Poor building material supply chains are main barrier to net zero

A new report by engineering consultancy Patrick Parsons revealed that despite the majority of senior executives of UK construction firms surveyed believing the industry is doing enough to reach net zero by 2050, there are significant barriers to achieving this target.

Surveying 100 senior executives from across the industry, the report found that over two thirds (68%) of respondents think that improvements to building material supply chains to reduce carbon would be critical to achieving net zero.

63% also said that existing planning regulations need to change to support the sector if it is to hit net zero targets.

Using alternative materials which have a lower carbon footprint is also a significant barrier to overcome for 62% of those questioned, followed by decarbonising existing buildings (59%) and the ability to collect data to measure carbon in buildings (48%).

Conor Murphy, Senior Partner, Structural Engineering at Patrick Parsons, commented: ‘The UK construction industry is committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and is confident that this target will be met.  However, this ambition is not without its challenges in terms of the materials used, the need for planning rules to change and the ability to decarbonise legacy buildings to improve their performance.  Greater use of sustainable design and engineering in the planning of new developments, will support the pathway to net zero.’

When asked about the impact of the focus on climate change because of COP26, 86% said that they believe it will accelerate positive advances in sustainability in the sector during 2022.

The full report can be accessed here.

In related news, researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a free online tool to help planners design exercise into towns and cities. The way towns and cities are designed can have a huge influence on the way we get around.

The researchers found that infrastructure that encourages active travel, can increase the overall amount of physical activity that people do by around 45 minutes per week.

Photo by Jeriden Villegas