Month: March 2023

A nationwide employment programme for women has been launched by two organisations to address the gender imbalance in the construction workforce. 

Women into Construction is collaborating with The Home Builders Federation (HBF) to encourage more women to join the construction workforce, which currently sees just 16% female representation. 

The initiative will offer a unique programme that will overcome some of the current obstacles including childcare and training costs to make the opportunity more accessible. 

It hopes to attract more women into site management roles and will work closely with Barratt Developments, Bellway Homes, St Modwen, Cala Homes, The Hill Group, Redrow, Persimmon Homes, Keepmoat and Vistry Group to enable a greater female presence across a variety of employers. 
 

How the programme will boost women in construction

The employment programme will offer participants first-hand experience of the site manager role and demonstrate how the position can support the industry in delivering in-demand new homes. 

It will include site visits, a week of insight and development sessions online with access to site managers and employers for questions and answers and will cover health and safety training. There will also be a two-week on-site work placement offering as well as one-to-one coaching and support from the Women into Construction organisation. 

For further details on access to this opportunity, women are invited to attend an online information session at 11am on Tuesday 31 January for registration and to obtain more information about the programme. Here they will have the opportunity to meet the employers involved, including current site managers from across the country.

Building a better future for women​

According to the McKinsey report Diversity Wins, companies with more than 30 per cent women executives were more likely to outperform companies where this percentage ranged from 10 to 30. And the latter firms were more likely to outperform those with even fewer women executives, or none at all. 

Jacqui Wordsworth, Women into Construction’s Business Development Director, said: “With women representing just 4% of site managers, we want to inspire and encourage more women to take up a career in home building – helping us and our employer partners to change the face of construction.” 

Jenny Herdman, Director for HBF’s Home Building Skills Partnership, said: “The home building industry is facing a significant skills shortage. If we are to build the new housing this country desperately needs, it is vital that we attract a broad range of entrants into the industry. 

“HBF is delighted to be working with Women into Construction to increase the number of female site managers in the industry and show that there are opportunities for people of all backgrounds and talents to develop a rewarding career in home building.” 

Chloë Hunt, Global Director of Research & Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at Acre, said: “It’s good to see this commitment from these nine major home builders. How this is promoted and circulated into the wider workforce is integral to the initiative’s success in attracting new talent and more women into the sector”.

Greg Walker, Senior Consultant – Sustainable Business for Acre UK, said: “Last year Acre saw a significant increase in the number of diversity & inclusion and social impact positions in the construction sector. 
“These hires, along with the excellent work Women into Construction is doing will go a long way to tackling the skills shortages that the home building sector is facing; along with opening the door to a diverse career for a previously overlooked portion of society.”

Ed Wyeth, Senior Development Coach at Acre Frameworks, the leadership and talent development organisation for health & safety and sustainability professionals, said: “Research tells us that diverse workforces increase engagement, drive innovation and ultimately deliver results. An initiative that seeks to promote better representation in a sector that clearly needs it can only be a good thing.”

At Acre, we work with the most aspirational businesses with potential to make real change; from those who are just starting out to those who are well on the journey to crafting a legacy. Our 18 years’ experience in sustainability recruitment, combined with our extensive global network, enables us to provide talent solutions that are designed to deliver this change. Through our unique behavioural assessment technology, we understand the types of people, skills and behaviours required to create impact. We can develop these qualities within your existing teams too. We find talented people and develop their skills to ensure they make a true impact in ambitious, progressive organisations. Acre. Making companies ready for tomorrow.

Originally published on TriplePundit.com

In 2020, Meta achieved net zero greenhouse gas emissions for our global operations and today, we are supported by 100 percent renewable energy. These are good first steps, but we have so, so much work still to do to become a fully sustainable company.

That was my thought as I arrived in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, for the 27th annual U.N. climate conference, or COP27. Held in November 2022 and dubbed the Climate Implementation Summit, the event gathered leaders from the public, nonprofit and private sectors — the global sustainability community — to debate, celebrate and negotiate global climate action.

Going in, “implement” was the word top of mind as leaders were expected to follow up on ambitious goals set the year before in Glasgow, Scotland. By day eight, however, the word on my mind was “mired.” As in: Are we, collectively, moving fast enough?

This year’s event had its high points — President Joe Biden’s address to world leaders, in which he affirmed the United States’ commitment to a low-carbon future, was certainly one. But COP27 missed the mark in some key ways, such as creating financing for developing countries struggling under the financial burden of climate change and creating mechanisms to help more countries reduce emissions. It is also clear we can all do more to measure and report on yearly progress.

At Meta, we believe the private sector has a critical role to play in our global ambitions to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. During a challenging period for the company, focusing on the “true north” of measurable climate action and building climate resilience remains essential to our future and our bottom line.

Year-over-year, our net zero goal remains fixed even as we grow — both in terms of our users today and our plans for the metaverse tomorrow. And along with our net zero ambition, we are progressing related goals, including our aim to restore more water than we consume in our global operations.

Bringing all of this back to COP27, it’s clear that we can’t do it alone. No one can and, in fact, this is one of my favorite things about working in sustainability: collaboration. As we embark on a new year, Meta remains committed to collaborating with those committed to climate change and continues to expand our network of global partners. Most recently, we’ve:

Helped launch the Asian Clean Energy Coalition to advance renewable energy procurement in Asia with the World Resources Institute and other technology companies.Joined with the U.S. State Department, USAID, and other companies in PREPARE Call to Action to the Private Sector on Adaptation.Announced a new partnership with Stripe, Alphabet, Shopify and McKinsey Sustainability to launch Frontier, an advanced market commitment to help scale emerging carbon removal technologies that are crucial to tackling climate change.Embraced an Emissions First accounting framework that moves beyond the current approach of megawatt-hour matching and focuses on emissions impact.And during COP27 itself, were honored to support The Resilience Hub, an inclusively-built virtual and physical space that served as the home to the Race to Resilience campaign. Representing more than 1,500 non-state actors taking action on resilience around the world, the hub hosted more than 60 sessions each with incredible speakers offering their expertise and perspectives as well as live performances, art and culture.

Importantly, too, Meta is supporting and amplifying changemakers on the front lines of the climate fight. After our largest-ever global survey about climate change this past spring painted a picture of deep concern among respondents, we’re already seeing meaningful change happen when communities come together. More than 40 million people around the world are part of at least one of the 24,000 Facebook Groups dedicated to the discovery, protection, and appreciation of the earth and our environment.

In the meantime, Meta Sustainability continues to report on its work across our enterprise. As the U.N. High-Level Expert Group report clearly states, integrity matters, which is why our net zero commitments are not only public but are relentlessly tracked and reported each year.

But as the U.N. report notes, a net zero pledge “must contain steppingstone targets for every five years” in line with Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) or International Energy Agency (IEA) pathways as well as “prioritize urgent and deep reduction of emissions across their value chain.”

We agree. That’s why I look forward to sharing our own specific decarbonization plans in early 2023. And while I look forward to seeing my sustainability peers at COP28 next November as well, I encourage those in the private sector — companies big, small and every size in between — to join us in the climate fight.

Time is literally running out — and we need all of you, and all of your solutions, to make this work.

This article series is sponsored by Meta and produced by the TriplePundit editorial team.

Image credits:Nicholas Doherty/Unsplash and Meta

March 9, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Climate change impacts are growing every year, threatening lives, business continuity, and infrastructure—costing an average of $152.9 billion dollars per year in the U.S. alone (NOAA, 2022). Yet the Architecture and Engineering (A&E) industry still relies on historical weather data as a primary resource for performance analysis, system sizing, and other design decisions, as climate projection data are not available in the formats used by A&E codes, process guidelines, and software.  

The new report “Climate Forward? How Climate Projections Are(n’t) Used to Inform Design” from the University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) and national interdisciplinary design firm HGA, reveals the alarming gap between the current state of A&E practice and climate science.

Currently, energy modelers most often use the Typical Meteorological Year (TMY3) dataset produced by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)— based on past median weather conditions for a given location that is sometimes more than three decades old. Our changing climate makes ‘climate normals’ less useful for designers, poorly reflecting the range, frequency, and intensity of potential future weather conditions that a building will need to withstand during its lifespan. Key systems and infrastructure globally will continue to be vulnerable unless design standards change to account for changing climate.  

“We know climate change is here and the past is no longer the best predictor of the future. As we seek to make our buildings more energy efficient and ‘climate-friendly’, we must also use climate projection data to ensure our built environment is resilient to the climate of the future.” say Dr. Heidi Roop, MCAP’s Director and a report author. “This report highlights that there is work to do by the climate science community and A&E professionals to ensure we are designing for climate resilience. Clients and professional societies also play a key role in driving a holistic, forward-looking approach to design of the buildings and infrastructure we all rely on.”

The research makes a decisive case for the development and promotion of industry standards, mandates (including building codes), guidance and training for using climate projections in A&E applications. It also articulates the critical role for boundary organizations and climate data developers to build partnerships and capacities to bridge this gap alongside A&E professionals.

“Climate Forward?” also addresses the missed opportunity to extend the life of our buildings. Today’s sustainable design efforts focus primarily on climate change mitigation—that of reducing carbon emissions. In contrast, MCAP and HGA’s research shows how the industry should also shift to design for climate change adaptation—which are a broader set of design measures that factor in the projected climate over the lifespan of the building and systems. 

Lead author of the report, Ariane Laxo, HGA’s Director of Sustainability said, “There is tremendous potential in climate resilience services—professional services related to climate change resilience and/or adaptation using climate projection data.” She continued, “identifying the right data formats and timescales to factor in the projected climate over the lifespan of the building, landscape, and systems, will dramatically change the way we design to create a more resilient future. Industry associations need to create standards for how to integrate these data into practice, so we are using consistent methodologies.”

The climate is changing rapidly. Action must be taken now, and must involve substantive collaboration with climate data developers, boundary organizations, A&E associations and professionals, policy makers, building code & standards bodies, higher education institutions, and any organization that hires A&E professionals. The report concludes with recommended actions that could close the gap between climate science and the A&E professionals who are designing buildings and infrastructure that must withstand climate change.

Read the full report, “Climate Forward? How architects and engineers are(n’t) using climate projections to inform design.” 

Report authors: Ariane Laxo, HGA, Brenda Hoppe, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, Heidi Roop, University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership, Patrick Cipriano, HGA and University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership

About MCAP

The University of Minnesota Climate Adaptation Partnership (MCAP) is a partnership among university, public, non-profit, and private sector groups organized to support Minnesota’s ability to adapt to a changing climate. MCAP conducts cutting-edge climate and adaptation research, champions climate leadership, develops the next generation of adaptation professionals, and advances implementation of effective, equitable adaptation actions across sectors, communities, and levels of government. Learn more about MCAP at climate.umn.edu or follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.

About HGA 
HGA is a national interdisciplinary design firm committed to making a positive, lasting impact for our clients and communities through research-based, holistic solutions. We believe that great design requires a sense of curiosity—forming deep insight into our clients, their contexts, and the human condition. We are a collective of over 1,000 architects, engineers, interior designers, planners, researchers, and strategists. Our practice spans multiple markets, including healthcare, corporate, cultural, education, local and federal government, and science and technology. Visit HGA.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. 

The world is progressing toward a net-zero future, and it is up to businesses to keep pace.

Across the globe governments and regulatory bodies have enacted laws and regulations to both curb emissions and expand alternative energy sources. These changes, while designed to move us toward a more positive future, may cause near-term complications for certain industries and corporations.

To mitigate the negative effects of energy transition and emission reduction, businesses must take strategic and proactive action. A report by McKinsey addressed this, stating, “Many of these adjustments can be best supported through coordinated action involving governments, businesses, and enabling institutions, and by extending planning and investment horizons.”

Let’s examine what corporations need to do to prepare for a net-zero world.

Why Are Net-Zero Targets Emerging and Why Are They Important? 

Beginning with the Paris Climate Accord of 2016, global leaders started to work together to create systems that would lower greenhouse gas emissions, hoping to stave off some of the most severe effects of climate change.

The impact of climate change is already being felt throughout the world as weather events intensify. In the United States alone, 2022 saw 18 separate climate-related disasters totaling more than $165 billion in damages.

This follows a pattern that has been emerging, with five of the past six years resulting in climate and weather-related damages topping an annual amount of $100 billion.

The industries and communities affected by these events are already paying the price for climate change. The net-zero targets are designed to reduce the human and financial suffering brought on by these events.

How Do I Meet Investor Expectations to Hit Net-Zero Emissions? 

The good news is that investors are on board with investing in companies that prioritize addressing environmental concerns. Making the necessary changes in how your business operates to ensure you meet net-zero emission targets might seem like a monumental undertaking, but it really comes down to creating a process backed by science.

Commit to the science 

Before you can make any significant changes within your organization, you must first gain buy-in from your C-suite leadership.

An excellent way to do this is to present science-based targets. These help your organization work toward realistic goals in a timely manner. Developed by the UN, science-based targets (SBTs) are grounded in decades of research, updated through ongoing research, and clearly define how much and how quickly companies need to manage their emissions to support the global prevention of further climate change.

Learn more: The Business Case for Science-Based Targets 

Conduct an assessment 

The process of determining what your SBTs should be involves a review of your current business facilities, practices, and suppliers. This process is best done in partnership with environmental services professionals who can offer guidance to make the data collection more complete and efficient.

Create an action plan 

The data collected will then be used to create a baseline from which targets and timelines can be extrapolated.

We recommend using this opportunity to address topic-specific goals:

Maintain: What is your organization already doing well that should be maintained?Improve: What are the areas that need to be improved upon?Optimize: Where are there opportunities for your organization to become a leader in net-zero optimization?

Addressing the successes and challenges your organization faces in a structured and forward-looking manner will make implementing change easier to do in phases.

Start taking action 

The commitment to net zero requires real change. Real change can take time. While you put things in motion to address larger-scale concerns, an easy way to start moving your organization toward net-zero emissions is to work on greening up your campus. This is also a great way to get your workforce involved in sustainability.

Learn more: 7 Steps to Develop and Implement an ESG Strategy 

Involve your marketing team 

Taking real action toward meeting net-zero targets is something your organization should celebrate. Stakeholders may be privy to more internal information than the general public. Still, being vocal about the real progress you’re making will raise your profile and may even attract new investors.

Net-Zero Is the Future 

Across the world leaders in government and industry are partnering to achieve net-zero targets. Now is the time to be a leader in your sector by taking direct action to reduce your organization’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Ready to get started? Antea Group’s sustainability consultants are here to help.

About Antea Group

Antea®Group is an environment, health, safety, and sustainability consulting firm. By combining strategic thinking with technical expertise, we do more than effectively solve client challenges; we deliver sustainable results for a better future. We work in partnership with and advise many of the world’s most sustainable companies to address ESG-business challenges in a way that fits their pace and unique objectives. Our consultants equip organizations to better understand threats, capture opportunities and find their position of strength. Lastly, we maintain a global perspective on ESG issues through not only our work with multinational clients, but also through our sister organizations in Europe, Asia, and Latin America and as a founding member of the Inogen Alliance. Learn more at us.anteagroup.com.