Sustainability

Construction contract provider NEC is introducing a method of holding firms to account over their carbon-reduction promises amid fears about greenwashing. The organisation – part of the Institution of Civil Engineers – announced plans to add the X29 clause to its NEC4 suite of legal agreements for use on projects.…

Contractor and fit-out specialist ISG has bought a majority stake in ESS Group, in a move aimed at growing its business. ESS Group, which has headquarters in Manchester and Dublin, is a specialist in modern methods of construction (MMC). It employs 280 staff across four offices and three manufacturing facilities…

The government is set to take a 20 per cent stake in Sizewell C, EDF’s £20bn proposed nuclear power plant in Suffolk. According to a BBC report, French state-owned energy firm EDF will match the UK government’s 20 per cent stake. It is expected that the twin investment will attract…

A Turkish firm is pushing ahead with plans to revamp a 148-acre paper mill in Flintshire, Wales. Eren Holding is consulting on the renovation job at Shotton Mill (pictured), which it says would make it the biggest paper mill in the UK. The Turkish conglomerate said it would invest £600m…

Senior figures at Balfour Beatty, Mace and L&G participated in a roundtable with the prime minister Boris Johnson yesterday (21 March) to discuss future nuclear energy projects in the UK. The summit between industry leaders was hosted by Downing Street to work up a pipeline of nuclear projects in the…

The Construction Leadership Council (CLC), National Highways and contractors including Vinci and Skanska have backed the launch of a new tool for construction firms to benchmark their knowledge of fairness, inclusion and respect (FIR). Devised by the Supply Chain Sustainability School (SCSS), the FIR Growth Assessment aims to help construction…

Keltbray has agreed a deal to install hydrogen fuel cells on one of its construction sites. The contractor signed a contract with hydrogen power specialist AFC Energy for a zero emission hybrid fuel cell, which will be used to power a construction site, probably in London. It is the first…

Bam Nuttall has laid out the sustainability improvements it has made using a consumer-style grading system. The infrastructure contractor introduced an index last year that rates every project on its environmental and societal impact. Bam Nuttall’s sustainability index considers 13 measures, including carbon intensity, construction waste intensity, environmental compliance, good…

A council in North Wales has backed plans for a £7bn tidal lagoon scheme along the Denbighshire coast. Denbighshire County Council backed a motion of support for a proposed 19-mile barrage which would include turbines to generate electricity from the movement of the tides. The motion was put forward by…

Tarmac has successfully trialled the use of ultra low-carbon concrete on part of the HS2 route in the Chilterns. The manufacturer worked with the Align consortium – a joint venture between Bouygues Travaux Publics, VolkerFitzpatrick and Sir Robert McAlpine – which is delivering the central section of Phase One of…