Atkins calls for new industrial revolution to secure low carbon future - 23 July 2009
The low carbon white paper issued by the government (last week) presents the engineering sector with the greatest opportunity for growth since the industrial revolution, says Keith Clarke, chief executive of the UK’s biggest engineering design consultancy, Atkins.
However it will only happen if all engineering and construction related professionals start to see reducing carbon from projects as a prime objective rather an optional extra. At the moment though, he says, we don’t have the tools or the knowledge to do that well enough.
Keith Clarke, who is chairman of the Construction Industry Council (CIC) is answering the challenge from government for ‘massive dynamism’ by calling on all engineering, design and construction sector professional institutions to take urgent action.
Keith said: “Traditionally the UK’s been good at getting to the stage of strong policy. The problem is in delivering real change.
“The Centre for Carbon Metrology, being set up as part of the white paper recommendations, will put trading and accounting for carbon on a scientific footing. That will have huge implications for our sector.
“It doesn’t matter what you’re talking about - a building, a railway, a nuclear power plant – all will be judged against a real carbon metric. It will mean understanding the supply chain properly, new design and construction techniques, and being able to accurately predict how the project will perform environmentally in the future.
“We cannot under-estimate the scale of this challenge. It will mean a fundamental shift in the way we conduct ourselves professionally. Engineers, architects and surveyors will have to learn how to account for carbon using principles normally only properly understood by accountants and economists. Principles like discount rates which are now only used when talking about a financial cost – it’s an area that the majority working in our sector haven’t had to understand before.”
Addressing the challenge will mean companies investing in research and training with recent evidence suggesting there was already a huge skills gap in the environmental industry sector. The white paper said this was particularly acute in the renewable and low carbon energy realms where typically one in three companies said they needed more skilled staff. Atkins is already helping to address this by being the first engineering design consultancy to set up a nuclear skills training academy – it has now trained over 500 individuals.
Keith Clarke further argues that if the UK is to fulfil its obligations under the UK’s Climate Change Act to cut carbon by 34% by 2020 (against 1990 levels) change must be radical, not step-by-step – and the white paper is already laying that out.
He said: “In future we will all have to think about a building’s lifetime carbon footprint. A client may be deciding how to spend a carbon budget, allocated for in the planning permission. We need to be able to tell them exactly how much carbon they need to spend up front in the design and construction phase, and how much their project will use every year going forward.”
The challenge is split - government will set strategy and put the delivery framework in place, and industry must deliver change on-the-ground. One of the most important bodies being set up is Infrastructure UK which is charged with looking after climate change mitigation and the move to a low carbon economy. There’s more funding coming along to cut carbon from the transport network; a new programme of rail electrification, and a network supporting more electric cars. In all, the government says, the global market for low carbon and environmental goods and services (LCEGS) may be worth over £4 billion by 2015.
“You can compare this to preparing for an Olympic Games” says Keith Clarke. “The UK now has the reason to compete, the projects to hone our skills upon. Ultimately our industries and companies now have the opportunity to thrive in the face of fierce global competition – we can lead rather than just follow. Some won’t be able to cope and they will fall by the wayside. We shouldn’t be worried by this – that’s normal if there’s a radical shift.
“There is massive opportunity for the UK but it’s not going to be comfortable.”
Ends
For more information:
Andy Winstanley
Head of media relations +44(0)1372 752018 / +44(0)7803 259643
andy.winstanley@atkinsglobal.com
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is a multinational engineering and design consultancy, providing expertise to help resolve complex challenges presented by the built and natural environment. Atkins is the largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe, the largest engineering consultancy in both the UK and the Middle East, and the UK's largest architecture firm.
Recent projects include:
• Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
• High profile transport planning and urban design – a scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London’s Oxford Circus will help solve the problem of pedestrian crowding;
• Key rail projects – helping improve train times on the West Coast Main Line through the design, installation, testing and commissioning of new signalling at Rugby and Nuneaton;
• Multidisciplinary building design – North Road Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
• Vital water and environmental projects – as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named among the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2009 by The Sunday Times; The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2008; and The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2008. The company was construction sector winner for the third consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2008.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.