Clifford Devlin are a Carbon Neutral Business. We have been working closely with Carbon Neutral Britain™ who have calculated our organisations emissions, following the ISO 14064 and GHG Emissions Protocol Accounting Standard.
Whilst measuring and reducing emissions are vital, carbon offsetting is a proactive approach to environmental action, reversing the impact of emissions created now. At Clifford Devlin our annual emissions are offset through certified carbon offsetting projects.
Our Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) has set emissions reduction targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, in addition to suggesting ways to reduce our carbon footprint for the future, based on the largest emissions sources.
By accurately measuring, offsetting and committing to reduce emissions annually, our company will not only be Carbon Neutral but will align with both Science Based Targets and UK Government Requirements for Carbon Reduction Planning.
We have embedded a number of initiatives into our standard operating procedures to reduce energy consumption such as:
❖ Carefully planning logistics to minimise transport to/from site
❖ Choosing welfare, plant and machinery that use renewable energy
❖ Choosing LED or solar rechargeable lights on our sites
❖ Routinely switching-off plant and machinery when not-in-use
❖ Where possible, making use of local resources and personnel to reduce transport and therefore fuel
❖ Assisting Clients in their BREEAM targets for re-use of materials on or off site so that less energy is used in the making of new materials.
In terms of energy monitoring we believe we are a leader in our field. Increasingly resource management targets are included in Planning Consents or development specifications help track progress, set targets for reduction and demonstrate commitment to sustainability. Clifford Devlin hold SmartWaste membership which enables us to monitor our carbon footprinting on site and company.
The procedure is a very practical one and involves collating utility bills and gas-oil consignments and recording mileage used in deliveries to/from site to determine our total energy consumption.
We have recently worked with one of our existing clients to help calculate the embodied carbon in a building to aid decision making for the building owner as to whether they demolish, rebuild or sell their building. This was achieved by obtaining precise material quantity estimates.
Using conversion rates we are able to calculate our carbon footprint (in terms of total CO2 emissions) which we normalise by expressing it per tonne of waste generated (for demolition projects) and per square metre of floor space (for building projects). This provides perspective and data which we can compare across different projects to benchmark and measure our progress.
