Plans for a post-Covid-19 revival of the UK construction sector were published earlier this week (1st June)
UKBCSD welcomes and supports the recovery plan published by the Construction Leadership Council’s Covid-19 Task Force, which lays out proposals to secure the future of construction businesses nationwide, while setting the industry on a sustainable path towards recovery.
The task force is now engaging with Government to test how the plans proposals might be delivered
The roadmap to recovery plan can be downloaded HERE.
In light of the ongoing spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), UKBCSD has activated its business continuity plans. Our priority is to ensure the health and safety of our team and support members, as well as the continuity of our organisation.
We understand the critical role UKBCSD can play during this time and how our expertise can support you in understanding the emergency response processes and steps government are now making which will impact on us all, our businesses and supply chains. Communications with and across our members we feel will be key and our ability to work remotely but not in isolation is critical to responding to this unprecedented emergency.
We wish to support our members to ensure you have the best intelligence, understanding and support as you navigate the challenges and impact on across multiple sectors and our communities and people. I know you are likely to be inundated with communications like this one. Even so, as both Chair of UKBCSD and as the first Emergency Planning Gold Commander to initiate a Business & Economic Recovery Group in the country last week, in advance of the Economic Emergency statement made by the Prime Minister this week, I wanted to offer support under these extremely challenging circumstances.
Navigating the impacts, seeking to mitigate these, the next steps and recovery to come, whilst maintaining business continuity and support to your own supply chains will be critical. This whilst working hard to protect the relationships, networks, social value and keeping sustainability of our sector core to recovery. This is at the heart of UKBCSD’s approach, our members and the workforce, businesses and communities we support.
Our response plan
As this emergency progresses, I will establish a dedicated communications response to support your operations, give insight to steps implemented by government and how these will be delivered - this is already a complex environment for anyone impacted upon.
Not only are we able to actively monitor the implementation of government and local emergency service support to our sector, supply chains and local processes, we can, if requested, seek to provide updates into your organisations as new steps come forward and support you to access emergency commitments. As UKBCSD members and leaders in our sector, I am keen we work in partnership with other organisations and government to ensure the viability and sustainability of our sector to respond to these unprecedented times.
I am keen to hear your views on the impacts you are facing and steps you feel we, partners and government, must address. I know in my role as Emergency Planning Gold Commander the significant impacts this is already having to multiple sectors, families and individuals - If we work together to support our partners, supply chains and wider communities it will be invaluable to planning the recovery steps.
We’re here to help
I understand that the current events impact us all personally before professionally. I know we are all doing everything we can to ensure we are healthy and safe and are able to support our people, customers and communities. We are determined to doing everything we can to be positive people contributing to the wider community.
Please contact our team at info@ukbcsd.co.uk with any questions, concerns, or requests.
The Government’s commitment that the UK will eradicate its net contribution to climate change by 2050 was delivered 12th of June of last year. As the first G7 nation to legislate to cut emissions, and now to rigorously commit to net-zero emissions, the UK’s position as an ambitious and effective leader on climate change has now been firmly established.
UKBCSD wrote to the Prime Minister’s office in January setting out how our members’ commitment to engage with cabinet office and No10 will achieve this. There will continue to be debate and challenge regarding the costs and practicalities of decarbonising our economy but we, as a public/private partnership of practitioners, investors and stakeholders, offer to respond robustly. By evidencing, developing and promoting the new technologies that will deliver a low carbon future, the UK can become an effective leader, reaping the benefits of clean growth whilst safeguarding the wellbeing of present and future generations.
We have invited the Government to consider the approach both our UK and global partners can bring to support delivering tangible benefits enhancing the country’s pace of growth, quality of development and social benefits that go beyond the headlines of ‘climate emergency’. This will help provide solutions to the current challenge harness the UKs strengths in this global agenda in 2020.
This action provides a clear statement of intent for the UK's actions as host of the UN Climate Summit in Glasgow next November. It also provides an opportunity to promote the creativity, collaboration and openness of our business and research communities working together in understanding, mitigating and adapting to climate change. UKBCSD, together with its global parent, World Business Council would welcome the opportunity to showcase collaborative enterprise and business excellence at a UK hosted COP.
We are now progressing discussions with strategic policy leads within Government with a view to formalising collaboration on delivering the priorities endorsed last July, by our membership.
More news to follow.
News from CBRE is coming soon. Please check back later
Chris Langdon, Development & Investment Director
ENGIE Places & Communities
“ENGIE joined UKBCSD because we knew we would be sharing the same space as other advocates and ambassadors, pioneering organisations like our own, led by people committed to sustainability. Our stated ambition is to be a leader in the Zero Carbon Transition and, as a global business, we are putting our money where our mouth is, transforming our business and our industry. This is a radical position but one that has become our ethos.
As an example, in November 2018 The Guardian reported our plans for the former coal fired power station at Rugeley in Staffordshire, which stopped generating electricity in 2016 because of the changing economic and environmental context. Rather than sell the site and leave the market to deliver we decided to act as developer and transform the site, as part of our transition to Zero Carbon and adopting all the principles of sustainability, , creating 2,300 super-efficient new homes, powered by solar energy and heat pumps. We have our eyes on other similar sites around the UK. This is all about better outcomes.
Summarising the ENGIE vision is pretty straightforward: we want to work with others, as a strong serious and committed partner, aligning our values to long term, sustainable models. We want to have a restorative impact on the natural environment and contribute towards an equal society.
The key word here is ‘partner’ - or rather partnership - and specifically with the public sector. Currently development in this country all too often seems constrained by a regulatory and compliance based system rather than a visionary and aspirational one. Change is needed and this is where the private and public sectors must work together. It is pretty clear that the best outcomes are achieved by public sector leadership combined with the expertise and investment capacity of the private sector; without this combination the risk is that little gets done, certainly not at the scale, aspiration and pace needed.
Yet the public sector holds the key if Britain is to reach net zero any time soon. It is ideally and uniquely placed to lead the transition. This month (February 2020), ENGIE published the first of a two-part guide for local authorities, “How to solve a problem like…net zero” which sets out to define the issues faced at local level. We identify these under five interconnected headings – Governance and Leadership, Urban Development, Urban Mobility, Energy and Resource Use and Resilience.
Each of these is explored in some depth, the idea being to inspire strategic thinking and encourage direction. We will be following it up with examples of ‘how to’, proposing projects and programmes that need to be undertaken to lead the transition to net zero.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the first of our headings, Governance and Leadership, is fundamental to success for the public sector. We talk about Place-based Leadership including inter-authority agreements, local economic partnerships, business improvement districts and energy innovation zones. Behavioural Change is another critical issue, given that the UK Committee on Climate Change has noted that broad and deep public engagement will be crucial in enabling the country to meet its net zero position by 2050. So, local authorities must emphasise the health, social and economic benefits of transition.
Robust Data sits under our Governance heading, urging councils to secure access to data about local sources of greenhouse emissions, which will in turn assist in setting local carbon baselines, realistic targets for achieving net zero and establishing budgets. Strong Partnerships focuses on bringing together public and private sectors and all the benefits cross-sector interactions can bring. And finally, Just Transition, which focuses on the need for careful management, to avoid leaving communities, people and assets ‘stranded’. Proper handling could generate immense benefits, with the low carbon economy potentially growing by 11 per cent between 2015 and 2030.
ENGIE has sets its sights on the public sector because we believe this is one of the most critical ways in which we can help make a difference. We welcome further discussion with our fellow UKBCSD members, to explore how we might collaborate.
ENGIE’s report : “How to solve a problem like…net zero. A guide for local authorities” is available to download HERE
Our most recent member, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK, was invited to comment on their reasons for joining UKBCSD.
Dr Adam Read – External Affairs Director and Sarah Ottaway - Sustainability and Social Value Lead shared their thoughts on how membership may benefit SUEZ's future contribution towards a sustainable Britain.
Why join UKBCSD?
Businesses have a critical role to play in progressing the UK towards a more sustainable future, one where green growth is central and where consumers and employees alike are fully engaged in making the right decisions. With over £1 billion of investment in cutting edge technology, SUEZ is one of the leading companies of the resources and waste management sector, having taken a thought leadership position many years ago, acting as a ‘trusted advisor to government, and challenging expectations around issues as diverse as extended producer responsibility, the circular economy and critical resources management. By working with the UKBCSD we aim to build upon our extensive activity programme and look to build closer alliances with businesses beyond our sector to strengthen our message and encourage greater collaboration in designing and delivering solutions for UK communities. We also want to learn from others to ensure this acceleration happens in a managed and controlled way and ensures that the resources and waste management sector is critical to this green development agenda.
What can SUEZ do to lead the agenda for a more sustainable Britain?
The UK Government has been at the forefront of the circular economy movement, with particular leadership coming from the devolved governments in Scotland and Wales in terms of their circular economy strategies and investment programmes, to support innovation and new models of consumption. However, the English Government is now quickly catching up, and the fundamental reforms that will be finalised in 2020 will revolutionise our sector for the next generation. This means that business insight, investment and perspective will be key in shaping the detail of this evolving government policy and associated regulatory reform in the coming years, a role we feel that the UKBCSD can help SUEZ fulfil.
What steps have SUEZ made to see this happen?
SUEZ has invested over £1billion in new energy and recycling infrastructure in the UK in the last decade, to drive down our reliance on landfill and improve both resource efficiency and environmental protection across the UK. However, in our workplaces we also ‘walk the walk’ with high diversion recycling schemes, cycle to work schemes and an increasing focus on UN Sustainable Development Goals in our sourcing and procurement activities. We are striving to reduce our carbon footprint by working with our suppliers on their sourcing, design and operations.
However, there is more to be done on the wider sustainability agenda and we welcome further engagement with all governments, and any number of departments, who will be shaping new policies and programmes in the coming two years. These will have to address net zero carbon and natural capital, which are complex, multi-sectoral and hard to explain to those that are less engaged. This is the key challenge for us all in the coming two years, to help open the debates, provide the insights and influence the new policy and language so everyone can make appropriate decisions going forward.
What is missing from the current vision for a sustainable Britain?
Britain needs to value resources better, reflect the externalities of our actions, from products to mode of transport, in the price of services and products. It must develop a coherent language around climate crisis, carbon and sustainability that enables all sectors to talk openly about opportunities and threats, which might be the fledgling theme of natural capital. However, until we reflect externalities accurately and we can compare the impacts (social, environmental and economic) of one choice or another, we will never be able to take the bold land-use and wider strategy decisions that will drive industrial innovation and investment forward here in Britain.
Planning the way forward
However, the outcomes of the soon to be ratified Environment Bill will drive forward environmental targets (and transformations) in any number of sectors and the waste and resources sector will be a crucial delivery partner in order for the objectives of these to be achieved. SUEZ has been and will be part of this progress through our vertical integration, strategic partnerships and ongoing lobbying of government. We welcome working with UKBCSD to get the right messages to all key stakeholders this year.
SUEZ is also globally aligning with SDGs, and we are working with our customers directly to reduce their impact on the environment and involved in any number of innovations to help deliver this eg: electric RCVs.
SUEZ wants to live in a society where the economic, social and environmental benefits of sustainable resource management are openly valued by society. Collaborating with other UKBCSD members will bring new ideas and initiatives to light that deliver on this ambition.
Amy Bloom. Engineering graduate at Suez, makes an appeal to UKBCSD
“Like millions of people around the world I am concerned about the impact of climate change and the demands an increasing human population is having on our environment. After studying Chemical Engineering I entered the waste management industry with a desire to contribute towards a solution; but now wonder how this can be achieved. Across my generation, we are aware of the enormity of the problem but, in contradiction, feel uncertain and powerless.
It is felt that the worlds of government and industry frequently disengage with the public (and each other) by presenting this challenge using language that is often disheartening, ambiguous or to demote it as not a priority. The issues behind climate change then appear too depressing, too big, too technical or too confrontational, which results in people disengaging from it, despite an awareness of the urgency, to a fearful belief that nothing they do can make any difference or see how it will impact on us here in the UK. The journey ahead of us, requires significant changes to the way in which we all live and behave without being penalised or losing out.
We want to take positive action, offer and help take forward real solutions that benefit communities of all kinds. We want to take the next step but without networks or influence, where do we go and who do we talk to, to achieve them?
If we find the guidelines within our own industries confusing to understand, and we are a very diverse group of people who are intent on using our ‘trade’ to help alleviate the impact of climate change, what about the rest of the population where this isn’t their job, but something they want to support? How can they help fix the problem, when faced with language they find alienating, comments that are contradictory and challenges that seem insurmountable?
Sustainable development is one of the key reasons I pursued a career in waste and my goal is to become involved in policy development to drive change. I am sure I will not be alone in supporting the establishment of a Young People’s Forum which brings together like-minded individuals, across disciplines, in promoting sustainable and environmental development collaboratively.
My plea to both government and industry is to give us a voice and the ability to act, not a new form of glass ceiling. Will you, UKBCSD, support a forum to help young people, who are starting out on their careers and can offer a rich source of enthusiasm and awareness, to contribute towards these challenges ?
Held on 18th December 2019
Hosted by
UKBCSD is planning to submit a comprehensive report to Government that reaches beyond Modern Methods of Construction, by considering three thematic issues, namely Procurement, Skills and Development at pace; exploring how to progress the Sustainable Development and Zero Carbon aspects faced by the MHCLG to ensure housing can play a significant role in delivering the new Statutory Objective for the UK of being carbon neutral by 2050.
Keen to explore the strategic steps and approaches, informed by the development sector, attendees were asked to consider the following:
Smart Development.
What is the best means to support existing and new development including retrofit to reduce long term market pressures (including factors such as Utilities, resi/commercial values, supply, zero carbon etc)? This theme will consider strategic high-level stages that others might align with, to deliver tangible responses (ie how do we stop talking and do!). is there learning from the commercial build experience for residential approaches, viability and whole market approach to addressing existing and new build that expands market pace and enhances quality to avoid race to the bottom by improving building construction and skills?
Skills.
How best do we raise skills standards of the whole workforce, (including within residential sector retro fit, being key to addressing the 39m homes that will still be in use by 2050?). What are the key steps to doing this with consistent leadership and an approach for the government to back at national level to support Development sector sustainable growth & delivery?
Procurement (or delivery at pace).
There is currently limited knowledge within public sector of how to unlock a more diverse range of efficient construction. The lack of knowledge of construction types & methods, phasing & funding sources, limits the ability of the sector to shape public sector contribution to delivering housing (new and existing/retro) and the commercial development need. What are the challenges for certification? Is there an opportunity to define the role of the public sector in providing market stability in challenging times (Enhanced JVs and proactive market support in releasing more low cost land with share in its build out including enhanced SME engagement etc)?
Outcomes
Workshop attendees agreed to send through any further thoughts on the three questions that were posed:
1. The barriers that need to be addressed
2. The challenges faced and solutions that are available
3. Outcomes and any next steps you would particularly like to see, from UKBCSD and/or the Government.
We are grateful for the contributions of those attending the workshop and to F3GROUP for hosting this event:
Steve Coleman, Director - F3GROUP (HOST)
Jason Longhurst Chairman - UKBCSD
Claire Weir, Director - CBRE
Peter Keates, Head of Client & Development Services - Central Bedfordshire Council
Adrian Colwell, Strategic Planning Adviser - UKBCSD
Mark Browning, Director Environment & Sustainability - Jacobs
Lester D’Souza, Development Manager - Engie UK
Chris Carr, Managing Director - Carr & Carr Builders
Steve Rickards, Managing Director - Contexa
David Wright, National Specification Manager - Kingspan Water & Energy
Simon Richards, Head of Sustainability - Sir Robert McAlpine
Alice Hands, Head of Ethical and Sustainable Procurement - Sir Robert McAlpine
Held 9th December 2019
Hosted by
Government policies seek to secure a significant increase in residential property and commercial growth.
Whilst the building blocks remain Local Plans and planning applications, increasingly larger sub-regional and regional units are being used to help shape this growth, such as the Northern Powerhouse, the Midlands Engine, the Oxford to Cambridge Arc and emerging groupings in areas such as West London.
UKBCSD is concerned to explore how best this growth might best combine an emphasis on the pace of delivery with development that is sustainable.
By exploring Sustainable Growth, we are looking to define the benefits to developers that will help drive more sustainable modes of delivery, more sustainable outcomes and to define the support we believe is needed from government.
This workshop explored:
Outcomes
It was agreed that participants would send through any further thoughts on the three questions that were posed:
1. The barriers that need to be addressed
2. The challenges faced and solutions that are available
3. Outcomes and any next steps you would particularly like to see, from UKBCSD and/or the Government.
We are grateful for the contributions of those attending the workshop and to CBRE for hosting this event:
Jonathan Priestley Director CBRE (HOSTS)
Claire Weir Director CBRE
Jason Longhurst - Chairman UKBCSD
Phil Grant Director – Director, Axis Land Partnerships
Adrian Colwell - Strategic Planning Adviser to UKBCSD
Helen Drury - Sustainability Lead, Tritax Management
Stephen Mooring - Head of Place Delivery, Central Bedfordshire Council
Robert Purton - Partner, David Lock Associates
Chris Langdon - Development and Investment Director, Engie UK
Szymon Nogalski - Principal Consultant, LDA-Design
39% of carbon emissions and 36% of all global energy usage comes from buildings and with the construction industry accounting for 30% of all landfill, the challenge facing our industry is substantial. Most reading this will be aware of these figures, but they remain a shocking indictment.
While there is much talk about the ‘why’ we must work towards a sustainable Britain, the ‘how’ is far less understood. Putting a robust roadmap in place is critical, giving unequivocal direction on how the UK will achieve its net-zero targets, and offering clarity on the solutions the Government plans to adopt is going to be vital in enabling stakeholders to respond by putting in place the training so that installers have the skills required, manufacturers have the products and manufacturing capacity in place, so that builders will have the solutions available to make the sustainable buildings we all need.
Kingspan are thought leaders; we want to network with other like-minded organisations in influencing UK policy on sustainability – this is one of the reasons we joined UKBCSD. We want to work with disruptors to bring new technologies to the market. This will involve improvements across all our product portfolios, including hot water cylinders. We not only want to show how we can improve energy efficiency within buildings. We also want to show how hot water cylinders, acting as a battery in every home, can transform building practices and significantly contribute towards the UK achieving its net-zero target by facilitating the move towards the use of renewable zero carbon technology and helping to balance the UK energy grid, as we use more wind and solar energy.
We have already been taking our own steps towards this and, at the end of last year, we launched our ten-year “Planet Passionate” strategy to play our part in reducing the world’s carbon emissions by 45% by 2030 and contributing towards achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
The strategy incorporates 12 ambitious targets, addressing the impact of our business and manufacturing in four key areas, with commitments by 2030 to include:
This year alone we are taking a huge step forward within our cylinders business, by changing the type of foam used on our vented cylinders, moving to a new chemical composition that is HFC-free and will reduce the GWP of the foam from 1000 years down to just 1, at the moment we are the only cylinder company to make this change in the UK.
Kingspan are also adopting the strategies across its worldwide footprint to drive carbon out of our operations and out of our supply chain, working towards clean energy and zero waste factories. We are using more renewable, recyclable materials in our manufacturing and we are partnering with others in the industry to create new systems and protocols to enable the reuse and recycling of materials at the end of a building’s life.
We are also committing to proactively protect the environment and wildlife. In 2018 we upcycled 256 million PET bottles into our insulation and in 2019 committed to a target of upcycling one billion PET plastic bottles per annum by 2025. In addition, we agreed a three-year partnership with the EcoAlf Foundation to support and expand their project which removes 150 tonnes of plastic waste from the Mediterranean each year, about 10% of which is PET. Ocean PET recovered from the EcoAlf project is added to the upcycled PET bottles and used to make our insulation. We now plan to support four further ocean clean-up projects by 2025 through Planet Passionate.
These are all tangible, measurable initiatives – they are no longer a vision, becoming instead, the bedrock of our business. We know we can bring this expertise and innovation to the debate but we still seek out new ideas and challenges. Joining forces with UKBCSD members and taking this knowledge to the wider industry is fundamentally important to a sustainable Britain.
