Your net zero plan
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Understand your business emissions
1) What causes emissions
Direct carbon emissions produced by the construction industry include:
- energy use – for on-site machinery and lighting and heating in work buildings
- transport – using vehicles which run on petrol or diesel
- general waste – when it isn’t recycled and ends up at landfill sites
2) Calculate your emissions
Use a free carbon calculator to work out your business’s carbon footprint. This is measured in tonnes, over a year.
3) Estimate the cost of your emissions
Once you have your carbon footprint, you can calculate how much your emissions are costing you. This will give you an idea of potential savings you can make by taking action.
4) Sign up to the SME climate commitment
Make a climate declaration to show customers you are committed to reducing emissions.
Get finance and support
1) Support in your sector
You can get advice and guidance from the following organisations:
- the UK Green Building Council (GBC) – offers sustainability advice, courses and networking for paid members
- the Centre for Low Emission Construction – provides guidance on reducing emissions
- Construction Industry Research and Information Association (CIRIA) – provides information on waste issues relevant to the construction industry
- Find guidance on reducing emissions in MPA’s UK Concrete and Cement Industry Roadmap to Beyond Net Zero
You can also learn how to run your business in a more environmentally friendly way by hiring a sustainability consultant.
2) Get financial support for your region
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These support schemes and networks are available in Greater London:
- Better Futures+ provides up to £1,000 in free business support for London-based businesses with at least two full-time employees and turnover between £100,000 and £43M
- Brent Business Climate Charter – as part of the Brent Business Climate Charter, participating organisations can gain 6 month’s free access to Climate Essentials’ online tool to measure your energy usage and carbon emissions (first come first served).
- Greater London Fund invests in early stage companies with an average investment of £400,000 to £1M – part of the fund is set aside for companies that reduce waste
- Greater London Investment Fund offers loans from £100,000 to £1M to limited company SMEs – repayment term is 3 to 5 years and interest rates vary
- Heart of the City helps SMEs with the fundamentals of net zero, measuring carbon footprints, setting targets and disclosing progress. They have a free climate action toolkit, and in-depth course that’s free if you have less than 250 based in, or with more than 50% of your operations in the Square Mile, or you’re an SME supplier or tenant of the City of London Corporation
- Climate Essentials for Business – Climate Essentials has partnered with Westminster Council to offer free tools and support to help businesses’ reduce their carbon footprint. The programme includes access to a carbon calculator, a customised reduction strategy, 1:1 support from Climate Essentials’ expert team, and detailed reports outlining emissions and progress. This support is available for Westminster-based businesses with fewer than 250 employees, turnover less than £36m, and a total balance sheet less than £18m.
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Actions you can take right now
1) Save energy at your office and workplace
Quick, low-cost actions include:
- lighting – use LED bulbs for greater efficiency
- heating – put your thermostat on a timer and seal your windows for extra insulation
- office equipment – try to turn off and unplug devices when they’re not being used
2) Do an energy walk-round
Walk around your buildings and see where energy is being used.
Prepare a checklist
Look out for wasteful energy use and maintenance issues in the following areas:
- Look at lighting, heating and refrigeration systems, as well as ventilation and water heating.
- Identify wasteful energy use and maintenance issues.
- Check at different times of day and compare day and night time use.
- Monitor over a period of a week for accurate average figures.
- Make sure equipment is checked and cleaned regularly to ensure maximum efficiency.
Improve ventilation
Routine maintenance checks and cleaning will improve the efficiency of your ventilation system.
3) Change your energy tariff
Switch to a green energy tariff with your energy supplier. This will reduce your reliance on energy produced by fossil fuels.
4) Switch to a smart meter
This will allow you to see and control how much energy you use. Find out more about smart meters.
5) Manage your waste
Recycle waste to prevent it being taken to landfill sites where it takes longer to break down and causes more emissions.
6) Get training in energy efficiency
You can train your team to be aware of energy efficiency in the workplace. Find a sustainability course.
Longer term actions
1) Make changes to your offices and workplace
If you are the legal owner, there are a number of long-term measures you can take to improve energy efficiency.
Check planning permission guidelines before you go ahead with any structural changes to the property.
Improve insulation and windows
You can make long-term savings on energy bills by insulating buildings and replacing old windows.
Install renewables
You might also consider installing renewable sources of energy on your land.
For example:
- heat pumps for heating and water
- solar panels or a wind turbine for electricity
By doing so, you could make significant long-term savings on energy bills.
2) Make changes at the construction site
Avoid using fuel-powered generators
More efficient alternatives include:
- a high-capacity electricity grid connection
- hybrid power generators (HPGs), which work with renewable technologies such as solar, wind, battery and biodiesel
Use sustainable materials
Many building materials contain high amounts of embodied carbon. Find out about sourcing low-carbon building materials from the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products
3) Reducing transport emissions
Over 25% of the UK’s carbon emissions are caused by transport.
You can take measures to reduce emissions from freight and logistics.
If you have employees you could introduce a cycle-to-work initiative or encourage them to take public transport.
Visit our page on switching employee mode of transport for guidance.
Electric vehicles
If you use a work vehicle, you can reduce emissions by switching over to an electric vehicle (EV). You would be exempt from road tax, congestion charges and parking fees in certain areas.
For easy overnight charging you could install EV chargers at your home or workplace.
Visit our page to find out more about installing chargegpoints.
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Indirect emissions
To reduce indirect or ‘supply chain’ emissions you need to consider what happens before and after your business provides a service or makes a product.
1) Choose greener ‘upstream’ suppliers and products
- use suppliers that measure and reduce carbon
- help your suppliers with carbon reduction projects
- buy products that take less energy to make, transport and operate
Find out more information on how to source products and services from green suppliers.
2) Reduce emissions ‘downstream’ of your business
- make products that take less energy to make, transport and operate
- reduce water consumption and waste disposal needs
- make investments in lower carbon financial products
- give incentives for lower emission activities in leased assets or franchises
3) Certify your supply chain action with PAS 2060
The standard process for PAS 2060 certification includes these steps:
- Measure greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) based on accurate data.
- Reduce of emissions through a carbon management plan.
- Document and verify through qualifying explanatory statements and make a public disclosure.
Through independent British Standards Institution (BSI) verification for PAS 2060, your business can demonstrate that it has met these requirements. You can show your business is environmentally friendly and contributing to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, while enhancing your organisation’s performance and resilience.
Search on Google for PAS 2060 certification organisations.
Share your progress
Sharing your progress will help employees and customers feel confident that you’re reducing carbon and moving towards net zero.
You should share your progress once you’ve done both of the following:
- worked out a benchmark of emissions
- started to take action
Find out more about how to track and share your progress.