More than £ 900m has been awarded to a host of schemes aimed at improving energy efficiency and decarbonizing public sector buildings. In total, 429 projects were awarded £ 932 million to fund measures such as low-carbon heating systems, such as heat pumps, insulation and LED lighting. The Manchester Joint Commission was the largest single recipient of a £ 78 million grant to implement a set of green promotions. Another £ 68 million of funding has yet to be earmarked for the projects. Counselor Rishi Sunak first announced a £ 1 billion scheme to make public sector building stocks greener, in July 2020, and orders closed in January. The government also unveiled a new strategy to remove industrial carbon today. It claims to be the first plan by a major economy to outline how it will achieve net carbon emissions in the industry. The UK has a zero-zero national target date of 2050. The strategy does not directly address the construction sector, but rather outlines its plan for material manufacturers, especially steel and concrete, to decarbonize. A key implicit recommendation is that the government should use its purchasing power to increase the use of greener building products. “Changes in public procurement behavior provide an important opportunity to accelerate the adoption of low-carbon products in the coming decades,” she said. She acknowledged that such options would likely be more expensive at first, but the difference is often negligible. She claimed that one study found that using carbon-free cement in a housing block increased the cost of the project by a maximum of 1 percent. Around £ 171 million will be awarded to projects including carbon capture, storage and hydrogen production across northern England, Scotland and Wales, under the strategy. “We were the first major economy to implement our goal of ending our contribution to climate change, and today we are taking steps to be the first major economy to have its own low carbon industry. Sector,” said Business and Energy Minister Coase Quarting. Plans to measure and report the energy and carbon performance of the nation’s largest commercial and industrial buildings have also been announced. The system is designed to make building owners and occupants aware of the amount of energy they use and take responsibility for their emissions. A consultation has been launched to develop the scheme. Last week, the Construction Leadership Council said it would set targets for the Net Building Engine, which it would monitor and report on publicly and the government. Previous construction news had highlighted how the lack of uniform standards on emissions targets meant that carbon-cutting measures in the industry were nearly impossible to assess. CN has also compiled all of the targets set by the 20 largest contractors, which can be read here.
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