EN
Workforce accommodation, particularly for overseas megaprojects, is a growing focal point as ESG (Environmental Social and Governance) compliance is becoming mandatory for both international financial institutions and host governments. Workcamps that do not meet sustainability criteria are exposed to project delays, financing risks and reputational damage. This article looks at how eco-friendly prefabricated camp solutions can meet stringent international standards, as well as cost-effective, healthy, and quick-to-deploy living options for large workforces.
Fulfilling International ESG and IFC Sustainability Criteria
The shift towards an ESG compliance approach for infrastructure and mining workforce camps from merely “good practice” to the mandatory standard for the vast majority of the world’s major project finance institutions has now arrived. Most mining and infrastructure projects look to the IFC (International Finance Corporation) Performance Standards as the template for project approval and audit preparedness, eight environmental and social criteria established by the Equator Principles Association.
The social part of ESG relates specifically to the working lives of people at work - IFC’s IFC Performance Standard 2 guarantees their rights, health and safety and treatment. A compliant camp should not be viewed as a cost center, but rather as a form of social risk management which ensures the project has a social license to operate. With respect to the environment, requirements such as minimizing construction waste, efficient use of energy and material sustainability should be standard. Modular building technology generates very little on-site waste compared with a conventional building.
CDPH (HAINAN) fully supports this push toward international ESG frameworks. Over 90% of our modular housing is prefabricated at the factory and assembled at site– this reduces carbon emissions both during the manufacturing and construction phases. As a testament to this, our modular container house product has passed professional carbon footprint verification certification with clearly demonstrable low carbon and environmentally friendly advantages throughout the entire product life cycle. It is estimated that each of our modular buildings reuses saves approximately 4.38 tons of carbon emission (equivalent to 19 big trees planted); our products have an ideal lifetime usage expectation of up to and beyond 15 years and CDPH has completed more than 4,000 projects in over 100 countries demonstrating proven experience in meeting the required IFC ESG and sustainability criteria that underwrite international project financing and audit readiness.
Low-VOC Interior Materials for Healthy Indoor Air Quality
Indoor air quality represents one of the principal health concerns within labour accommodations. Typically most residents wouldspend an extensive portion of their time indoors and building materials would represent one of the most prolific sources of vocs in residential buildings. Studies have shown that fully 78 percent of common materials exhibited greater chemical emissions when at higher ambient temperatures, and fully half of all materials classified as “low-VOC” exceeded those thresholds, revealing that the label provides little guidance for the materials producer or specifier. Formaldehyde- and other vocs cause such immediate health effects such as irritated eye, while in the long term contribute to asthma. Third party certified materials like Eurofins Gold certified for indoor air quality set the new standard. Eco-friendly work camps and accommodation typically incorporate low-VOC paints, formaldehyde-free insulation binders and sustainable interior finishes to create an atmosphere conducive to good quality indoor air.
CDPH (HAINAN) utilizes low-voc interior materials in all our labour camp configurations. In designing our products we take full consideration to the indoor environmental air quality by selecting interior finishing materials with very low levels of voc. This approach ensures workers live in an indoor environment that fosters good health in both the long and the short term, especially important in projects and sites which will be occupied over multiple years.
Solar Water Heater and Rainwater Harvesting Integration
Where a work camp is remote and relying on diesel generators for its’ power supply water heating often represents the largest portion of a work camps energy consumption. Solar water heating systems provide an environmentally friendly way to solve this need; black–plated flat solar collectors powered by a circulating pump utilize solar energy to heat water and provide an efficient and fuel-free heat source reducing reliance on diesels and therefore cutting the associated carbon emissions to the atmosphere by up to an estimated 58%. The use of rainwater harvesting can also significantly lower a project’s overall water supply demand. The rainwater can be filtered and collected into water tanks for nonpotable water uses, like showers and toilets, cutting reliance on water obtained from municipal supply or delivered via water truck. In some projects water tanks holding thousands of liters of rainwater can be incorporated into the structure of the buildings and used on site to meet water demand, further reducing the project’s overall footprint. Water heating as such often qualifies for ESG credits under Scope 1 and 2 emissions respectively.
CDPH (HAINAN) offers camps with integrated solar ready roofing enabling rapid installation of solar water heaters as well as photovoltaic panels. Our modular buildings can integrate facilities for water harvesting and storage, to contribute to an off-grid solution reducing operational costs and the site’s impact on the local environment. These innovative water harvesting systems help achieve BREEAM, LEED credit and any ESG and sustainability standards set out by clients or funders.
Zero-Waste On-Site Assembly and Recyclable Steel Structures
Creating products through off-site fabrication is a key aspect of developing for a ‘circular economy’, thereby helping construction evolve away from the ‘take-make-dispose’ model that creates substantial waste which ultimately ends up in landfill, wasting not only materials but the embedded energy it took to make them. Prefabrication allows for almost zero-waste on-site assembly compared to conventional building methods as construction takes place precisely offsite using high tolerance modern machinery. The majority material in CDPH’s prefabricated work camps is steel which is a fully recyclable product without loss in quality or strength. When a camp is designed for the future, to be relocated, steel from completed project buildings can be reused repeatedly for decades, which can help the project to achieve approximately 1.9 metric tons per product in savings of materials and an equivalent in avoided GHGs over the lifecycle of a completed modular building by saving steel to reuse. As the market moves more towards circularity, 1.9 tons is a value that must be considered for every completed unit. Three smart factories and a global supply chain means that CDPH can facilitate truly zero waste on site assembly and rapid project deployment, along with structures that can be dismantled and re-located at the end of the project, maximizing the reuse and returns of the valuable, time-consuming initial construction investment. For overseas megaprojects there is no better choice than CDPH for speedy and sustainable solutions and work accommodation.
