With humanity scrambling to respond to climate change, countless companies, investors, public sector bodies and national governments have made commitments to achieve ‘net zero’ carbon emissions in the next two or three decades.
Net zero is the notion that any greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted through an organisation’s activities must be balanced out through an equivalent amount of carbon being removed from the atmosphere. It is a huge challenge, yet if we are to avoid the worst effects of climate change, achieving net zero will be vital.
There is one industry where meeting such targets is especially important: construction. Globally, some 39 per cent of GHG emissions are associated with the industry, according to the World Green Buildings Council. Of this total, 28 per cent comes from operational use – heating, cooling, and lighting – while the remaining 11 per cent are ‘embodied emissions’ (the materials and building process).
To make construction ...