Welcome to our campaign
Background Information
With buildings contributing 47% of the UK's total carbon emissions, the FMB has a key role to play in helping the Government achieve its target to cut carbon emissions by 80% by 2050. The facts speak for themselves:
- Construction uses around 6 tonnes of materials each year for every man, woman and child in the UK
- Construction and demolition produce more than 80 million tonnes of waste each year – 10% of which is unused in building materials
- 50% of the UK's energy consumption results from construction (10%) or during the life of the building (over 40%)
- 47% of UK carbon emissions are from servicing buildings.
Against this background the FMB is committed to a safe, sustainable and practical construction industry. Its importance is all around us in terms of where we live and work, and how we move from one place to another. The construction sector is responsible for our homes, our hospitals, our schools, our roads, our water works, our railways, our offices and everything practical in which we live and use. Most importantly the FMB is committed to ensuring that government objectives for sustainability are practical.
FMB believes there are four key drivers to bring about a low carbon built environment:
- The need to minimise waste across the industry
- The need to reduce carbon emissions from housing and other buildings through innovation in materials and process
- The need to create sustainable communities and a sustainable work force, and
- The need to give as much specific and practical advice as we can, directed to real design and site activity
Over the coming months and years FMB is determined that our sector is ahead of the game by outlining policy recommendations to government and opinion formers to enable builders to play a full and constructive role in building the new greener Britain.
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