Can offsite be the route to carbon zero construction projects?
The construction industry is the biggest contributor to the high level of emissions the UK emits. Buildoffsite looked at how the construction industry is affecting climate change, and how turning to offsite construction could be a step towards a more environmentally-friendly sector.
Government and industry strategy states that within the next five years both construction-related emissions and project delivery times must be halved. This is an ambitious target and Buildoffsite aims to demonstrate how changes in offsite delivery can meet and exceed set targets.
Lara Young, the Group Carbon Manager for Costain, led the first of the series on how offsite can help curb UK Carbon emissions across all construction projects; from simplistic changes to everyday practices. This provided insight into how alternative materials can have a much bigger impact on reducing emissions and meeting UK Government targets.
As Costain’s Group carbon manager, Lara’s role encompasses challenging existing business models and processes to guarantee carbon management through to ensuing climate change mitigation and sustainability are designed and integrated into infrastructure at all lifecycle stages – from conception and design, to delivery, operation, and disposal. The biology graduate, who later went on to complete a MBA, joined Costain in 2015 having identified the infrastructure market as one in which she could make the biggest positive impact.
Lara is proud to work for a company that shares the same passion as her for reducing the impact on our planet and society that will shape the future infrastructure landscape. She shares the view that incorporating carbon management and focusing on reducing an asset’s carbon footprint across its whole lifecycle is crucial to tackling the climate change emergency.