Letter written by Nick Cowley, managing director at Euramax, in response to the Prime Minister’s announcement of £350 million to cut carbon emissions in industry, construction, and transport sectors as part of a green recovery.
As industry emerges from lockdown, and the closure of infrastructure and construction projects, we are in a good position to revaluate our environmental approach.
The building and construction sector accounts for around 39 per cent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, with construction operations making up 11 per cent of that. The government has pledged £26 million to support advanced new building techniques in order to reduce build costs and cut carbon emissions in the construction industry. To aid a successful green recovery, we must invest in modern, sustainable building techniques.
Our future homes won’t be built, they’ll be manufactured using modular methods. Modular construction involves building parts of the building offsite in a manufacturing facility, then joining them together onsite. Modular construction requires less machinery and can halve building time, therefore using up to 67 per cent less energy.
Modular construction also produces less waste and can be constructed using recycled materials. The modularity of the buildings means they can easily be deconstructed and moved without demolition, which further cuts down their environmental impact. Despite their quick construction, making some sceptics dubious about their quality, the controlled built environment can make modular builds as energy efficient as traditional builds — helping us indeed ‘build back better’.
