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According to the London Atmospheric Inventory, construction sites are responsible for approximately 7.5% of nitrogen oxide emissions, 8% of large particle emissions and 14.5% of fine particle emissions. The majority of these emissions derive from machinery, vehicles and construction transport, all of which are a significant contributor to air pollution. Considering how the construction industry is reliant on machinery and…

The Mayor of London’s Transport Strategy, published in 2018, sets out a vision for a healthier, greener and more prosperous city. The strategy makes clear that a new type of thinking is required to increase active, efficient and sustainable travel to help achieve this vision for London. The Mayor, through TfL, will work with the boroughs, businesses and the freight…

The site has been trialling a new sustainable toilet, which has a sink built in above the cistern at the back of the toilet. The water used from washing hands in the basin fills the cistern to flush the toilet. This toilet is space saving, eco-friendly, encourages hygiene and works out to be cheaper as no extra sinks are required…

At Mace’s GPE Hanover Square Project, J Coffey Construction Ltd used a ‘Brokk 260’ remote controlled electric powered breaker to substitute a more traditional diesel powered breaker, used for breaking out concrete. Sustainability benefits include: Reduced carbon emissions – as electricity at Hanover Square is sourced from a 100% renewable supplier (Ecotricity), electrical breakers have zero carbon emissions. Reduced pollution…

Day-to-day, we all have an influence on the environment we live in. Our ‘Environmental Fact Wheel’ offers interesting facts about the little things we do every day which can have an effect on the environment. We have divided the facts into five main target areas: Resources, Water, Waste, Carbon and People. Examples include: Recycling only one aluminium can saves enough…

The team at Greenwich Peninsula Upper Riverside had a successful shipment of 28 pre-fabricated raised running track elements to Green Peninsula from Venice, Italy. Each element had to be transported from a barge to a local allocated storage area then eventually on to site from the storage area for installation along public highways. Transporting via seas avoided the need for…

The construction of new passenger tunnels between existing platforms at Kennington Station had to be completed within a 16-week window and works were required 24/7. There was insufficient power supply available from the station and therefore a large external diesel generator was required. The generator had to be located very near to residential properties and there was concern over the…

The Solatainer is a new innovative power source for site compounds. The unit combines solar, generator, battery and for the first time in the UK, wind to provide renewable energy for running the site. During its first month on site, we have observed a 27% reduction in the total cost and over a 87% reduction in carbon dioxide production when…

Offsite fabrication of building services has been utilised across the construction industry for many years. As Building Information Modelling (BIM) has grown, buildings have become more complex which has created several benefits, as well as challenges in construction. The AstraZeneca New Cambridge site project has extended the building services module construction approach to include the raised access floor area of…

Used cooking oil from the site canteen is collected by a specialist company who then transform it into biodiesel. This is used for powering diesel vehicles and also for heating. Any packaging related to the cooking oil is also recycled. The collection is free of charge and the company delivers fresh cooking oil at the same time as making the…

Environmental awareness and carbon reduction is increasingly important when tendering for projects. Contractors must demonstrate a commitment to reducing their carbon footprint. See the examples below for how Laing O’Rourke won National Grid’s first contract with carbon weighting: The contractor implemented a number of modifications to the build design to reduce material use and ensure carbon reduction. At the tender…

It is important to recognise that a site’s environmental impact goes well beyond the site boundary. A significant environmental impact of construction is in the production of the materials used, but it is also important to consider the impact of their transportation at both a local and wider level. Although concrete batching plants are often in reasonably close proximity to…

There are many different drivers to reducing and eliminating waste on construction projects. A simple way of reducing waste where possible, and significantly reducing the numbers of vehicles coming to and from site from waste removal is a compactor or baler. Cardboard and plastic waste being baled not only saves space on site, but reduces costs in skips and decreases…

Tunnelling works such as those involved in the London Underground extension can pose a number of logistical concerns and safety risks. See the examples below for how one site addressed this: Used Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) in concrete invert reinforcement bases at the step plate junction. GFRP reinforcement is 75% lighter than traditional steel reinforcement. The weight reduction reduced…

When we know what our carbon footprint is then we can act. GRAHAM Construction and Low Level Waste Repository Ltd therefore calculated the carbon footprint of their Engineering, Design and Construction Framework (EDCF). It is important to the framework that once the footprint was calculated that it was displayed in a manner which was easily understandable and relevant to all…