In the mining and minerals industry, development, introduction and construction of new plant designs, to meet sustainability objectives, face a series of major hurdles. Typical are the long investment cycle times, the designer does not normally control the spending (the owner does), and the industry is inherently technologically conservative or risk adverse while accepting the often more significant geological, market and political risks._x000D_
Sustainable Plant Design' is an approach to plant and facility design that drives the necessary culture change and acceptance by minimising technical risk and maximising potential returns. The approach forces consideration of sustainability objectives and risks early in the project, where cost saving and efficiency improving opportunities can be maximised._x000D_
In Hatch, we are using three proven tools under the risk management' umbrella to drive sustainable development principles into our projects: Sustainable Plant Design, FutureWatchTM Reviews, and Clean Plant DesignTM ._x000D_
These proactive practical, not theoretical, techniques for driving change from within and reducing whole of life cycle costs will be discussed and illustrated with case studies.