Are you stopping your clients achieving their Net Zero targets?
Net Zero is the latest hot topic.
It’s gone viral, it’s trending among our industry, and it’s important to your clients.
Delivering a net zero transition requires participation from all stakeholders.
But do you know what is meant by Net Zero, and are you aware of the part you play in helping your clients achieve Net Zero?
If you work in the construction industry then you’ll have recently have heard of the following 2 phrases:
-Embodied Carbon
-and Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions.
But what do they mean?
And are they the same thing?
Before we begin
…In 2021, total UK greenhouse gas emissions reached 505 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent - a measure that also counts methane and other greenhouse gases.
For reference, this is what 1 tonne of CO2 looks like.
Bare that in mind when you read some of the figures in this article.
10… 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2… 1
Back in 2019, №10 passed the net zero emissions law, which requires the UK to bring all greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 — the first major economy to do so.
Since then, organisations across the county have been setting their own ambitious targets.
Let’s start with you.
Who your client is and what you need to do to help them, will be dependant upon who you are and where you sit within the supply chain.
In this simplified example below, we see clearly the supply chain mapped out and get a broad understanding of who reports to whom.
A General or Main Contractor may often be referred to as a Tier 1 contractor, Tier 2 for the sub-contractors and Tier 3 for the specialist contractors.
It’s worth noting that although this diagram might be representative of the flow of information and responsibility, the design team will not be directly employing anyone and can often be novated to, or appointed directly by, the main contractor — more on why this is important later.
Confusion Arises
Within the construction industry, it’s important to differentiate between business emissions, and building/project emissions.
These two are often interlinked, but dependant upon your role in the supply chain, the information you’re able to provide may help with one set of emissions but not the other, and vice versa.
For example, a developer may be working on a ‘Net Zero Office’ project for a client, but unless said developer has their own Net Zero business targets, then the information needed to support this project is going to be different to the information needed if the developer also had their own Net Zero targets.
In this instance, you would be required to provide information on the building carbon emissions as opposed to having to provide data on your own business emissions.
Don’t get tripped up by the language
Some businesses state that they are carbon neutral already!
Whilst this is a good thing, don’t be fooled.
Carbon Neutral and Net Zero are two very different things.
Basically, carbon neutrality means that you can compensate for your emissions (typically with offsets), while net-zero means you’ve worked to reduce your emissions as much as possible— you have to actually get rid of them through efficiency, electrification, renewables, and other means — and then offsetting anything remaining at the end.
Reducing beats offsetting.
A breakdown
So, what is the difference between Business Emissions Vs Project/ Building Emissions.
If a business is committed to achieving Net Zero by a set date (2030, 40, 50) then they will outline how they plan on achieving this.
It will be broken down by 3 scopes.
Scope 1 and 2 are very much within their control.
Carbon they consume via any buildings or vehicles that they own, fall under scope 1, with scope 2 covering indirect sources such as emissions from electricity used.
Scope 3 is where it gets complicated.
Scope 3 emissions on average make up 78% of corporate emissions.
They’re the most important emissions in a company’s supply chain — and yet the hardest to measure.
This is where YOU come in.
SMEs account for almost 30% of total emissions in the UK,
and yet,
54% of small businesses are unaware or do not understand UK Government’s Net Zero Commitments.
Businesses have already started requesting that their supply chain members carry out carbon assessments of their own businesses.
By being able to demonstrate that you measure your business carbon emissions and have a comprehensive plan in place to reduce your emissions then you will be in a position to differentiate yourself from your competitors in the space and add value to your clients, whilst also working towards a greener future.
Project & Building Emissions
This next bit is where it gets really interesting.
My girlfriend assures me, it’s not.
A Net Zero building!
How impressive!
Remember the 505 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions we are responsible for in the UK?
Well, the built environment is responsible for an estimated 40% of emissions.
So for a long time a Net Zero building sounded pretty cool.
A real milestone.
But now more and more people are starting to question what is meant by Net Zero.
As with Carbon Neutral Vs Net Zero, there are nuances even across Net Zero.
A building can be net zero, operational carbon, which essentially just means they are not using fossil fuels on site to power, heat/ cool, their building.
Brilliant.
But as we saw with business emissions, a lot of emissions happen throughout the supply chain.
So a building may not produce carbon once it’s built and operational — but how much carbon was emitted to produce said building?
2 key infographics help me understand building emissions.
- LETI whole life carbon make -up; this demonstrates how to understand the whole life carbon of a building, we must include the Embodied (upfront) carbon (A1-C4) as well as the Operational carbon (B6 + B7).
2. One Click LCA — sources of embodied carbon (A1-C4). If like me you find visual cues really helpful — then the OneClick LCA sources of embodied carbon graphic is really great.
Embodied carbon from the construction and refurbishment of buildings currently makes up 20% of UK built environment emissions.
While many leading developers and infrastructure organisations measure and optimise the embodied carbon footprint of their projects, it is far from being mainstream practice.
We must all collaborate and work together to achieve whole life net zero targets.
So like the 1999 smash hit S Club 7 song, let’s bring it all back to you.
If you’re the client, (or part of the design team), don’t stop, never give up — set clear and ambitious Net Zero targets, encourage and support your supply chain in helping you get there.
If you’re a developer or main contractor, hold your head high — differentiate yourself as an industry leading company/ responsible business — utilise and offer out educational platforms such as the supply chain sustainability school.
If you’re a sub-contractor, reach the top — sustainability is starting to trickle down the supply chain, more and more of your clients/ employers will be working to these targets.
If you’re a manufacturer, product and materials supplier, let the world see what you have got — share and publicise your business and product carbon data so that the supply chain can make informed and accurate decisions about best practice.
And if you’re an employee at any of these companies, unsure if you can make a difference or how you can help — put on your favourite S Club 7 song, and Reach out.
Delivering a net zero transition requires participation from all stakeholders.
Look out for my next article; Embodied Carbon — are we all wasting our time?
