CN Decarbonising Construction 2023

Barely a day passes without me receiving an email from a construction firm touting a new innovation, product or process that is designed to help the fight against climate change. We cannot report on each and every one of these in the pages of Construction News, but taken together it is clear to me how firmly-focused construction firms and those in the supply chain are on reducing carbon emissions from new buildings.

In my conversations with contractors, it is clear that this is not mere greenwashing. Clients and their funders are demanding ever-higher standards of environmental performance in the buildings that are being produced. And the best construction firms are responding with aplomb, developing and refining their techniques, many of which are now ingrained practice rather than exciting innovation.

Despite such progress, there is still a long way to go. The Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction reports that globally, the built environment sector is only achieving about making half the progress that it needs to make in order to achieve decarbonisation by 2050. Progress made during Covid failed to result in a lasting sea-change, with building sector emissions actually rising above pre-pandemic levels in 2021.

Onsite, many firms are grasping the opportunities presented by a growing range of electric tools, plant and materials. But progress is uneven, with smaller subcontractors in particular facing prohibitive costs to replace equipment relying on dirty fuels.

The impact of this “embedded carbon” is an important part of the puzzle. Many believe that the government could help spread best practice in the industry by mandating “whole life carbon assessments” for buildings. Ministers committed to this move last October but, halfway through 2023, it has yet to launch a consultation on the issue.

Elsewhere, the government has announced billions of pounds of funding for the green retrofitting of homes. This is a significant intervention, but the devil will be in the detail. With limited time to spend the money, the industry faces significant challenges finding, let alone training the workforce that will be needed for this heroic effort.

Whether the government should do more to encourage construction firms to reduce emissions from buildings quickly enough to meet the 2050 decarbonisation target is a live topic for debate. However, it is clear that large parts of the construction sector are not waiting around for guidance and are taking the initiative themselves.

At this year’s Decarbonising Construction conference we will hear from colleagues from across the industry who are leading the way. Learning from their experience, and the challenges the sector faces is an important part of making progress on emissions. Thank you for attending this important conference, and for doing your bit to ensure that the building industry meets the potential it has to help protect future generations from the impacts of climate change.