How our Environmental and Sustainability team supports a project

Optima’s Environmental and Sustainability team works across these stages, helping clients and project teams understand the information available for our products and identifying where additional evidence, reporting or project-specific action may be required.

1. Reviewing the project brief

The team’s involvement can begin when Optima receives an enquiry, Pre-Qualification Questionnaire or invitation to tender.

At this stage, the tender documents are reviewed to identify environmental and social requirements that may affect our scope. These can include:

• responsible sourcing and product certification
• Environmental Product Declarations
• recycled-content requirements
• low-emitting material criteria
• circular economy and reuse objectives
• waste and packaging restrictions
• carbon and delivery reporting
• social value commitments

The findings are shared with Optima’s estimating and pre-contract teams so that relevant requirements can be reflected in the tender response.

2. Identifying standard and project-specific requirements

Many projects set requirements through assessment schemes such as BREEAM, LEED, Ska or WELL. These schemes assess buildings and projects rather than individual products, so the team reviews the criteria relevant to Optima’s work and establishes what evidence can be provided.

Product-specific Sustainability Statements bring together information such as responsible sourcing certification, EPDs, VOC test evidence, acoustic performance, recycled content and design-for-disassembly considerations.

Where a brief goes beyond Optima’s standard delivery approach, the team identifies this early. Examples may include restrictions on single-use plastics, requirements to incorporate reclaimed materials or additional project reporting.

3. Supporting design and specification

As the design develops, the team helps clients and consultants understand the environmental information associated with the proposed partitioning systems.

This may involve providing verified product documentation, responding to technical enquiries or supplying data for embodied-carbon and whole-life assessments undertaken by the project team or its appointed consultant.

Where reuse is being considered, the team can also support discussions around available products, material information and the documentation needed to assess their suitability. Final decisions remain subject to the condition, dimensions, specification and performance requirements of the materials involved.

4. Preparing for delivery

Before work begins on site, identified sustainability requirements are communicated to the project delivery team.

This helps ensure that agreed actions are understood before manufacture and installation. Depending on the project, these actions may relate to packaging, delivery records, waste segregation, material quantities, environmental controls or evidence required by the project assessor.

Addressing these points before installation reduces the risk of information being missed or having to be reconstructed later in the programme.

5. Supporting the live project

During delivery, the Environmental and Sustainability team acts as a link between Optima’s project team and the client, contractor or sustainability assessor.

The team responds to ongoing information requests and can coordinate regular submissions covering:

• products and materials supplied
• installed quantities
• delivery information
• waste data
• supporting certificates and declarations

This information can contribute to the client’s own reporting, environmental assessment submissions, embodied-carbon calculations or whole-life analysis.

On selected projects, team members may also undertake sustainability or social value champion roles, supporting project-led activities and engagement.

6. Building the information needed for future reuse

Some projects require material passports or structured records of the products installed within the building.

Working alongside project and BIM information, environmental data can be linked to specific products and locations. This may include material composition, dimensions, environmental documentation and embodied-carbon information.

The result is a clearer record of what has been installed, helping future project teams assess whether components may be suitable for relocation, reuse, recycling or responsible disposal.

7. Supporting handover and assessment

At handover, the team helps complete the environmental documentation associated with Optima’s scope.

This may include final product evidence, quantities, delivery data, certifications and information requested by the relevant assessment team. The documentation provided depends on the products supplied, the project brief and the assessment methodology being followed.

By maintaining the evidence throughout the project rather than compiling it only at completion, the team supports a more structured handover process.

Beyond individual projects

The team’s role extends beyond tendering and project delivery.

It manages Optima’s Environmental Management System, supports carbon accounting and emissions reporting, and contributes to the development of environmental, net-zero and corporate responsibility programmes across the business.

This connection between company-level environmental management and project-level delivery allows lessons from live projects to inform wider improvements in how Optima designs, manufactures, procures and operates.