Dan Whiteley is BAM UK & IRELAND ENVIRONMENTATION DIRECIENTATION Director
On the occasion of the COP28 climate change conference, which begins at the end of November, its president-elect, Sultan Al-Jaber, made a rallying call to the private sector, highlighting the role that the summit must play to Support the objectives of the 2015 Paris Agreement on the climate.
“In France, car parks with more than 80 places now have to install solar canopies. The measure will feed almost 8 million homes ”
The private sector of the United Kingdom constitutes 5.5 million companies and plays a crucial role in promoting economic growth. The construction sector is responsible for 17 percent of this community. However, buildings and construction also represent 39% of carbon emissions worldwide, so that our industry has a dual responsibility to promote economic development and to prevent climate change.
Our industry must recognize this duality and look beyond the simple fulfillment of the goals. To achieve a net and positive net future for nature, we play a role to play in promoting change. How can contractors take this mantle and think differently to build a sustainable tomorrow?
Multipurpose places
One of the simplest routes is to maximize the development space for our buildings and infrastructure to offer multiple uses and benefits. What if everything we built not only had its main purpose, but also a secondary purpose to benefit the environment?
The solar or photovoltaic panels (PV) present a scalable opportunity here. We have already witnessed its larger application in homes, but the same approach for non -domestic buildings or structures could make a great difference.
In France, this year legislation has been approved that forces car parks with more than 80 places installing solar canopies. The movement, which would see 50 percent of the area covered with photovoltaic panels, will generate 11 GW of energy, equivalent to feeding about 8 million homes.
Shortly after, to Report of the Rural CRET CHARBILE entity and researchers of the UCL Energy Institute He found that a great opportunity lies in the parking infrastructure existing in the United Kingdom to make significant advances towards the net zero. If a similar initiative in France was adopted in the United Kingdom, we could add capacity for an additional 11 GW of clean and renewable energy to the national network.
This would not only align with the nation’s decarbonization goals, but would also strengthen future energy security in a time of uncertainty. And it also uses the existing infrastructure.
Contractors are likely to already begin to see requests for sustainable infrastructure development through dual or multiple places of use. In Bam, we built the first Park-And-Ride in the United Kingdom fully fed solar energy in Stourton, as part of the LEEDs public transport investment program of 173.5 million pounds. With a series of sustainability credentials, the parking offers 332 tonnes of carbon a year and eliminates 1,200 cars from the roads during travel hours. It works with a fully electric bus fleet, and also a total of 30 electric vehicle charging points have been installed, provided by the energy generated by the canopies of solar panels installed throughout the space.
Both developers and contractors need to consider how to take advantage of the potential not to take advantage of disposable space throughout the United Kingdom. Collectively, we must change our thinking to allow this approach to become the standard, instead of exception.
Holistic approach
However, the utilization of the Earth must be carefully balanced with the protection of the biodiversity and the natural resources that surround it. You need to have a holistic vision when it comes to sustainability.
Sustainable and out of place sustainable processes will be a key consideration for contractors, including the use of local materials or suppliers to reduce transport -related emissions; to embed circularity; or invest in plants and machinery that work with hydrogen.
However, too often, these sustainability initiatives exist in isolation. In Bam, our sustainability strategy covers the entire ecosystem and biodiversity is a key component, and is growing in importance, especially when it comes to optimizing soil use.
Biodiversity provides essential ecosystem services such as pollination, water purification and climate regulation, not to mention support for native flora and fauna to prosper. Given biodiversity in soil use planning, contractors can reduce dependence on expensive human interventions in energy to reproduce these services artificially; And they can minimize our global impact on the ecosystem.
Whether it is the integration of green roofs in urban environments or the creation of ecological runners for wildlife, such as the green bridge of our Cross Tay Link Road project in Perth, which includes the planting of 4,800 native trees, There are countless tactics that contractors can use to ensure that projects are in harmony with their natural environment. Biodiversity is a critical pillar of sustainable development. Almost half of Britain’s natural biodiversity has disappeared From the Industrial Revolution, the worst fall in Western Europe, and we cannot underestimate how this will affect economic growth, urbanization and the built environment.
During COP28, it is expected that about 70,000 delegates, including world leaders and leaders, will promote climate action in 198 countries. Despite its magnitude, we must pay attention to the words of its president because our industry has an important role to play. This responsibility goes beyond the material: it extends to our commitment to sustainability and the environment. In doing so, we can not only promote economic growth, but we can also significantly contribute to the world struggle against climate change, leaving a legacy of sustainable development for future generations.
