingly recognised as a key factor in securing major construction contracts.

The company has strengthened the links between its commercial and sustainability objectives, reflecting growing expectations from clients for contractors to demonstrate measurable progress in areas including climate action, people and health and safety.

Sisk Sustainability Director Sinéad Hickey said sustainability credentials had become an increasingly important consideration in the tendering process, with clients asking more detailed questions about the environmental performance of prospective contractors.

Speaking to the Business Post, Hickey said: "For the business, commercial and sustainability agendas are interconnected. I don’t think you can separate them."

She added that the expectations placed on contractors through tender submissions had matured considerably, with businesses increasingly required to demonstrate their ability to deliver greener construction solutions.

"If we’re not able to answer those detailed questions, how are we to win the work?" she said.

As part of its approach, Sisk links annual performance objectives covering climate, people and health and safety to financial incentives for a range of senior leaders. The weighting of individual objectives varies according to roles and the relevant incentive arrangements.

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The group has also established an internal sustainability governance structure, with Hickey reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer, alongside an external advisory council tasked with challenging the company's sustainability ambitions and approach.

Chaired by environmental scientist Tara Shine, the council includes industry executives such as Marci Bonham, who leads Kingspan's insulated panels business in Ireland.

Sisk's sustainability strategy comes against a backdrop of significant business growth. Having established its initial sustainability targets in 2020, the group has expanded its operations across Ireland, the UK and Europe.

Its revenues increased from €1.39 billion in 2019 to €2.62 billion last year, while its portfolio of major projects has included work at Manchester City's Etihad Stadium, London's Elizabeth Line and the first phase of Vantage Data Centers' Dub1 campus in west Dublin.

However, maintaining progress on emissions reduction while continuing to grow the business presents challenges.

Hickey acknowledged that the company had hoped to achieve greater emissions reductions by the halfway point of its sustainability roadmap, noting that developments such as green hydrogen had not scaled as quickly as anticipated.

She also highlighted the influence of factors outside individual contractors' direct control, including the pace at which renewable electricity is added to national grids and the wider availability of lower-carbon technologies.

In the meantime, Sisk is concentrating on areas where it can make a direct difference, including working with suppliers to source lower-carbon concrete and steel.

One example is the use of low-carbon concrete at the company's Cherry Orchard Point affordable housing development, an approach which Hickey said had generated considerable interest from clients looking to incorporate similar materials into other projects.

With expectations around sustainable construction continuing to evolve, the company believes the availability of lower-carbon materials and solutions will become an increasingly important part of the construction industry's response to changing client requirements.

Hickey said the conversation around low-carbon materials was developing rapidly, with clients increasingly expecting contractors to be able to offer practical alternatives.

For Sisk, embedding sustainability within commercial decision-making, leadership objectives and supply-chain relationships is therefore not simply an environmental commitment, but an increasingly important part of remaining competitive in the construction market.