In April, the Government set into law the world’s most ambitious climate change target, cutting emissions by 78% by 2035, hoping to bring the UK more than three-quarters of the way to net zero by 2050. From September, businesses will be required to commit to net zero by 2050 and publish clear carbon reduction plans before bidding on major government contracts, as well as reporting levels of carbon emissions for projects to clients.

Companies will be required to report emissions on transportation, distribution, and waste from their operations. This includes suppliers too, which are often take up a large proportion of an organisation’s carbon footprint. To support this, the Construction Leadership Council – made up of leading, high profile industry figures – has confirmed a vast array of businesses, major contractors, top manufacturers and distributors have committed to share their experience en-route to hitting net zero.

Further to this, companies such as Galliford Try and Henry Boot have become the most recent additions of construction firms to set tangible targets for achieving net-zero greenhouse emissions across their own direct operations by 2030.

Away from the commercial giants in the industry, SMEs within construction and the trades are witnessing an overhaul of the industry, placing a far greater emphasis on sustainability. Ranging from digitisation to a generation of green transportation, the field service management software Powered Now has given their top 3 tips that tradespeople can do today to make their business more eco-friendly.

Green Vans:
The White Van is symbolic of the UK’s fleet of tradespeople, but with the Government banning the sale of almost all petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, Britain’s builders are in need of a transportation overhaul. Although electric vans are a relatively new fixture on the UK’s roads, research from Confused.com found that the Iveco Daily Electric was the best model on the market right now, with a range of 174 miles on a full charge.

Buying British:
The recent materials shortage that has been so well documented has hastened builders’ merchants to bring more of their supply chains to the UK. The implications of Brexit meant that the prices of supplies rose sharply, but a lack of materials due to the pandemic has compounded issues further. Therefore, not only is it financial prudent to bring supply chains back to the UK, but with reduced transportation involved, it makes for a more environmentally-friendly best practice too.

Going Digital:
Any tradesperson will tell you that sorting out paperwork ranging from invoices to certificates was the largest bugbear they had to deal with. Of course, record client demand and a scramble for resources since the pandemic has been ubiquitous, but the issue of vast paperwork still has tradespeople working into the night. Digitalising their paperwork so that admin work is completely organised not only saves vital time for tradespeople, but helps to cut down paper waste and sustaining natural resources.

Ben Dyer, CEO of Powered Now, has commented on the importance of the trades becoming more environmentally friendly:

“Because 15 per cent of the UK’s total carbon emissions and two fifths of our total energy output come from the way we use and heat our homes, the importance of implementing sustainable renovations is more crucial now than ever.

“Low carbon technologies and their deployment will go beyond simply designing new products, it needs a fully joined up strategy that delivers a low carbon heating revolution for the UK. It has to start now.

“We are also encouraged that the UK government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has announced a cash boost of £44m towards its heat and buildings decarbonisation strategy, which is a great addition to the government’s net zero construction techniques.”