Construction industry sets out single framework to measure journey to net zero

Construction leaders have agreed clear targets for the industry to unite behind in its mission to drive carbon out of the sector.

The Construction Leadership Council publishes its Construct Zero Performance Framework. For the first time the framework sets out headline commitments for carbon reduction at a sector level, along with a series of measures and metrics to show how progress is being made.

The development of the framework draws on the extensive and detailed work undertaken across the sector by specialist groups and representative bodies to understand their emissions and develop their own plans. The framework seeks to draw these detailed plans together to provide Government and Industry with a comprehensive view at a sector level on progress.

Measures include tracking the number of domestic retrofits achieved, changes in the amount of non-diesel plant in use, and reductions in the amount of energy used to produce key products.

Construction Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan welcomed the publication of the framework. She said: “The Performance Framework provides Government and Industry with a sector-level dashboard on progress towards net zero, aimed at enabling businesses to action progress and encouraging those outside the sector to take the key steps on the broader journey to net zero."

"It’s important that the sectorholds itself to account for the commitments it has made; the Performance Framework will enable the industry to do this, reporting progress on a quarterly basis, building on existing publicly available data”

The headline commitments include eliminating 78% of diesel plantse from construction sites by 2035 and working with Government to deliver retrofitting to 27 million homes by 2040.

 

In addition to the sector level measures of success, the CLC has also today published a suite of aligned metrics to support businesses and projects to understand and set in place their own plans to meet Net Zero. 

Construction Leadership Council co-chair Andy Mitchell said: “We are seeing huge demand from across the sector to push forward towards Net Zero, and this has been reflected in the level of consultation feedback we received when we tested these metrics with industry. We can have confidence that these measures will help guide us towards a lower carbon future, and I look forward to seeing progress”.

Find out more here.