New challenges to geotechnical contractors in business management and reporting are coming as the EU brings in the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and Taxonomy regulations. These aim to tie the access to cheaper green financial investment to performance against defined sustainability objectives such as carbon reduction, increasing biodiversity etc. Under both pieces of legislation, a new auditing framework is being created that shall require companies of medium size to provide an audited management report on their progress towards net zero carbon production. The companies within the scope of these laws will meet two or more of the following criteria:

• €40m+ turnover
• €20m+ balance sheet
• 250+ employees

However, it is widely expected that clients and main contractors are likely to require these reporting requirements to be met within the supply-chain in order to meet their own obligations. Piling contractors of all sizes shall be required to report on their carbon consumption within the market and should be prepared for this reality.

Carbon reporting in the EFFC

To assist geotechnical contractors to meet these obligations and support them to reduce their carbon footprint, the EFFC has two initiatives:

1. Carbon reporting – we are setting up a pilot scheme where a number of companies provide quarterly data on their scope 1 and 2 (and 3 if this is available) CO2e emissions. This shall be used to establish the trends in the industry and provide a benchmark for contractors to use to measure their own performance over time. Should you wish to participate in this project please contact Ciaran Jennings on effc@effc.org
2. EFFC/DFI Carbon Calculator – this tool was launched in 2014 and has since become the industry standard tool for calculating the emissions on site from piling and geotechnical works. It allows users to provide comparative calculations for different techniques and schemes and provides a standardised method for contractors to provide carbon calculations with their tenders. If you are interested in learning more or being trained in the use of the tool please download the tool here, view the webinar here, or contact the EFFC on effc@effc.org.

The EFFC has also released a Sustainability Guide on the ways to reduce carbon within your business. This can be found here.

If you would like to attend the EFFC training webinar on Carbon Reporting, please click here.