Ethisphere Names Johnson Controls as One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the 17th Time
Johnson Controls , the global leader for smart, healthy, and sustainable buildings, has received the 2024 World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices, marking the 17th time Johnson Controls has been named to this list. “What we do every day at Johnson Controls makes the world more productive, more secure, and more sustainable. Creating winning solutions for our customers is the key to winning in the marketplace, and how we do it matters,” said Johnson Controls Chairman and CEO George Oliver. “We are immensely proud of our role as a global leader in ethical practices and are resolute about doing what is right to fuel employee empowerment and drive business value. This recognition underscores our deeply engrained culture of ethics at Johnson Controls.” Values First, the Johnson Controls Code of Ethics, is the cornerstone of the Johnson Controls Ethics & Compliance Program and is an integrated approach to ensuring that individual conduct, business operations, and organisational culture maintain the highest standards of integrity. Through leadership, commitment, communication, training, monitoring, and reporting, Johnson Controls has operationalised ways to identify and safely navigate ethics and compliance risks and conduct business according to the company’s stringent set of values. “Acting with integrity, being purpose led, and always putting the customer first are just a few of the values that lead our teams at Johnson Controls. This recognition is a testament to our culture and the employees who live our values every day,” said Mara Murphy, Vice President and Chief Ethics and Compliance Officer of Johnson Controls. The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. In 2024, 136 honourees were recognised spanning 20 countries and 44 industries. “It’s always inspiring to recognise the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Through the rigorous review process, we see the dedication of these organisations to continually improving their ethics, compliance and governance practices to the benefit of all stakeholders,” said Erica Salmon Byrne, Ethisphere’s Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Chair. “Companies that elevate best-in-class cultures of ethics and integrity set a standard for corporate citizenship for their peers and competitors to follow. Congratulations to Johnson Controls for achieving this honour and demonstrating that strong ethics is good business.” To learn more about integrity and ethics at Johnson Controls visit www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk/about-us/ethics-and-compliance. Methodology & Scoring The World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment is grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, an extensive questionnaire that requires companies to provide over 240 different proof points on their culture of ethics; environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices; ethics and compliance program; diversity, equity, & inclusion; and initiatives that support a strong value chain. That data undergoes further qualitative analysis by our panel of experts who spend thousands of hours vetting and evaluating each year’s group of applicants. This process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify truly best-in-class ethics and compliance practices from organisations across industries and from around the world. Honourees To view the full list of this year’s honourees, please visit the World’s Most Ethical Companies website, at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees. About Johnson Controls: At Johnson Controls (NYSE:JCI), we transform the environments where people live, work, learn and play. As the global leader in smart, healthy and sustainable buildings, our mission is to reimagine the performance of buildings to serve people, places and the planet. Building on a proud history of nearly 140 years of innovation, we deliver the blueprint of the future for industries such as healthcare, schools, data centres, airports, stadiums, manufacturing and beyond through OpenBlue, our comprehensive digital offering. Today, with a global team of 100,000 experts in more than 150 countries, Johnson Controls offers the world’s largest portfolio of building technology and software as well as service solutions from some of the most trusted names in the industry. Visit www.johnsoncontrols.co.uk for more information and follow @JCI_UKI on social Platforms. About Ethisphere Ethisphere is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust, and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character. Ethisphere honours superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies® recognition program, provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA), and showcases trends and best practices in ethics with Ethisphere Magazine. Ethisphere also helps to advance business performance through data-driven assessments, guidance, and benchmarking against its unparalleled data: the Culture Quotient dataset focused on ethical culture and featuring the responses of 2+ million employees around the world; and the Ethics Quotient dataset, featuring 200+ data points highlighting the ethics, compliance, social, and governance practices of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. For more information, visit https://ethisphere.com. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Major built environment institutes renew joint pledge to tackle global instability as cities boom
With almost 70% of the world’s population predicted to live in cities by 2050, major built environment professional institutes, including architects, planners, structural engineers and landscape practitioners, have renewed their joint pledge to collaborate to tackle urgent global challenges. Members of the UK Built Environment Advisory Group (UKBEAG), a group first launched in 2016 comprising the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI), the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) and the Landscape Institute (LI), have committed to work together for at least another 5 years. In a Memorandum of Understanding, the group, having established an international reputation as leading authorities in the built environment, agreed to continue to make their joint expertise accessible to the governments, humanitarian agencies and development partners at the sharp end of delivering sustainable urbanisation. Many of the countries that are urbanising most rapidly lack the critical built environment capacity and expertise to ensure that this huge growth is sustainable. In Uganda in 2018, a survey recorded that there were just five architects and 50 engineers per every one million people living in the country (compared to more than 600 of each for every one million in the UK) while urbanising at a rate of 6% per year – more than six times the rate of the UK. The UKBEAG members aim to address this imbalance through advocacy and capacity development, enabling the sharing of global expertise to support those grappling with rapid urbanisation, the climate emergency, displacement after crises and post conflict recovery. The group has already been working to mitigate global instability caused by these compounding factors. As Strategic Development Partner for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) Global Future Cities Programme, the UKBEAG worked in close partnership with UN-Habitat to support 30 transport, urban planning and resilience projects in 19 cities in low- to middle-income countries in South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia. Through a programme of strategic capacity development, their work increased the impact and long-term sustainability of these projects and created mutually beneficial relationships. RIBA Chief Executive Dr Valerie Vaughan-Dick MBE said: “The built environment is a huge carbon emitter, so if we are to protect the long-term future of our planet, urbanisation must be sustainable. Architects and other built environment professionals must work together to play an essential role in achieving this. As we face a global environmental crisis, RIBA must do what it can to support sustainable urbanisation by sharing knowledge, technical expertise and influence wherever it is needed, just as we too learn from others across the world. This renewed pledge demonstrates great ambition, and I look forward to working with our partner institutes to lead by example, combining our strengths to make a real difference.” RTPI Chief Executive Victoria Hills said: “Collaboration and partnerships are essential if we’re going to build meaningful sustainable and inclusive solutions that work for everyone. Together, planners and other built environment professionals wield significant influence in tackling climate change, biodiversity decline, social and economic inequalities, and at the same time, creating sustainable and beautiful places around the world. By bringing with us our members’ expertise, we hope that this strengthened alliance with our UKBEAG partners will have a significant impact on the transition to a zero-carbon society, engaging communities and enabling environmentally friendly choices.” IStructE Head of Climate Action Will Arnold said: “With most of the world still requiring more housing, buildings and infrastructure, the opportunities to head towards a regenerative built environment is huge. But to do so requires huge collaboration, systems thinking, and the ambition to create urban centres that are wholly positive for all living things. The renewed UKBEAG partnership will enable critical links to be formed between UK engineers, architects, planners with built environment professionals across the world, for mutual benefit of all parties.” Landscape Institute CEO Robert Hughes said: “Collaboration is fundamental to our global response to emergencies in climate, biodiversity, and health. Sustainable urban development is at the nexus of these combined challenges, requiring a diverse range of skills and expertise to deliver, in changing social and environmental contexts. Landscape professionals provide integrated, nature-based solutions to planning and development, and we are delighted to continue working with colleagues in UKBEAG, and around the world, to help realise a greener, healthier global built environment.” Download the Memorandum of Understanding (under ‘further information’). Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Electrical industry celebrates green skills ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week – and says others must show a similar commitment to net zero
Scotland’s leading electrical bodies say the industry is leading the way with skills and training to help power the technology of tomorrow – and are urging others to follow in its footsteps to ensure Scotland makes a successful transition to net zero. SELECT, the Scottish Joint Industry Board (SJIB) and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust (SECTT) have released a new video ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week that reinforces the range of renewable training currently being undertaken by apprentices. The film shows how young electricians are receiving a thorough grounding in a wide range of green skills to enable them to cater for our future heat and power needs, including working with electric vehicles, battery storage, solar panels, air source heat pumps and more. But the bodies also insist that the government, homeowners and wider construction sector must also embrace the opportunities offered by renewables and work together to ensure that the transition to net zero becomes a reality. Alan Wilson, Managing Director of SELECT, said: “This video aims not only to inspire young learners to become electrical apprentices but also to show that the electrical industry is at the heart of the move to the electrification of society. “However, we also need to persuade those outwith our industry to be equally committed to the adoption and uptake of green technology to ensure that this training is not in vain and that the electricians of tomorrow emerge into a country that is willing to embrace renewables.” Fiona Harper, Director of Employment and Skills at SELECT and The Secretary of the SJIB, added: “To ensure that there is a sustainable and healthy pipeline of work for this next generation of electricians, we need the government, the Scottish people and the construction industry to use renewable technology and join us on the transition to net zero. “Such a transition needs to happen now and we all need to face the reality that we must do it sooner rather than later if we are to secure an energy-efficient future for our children and our children’s children. “More incentives for the adoption and installation of green technology and clearer advice and information on funding and grants would be a big help in encouraging take-up and ensuring the renewables skills currently being taught are successfully utilised by electrical professionals in the years to come.” Running from March 4 to 8, this year’s Scottish Apprenticeship Week will again celebrate the value and importance of apprenticeships, with this year’s event focusing on skills generation. Anne Galbraith, CEO of SECTT, said: “The electrical sector in Scotland is taking the lead in skills generation, with 2,500 young people currently receiving the training necessary to cultivate complex skill sets and lay strong foundations for a long and rewarding career. “However, the vast depth of knowledge needed to become an electrician can only be obtained by completing the Modern Apprenticeship, and there are no short cuts to equipping electrical professionals with the skills they need to power our country for decades to come. “If we are to make the transition to net zero safely and securely, it is of the utmost importance that the electricians of tomorrow spend a minimum of four years learning their trade properly and completing a dedicated, tailor-made apprenticeship.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Game-changing’ British heat pump unlocks gas-free home heating for the masses
Low-carbon heating and cooling for every UK home is one step closer as Kensa breaks ground with the next generation of heating. By 2050 millions of UK homes will need to decarbonise their heating and, with the launch of its new small and powerful Shoebox NX Ground Source Heat Pump, Kensa is unlocking a proven, Net-Zero-ready solution. Kensa’s solution – Networked Ground Source Heat Pumps – replicates the familiarity and accessibility of gas networks and enables the mass rollout of heat pumps in the UK, bringing low-cost renewable heating and cooling to almost any type of home, whether that’s a new build, a 19th-century Victorian terrace, a tenement or a high-rise urban flat. One-third of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions come from heat, and 6.5 million homes are estimated to be in fuel poverty. Kensa’s solution will boost heat pump installations, shielding millions from unpredictable energy costs by replacing imported gas with domestically produced renewable electricity. Tamsin Lishman, Kensa Heat Pumps CEO, said: “This is a game-changing heat pump designed for the UK. Until now, achieving mass heat pump rollout has been a complex challenge, but with the launch of our Shoebox NX, we’ve engineered a small, high-performance heat pump that’s ready to replace gas as the main home heating choice. “When combined with our Networked Ground Source Heat Pumps solution, it unlocks cosy homes in the winter and cooler homes in the summer for almost anyone, and at low costs to the consumer. “For 25 years Kensa has been pioneering Ground Source Heat Pump technology, and with the Shoebox NX we’re ready to deliver heat pumps for everyone, cut household carbon emissions and make green home heating a reality.” John Bromley, Managing Director – Clean Energy Strategy & Investments at Legal and General Capital, said: “Housing requires some of the most substantial and immediate overhauls of any industry to improve standards, reduce running costs for consumers, and to reach net zero. The Kensa Group’s highly efficient, networked ground-source heating and cooling will play a key part in this transition. “As an experienced energy transition investor, we are proud to be supporting Kensa’s growth and we are delighted to see the launch of their latest ground-breaking Shoebox NX heat pump, a culmination of years of expertise and development. “We share Kensa’s ambition to deliver reliable, efficient heating solutions for consumers, developers, housing providers, and more – taking us a step closer to decarbonising UK properties at scale.” Shoebox NX heat pump performance facts and figures: Networked ground source heat pump findings: Kensa’s Shoebox NX is the latest development in ground source heat pump technology and delivers the efficiency of a large heat pump, in one that’s small enough to fit in a cupboard. Designed with mass heat pump rollout and ease of installation in mind, factory production of the NX can be readily scaled up to deliver 30,000 per year, with further expansion planned, and can be easily fitted by most heating and plumbing engineers without extensive training. Networked ground source heat pumps are a proven, scalable solution, which have next to no above-ground presence and are already providing clean heating for new build homes and complex-to-decarbonise private and social retrofit properties. Kensa’s model is designed to be as familiar and as accessible as the gas network and, once the infrastructure is deployed, allows households to connect at a time that suits them. With the Future Homes Standard, which is set to effectively ban gas boilers in new build homes from 2025, and the Government’s target to deliver 600,000 heat pumps a year by 2028, UK heat pump installations are set to rapidly increase. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals
Coventry University awarded £13million government grant to help fund switch to net zero campus
Coventry University has been awarded a grant of almost £13million to help hit its target of being net zero by 2030. The grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and delivered by Salix Finance Limited, will help towards the cost of installing around 1,300 new solar panels and connecting nine Coventry University buildings to the city’s district energy network. It is hoped the proposals could reduce the Group’s carbon emissions by more than 1,300 tonnes per year – more than a fifth of its annual carbon emissions arising from the use of fossil fuels. These works are a major part of the carbon reduction actions outlined in a strategy jointly developed over the past year with consultants Turner & Townsend. The district energy network is a 6.6km underground heat system that transports waste heat from the city’s municipal incinerator to supply energy to major public buildings and in doing so has only one sixth of the carbon emissions of natural gas. The buildings that will connect to the network are: The approximately 1,300 new solar panels will be installed at the Alma building, Cycle Works, TheHub, Sir Frank Whittle building and Elm Bank, with the latter also having new energy efficient windows installed. All the works are expected to be completed by March 2026 and will help the university to avoid grid electricity costs of more than £100,000 per year and generate zero carbon electricity for internal consumption. Professor John Latham CBE, Vice-Chancellor of Coventry University, said: “For many years Coventry University has been taking positive strides towards our target of net zero and this grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will help us with the next steps along that road. “Sustainable development and social responsibility are central to what we stand for and we are working to speed up society’s journey to net zero and clean growth through our excellent research and education. While we are rightly proud of the work and research we do to help tackle those issues nationally and internationally, being able to make a difference on our own campus is just as important.” Ian Rodger, Salix Director of Programmes, said: “We have a challenging journey to meet our net zero targets, and at Salix we’re privileged to work with organisations like Coventry University on this important mission. “This funding from government under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is pivotal in enabling organisations across the country to decarbonise their estates. Every day at Salix we are working to make our buildings, our environments and our communities healthier places to work and live in. “Our team at Salix looks forward to working closely with Coventry University to help them meet their net zero target.” John Bailey, associate director for sustainability at Turner & Townsend, said: “We are absolutely delighted for Coventry University receiving this funding. It has been a pleasure supporting them in their ambitious plans to net zero.” The university’s continued efforts to achieve net zero were recently recognised by the 2nd edition of the QS World University Rankings: Sustainability, placing the Group inside the top 250 universities in the world, and also saw it ranked as a Gold Tier University in the Uswitch Green University Report 2023. The recently published People & Planet University League Table, which assesses the environmental and ethical performance of UK universities, saw Coventry University retain its first class award. The university is also helping society shift to net zero through its impactful research into green battery technology, hydrogen fuel and future transport. Its commitment to tackling climate change is showcased through a number of projects, including the Clean Futures programme, which is supporting small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to develop new technology for green transportation in the UK, the relaunch of the Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering (AME), which is playing a critical step in the transition to electric transport manufacturing through innovative teaching and research, and upskilling JLR workers for the world of electric vehicles. Find out more about Coventry University’s sustainable development. About Coventry University Coventry University is a global, modern university with a mission of creating better futures. We were founded by entrepreneurs and industrialists in 1843 as the Coventry School of Design and we continue to work with businesses to ensure we provide job-ready graduates with the skills and creative thinking to improve their communities. With a proud tradition of innovative teaching and learning, Coventry University is now one of the largest in the UK and has world-class campus facilities, the UK’s first standalone 5G network and a digital community of learning. Our students are part of a global network that has 50,000 learners studying Coventry University degrees in more than 40 different countries and partnerships with 150 higher education providers worldwide. Over two centuries, we have flourished in our home city and Coventry University Group now also delivers access to our range of high-quality services and partnerships through bases in London, Scarborough, Belgium, Poland, Egypt, Dubai, Singapore and Africa. From September 2023, we will be teaching students at a new campus in China in a joint institution with Communication University of China. We have greatly increased our research capacity and capability with a focus on impactful research, delivered for and with partners to address real-world challenges and support the sustainable growth of business and communities. The depth and breadth of our rapidly growing research portfolio was validated by the latest UK research assessment, which saw us jump 22 places in the research power rankings. We were awarded a Gold rating in the 2023 Teaching Excellence Framework, proving we deliver excellence in what students care most about – teaching, learning and achieving positive outcomes from their studies. In 2022, we were honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the category of International Trade, the UK’s most prestigious business award. In recent years, we have won many awards and vastly improved our rankings in the league tables that matter to students
Polypipe Building Services achieves international sustainability standard
Polypipe Building Services has achieved the BES6001 international sustainability standard for its commercial drainage systems. The standard is designed to enable manufactured products to be assessed and certified as being responsibly sourced and comes off the back of the launch of the company’s Terrain PVC pipe which is manufactured with up to 65 per cent recycled materials. Assessment and certification are carried out by an independent third party and cover three different areas including supply chain management, which are evaluated via a written application and a site visit. Kevin Rose, Site Health, Safety and Environmental manager at Polypipe Building Services, said: “We are delighted to achieve this accreditation for our commercial drainage systems. Helping the construction industry to build better is a key part of our strategy as a Genuit Group Company and to ensure up to 65 per cent of recycled materials in our products. “The achievement of BES6001 follows the release of our Environmental Product Declarations and being awarded the BSI Kitemark for our BIM Level 2 Revit files. Each of these are important in providing our customers with complete product transparency and carbon data they need to meet the government pledge to net zero.” Responsible sourcing certification provides proof that the manufacturer knows the origin of the materials they’re using to give construction professionals confidence that the products chosen support a more sustainable approach. Once certified, products are listed by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) which provides impartial research to the UK government and internationally. The accreditation supports the commitment by their parent company, the Genuit Group, towards emission reduction targets through the Science Based Targets initiative. The scheme was validated in April and is the first to be made by a building products manufacturer within the UK as part of their ambition to be the low carbon supplier of choice to the industry. For more information about all of the standards and certifications achieved at Polypipe Building Services commercial drainage systems go to www.polypipe.com/commercial-building-services/terrain-drainage-systems-standards-and-certification Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals