Pioneering project harnesses financial systems to tackle construction industry carbon crisis
Finance and procurement teams at some of the construction industry’s largest companies, including Aggregate Industries, Balfour Beatty, Galliford Try, Morgan Sindall Group and Kier, are joining forces on a pioneering project to provide a real-time carbon emissions reporting solution for the sector.
Newbury-based construction technology provider, Causeway Technologies, has brought together finance and sustainability teams to work on the ‘Scope 3 Initiative’ – software to support corporate ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting.
Construction and the built environment are responsible for 40% of annual global CO2 emissions, with about a third of that directly linked to the ‘embodied carbon’ in construction’s supply chain. Scope 3 emissions represent indirect emissions beyond a company’s own operations, encompassing embodied carbon from the extraction, processing and manufacturing of energy-intensive building materials such as concrete and steel.
READ MORE: UK real estate investment trust AEW UK REIT buys mixed-use asset in Bath
Causeway’s Scope 3 Initiative is well advanced in developing an efficient and scalable way to measure these emissions in real-time, using invoice data automatically extracted from Causeway Tradex, the largest connected construction supply chain community in the UK.
By linking up financial and procurement data and associating scope 3 emissions with specific projects and transactions, businesses gain real-time insights into their environmental impact during construction activities. This heightened visibility empowers contractors to make informed decisions that can lead to a significant reduction in emissions.
Dr. Adam O’Rourke, Causeway’s emerging technologies consultant, said: “The construction industry has long grappled with the measurement of scope 3 emissions, with mounting pressure from regulators, investors, and campaigners underscoring the need for a viable solution.
“Currently, few construction product suppliers can readily provide consistent transaction-level data on the full carbon emissions of their products. Consequently, finance and sustainability teams within major contractors heavily rely on generic carbon calculators for estimating scope 3 emissions. While these calculators serve as useful estimation tools, Causeway’s scope 3 initiative is distinct – it offers contractors an accurate, consistent, and automated reporting tool that reflects the actual materials and products used, rather than what was merely planned.”
The enhanced reporting empowers contractors to make better decisions, reduce risk and improve their ESG strategies.
Causeway and its partners are actively engaging with additional suppliers and contractors while validating and testing various aspects of the software. The collaboration also benefits from a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the Engineering Department at the University of Bath.
Visit Hampshire Biz News for bright, upbeat and positive business news from the county
