The way we choose to live and the standards we have come to expect form a part of our quality of life and are shaped by the infrastructure around us. Infrastructure shapes the way we live – nothing should be taken for granted. Infrastructure is about more than the basics. It's not just about putting pipes and drains in the ground - it is about assessing the need for and managing water supply and distribution. It is not just about designing and constructing a new railway line – it is about determining and meeting the need for transport for people and freight from point 'a' to point 'b' more efficiently.

"Project Management Consultancy & Research Development also have a responsibility to create value solutions that are not only effective, but good for our environment. Sustainable design objectives run through everything we do; this means that we are always thinking about how we can make people's lives better tomorrow, as well as today.

"To do this effectively, we must make sure our innovation and design solutions meet people's needs and allow them to live the way they choose, without creating a negative legacy for generations to come.

"We think that what makes this possible is something we might call 'Engineering Social Responsibility'.

"What do we mean by this? Well, you've heard of corporate social responsibility – that is how organisations take into account the economic, social and environmental impacts of the way they operate. Project Management Consultancy services, we apply the same 'precautionary principles'. We have a significant impact on the world around us and there is an opportunity, and indeed a moral obligation, for us to set a standard of design that benefits the environment in both the long and the short-term.There are major forces at play: climate change, water shortages and energy issues, all of which mean we must constantly think about the overall sustainability of our designs.

A commitment to our environment and the communities in which we work has always been part of the GSVC ethos. GSVC sees his role as providing an opportunity to draw together all that has to offer to create appropriate technology, high-impact infrastructure solutions that are sustainable over time, as well as cost-effective.

Ecocities that don't cost the earth but at the same time give communities a better quality of life while leaving behind a positive environmental legacy are exactly the kind of projects our engineers strive to deliver.

"Our recent Project Management Consultancy Services for Pollution Control for Cement Corporation of India Limited(CCI Ltd.) is an example of the way we can strike a balance between meeting the needs of environment today and creating a legacy for infrastracture tomorrow. Given that we have the skills and experience to make this possible, why has the uptake of sustainable, value-added solutions been slow?

GSVC explains: "One of the biggest stumbling blocks up until now has been to overcome the perception that sustainable infrastructure solutions are expensive, but our project experience suggests otherwise.

"Our aspiration is that eventually, over time, we won't talk about sustainable design because it will just be a given part of what we do.It's the only way we can fulfil our obligation to social responsibility within our field as allied engineers."