The construction sector is continually adapting to new legislative demands and operational challenges, which dictate how businesses manage their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions stemming from large-scale projects and traditional carbon-intensive processes and materials.

For firms within this sector, addressing carbon reduction has transitioned from being merely a facet of corporate social responsibility (CSR) to an essential survival strategy in an industry facing labour shortages, escalating costs, and supply chain hurdles. This shifting landscape also amplifies the importance of environmental transparency to satisfy both client expectations and investment requirements, making a robust GHG inventory an essential tool for compliance and competitive advantage.

Our collaboration with Duffy Group, a prominent UK construction firm, illustrates the complexities encountered in carbon data analysis and the commercial stakes in areas devoid of deep emissions insights. Insights from our dialogue with Stephen McCarthy, Duffy Group’s Group Safety, Health, Environmental & Quality (SHEQ) Director and our primary contact for the GHG inventory, reveal both the challenges and opportunities unearthed through this vital process.

Recognising the Value of a GHG Inventory

As supply chains intertwine, there is a lot to be said for an organisation, such as Duffy Group, that is willing to take the lead and gather holistic insight into its carbon emissions. Not only does the company value the climate, but also considers all the opportunities to influence UK construction at large. 

MyCarbon: “Tell us about your experience with emissions reporting prior to working with us.” 

Stephen McCarthy: “I’ve been learning a lot more about it, and want to calculate how much impact we have. Obviously, we pour a lot of concrete, use a lot of steel, travel often to different sites, and use quite a few generators on site. 

 

“I just wanted to get a feel for our emissions initially, and see what we could do long-term to reduce them—how we could improve our sustainability. 

 

“We have a challenging quantity of data to compile, which I wasn’t able to manage fully on my own, and so we engaged MyCarbon to help us gauge where we are and to guide us to where we need to be; a view of the journey ahead of us.”

MyCarbon: “What emissions factors would you have missed working on your own?”

Stephen McCarthy: “Well, the GHG inventory has opened up the scale of the impacts we can have. I hadn’t fully appreciated some parts of Scope 3; how much there is in our supply chain, such as employee travel, energy consumption—this all gave me a clearer view of on-site and in-office emissions, and how we can reduce them.”

“When it comes to the big stuff—core resources like concrete and steel—there’s limited wiggle room for improvement. It’s largely out of our control, alongside wastage and other external products and services. Lucky for us, a lot of our suppliers, especially concrete, are going down the decarbonisation route as best they can.”

 

Having sifted through Duffy’s entire business, extracting data from all corners of its supply chain, we recognised the following:

• Scope 3 emissions reporting in the construction industry is a major challenge for all involved, despite the widespread push to decarbonise.
• Frequently used construction materials hold the highest emissions, which switches companies’ attention to their suppliers in order to reach net zero.
• Further hurdles are raised by legislation and having to align with complex regulations, such as —a global carbon management standard for the built environment. 

As such, an external set of eyes on the GHG inventory proved invaluable to Duffy Group in the early stages of its carbon reduction journey. 

Resource Emissions Hotspot and Reporting Challenges

When it comes to ease of reporting, we found that Duffy Group’s downstream leased assets—plant hire machinery being the main measurement—were the most difficult to visualise, particularly in the first annual report. What we learned from the overall footprint of the organisation, though, was very much as we had anticipated, but the depth of its operations, and reporting on these things, are things we can learn from and apply to other businesses in the sector.

MyCarbon: “What were your expectations and how did they compare to what you learned from the GHG Inventory?”

Stephen McCarthy: “I knew Scope 3 would be big. It was over 95% of our overall emissions, which I hadn’t grasped until I could visualise things properly. It’s been a real eye-opener, but all those elements have such an impact.”

Knowing this helps us understand that the UK construction sector depends on education from ourselves and operations partners to set companies on a clear path towards transparency while also making sure that data (and data management) meet the needs of businesses.

Scope 3 Emissions and Industry Barriers

The GHG inventory confirmed that essential resources were responsible for a large portion of Duffy Group’s emissions, but knowing this only cements the importance of supply chain decarbonisation. 

This poses a complex challenge—one which Stephen is determined to take a leading role and inspire actions among third parties. As construction processes are built on efficiency and cost-effectiveness, decarbonising operations and commonly used materials will require a well-thought-out approach to supplier and customer engagement.

MyCarbon: How do you approach the subject of decarbonisation with suppliers and customers, and what has been the response?

Stephen McCarthy: “We’re turning to our main contractors, and they’ll turn to their clients. It’s the clients that lead to the really ‘big money’ people who need to take this seriously. I’ve had conversations with the ultimate client as well.

 

“It’s still about money, even though we know it has to go this way. Nobody wants to jump first, especially with recent news that ISG went bust—such a shock only sets them back further. There’s a lot of financial pressure at the moment and, as a result, nobody wants to lead a decarbonisation initiative, but that’s exactly what it needs—leadership.

 

“I’ve been involved in talks with the bigger contractors who are on board. We’re just piping up as much as we can, helping with plans, looking at options, even from a technical standpoint.”

Building Foundational Data Management Processes

We need not explain why a GHG inventory is so crucial for the environment, but from a business perspective, this project opened up some of the potential sticking points across the construction industry. Through Duffy’s discovery, we learned that systemising data is one task, and rationalising in the specific context of the company is another.

MyCarbon:

What area needs your attention now that you’re aware of the GHG measurement process?

Stephen McCarthy: “Data aggregation is a core factor. I had to find information from 12 different systems—it was all over the shop. But, it has made me sit down and question how we do things better.

 

“When we do another one of these, it should be more straightforward, but it was somewhat overwhelming trying to piece together. We brought in a new CRM system a few years back, only to realise it only captured some of the data we needed.

 

“Some of that data was so badly tagged because of that new system, so we’ll be looking into that as well.”

To find out more about the work, and Duffy Group’s future plans, check out the full case study.

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