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Blog No. 1: Temporary Works Forum (TWf)

Carbon reduction and temporary works
What is the TWf doing to help tackle climate change?

It’s imperative to reduce carbon emissions and find a route to net zero but how might this be achieved when it comes to ‘temporary works’?

The Temporary Works Forum (TWf) has established a working group comprising consultants, designers, contractors and suppliers working in the sphere of ‘temporary works’ with one simple aim: to produce guidance to enable those working in the construction industry to measure and reduce the carbon emissions associated with our work.

To achieve this, the working group has tasked itself with the following:

• Where is the carbon? What does the carbon profile look like in temporary works?
• How can we improve the standards and tools available to us to inform and measure carbon?
• How can we highlight best practice and case studies to reduce carbon?
• How can we encourage suppliers to be more transparent about their lifecycle carbon?

To date, the working group has grappled with how it can apply current ‘tools’ to temporary works and whether there are gaps that need filling. Initially, focus will need to be on ensuring that temporary works (and construction activity in general) is sufficiently incorporated into any carbon accounting before moving onto methods of reduction, which, at the end of the day, is the only outcome that matters.

Environmental issues, particularly global warming, have made their way to the forefront of topics for discourse, particularly in the construction industry but also for society in general. Outgoing ICE President, Rachel Skinner’s main agenda for her year in office was net zero, delivered in a compelling Presidential address [1]. At the time of writing, COP26 [2] is in full flow and a flurry of commitments is expected from world governments, but leadership is required at all levels to convert those commitments into actual carbon reductions. More than ever before, discussions relating to reducing emissions can be heard in and around offices and sites. This is encouraging, but it’s time now to crystallise discussion into action.

It has been positive to hear that some are monitoring carbon consumption during construction on-site, but this practice appears somewhat sporadic rather than universal. The carbon cost is not currently a primary driver in solution selection and, much like the construction industry underwent a revolution in respect of health and safety in the latter part of the 1990s, the next revolution must be achieving net zero.

Action

Everyone must act now to reduce the carbon emissions associated with their work. For the permanent works designer, how are you going to better consider constructability when designing? For temporary works designers or contractors, how are you going to ensure that carbon impact is a primary driver in solution selection? Tell us what you are doing, please.

[1] ICE, https://www.ice.org.uk/eventarchive/ice-presidential-address-2020
[2] UN Climate Change Conference UK 2021, https://ukcop26.org/


Prepared by Luke Winch, Galliford Try
on behalf of Temporary Works Forum (TWf) Working Group 32, Low carbon temporary works

24.11.21


The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Temporary Works Forum Ltd.
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