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Key members of the Infrastructure Client Group have made seven fundamental commitments under its Concrete Decarbonisation Accelerator programme.
The Infrastructure Client Group (ICG) is a coalition of the UK’s most progressive economic infrastructure clients.
It aims to lead on speeding up the improvement and alignment of how infrastructure is delivered and developed in the UK for the benefit of the economy, society and the environment.
In September 2023, the group’s Concrete Decarbonisation Accelerator programme brought together nine member organisations of the ICG’s Infrastructure Carbon Task Group.
They all recognised the need for a consistent way to reduce their carbon impacts more quickly.
The initiative, supported by WSP and Expedition Engineering, has since created seven commitments designed to achieve that goal.
Committed to decarbonisation
It’s predicted that together, the nine clients will account for about 26% of total infrastructure concrete use in the UK.
As such, they can significantly reduce the carbon impact of concrete by working together.
Today, they and other infrastructure clients meet regularly to talk about their experiences with the commitments.
They explain how these work in their organisations and discuss the outcomes, including any challenges they’ve faced.
By committing in the following seven ways, the participants will be aligned in their activities.
This should incentivise suppliers and speed up decarbonisation while supporting one of the Five Client Carbon Commitments recently published by the Construction Leadership Council: “Eliminate the most carbon-intensive concrete products”.
The seven commitments
1. Establish carbon-intensity reduction pathways using benchmarking systems
This is about setting out what reductions are needed in the short, medium and long term, and how these will be measured.
Using a carbon-rating system (or similar) can signal to the supply chain a client’s intent to use lower-carbon concrete.
2. Use concrete efficiently
The aim is to consistently use less concrete and so reduce emissions from the outset.
It means that we must consider how we’re using the concrete, whether we could use low-carbon concrete and whether either could be substituted by other materials with lower emissions.
This closely links to the PAS 2080 standard and its guidance on using intelligent design to:
- avoid using concrete if possible;
- switch to a better material; or
- improve the carbon associated with concrete to start with.
3. Reduce the carbon-intensity of our concrete towards net zero
This ties in with the second commitment in that, if we have to use concrete, then we must investigate how to improve what we’re using.
If clients can agree to use more lower-carbon concrete, suppliers will have to provide this in greater quantities.
This will spur innovation on both sides of the client-supplier relationship.
4. Embed low-carbon concrete requirements in our projects
By calling for the use of low-carbon concrete from the start, clients can incentivise suppliers throughout the bidding process to reduce their use of high-carbon concrete.
This commitment also talks about establishing standard reporting requirements for concrete and its associated carbon emissions.
Maintaining a consistent approach to decarbonisation is key, as the commitments are designed to be used across sectors.
5. Request concrete data from our value chain
This is closely linked to the fourth commitment in that it requires detailed information on not only the quantities of concrete used, but also the associated carbon data. This can help with forecasting.
Accurate data can help to inform clients’ choices about their use of concrete and approaches to decarbonisation.
A set of standard reporting approaches would serve to remove irregularities and increase confidence in the quality of the information being shared.
6. Improve concrete carbon literacy across the value chain, upskilling ourselves and our suppliers
Improving carbon literacy (awareness of the carbon footprint of a project) across the value chain will make clients and their suppliers more confident about specifying and reporting the carbon impact of their concrete use.
Creating learning modules for both parties will aid progress here.
7. Proactively share low-carbon concrete trial and development information
Sharing the results of pilots will help cross-industry learning and prevent repeating research and development work.
This should save clients time, energy and money, helping them to reach their concrete carbon targets more quickly.
Credit where it’s due
The Concrete Decarbonisation Accelerator was officially launched at the ICE’s London headquarters in June 2024.
The event was held in a fishbowl format, which enabled any participant to take the floor and discuss their experience of applying the commitments.
This important programme was created thanks to the work of the nine funding client organisations:
