carbon footprint

As with most other sectors of the economy, the construction industry is coming under increasing pressure to become more sustainable and to minimise the carbon emissions and environmental impact of projects.

Together with environmental initiatives, such as the London Plan 2021, which requires medium- and large-scale construction projects in London to have an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and carbon footprint statements as part of the planning application, central government and local authority policies place increased pressure on architects, developers and clients to design and construct buildings using sustainable materials and methods.

Some industry professionals are campaigning for a consistent approach to monitoring and even limiting projects’ embodied carbon in the built environment. We report.
 

The UK’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 is more than a climate target—it is a societal imperative. It intersects with the housing crisis and energy poverty, but recent assessments indicate that we are behind schedule. Meeting the sixth carbon budget and achieving an 81% emissions reduction by 2035, as recommended by the Climate Change Committee (CCC), will require bold action and financial innovation. Crucially, this includes transforming how we heat homes, as heating accounts for a third of emissions. The financial tipping point—when renewable heating solutions like heat pumps become not just environmentally preferable but economically accessible—is central to progress. Housing Association Magazine’s Joe Bradbury discusses:

Cottsway is West Oxfordshire’s largest housing provider and has over 5,100 homes across Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire. Cottsway are working to reduce carbon emissions and energy costs for customers in these homes and are working with Sava to help achieve these objectives.

What did Cottsway want to achieve?
At the beginning of the project Cottsway held only enough energy data to calculate ratings within Sava Intelligent Energy for a small number of properties. Cottsway had commissioned a large number of EPCs over several years which they no longer had access to. Cottsway also held a lot of useful energy data in separate asset datasets such as PV information and gas boiler makes and models.

Housing associations have a pivotal part to play in supporting the UK’s journey to net-zero but further change is needed if we’re going to get there.

The UK has some of the most energy leaking housing in Europe, much of it built in the pre-war period.

According to the National Housing Federation the UK’s 29million homes produce 58.5million tonnes of CO2 every year. That’s more than the CO2 produced annually by all car journeys.

The challenges and opportunities of improving heat network performance to support residents will be explored at a free conference in central Manchester on Thursday 8th June 2023.

Hosted by heat network specialist Switch2 Energy, the event will explore solutions to three major challenges facing the industry. These are how to reduce operating costs and residents’ energy bills; how to reduce carbon emissions, and how to comply with tougher new regulation.

Michelmersh has announced its successful bid to the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) UK Government, Industrial Fuel Switching competition to conduct a feasibility study to replace natural gas with hydrogen in the brick making process. The programme is part of the £1 billion Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP) which aims to provide funding for low-carbon technologies to decreasing the costs of decarbonisation.

The project represents a global flagship physical study to replace natural gas with hydrogen in brick manufacturing. Phase 1 of the project will demonstrate the viability of fuel switching and will see hydrogen used in the clay brick production process at Michelmersh’s Freshfield Lane site. The project aims to inspire radical change across the sector and present opportunities and evidence-based research to support manufacturers on their journey to heavily decarbonise the production processes.