Contractors bidding for central Government contracts worth more than £5 million a year are now required to provide a Carbon Reduction Plan. Plans must be updated at least once a year and meet the standard set out in Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21, which includes a template for contractors to use.

The CLC CO₂nstruct Zero programme is bringing the construction supply chain together to drive carbon out of the sector. Businesses across the industry are being encouraged to align their own commitments to one or more of the nine priorities and sign up as a ‘Business Champion’.

Businesses that wish to can make a formal commitment to reaching net zero by signing up to the Carbon Reduction Code for the Built Environment. Signatories to the code commit to meeting net zero by 2045, with an interim target to reduce net direct and indirect carbon emissions by 2030, and to publishing annual reports on progress towards their goal.

FIS Members wishing to update or develop a Carbon Reduction Plan can visit the FIS Sustainability Hub for resources and ideas or contact FIS Sustainability Champion, Flavie Lowres to discuss ideas and options.   

As the world prepares for COP26, the time for action and concrete agreement to reduce carbon emissions and invest in our future is now. Government and industry have a crucial opportunity to agree tangible commitments, benefitting future generations across the world.

Our role as part of the Built Environment and Construction Sector (which accounts for 38% of global carbon emissions) is vital. The Construction Leadership Council’s Construct Zero programme is leading the industry’s drive to net zero and has announced its confirmed line-up for ‘Construction: The Built Environment’ at COP26 on 11 November.

The role of our industry young professionals, working in partnership with industry leaders is fundamental to delivering on Net Zero. They have passion, and some fantastic ideas were heard through the youth COP summit in Milan and CLC’s young people’s summit. To facilitate the voice of young professionals, 50% of tickets will be allocated to young professionals.

The session will be co-chaired by Sarah Linnell (Cundall). Sarah brings with her an exciting array of relevant knowledge and experience as a structural engineer turned sustainability engineer. This will provide a great opportunity for young people to engage at this session and work with our industry leaders.

Attendees will also hear from Actuate UK, Saint Gobain and the Construction Industry Council on how they, as Construct Zero partners, are already advancing the importance of retrofit, materials, and design/professional services in delivering Net Zero.

There will be debate on some of Construct Zero’s priorities with four current Business Champions (Keltbray, Costain, Atkins and Travis Perkins), identifying some of the challenges they face, and opportunities to share best practice.

Also beign r eleased is ‘Building a Greener Britain’. This exciting film reaches out into local communities, demonstrating some of the great work taking place across the sector. Streamed online through COP26’s YouTube channel, CLC will be bringing the challenges and opportunities of Net Zero to industry, leaders, SMEs, young industry professionals and the general public. If you want to make a difference to our growing sector, understand in detail how colleagues have overcome similar barriers to what you are experiencing, or have a group of interested young emerging professionals, please sign up and register for the event!

Andy Mitchell, co-chair of the CLC said:

“The world will be watching as the Construction Leadership Council takes the stage as part of events at COP26. I am delighted with our line-up of industry experts who can speak about the role that construction can play in delivering net zero carbon. We hope that they can lead change not just in the UK but promote better outcomes for construction worldwide”.

Hannah Vickers, CLC CO2nstructZero and Chief of staff at Mace said:

“COP26 has the potential to be a landmark moment for the planet, and it’s outcome will have a great impact on the construction sector in the UK. The Construction Leadership Council has a huge role to play as our sector transforms itself over the coming years, and we’re very pleased to able to announce the line up for our event on Cities and the Built Environment Day at the conference. I would encourage everyone in the industry to get involved in anyway you can – our industry is changing quickly, and we must work together current and future leaders to ensure success”.

It’s free to attend, a great learning opportunity live in the COP Green Zone and an opportunity for you to put your questions to our speakers. It promises to be a fascinating series of debates as the construction sector engages at COP26!

Only by working together, in partnership, and building on COP26, will we collectively build back better, faster and greener.

Ahead of the COP 26 summit next week, the Government has published a Net Zero Strategy setting out how the UK will reach net zero emissions by 2050.

The Strategy sets out an economy-wide plan for how British businesses and consumers will be assisted in making the transition to clean energy and will support the creation of thousands of high-skilled jobs in new industries across the UK.

Four government documents were issued and below is a link to each document and a very short comment. 

UK Government Net Zero Strategy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-strategy 
This is the overarching strategy of how to reach the UK’s 2050 Net Zero target and the interim milestones of a 68% cut by 2030 and 78% by 2035.  It is the first such national strategy in the world.

Heat and Buildings Strategy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/heat-and-buildings-strategy 
Moving Buildings towards Net Zero is a combination and balance of making buildings more energy efficient and providing non-fossil fuel based heating systems (e.g. heat pumps, heat networks or hydrogen).  In this Strategy the withdrawal of gas boilers in favour of heat pumps looms large, with insulation and retrofit taking a low profile.  There seems little acknowledgement that a whole house approach is needed if heat is to be provided by a heat pump, i.e. are the radiators suitable, is there a water cylinder to store heat.  There does seem more optimism than reality that the price of a heat pump will plummet in a very short time period to be equivalent to the price of a gas boiler.  Installing such kit will in any case require that a house is well insulated otherwise the heat pump is likely to fail to deliver the comfort required.

The grants announced to be available from April 2022 will help only 90,000 homes install low carbon heating solutions.  The target is for 600,000 heat pumps to be installed annually from 2028.  Heat pumps currently are much more expensive than gas boilers, are rather large, need an outside wall and require an internal water cylinder for heat storage.

(For an excellent overview of what is required for a home to have an efficient heating system using a heat pump read the HHIC report:  Heating Up to Net Zero).

 Another area of controversy is the validity of using EPC band C as meaning that a home has an efficiency rating suitable to help us reach Net Zero – many experts very much disagree and this has been well documented in a number of reports.

Tucked away in a quiet corner is the announcement of a consultation on a market-based mechanism for low carbon heat which is to introduce an obligation on the manufacturers of gas and oil boilers sold on the UK market to achieve the sale of a certain number of heat pumps, and potentially other low-carbon heating appliances, proportional to their boiler sales in each period.   Lets hope consumers are willing to buy the heat pumps produced !

The potential opportunities of hydrogen will await the outcome of current pilot trials.

Treasury’s Net Zero Review https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/net-zero-review-final-report
Without financing the Net Zero Strategy remains a wish list, and it is widely reported that the Chancellor is not fully on board as to how to pay for the Net Zero transition, especially with the decline of fuel duty as people make the switch to electric cars.  Clearly the tax regime will need a fundamental review.  The Review “considers the potential macroeconomic effects of the transition; the potential economic opportunities and risks of the transition; the factors affecting a household’s exposure to the transition; the policy levers that could support the transition; and the likely fiscal implications of the transition”.

 

“Treasury Greening Finance: A Roadmap to Sustainable Investing  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-finance-a-roadmap-to-sustainable-investing
This is about ways to ensure that information on sustainability is available to financial market decision-makers, that they act upon it, and that “financial flows across the economy shift to align with a net zero and nature-positive economy”.   Existing disclosure requirements will be streamlined – such as the UK’s commitment to make reporting aligned with the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) mandatory – with new requirements, including on reporting environmental impact.

Further information is available on the Government’s Net Zero Strategy is available here.

Ahead of the UN climate change conference (COP26) hosted in Glasgow later this month, two briefing sessions will take place next week for businesses to hear from senior UK officials on plans for COP, as well as how they can follow and support the activities going on in the blue and green zones and regional activity.

• Wednesday 20 October 09:00-10:00 BST. Link to join is here
• Thursday 21 October 16:30-17:30 BST. Link to join is here

Small businesses from across the UK are invited to join the green business revolution and commit to becoming more sustainable. By November, the aim is for as many UK small businesses as possible to join the UN’s ‘Race to Zero’, a global effort to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases we all generate to zero by 2050.

Small businesses can sign up to the Race to Zero by visiting the new Business Climate Hub which is an official UK Government site offering practical steps on cutting emissions and inspiring success stories from other businesses. Taking action on climate change will help businesses to grow, seize new opportunities and adapt against the challenges of a changing planet. Reducing emissions can lower running costs, save money, attract new customers and help to start a green business movement.