Sustainability

Jacob Schmalz is director of engineering at equipment manufacturer Briggs & Stratton With more and more companies adopting net-zero strategies, we are set to see batteries proliferating on construction sites, as the industry adopts alternatives to combustion engines. When selecting a particular battery, businesses must consider how often it might…

Cliff Smith is executive director of the Get It Right Initiative (GIRI) Productivity has to be the top priority for construction firms in 2022. The sector faces unprecedented challenges over the next 12 months – including building safety, skills and material shortages, COVID restrictions, and the climate crisis. Each issue…

Gillian Charlesworth is chief executive of Building Research Establishment (BRE) As we come to the end of 2021 – a year of serious challenges probably few of us envisaged – where does sentiment currently lie in our industry? In what frame of mind do we approach 2022? With material and…

Pictured left to right: Nigel Brook is a partner, Katie Dugdale is a senior associate, and Jane O’Reilly is an associate at law firm Clyde & Co Now that the dust has settled after the COP26 summit, many construction firms may be left scratching their heads about the practical steps…

It is versatile, strong and the industry’s favourite material – but cement is also a huge contributor to construction’s carbon emissions. Can it be used differently to cause less harm to the environment?

Many concrete specialists suffered a drop in revenue in their latest accounts, but losses were largely averted. Now the sector has to deal with the twin challenges of labour shortages and decarbonisation. Combined revenue was largely flat compared with last year’s index, down just 0.6 per cent. Five firms reported…

Tim Balcon is chief executive of the CITB We all know the size and scale of the challenge when it comes to climate change. Globally, progress on climate action has not been anywhere near fast enough. The coronavirus pandemic led to a historic drop in global emissions last year, but…

John Murphy is chief executive of J Murphy & Sons The UK construction industry is now at the forefront of efforts to embrace the challenges created by climate change. From builders’ merchants and materials developers to contractors and housebuilders, we can be proud of the work our industry is doing…

Paul Reeve is CSR director at engineering services body Electrical Contractor’s Association and a member of the Construction Leadership Council’s Zero Carbon Workstream Ahead of COP26 kicking off this Sunday, major new public sector procurement rules on carbon reporting came into effect at the end of September. Procurement note PPN…

Graham Harle is CEO of Gleeds Worldwide Endorsed by every government on the planet, August’s report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sparked calls for political and business leaders across the world to accelerate their decarbonisation efforts. Now, as COP26 approaches, all eyes are on the UK to…