The Construction Innovation Hub has launched the pilot phase for its 'Value Toolkit', designed to drive better social, environmental, and economic outcomes in the built environment.

A score of early companies including Arup, Mace, Mott MacDonald, and Morgan Sindall have signed up to be part of the pilot phase, which will see the Value Toolkit deployed on live projects over the next six months.

The toolkit supports objectives from both the Government’s Construction Playbook and the Construction Leadership Council's (CLC) Roadmap to Recovery and will allow policymakers and clients to make informed decisions throughout the project lifecycle.

It was developed in collaboration with the Government and more than 200 organisations from industry, including industry bodies such as the CLC, the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, RIBA, RICS and Social Value UK.

The Treasury’s Green Book and Balanced Scorecard, and private sector Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG) investment criteria already encourage the principle of value-based decision-making; however implementation often lacks consistency, the Construction Innovation Hub argued.

Construction minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan said: 'Bringing together knowledge from over 200 experts from across government and industry, this toolkit will make it easier to determine the social and environmental benefits of the decisions made by firms in the construction sector, helping it continue its drive to cut emissions and build back better from the pandemic.'

The pilot phase will run over the next six months before the final industry-wide version is unveiled later in the year.

Construction Innovation Hub impact director for value, Ron Lang said: 'A lack of consistency in how value-based decision-making is approached has led to substantial gaps between what organisations set out to achieve and what they end up delivering in the built environment sector.

'The Value Toolkit addresses this persistent challenge by providing an intuitive, user-friendly process and suite of tools to support organisations of all sizes to make and implement value-based decisions.'

Rory Kennedy, director of capital at the Department for Education, said: 'As the Chair of the Value Toolkit’s Project Board, I am delighted that the pilot phase is now underway, giving clients a chance to see first-hand the benefits this resource can bring to a range of projects and programmes.'

Construction software company Zutec has been involved in major projects including the Shard in London, and Abu Dhabi International Airport in the UAE. Tom Boland, its global head of digitalisation, said: 'This is a seismic shift which will move the sector from being cost-focused to value-driven to society's benefit.

'The Value Toolkit will drive a new culture of transparency, openness and accountability. When this is coupled with a rigorous approach to metrics in assessing success, robust data management will be a lynchpin component of successful projects.'

This article first appeared on Transport Network