Bam Construct UK head of procurement Dan Billinge will lead a deep dive into the government’s recently released Procurement Policy Note (PPN), which details how suppliers’ net-zero reduction plans will be considered in the procurement of major contracts.
Billinge will lead the discussion alongside an expert panel at next week’s Construction News Decarbonising Construction conference.
Under new rules, a bidding supplier will need to show early commitment to achieving net-zero carbon with a formal carbon-reduction plan (CRP), signed off at a high level and published on the supplier’s UK website.
Debate panellists will include Fusion21 category manager Oliver Mooney and Action Sustainability’s Shaun McCarthy.
The third virtual conference on Decarbonising Construction comes amid warnings from MPs that the government must do more to help the sector meet future net-zero ambitions, making movements towards greener construction methods even more relevant.
This year’s event, being held on 14-15 June, will have BAM Construct as its ‘gold sponsor’, with the group holding the panel discussion on driving carbon reduction in the supply chain on the second day.
Wednesday’s packed agenda will feature a keynote speech from Sam Stacey, who is challenge director for transforming construction at UK Research and Innovation.
The transforming construction challenge is an integral part of the 2018 Construction Sector Deal, which aims to accelerate the shift towards manufacturing and digital processes, and a “value outcome approach”.
It has already pumped £170m of investment into the scheme, which has been matched by £250m from the industry.
On the first day of the event at 2.05pm, experts from RIBA, Targeting Zero and TopHat will hold a discussion on designing to net-zero standards for operational and embodied carbon. The session will explore the latest advice and guidance on whole-life carbon design.
It comes after MPs warned last month that UK net-zero ambitions will fall short unless the built environment is given stronger support to reduce its carbon emissions.
Tuesday’s opening day will also see a panel of materials experts from Aggregate Industries, The Concrete Centre and the Structural Timber Association discuss the progress they’ve made towards drawing up roadmaps to decarbonisation, in addition to sharing innovations they have considered.
The final session of the opening day will see HS2 head of environmental sciences Neil Wait share the project’s latest findings on alternative fuel trials to cut the use of diesel across its construction sites.
For more information on next week’s Decarbonising Construction event, follow this link.
