Spec Finish

Sustainability www.thefis.org 25 zero embodied carbon. Eliminating carbon from the production and distribution of construction materials is a complex challenge, one which will require change and collaboration across the industry. Now or Never sets a number of targets to 2030 to kickstart this change. User health and wellbeing Brilliant Buildings also commits Willmott Dixon to deliver projects that are future-climate ready and optimise user health and wellbeing by 2030. This ambition means new projects will be able to meet future climate scenarios including protecting them against overheating and flooding. The contractor will also work closely with customers to understand how people interact and use buildings in order to create spaces that improve productivity, support better learning outcomes, encourage rest and recovery, and promote social connection. Willmott Dixon’s Better Planet theme will see the contractor play its part in creating a better planet for future generations by putting the climate, biodiversity and resources crises at the heart of the way they do business. Having been a founding signatory of UK Contractors declare it has set itself four key ambitions to 2030 which include: • becoming a zero-carbon company without any offsetting; • generating zero avoidable waste; • halving the amount of water used on projects; and • delivering environmental net gain. Since 2012, Willmott Dixon has been a net zero or carbon neutral business, offsetting unavoidable carbon by investing in verified carbon reduction projects overseas. Since 2010, it has reduced its carbon emissions intensity by 61%. Now it is going further, committing to cutting all operational carbon emissions to zero by 2030, through a comprehensive strategy to eliminate fossil fuel use in their offices and on site, moving to a 100% electric fleet and continuing to only procure certified natural renewable energy. Most ambitious science-based target in the construction sector Now or Never is underpinned by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), which has approved Willmott Dixon’s emissions reduction targets as being in line with an overall need to limit a global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Jonathan Sykes, Executive Chairman at Carbon Intelligence, who helped them align their strategy with SBTi said: “Willmott Dixon has set the most ambitious science-based target in the construction sector by aiming for zero emissions in its operations by 2030 and supply chain by 2040. Its actions will have a significant influence on reducing the climate impact of the built environment in the UK.” Social values Another key element of the strategy is focused on social value; supporting the people and businesses in the communities where it works to thrive. Willmott Dixon has long been committed to making a difference; as the company’s 1978 report and accounts states: “At Willmotts we have, for a long time... provided aid not only in financial terms but in the service of our employees to many organisations.” The Building Lives theme encompasses Willmott Dixon’s approach to social value and maximising the business’ ability to do good through three key ambitions: delivering high-impact social value which it can demonstrate meets the needs of local communities, setting the sector standard for social value and supporting people who face significant barriers to be in, or on the path to, good careers. Willmott Dixon has always maintained that the best way to improve a person’s life chances is by enabling them to access good quality work. The contractor has set a target to help 1,000 people facing significant barriers to the workplace into new careers, some of them in Willmott Dixon itself. “We’ve set some ambitious targets, some of the toughest for the construction sector, as we feel that now is the time for bold action if we are to bequeath future generations a planet not suffering from the consequences of past inaction in tackling the causes of climate change, but instead is one that they can live and thrive in,” Group Chief Executive, Rick Willmott explains. “In laying out our roadmap for the next decade, we are also setting out howwe are going to work with customers, supply chain partners and industry colleagues in creating a carbon free construction sector, as this is an issue that impacts on everyone, and we’ll need to work together to achieve our common aspirations for a ‘greener’ built environment.” www.willmottdixon.co.uk Building Performance Award for Willmott Dixon Willmott Dixon’s Harris Academy Sutton project has won the Building Performance Award at November’s Building Awards. Working with Architype, they delivered the largest Passivhaus Trust secondary school in the UK. Sutton Council’s ambition was to create a school with minimal operational carbon, certainty of energy savings and an excellent indoor environment. This translates into energy consumption that is typically 80% lower than a standard new building, saving significant amounts on operating costs and carbon emissions.