24 THE CLIMATE CHALLENGE
Time to take the lead on zero carbon
Mark Wakeford, chair of the Major Contractors Group at the National Federation of Builders, speaks to Housebuilder & Developer about the opportunities and barriers ahead for the industry in the critical path to zero carbon.
he housebuilding industry is making strong steps to reduce carbon within the built environ- ment, including helping to inform customers on how they can live in their new homes and keep their carbon footprints low. However, there is still much work to be done to reach the Government’s 2050 net-zero carbon targets – and the sector remains one of the biggest carbon offenders. While new homes are generally low
T
carbon, both in terms of embodied and operational carbon, significant challenges remain in the built estate, with many existing homes needing significant works to electrify heating, reduce emissions and support people living within them to maintain a low carbon footprint. Hoping to arm the construction industry with practical tools to accelerate this journey towards achieving net-zero carbon, the Major Contractors Group of
“IF WE ARE TO ACHIEVE NET ZERO THEN THE SOLUTION HAS TO LIE IN AN INTEGRATED APPROACH TO RADICALLY RETHINK CONSTRUCTION ELEMENTS AND THE PROCESS OF ASSEMBLING THEM”
WWW.HBDONLINE.CO.UK
the National Federation of Builders (NFB) have launched a new handbook, ‘Transforming Construction: Delivering a Low Carbon Future.’ Mark Wakeford, the joint MD of Stepnell and chair of the Group, is embracing the challenge of promoting practical tools to the industry, as well as offering transparency on the barriers that currently exist in the way of change.
A HOLISTIC APPROACH While Wakeford notes that there are areas of housebuilding that use more carbon than others, it is not helpful to identify “main offenders,” he says, but instead to look at the issue more holistically. “Quite often,” adds Wakeford, “the higher carbon outputting areas are not easy to change, and will require a whole- sale review of a new home in order to reduce the overall carbon footprint of a new home.”
While he says there are of course some
areas that present greater opportunity than others, in that they are easier to deliver savings on or can be considered in isolation, Wakeford argues: “In reality, if we are to achieve net zero then the solution has to lie in an integrated approach to radically rethink the construc- tion elements and the process of assembling them.” Wakeford uses cross-laminated timber
(CLT) as an example, which offers a strong opportunity to use more wood in construction and reduce carbon output. He comments: “While it’s a fantastic tool, it is no good telling industry to use CLT if there isn’t a large enough CLT industry to support an industry wide change or the skilled workforce necessary to ensure correct installation.”
Instead of looking at ‘main offenders’ within the construction industry on carbon, Wakeford prefers to point out who should be the ‘first movers,’ which he says are “generally” the leading forces of devel- opers, politicians and influencers. “It is these people who need to help change public opinion of what is accept- able, and to move the public’s
expectations of what an acceptable new home will look like and how it will require active management,” says the MCG chair. “If we can unlock this expectation in the market, then brilliant designers and delivery teams can work towards making net zero a reality.”
LIMITATIONS
There are of course many barriers in the way of achieving these goals. In recent times, the pandemic has produced the most obvious barrier here, with the impacts of Covid being “unques- tionably frustrating” – the postponement of COP26 to November 2021 being just one example he cites. Wakeford says that the virus has
hampered progress: “It has been a distraction, while the main event [the urgency to deliver zero carbon] has continued unabated.” The deadlines have not moved, and as such a year has been lost in the “war on carbon.” He also notes that, beyond the pandemic, most of the more general challenges for the industry exist in retrofitting existing housing. With new homes typically built to Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating A and B, Wakeford says that 98 per cent of existing homes are EPC C and below. As such, retrofitting these homes to use less energy “must be a priority.” Wakeford believes that the overarching aim for the industry has to be to rethink how it operates, as well as getting customers to recognise its limitations. He says they will need to change some behaviours to support the industry in reaching net zero.
“The solutions will lie with an integrated team looking to solve the problems, and this will take suppliers, designers, lawyers and insurers from across our sector to lead in solving the issues,” he says. “We all have a role to play in enabling this to happen, and none of us can afford the barrier to exist in ourselves or our businesses – there is too much at risk, and we need to have answers before
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68
