Next phase in green agenda underway with planting of 3,000 trees.
06 October 2021
Today, NBS, the platform for construction information, is further underlining its ongoing commitment to combatting climate change with the unveiling of its enhanced company-wide sustainability strategy.
As a leading voice within the construction sector, the company is leveraging its position to actively promote sustainable construction practices. This includes offering practical, hands-on support to specifiers and manufacturers as well introducing further carbon reduction strategies within its own working practices.
Importantly, its focus will include helping its customer base to specify more sustainably through rich and informative content that will help improve decision making. New features and options within the NBS Source platform will also make it easier for manufacturers to declare the environmental properties of their products allowing specifiers to locate green credentials with ease.
Colin Smith, UK Chairman at NBS, said: “Climate change is the most pressing global issue and with the construction industry being one of the biggest emitters, we all need to do our part to work and live more sustainably. We recognise that we can help drive change by supporting our customers and through our own actions, which is why we’ve ramped up plans within our sustainability strategy.
“We’ve seen that change is possible - the NBS carbon footprint reduced by almost 50% in 2020, and although much of this was due to changes caused by the pandemic, we’re aiming to make it a permanent change, through active reduction measures and carbon offsetting. This is the next phase in an important journey and one we are prioritising for the business and our customers moving forward.”
Alongside its carbon reduction plans, NBS has announced its involvement with Forest Carbon – planting 3,000 trees to increase local climate change resilience and sequester carbon over time. The move will help boost biodiversity within two areas of North East woodland, and once matured, the trees will remove the CO²e aligned to NBS’ 2019 and 2020 operational carbon emissions. To celebrate this latest initiative, a group of NBS employees took part in a bike ride earlier in September, cycling 25 miles from Durham to Jon’s Wood, in order to highlight the issue and raise awareness.
NBS has also signed up to the UN Climate Neutral Now pledge and is supporting the UKGBC (UK Green Build Council) as part of the upcoming COP26 conference. Other changes include a switch to 100% renewable energy with an ISO 14001 accredited supplier plus a focus on utilising technology to minimise unnecessary journeys.
Stephen Prior at Forest Carbon, said: “It is great to partner with NBS, who lead by example through their holistic approach - demonstrating and providing solutions for direct carbon reduction within the construction sector. This is coupled with their support of certified nature-based climate change solutions close to home. These new woodland creation projects are certified by the Woodland Carbon Code, the standard backed by the UK government that ensures the right trees are planted in the right place."
For more information on NBS and how it aims to tackle climate change, click here.
For more information on Forest Carbon, please visit: www.forestcarbon.co.uk.
