Carbon Neutral

The FMJ describes carbon neutral as “a term used to describe the state of an entity, such as a company, service, product or event, where the carbon emissions caused by them have been balanced out by funding an equivalent amount of carbon savings elsewhere in the world”. Many companies work to first reduce carbon emissions across the board by investing in technologies that allow them to reduce their carbon output to as close to zero as possible. They then offset the remaining carbon output through investment in global green schemes. Currently companies cannot simply remove their carbon emissions or reduce them just once. Companies interested in carbon neutrality must continually invest in technologies that will take them ever closer to carbon neutral status.

Industry Guidance

The SFMI has recognised the need for a standardised guidance on running a sustainable FM business. In August 2020 they released their guide to sustainability “and how FM providers can integrate it into their every management, operation and services”, thereby promoting a holistic approach to business sustainability. Their guide lays out the three branches of sustainability that should be focused on: Environmental, Social and Governance.

This comes at the same time as the World Economic Forum (WEF) releases guidance on the major sources of emissions in the supply chain. Where companies are leading in becoming carbon neutral, the supply chains they source from are still a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions, causing over 50% of the world’s annual emissions. Companies who are working to reduce the carbon in their supply chain and not just in their businesses are therefore paving the way for the future.

Carbon Neutral Now

In light of this, and in a move towards a greater corporate social responsibility, over the last year many companies have stated their intention to become carbon neutral by 2030, or have already become carbon neutral. Companies such as Bosch, Corps Security, and Mace have all become carbon neutral over the last few months, leading the way for a more positive and sustainable future.

Bosch achieved carbon neutral status for the core of their business in 2020 and are now looking to expand their goal of carbon neutrality into their wider supply chain, working to ensure that all parts of their value chain are carbon neutral, from the purchase of raw materials, to the disposal of products once used. Corps Security have reached their net zero goals by moving towards an all EV fleet, reducing paper usage and air travel and offsetting much of their carbon by investing in a wind power project in India.

Mace have also gained carbon neutral status in January 2021, just one year after setting an ambitious net zero plan called “Steps Without Footprints” for the business. Implementation of this plan has reduced their carbon footprint by 50%. They are offsetting their residual carbon by funding ambitious global decarbonisation projects, including the provision of solar and wind farms in India, reducing Amazonian deforestation in Brazil, reforesting the UK, and providing energy efficient solutions to remote African communities. Their ambitions continue beyond 2021 as well, with efforts to create 500 hectares of new biodiverse habitat and encouraging and assisting clients to also reduce emissions.

Carbon Neutral Futures

Many companies are working towards becoming carbon neutral. Last year we looked at Engie’s sustainable energy partnership with John Lewis which should result in a reduction of John Lewis’ energy output by up to 25% by 2028, and with support from Engie, are looking at further sustainability goals. Engie are helping others reach sustainability goals too. They are looking to expand their sustainability focused partnerships under their scheme “Making Zero Carbon Happen” which uses their energy services and provision for their partners to allow companies to become more energy efficient now, with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality in all of their partnerships.

Another ground breaking partnership is between grounds maintenance specialists idverde and Warwick District Council. idverde have taken on a zero carbon contract with the council as part of the council’s aim to reach carbon neutrality for all of their street cleaning and grounds maintenance work by 2025. This contract will have idverde managing 28 square kilometres of woodland, parks and waterways across the district using carbon neutral technology.

In 2020 Costain pledged to become carbon neutral, and over the past year have taken strides towards this goal by employing a data driven approach. They are collecting and using company data to assess their largest emissions sources, as well as where emissions can be cut the most. This is part of their goal to reach net zero by cutting all carbon emissions out of their business altogether, rather than using carbon offsetting for the long term. They have so far reduced the over engineering of their products and designs, begun using a mixture of electric, hydrogen and hybrid vehicles in their fleet, and are using 100% renewable energy in all of their buildings, though they seek to reduce the overall energy output from their offices too. When looking outwards, they are also taking into account their adjacent emissions form their clients and supply chain and to combat this, they are attempting to create sustainable partnerships with their clients to assist them in creating a greener future for themselves too.

Electric Vehicles

Leading the way for clean energy provision and easy access to charging points for electric vehicles is Gridserve. In 2019 and 2020 they have designed and implemented a pioneering “Electric Forecourt®” which will serve as a charging point for multiple electric vehicles with a similar structure to a petrol station. To implement this design, Gridserve has teamed up with infrastructure partners ABB, as well as various UK retailers such as Booths, Costa Coffee, the Post Office and WHSmith.

Hydrogen

This comes alongside news of a partnership between Daimler Truck AG, IVECO, OMV, Shell and Volvo Group who have committed to decarbonising long-haul trucks. To do this, they will fund pre-commercial projects working to create a new long-haul hydrogen powered HGV. If they can establish the viability of these projects, they will work to make them mass marketable. This is hoped to work towards reducing the emissions on the roads, whilst also creating new industries needed to support the creation of these vehicles – hydrogen production plants, distribution systems, refuelling stations and others.

Property

Developers and facilities managers are looking for ways to drastically reduce the carbon embodied in the development of property. Many archetypal building materials such as steel, concrete and aggregate are not sustainable products, making the building itself less sustainable as a result. With this in mind, a coalition of companies are supporting the global initiative, SteelZero, which is pushing to have steel production decarbonised by 2050. Steel production is one of the biggest carbon emitters globally, despite the fact that the technology needed to decarbonise the process already exists. This coalition of companies are working together to make one of the fundamental building blocks of our urban world carbon neutral.

Companies, along with the government are also working to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment. Non-domestic buildings account for 20% of UK energy consumption for powering HVAC, therefore there is pressure on facilities managers to increase the efficiency of the facilities and find ways to reduce energy output where possible. Many buildings are reducing their carbon footprint by moving to sustainable energy sources which allows using the same amount of energy at less harm to the planet. The government suggests that many organisations already use analytics to assess the efficiency of their buildings, however there should be more movement forwards in the creation and use of technology to use even more efficient HVAC and lighting solutions.

FM companies across the sector are pledging to become carbon neutral and setting up their individual roadmaps for sustainability in the future using the guidance that others have made. The partnerships that they are creating now lead the way for other companies to become carbon neutral, and with being such an integral part of the supply chain, they are able to influence the sustainability of all the companies around them.

300 North are the Facilities Management recruitment specialists providing permanent, temporary and interim solutions to the UK Facilities Management, Mechanical & Electrical and Construction sectors. Get in touch to find out how we can help you with your recruitment needs by visiting our website home page or calling us on 0113 336 5161.