National Highways has achieved a globally recognised accreditation for its ‘commitment and ambition’ to cut carbon.
The government-owned company said its carbon management system has achieved Publicly Available Specification (PAS) 2080 ‘carbon management in infrastructure’ accreditation.
PAS 2080 is a global specification for managing whole-life carbon in infrastructure developed by the Construction Leadership Council’s Green Construction Board with BSI.
It aims to provide a consistent framework for evaluating and managing carbon across infrastructure and recognises organisations that have strategies in place to reduce carbon and develop more collaborative ways of working to promote innovation.
Mike Wilson, executive director, safety engineering and standards for National Highways, said: ‘We’re pleased to achieve this global standard. This recognises National Highways’ effective plan to deliver carbon savings right across the company and demonstrates our leadership, continual improvement, and constant learning from best practice in the industry.
‘By leading the way in delivering more sustainable solutions through design, construction and operation, National Highways will leave a positive green legacy for generations to come.
‘This accreditation is one of a number of ambitious commitments for 2022 toward decarbonising construction and maintenance, working with partners across the sector.’
Road minister Richard Holden, said: ‘We must always keep the environment in mind in everything we do and this accreditation is a clear recognition of the hard work done by National Highways and the innovation taking place across our roads to reduce our environmental impact.’
Separately, National Highways’ £9bn Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) scheme has also received PAS 2080 accreditation in its own right, the first UK road project to do so.
As Highways has reported, National Highways has confirmed that carbon savings for the construction of the LTC set out in its new development consent application include comparing its proposed use of 65% GGBS low carbon cement replacement against a ‘counterfactual’ use of ‘zero’ GGBS.
Its 2020 application claimed lower carbon savings by comparing 65% GGBS use against what it called ‘current typical practice’ of 50% GGBS. This means that National Highways increased the projected carbon saving not by increasing the use of GGBS but by significantly worsening the scenario it used for comparison to a level that falls well short of best practice.
The Green Construction Board Guidance Document for PAS 2080 advises that baselines for carbon reduction ‘should be established for a notional solution, based on previous “business as usual” practices’.
It warns: ‘Baselines which are set artificially high carbon emissions…risk making the task of carbon reduction look too easy and prevent maximising further carbon reduction opportunities’.
Highways approached BSI, which provides PAS 2080 accreditation, for an explanation of the process but had not received this at the time of publication.
