The third in a series of BMBI virtual debates took place on Tuesday 7 September, focused on sustainability. Builders’ Merchants News Editor, Tim Wood, summarises what was discussed.

Carbon capture and the way manufacturers and merchants are going to tackle carbon reduction was the opening topic for discussion.

Jones believes there are three main challenges – technological “as for us (as a cement business), it’s never been done on that scale before anywhere in the world”; economical “the price of a carbon capture plant is a higher price than a new cement plant”; and infrastructure as “there is no infrastructure at all to take carbon away from a manufacturing operation like ours to store it”.

Palmer believes carbon reduction is important “because the technology for carbon capture will take much longer to develop than us taking action to reduce our emissions”.

Heath revealed that Knauf had reviewed its processes, renewed its environmental performance declarations for rock and glass and launched its For A Better World strategy. “Some products have had perhaps bigger challenges than others, but it’s something we’ve all got to act on,” he added.

Heath also believes good regulation with sensible timeframes that encourages action rather than creates horrendous market distortions is vital.

Scothern revealed that 51 billion tonnes of CO2 or equivalents are being emitted every year. The fact that “we’ve got to get to zero carbon before 2050, is really alarming”, he added.

Government funding

Jones believes Government funding is critical – businesses need to commit to the race to net zero as “investment houses won’t invest in companies not doing the right thing”.

How do you achieve a low carbon construction industry was the next question?

Temprell said that because manufacturing is on long lead times, “anything that can help to plan  round the investment, around maintaining capacity and around maintaining service levels, can actually help us advance more quickly to a net zero carbon future”.

There also has to be a more holistic approach, “because it comes down to what’s going to be the approach of the building, the design of the building and where the buildings are actually going to be in situ”.

Scothern believes there needs to be more energy production from greener sources and that includes nuclear “as uncomfortable as that is”.

The panel discussed the alternative forms of energy available, but for Jones hydrogen isn’t the  immediate answer. “From a conservative estimate, as well as an intellectual point of view, we need buildings with very high thermal mass, made of concrete because you then save a lot of energy as well.”

Simpson advocates less cement use, especially as there are replacements that produce low CO₂, while concrete is more durable. “It’s looking at products we’re actually using and how they’re going to evolve over time”, he added.

The next topic covered plastic packaging, what can companies do, what are the alternatives and what does the future hold?

Temprell said the main challenge with the packaging of any British Gypsum product is collecting and segregating the waste efficiently enough to recycle. New plastic packaging regulations in April 2022 and the extended producer responsibility regulations in 2024 should lead to more collaboration across the supply chain.

A main culprit

Simpson revealed the construction industry is one of the main culprits for waste, producing 202 million tonnes annually.

Heath said that Knauf looked at its compression technology and this resulted in 25 more packs of product per pallet and at the bare minimum gauge of its plastic packaging to ensure it was still robust enough to do the job on building sites. Bags sitting exposed on sites until they are needed is another issue the industry needs to resolve.

The next question concerned legislation and what needs to be done to help the industry?

Palmer believes there must be consistency from the Government, while the alignment of legislation is key. “As new policies and strategies come out, the industry needs the assurance that the  government isn’t going to do a U-turn. Climate change is so important that it shouldn’t be something you back down on.”

Temprell agreed with Palmer but more collaboration between all the political parties is vital because “if there are changes every four years, strategies will keep getting revised or rewritten”.

Scothern believes it is about education. “If staff understood more maybe they would vote for the parties that helped drive the legislation that support your businesses in making those enormous and daunting transformations.”

Simpson said that sustainability has always been talked about during his two decades with Hanson. “The targets that we’ve got are extremely ambitious, but we will get to them because we’re not just doing the big things. It’s all the little things that have an impact within your business such as reducing a fuel’s carbon footprint, the type of vehicles used, or simply turning the lights off.”

Jones admits that the Government cannot continue to bankroll things like carbon capture and storage forever, particularly with the fallout from Covid and the billions required to fund social care and the NHS.

The journey to net zero was next on the agenda.

Palmer admits that the UK is moving forward but really needs to step up and show leadership to the rest of the world. “There are some things that we’re doing really well, but there’s also areas that we need to bring into line in order not to undermine that position. The Heat and Buildings strategy and the Government’s net zero strategy will give our industry a clearer picture of what’s expected of us and provide those guidelines.”

Simpson believes it is about the choices people are making themselves. “Government and companies are not going to solve this; it is everybody taking responsibility for their actions.”

Jones questioned whether 2050 is a realistic target to reach net zero, especially with an extra 1.5 billion people added to the planet in the last 20 years. “The growth of traditional third world economies is growing at more than an exponential rate and that has to be addressed,” he said. “It’s a global problem, and we can do all the racing to net zero we want as a country, but until the world addresses it we are going to fail.”

The final question was what went wrong with the Green Homes Grant?

Temprell believes the timeline made it impossible to have any real impact to be able to demonstrate any sort of payback, while a lack of promotion on how to actually access it was also a factor.

Heath said any new policy needs to stop rewarding the installation of a system and instead start rewarding the proven improvements that can be demonstrated on site. He said: “So green stamp duty? Absolutely. It’s the able to pay market, save the subsidy for those that can’t afford it. Let’s not revisit Green Homes Grant.”

This article first appeared in the October issue of Builders’ Merchants News.