The UK construction industry needs to move more urgently to cut carbon emissions by adopting challenging targets, applying whole-life carbon assessment to public procurement and updating design and performance standards, according to a new report by the National Engineering Policy Centre
The construction industry has made significant progress in reducing CO2 emissions but needs to do more if the UK is to get on track to meet the ultimate target of achieving net zero by 2050, the report says.
The National Engineering Policy Centre, a partnership of 43 professional engineering organisations led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, is calling on both the government and industry to set “challenging but clear targets” to deliver net zero transformation at pace and at scale.
Decarbonising Construction: Building a New Net Zero Industry notes that the built environment currently contributes 40% of the UK’s carbon emissions and it is estimated that the construction sector contributes up to 11% of global carbon emissions.
Rather than focusing on the construction phase alone, the report outlines the mission of decarbonisation across four interconnected areas it states are fundamental to an effective net zero transformation: product outcomes; design and specification; construction and reuse; and changes to procurement.
It calls on the government, as a major client of building and infrastructure projects, to change its approach to procurement to reflect whole-life carbon performance.
It also urges the industry to embrace more holistic and efficient building designs, combined with greater reuse of building materials wherever possible and using non-fossil fuel powered machinery, to help eliminate carbon emissions from building sites.
The government, as part of its 10-point plan for a “green industrial revolution”, has stated its ambition to rebuild a greener economy following the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the National Infrastructure Strategy, published in November 2020, the construction sector requires bold, transformative action.
Rapidly decarbonising construction
The report sets out six overarching recommendations where it says taking action now will result in the rapid decarbonisation of the construction sector.
- The industry should adopt the same carbon emission reduction targets as the national targets of a 68% reduction by 2030 and a 78% reduction by 2050 compared with 1990 levels. The recommended percentage reductions should include embodied carbon of built infrastructure, including that of imported construction materials, not just the scope of emissions included in the UK carbon budget.
- Whole-life carbon assessment should be applied to public procurement: the construction sector must apply the updated guidance for appraising environmental impacts defined in the Treasury’s Green Book, which aims to ensure that projects are assessed in terms of their contribution to the overall net zero target. The updates mean that all interventions aimed at moving the UK towards the net zero target are first appraised in terms of their contribution to that target.
- Design and performance standards should be updated to enable more holistic approaches for the built environment that support efficient design and reuse of materials. These updated standards must also ensure that all future projects, including those that are part of the post-Covid-19 economic stimulus, are obliged to contribute to meeting net zero. In addition, infection control measures must be integrated with energy efficiency to safeguard health risks as the UK moves towards net zero.
- The government and construction sector must define and promote the large-scale adoption of best practice in low-carbon procurement and construction, applying it to all new build and refurbishment schemes by 2025. This should be underpinned by better use of digital technologies, such as digital twins, to improve productivity and reduce risk.
- Net zero and sustainability principles and practices must be a mandatory element of engineering education, continuous professional development and upskilling to change the culture of the construction industry.
- The government should apply a “joined-up, systems approach” across the construction industry and Whitehall departments to ensure that total emissions from construction are minimised. Net zero emissions will not be achieved solely by building less and retrofitting existing building stock, the report states. Instead, radical and comprehensive transformation is required across the sector, encompassing the definition of outcomes sought in the procurement of infrastructure, the detailed specification and design of built infrastructure and the processes of construction, retrofit and reuse. This will require new systems that are consistent and joined up across these stages of the lifecycle of built assets and will need to be coherent across national, devolved and local government, placing social, economic and environmental outcomes at their heart.
‘A massive opportunity for the sector’
Launching the report, Dervilla Mitchell CBE FREng, deputy chair of the Arup Group and chair of the National Engineering Policy Centre Net Zero Working Group, said: “The construction sector has already made real progress; the concrete and cement industry has delivered a 53% reduction in absolute CO2 emissions since 1990, faster than the UK economy as a whole. However, more still needs to be done if we are to get on track to meet the ultimate target of achieving net zero by 2050.
“We know how to do this. For example, the London 2012 Olympic Delivery Authority’s stated its aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% compared with standard practice and used its purchasing power and prestige status to develop ‘sustainable concrete’, using recycled aggregate, batched on site to reduce both transport emissions and supply risk. This demonstrates the importance of mandating carbon reduction in ensuring that action is taken.
“The net zero transformation is challenging but it is also a massive opportunity for the sector. It’s a chance to make a fundamental change in our ambitions, processes and social contribution.
“However, we need immediate action by government, standards bodies, the construction sector and the engineering profession if we are to make it happen.”
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