Willmott Dixon boss wants more focus on carbon reduction

Willmott Dixon’s chief executive Rick Willmott has called for more action from the construction sector on reducing carbon emissions.

The contractor said it achieved a 13% year-on-year reduction in carbon emissions in 2016, relative to turnover. It aims to halve carbon emissions by 2020, compared with 2010, and has brought them down by 40% in the last six years.

Willmott said: “With around half of the UK’s carbon emissions coming from the construction and operation of buildings, we must strive to find less carbon-intensive ways to operate as an industry. And this includes getting better at building energy efficient buildings, which will stand up to the more extreme temperatures we can expect in the coming decades.”

He said Willmott Dixon has focused on tackling emissions over which the company had direct control, such as purchasing electricity from renewable sources and reducing emissions from transport and construction activities.

The contractor’s carbon performance is verified externally by Bureau Veritas. The company has also recently been re-certified to the Carbon Trust Standard.

Since 2012, Willmott Dixon has calculated its ‘unavoidable’ emissions and offset them by purchasing credits in projects which are reducing carbon emissions by an equivalent amount, certifiying the company as carbon neutral.

Willmott added: “Climate change will have a profound impact on the way of life for future generations, with implications for health, food production and access to resources if we don’t curb now the effect of excessive carbon emissions into our atmosphere and the consequence that has for global warming.

“Any company committed to leaving a lasting legacy in the built environment must view carbon management as a key focus area.”