Construction industry carbon reduction plan unveiled

An industry action plan launched this week outlines an ambitious plan to cut the carbon footprint of construction sites in England by 15% over the next two years.

Developed by the Strategic Forum for Construction in partnership with the Carbon Trust, the plan was authored by Arup and garnered support from many leading names in the UK construction industry. It outlines a package of measures designed to cut the construction industry’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by 750,000 tonnes of CO₂  and presents firms with annual energy cost savings of around £180m.

Cabins are identified  as one of the biggest opportunities for contractors to cut costs as well as carbon emissions. Other actions recommended in the plan to help reach the 15% reduction target include:

• More fuel efficient driving for freight, waste transport and business travel, and more fuel efficient fleet vehicles. Predicted saving: £90m and 270,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
• Using construction plant efficiently, which includes educating site staff on the fuel efficient use of equipment, collecting and analysing energy data from on site equipment, and  enabling all mobile plant to turn off automatically when not being used. Predicted saving: £19m and 84,000 tonnes of CO₂  per year.
• Connecting construction sites to the national grid earlier to minimise the use of diesel powered generators. Predicted saving: £7m and 45,000 tonnes of CO₂  per year.
• Improving energy efficiency in corporate offices. Predicted saving: £4m and 28,000 tonnes of CO₂  per year.

Constructing Excellence South West will be developing a programme to help constructing companies measure, monitor and reduce their construction site impacts over the next few months. Contact us for further infomation.