AXA XL Creates Sustainability Circle for Construction Industry Clients

AXA XL's North America Construction insurance business has launched its Sustainability Circle, a collaborative network of 21 sustainable construction industry leaders designed to help AXA XL clients address their sustainability ambitions and boost construction risk management initiatives.

"The challenges facing the construction industry right now are really big ones," Gary Kaplan, head of AXA XL's North America Construction insurance business, said in a statement. "They range from implementing strategies to address energy efficiency in new and existing buildings, adapting to new types and methods of construction, dealing with unfamiliar materials—and sourcing them sustainably—and all this in the middle of a serious labor crisis.

"These are challenges that can't be solved by builders one at a time; it is going to require collaboration," Mr. Kaplan said. "That's why establishing this Sustainability Circle is important right now."

AXA XL's Sustainability Circle is an invitation-only collaborative peer network of sustainable construction leaders insured by AXA XL. The group engages to collectively source problems, facilitate knowledge sharing, and develop shared strategies to solve problems with a goal of elevating the overall industry, AXA XL said.

"Greater use of sustainable materials. Cutting energy consumption. Reducing construction waste. Minimizing operational risks. Valuing people and diversity. Contractors are looking at ways to boost their own sustainability practices in alignment with their values, which helps them maintain their competitive edge and ultimately helps their clients build a more resilient future," Cheri Hanes, AXA XL's head of construction innovation and sustainability in North America, said in the statement.

"With the Sustainability Circle, we're providing a platform to help them learn, collaborate, and push progress throughout the industry," Ms. Hanes said. "We're building on the success of our Innovators Circle and other knowledge networks to provide a platform for knowledge sharing to help our clients prepare for the upcoming tidal wave of green or sustainable work. Through this roundtable consortium, we will use projects and knowledge sharing to collaborate and develop actionable solutions and best practices that we can share widely in order that we elevate the entire industry."

The Sustainability Circle will hold periodic virtual and in-person events with workshops guided by the Chatham House rule, which allows participants to use information received without the identity or the affiliation of speakers or other participants being revealed.