Note from the editor: [energy saving construction]

The central theme of this issue is closely connected to the themes that were discussed at an EFBWW-workshop in November 2013, dedicated to ‘sustainable building’. During a two-days meeting, union representatives and works councils’ members active in some of the largest contractors discussed the complicated change that is needed in the industry with the convergence to a more environmental-friendly industry. In the workshop this notion was broadened up by using the definition of the sustainable company as developed in an ETUI-project, in the meantime published in two volumes. A sustainable company is in that view a company that combines social and environmental goals with long-term investment. And in such company a balance of interests has to be found between different stakeholders like the owners, the management, the workforce, the local and regional community and dependent suppliers and subcontractors.