Emerging findings on the challenges and opportunities for the construction sector were published on 17th March 2010 from the Low Carbon Construction Innovation and Growth Team (IGT).
The IGT aims to identify how the construction industry can best deliver the future carbon reduction commitments for 2020 and beyond. Chaired by the Chief Construction Adviser Paul Morrell, the emerging findings highlight the challenge for the industry and its customers to work together in new ways to reduce costs, stimulate innovation and develop a clear proposition for low carbon retrofit and new build.
The IGT comprises experts from the construction industry and from Government. It will publish its final report later in the year, including recommendations to Government to help inform policy development.
The interim findings identify four major opportunities for the sector if the challenges and barriers are effectively addressed:
· to carry out a huge programme of work, stretched out over at least the next 40 years;
· to make use of that workload to reform the structure and practice of the industry;
· to export the products and skills of a modernised industry;
· to excite future generations of potential recruits into an industry with a noble cause.
The Secretary of State for Business, Lord Mandelson, said
“The Construction Industry is central to the UK meeting our stretching carbon targets and I welcome the findings from the construction IGT which clearly show they are up to this challenge.
"As we have seen as part of our New Industry, New Jobs programme, there are huge business opportunities for growth and green jobs in the low carbon economy which will benefit construction. To support the industry to take advantage of this we are also setting up a NationalSkillsAcademy for green building services. "
Welcoming the emerging findings, Business Minister Ian Lucas said:
“The Low Carbon Transition Plan is a strategy for the construction industry. The IGT has recognised the size of the opportunity it presents. The construction industry provides huge value to the economy and the Government will not be able to hit its low carbon targets without the active engagement and participation of the whole sector.
On 17th March 2010 it was announced that London is to be designated a Low Carbon Economic Area [LCEA] for energy efficient buildings is the latest in a series of endorsements that the Government has made for new skills and growth in the construction industry.”
A key issue in retrofitting housing and other buildings is the scale of the opportunity. The Low Carbon Economic Areas in Manchester and, following today’s announcement, London are examples of how we can brigade action to improve the energy efficiency of the built environment on a broad scale.
Chief Construction Adviser, Paul Morrell, said
“No one should underestimate the sheer scale of the opportunity the transition to a low carbon economy will offer the construction industry. The requirement for low carbon construction is probably the biggest change management programme that the industry has faced since Victorian times.
“The industry and Government need to rise to this challenge. Only by working together will the full benefits accrue to the UK economy and help drive the growth and new jobs we all seek. The Emerging Findings are the first part of that process. They have set out the shape of the dialogue we need to have. I am looking forward to working with the industry and Government to build these into a construction industry led delivery plan all are willing and able to commit to.”
The final report from the IGT will be presented to the Government at the end of 2010.
Background:
The IGT was launched by the Secretary of State Lord Mandelson at the Strategic Forum for Construction on 17 September 2009. This work will continue until the end of the year when the IGT will make its final report to government.
This is part of the challenge to bring the industry together to identify how best to deliver the 2022 carbon reduction commitments, to meet the broader challenges of the low carbon future, and to capture the many new opportunities it will bring.
The UK construction industry consists of over 300 000 firms employing over 3 million people in a multitude of roles. The sector is defined as one which embraces the construction materials and products; suppliers and producers; building services manufacturers, providers and installers; contractors, sub-contractors, professionals, advisors and construction clients and those organisations that are relevant to the design, build, operation and refurbishment of buildings.
The UK construction sector contributed 8.8% of the nations GVA (Gross Value Added) in 2008. UK designers, civil engineers, contractors, component & product manufacturers have a worldwide reputation for working overseas, providing high-tech solutions to environmental, transport & building projects. (Statistics on the sector are available from the Construction Statistics and Economics pages.)
Paul Morrell OBE was appointed to the role of Government Chief Construction Adviser in December 2009. Previously senior partner of construction consultants Davis Langdon, and also former deputy chair of CABE, Paul Morrell brings extensive experience across both the public and private sectors to this broad role.
A number of initiatives are in train, or planned to address low carbon skills challenges facing construction:
· The Built Environment Skills Alliance Future Skills Group is working to identify skills gaps across a range of built environment sectors, looking at their impact on occupational standards and qualifications;
· ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for construction is planning a 'Cut the Carbon' awareness campaign for launch in the autumn under the banner 'what's in it for me'; Government will be consulting on Low Carbon Skills covering a number of industries, including construction with the intention of launching a Low Carbon Skills Strategy in the Autumn.
CDM2007.org’s Editor-in-Chief David Jones is actively involved in seeking ways to meet the challenges facing the industry over the next 40 years and reflects upon what Paul Morrell outlines as the “sheer scale of the opportunity” … indeed, the UK Government has set the most ambitious targets for the reduction of carbon emissions in our existing housing stock of almost any country in the world! An 80% reduction in emissions by the year 2050 ~ for the 26 million homes that are expected to still be in use at that time.
This massive programme called ‘Retrofit for the Future’ is organised at the top level by the Technology Strategy Board [TSB] which is the Government’s agency in charge. Current estimates identify there will be around an average of 700k deep level interventions (building envelope and renewable technologies) per year for 40 years, and rough cost estimates give an idea of a total cost of the works will be around £10M per day!
David Jones, CDM2007.org Editor-in-Chief comments:
“Retrofitting of existing buildings represents an enormous challenge – in technical, economic, social, and skills terms. All of this demands an unprecedented level of organisation, safe systems of working, professional and practical skills, competent knowledge, accredited operatives, delivery at scale, and the creation of a new level of reliability and confidence in the industry.”
“In much the same way as the hazardous parts of construction such as gas and electricity installations are quality controlled to ensure safety, so must the retrofit industry be properly regulated to ensure the work is done properly first time every time.”
“The whole supply chain of the construction industry will need to provide the end users with a quality ‘brand’ the public can rely on.”
