BE-ST unlocking net zero in Scotland’s built environment

I was delighted to visit Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) at Blantyre near Glasgow recently and it struck me that there were three great strands running through much of the work they are doing: collaboration, innovation, and skills. I caught up with CEO Stephen Good to find out more.

Amanda Williams: Would you like to start by just saying a few words about BE-ST and the aims of the organisation?

Stephen Good: BE-ST is Scotland's National Innovation Centre for construction and the built environment. We are partly funded by government to accelerate the built environment’s just transition to zero carbon emissions. We're here to help every business do as much as they can within the scope of what’s possible for them, so we work right across the entire built environment throughout the UK and increasingly internationally.

The power of collaboration

AW: You emphasise the importance of connections, and particularly bringing together different communities of interest. Which communities are you working with most and what are the key subjects that you engage with them on?

SG: We think of the innovation centre as a connector between four communities: industry partners, public sector and government bodies, academic partners, and citizens and communities.

Every part of the built environment is within our scope, although we have six core areas that we focus on. One is around sustainable materials, products, and systems, reducing operational carbon, embodied carbon, and providing circular solutions. The second is around digital transformation and helping industry unlock its potential to do things more efficiently. The third is modern methods of construction (MMC) where we promote advanced manufacturing, manufacturing panelised and modular systems with a high degree of focus on timber-based systems. The fourth is retrofit and how we take forward the decarbonisation of existing buildings.

We also have two cross-cutting themes which underpin our four more technical areas of focus. One is culture, behaviour and mindset, and the other is skills and workforce development.

AW: One of the key themes that stood out when we visited BE-ST was collaboration and bringing those different groups that you talked about together. Why is this important in the context of creating a more sustainable built environment?

SG: Collaboration is at the heart of everything we do. The shift we've seen as an organisation over the last 10 years has been defined by an evolution from tactical project support where we've provided funding to bring industry and academia together to work on a particular challenge or opportunity, to much more strategic collaborative programmes. In these programmes we bring together multiple industry and academic partners with stakeholders from all four of our communities to focus on a very clear common goal.

Of course, this is second nature as the construction industry doesn't build without collaboration, but there may be some occasions where, by our own admission, the industry is not always great at it if a client isn't paying us to come together. But when you're doing it outside of a project or a particular delivery timescale, without milestones that force you to collaborate, that's when the real magic happens.

Accelerating innovation 

AW: You have some fantastic facilities at BE-ST, are these available for wider industry to use? 

SG: At our innovation campus near Glasgow, we have two 70,000 square foot spaces with a range of different test equipment and technologies which can be used by industry and academic partners at no cost or low cost. If you’re looking for an environment where you can take risks, experiment, and explore big ideas, our campus is it. 

Our Zero Carbon Innovation Lab gives the sector access to a range of state-of-the-art equipment and expertise to work on R&D projects and receive ongoing support to invest and scale with confidence.

Our Accelerator Lab is our main events space and hosts Scotland's National Retrofit Centre where we work with partners to accelerate the pace and quality of retrofit throughout the UK.

Challenging the skills gap

AW: The construction industry is experiencing a shortage of skilled labour currently, particularly in relation to green skills. What's the solution to that challenge? And how do we close the loop between the just transition and the skill shortage, ensuring we have the expertise and skills we need to drive this forward?

SG: We need to ensure we are investing in our workforce and developing a competency supply profile that aligns well with the demand profile.

We are providing training in partnership with industry experts to thousands of people a year now, specifically around low carbon learning, Passivhaus standards, and retrofit. In all the training programmes we run, we keep aside 10% for colleges, universities, and other training providers so that we're training the trainers. This means that when we get to the point that demand is there locally and the funding is unlocked, they will be able to deliver to the same level of competency which in turn will allow us to scale up the impact.

AW: Is there anything else on the horizon that you want to highlight or anything our members could get involved with?

SG: Recently we’ve been engaging with stakeholders in the US, New Zealand, Australia and Kenya and we want to make connections in continental European countries where there's an appetite to collaborate and see how we can share our experience and learn from theirs as we all look at our own regional ecosystems.

We also have the knowledge exchange element of our work and we run a lot of events every year. Our flagship programme BE-ST Fest runs from the beginning of September to the end of November and is the best way to access a one-stop-shop of what’s happening across the ecosystem. It's not just talking about what BE-ST does but it’s a platform for all the stakeholders we are working with to come together.