Last month saw the publication of the revised Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021. This Bill establishes the legally binding framework that will see Ireland become a climate resilient, biodiversity-rich, environmentally sustainable and climate-neutral economy by 2050. The Bill sets out clear targets, including the Government’s commitment to achieving a 51 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by the end of this decade. 

The revised Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill affords Ireland the very best opportunity to action the overarching principles and practices of sustainable development, as set out under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs. The SDGs include taking national actions to address poverty, to fight inequalities and to tackle climate change to ensure that no one is left behind. As Ireland’s construction industry prepares for a general reopening next week (from Tuesday May 4th), it is becoming ever clearer that sustainability and climate action are central to Ireland’s recovery. And this makes sense. The built environment is responsible for approximately 40 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions (14 per cent through private homes), so it was always going to have a huge role to play in tackling this growing crisis. 

As the Irish Government works towards achieving carbon neutral status for Ireland through a series of carbon budgets, Ministers and their respective departments will be obliged to give an annual account of their initiatives and actions in this regard. These carbon budgets will effectively limit the allowable carbon carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases emissions from each sector of the economy and will be evaluated in chunks of five-years periods. There will be interim targets, which involves a reduction of  greenhouse gas emissions of just over half of the overall target (51 per cent) over the course of the first two carbon budget periods, ending on 31 December 2030.

As one of Europe’s leading offsite construction providers, the team at Horizon Offsite understand that a manufacturing approach to construction offers the best route to deliver on the industry’s new targets for carbon reduction. Integrating panelised offsite construction with a selection of other modern methods of construction, or MMC, from the design stage maximizes the efficiency of the build, whilst still meeting the highest standards, including fire safety standards. While speed of delivery or so-called ‘rapid build’ has been seen as one of the primary drivers of the move from traditional construction to offsite methodologies, as the sector grows and evolves, climate considerations will play an increasingly more pressing role. There are many reasons for this, and there are many reasons why MMC is better placed to avail of innovation of building materials, including insulation and cladding. As the construction sector starts to recover from the prolonged period of industry shutdown, while still managing ongoing pandemic-responsive safety protocols, new solutions and innovations are being created by, or offered to, the industry on a weekly, if not daily, basis. The readiness of the industry to innovate has, arguably, never been higher. This means that the opportunity to address climate change has never been greater.

About Horizon Offsite

Horizon Offsite Ltd is one of Europe’s leading players in Offsite Construction and Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), providing a fully accredited structural light gauge steel system to the residential, industrial, commercial, healthcare and educational sectors. Contact the Horizon Offsite team at https://www.horizonoffsite.ie